Chapter 2016: Krypton
"Come on, it's almost out, darling. Keep pushing!"
Jor-El kept encouraging his wife as she gave birth. There was no one else nearby, only two hovering robots assisting them.
Krypton possessed a long-standing civilization. During its peak, which lasted a hundred thousand years, it had outposts scattered throughout the universe, and its technology was extraordinarily advanced.
However, after Krypton created its population control system, the entire civilization entered an irreversible decline.
They rejected natural childbirth, sealing all genetic sequence codes within the Codex before using those codes and genetic technology to cultivate new infants.
Every infant's status was determined before birth: worker, soldier, scientist, leader.
They were cultivated entirely according to practical needs. Not a single population resource was wasted; resource consumption was "fully and reasonably" controlled, while social stability was ensured.
Everyone was a screw in their designated position, carrying out their duties like a precision machine that would never malfunction.
Yet precisely because of this, the Kryptonians, having lost their aspirations and goals, slowly decayed. One outpost after another was gradually abandoned.
Their interstellar civilization withdrew once more to its homeworld.
Krypton!
After years of mining Krypton's core, Jor-El had calculated that in a few weeks, the planet's core would no longer be able to support its gravity, causing it to collapse and be destroyed.
And his son was born into such circumstances...
Waaah, waaah~
Amid a burst of crying, the future Superman, Clark Kent—now Kal-El—came into this world.
His parents' hearts filled with joy, briefly washing away the sorrow of their homeworld's impending destruction.
"Oh, what an adorable little thing. Can I be his godfather?"
But just as the couple took turns holding the child and enjoying the rare warmth of being a family of three, a voice that should not have been there