"Besides," Zod interrupted his thoughts, "that's not what we're here to discuss today, is it, my son?"
Aeo nodded glumly and looked toward the large energy simulator in the training center's research lab.
His adoptive father in this life, General Zod, set him down and finally spoke with renewed seriousness. "Every Fortier is born able to absorb radiation from a yellow sun and grow stronger. That's one of the greatest strengths of the Fortier Empire!"
Unlike in his previous life, Kryptonians in the real world knew from birth that they could absorb radiation from a yellow sun and become beings like Superman, offering greater and stronger support to the Empire and Fortier society. Don't doubt it. If even Superman's father knew that Earth's sun could make Superman stronger, there was no way all of Kryptonian society didn't know. That would be ridiculous.
So, from a very young age—though he wasn't exactly old now—Aeo had been taught what he was and what he would eventually be capable of. Instructors and teachers had been assigned to guide him through it all, as part of a Kryptonian's basic education.
From then on, Aeo had felt an unbearable frustration with the so-called knowledge he'd brought over from his previous life. Dogmatism really did ruin everything. Kryptonians were clearly incredibly powerful, yet when they got in front of editors and directors, Earthlings could make them look foolish in all sorts of ways. Sure enough, humanity was the protagonist of the universe, and Earth was its center. Tsk!
Today, after his Talent Awakening, the Imperial Military had arranged for Aeo to experience firsthand what happened when Kryptonians were exposed to yellow-sun radiation. The energy simulator was designed to imitate solar radiation, while also adding some absorbable energy. The radiation still worked on Kryptonians, but it wasn't nearly as powerful as natural sunlight. Seizing the opportunity, Aeo couldn't help asking Zod, "If that's the case, why did the Empire establish its capital in a star system whose star has already started to decay and doesn't have much time left, relatively speaking, compared to Earth's sun? It's not as if the Empire has no other planets where it could settle the people of Capital Star..."
As the white-coated researchers had Aeo remove his unnecessary clothing and stand in the middle of the machine, Zod explained, "There are things you don't know about. They're secrets of the Empire. Once you officially take over as an imperial general, the Empire will naturally tell you..."
The technicians didn't seem to object or feel curious. They simply kept their heads down and got on with their work. After a while, one of the staff, who seemed to be in charge, said, "General, everything's ready."
"Then let's begin." Zod turned to Aeo. "Don't worry. This is just a mild demonstration of one of the Fortier's strengths. There's no danger..."
Aeo took a deep breath and nodded, his expression solemn.
Zod didn't take his son's coldness to heart. It was one of the drawbacks of Gene Modulation and an advanced civilization. They still felt joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but their sense of morality was more restrained than that of backward Earthlings, and they had greater control over their emotions. They generally didn't experience extreme highs and lows or fall into despair. It was almost as if the Empire's scientists had deliberately removed some of the Fortier's emotional nerves during Gene Modulation. Whether that was good or bad, Aeo had already noticed that, since being reborn, he really was colder and calmer when expressing his feelings than before. The feelings were still there; they just didn't fluctuate as much.
"Energy charging!" called the Fortier in charge of the research lab. "Three, two, one!" The next moment, Aeo's vision blurred. Two beams of white light shot from the machine's emitters and struck him.
The lingering emotions he'd brought from Earth made Aeo let out a small, reflexive cry of surprise.
Zod's expression changed, and he rushed to the control panel. After carefully checking all the readings with sweat pouring down his face, the research supervisor said with a strange expression, "Everything's fine!"
After crying out, Aeo suddenly realized that the white light really hadn't hurt him. On the contrary, after being bathed in it, his cells seemed to brim with energy, bubbling with excitement.
He clenched a fist. The tremendous strength in it was obvious even without testing. If there were a Racer XI nearby—the Flyer's XI, the latest civilian vehicle made by one of the Empire's manufacturers, known for its low center of gravity and high horsepower; well, think of it as a Hummer on Earth—he could flip it over!
So he waved at Zod. "I'm fine, Father. It just startled me."
Only then did Zod let out the breath he'd been holding. Like the research supervisor, he wore a few traces of a strange expression.
Aeo knew he'd always seemed far too detached. An adult Fortier's calmness could be attributed to Gene Modulation and the later manifestation of their talents, but he'd been a baby. Sorry, although he'd been reborn as a baby, he still couldn't learn the trick that those transmigrators and reincarnators on certain websites used to play dumb as toddlers. Anyway, Krypton was a civilization on a cosmic scale. It couldn't be so barbaric as to drag him out and burn him just because he was unusually intelligent and precocious as a baby. Forget whether the Council of Truth would approve such a proposal; if those oddballs at the Science and Technology Institute dared to suggest it, Aeo's adoptive father in this life, General Zod, would probably tear down the Institute's headquarters first.
Damn it, after all that trouble, I finally had a clever, handsome, and strong descendant—and in this life, Aeo had inherited Zod's blond hair and gray eyes, making him an absolute heartthrob! His father was overjoyed, and these guys wanted to burn him alive? Had they lost their minds?
After a series of "safety" checks on his DNA, brain, iris, nervous system, and more, the Imperial Science Institute and the Council of Truth both "regretfully" confirmed that he was indeed the biological descendant of General Zod. Only then did Aeo feel reassured. He had wondered whether behaving this way might make the Kryptonians suspicious and uneasy, and it had indeed caused a bit of confusion. But in the end, the Empire had decided to carry on as usual. Just as Aeo had thought, the Fortier were amazed by his intelligence and precociousness, but once he cooperated with a series of examinations and the results showed no problems, his behavior no longer made the Empire or anyone else suspicious or uneasy.
Watching Aeo wash, dress, eat, and go about his life like a little adult from an early age, taking care of himself without help, every Fortier who had met him was dumbfounded. Yet they couldn't help thinking that perhaps the general's genes really were just that powerful...
(Laughs)
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