A Battle for Earth’s Future

All eyes, including the Dark Knight's, turned toward him.

Soren slowly glanced around, held his breath, and nodded his head with difficulty, "...Yes, I know. I once... saw a hologram of it somewhere. It's a planetary-sized engine used to alter a planet's gravity and atmospheric composition. It can transform a planet's environment in a very short period of time—"

Before Soren could finish speaking, the World Engine from space let out a thunderous roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

The four massive legs of the machine had already touched down on the distant ground.

The sensation of the Earth's crust cracking came from hundreds of miles away.

The land beneath their feet began to exhibit subtle vertical oscillations.

"We need to stop it from transforming Earth," Steve Rogers said calmly as he picked up the shield from Loki.

Tony's face twitched, and he snapped, "Wow, great. Let me enlighten you on how much power is needed to alter a planet's gravity—"

"Are you saying you can't handle it?" The symbol of the American spirit asked with his perpetually serious and handsome face.

"…" Tony was abruptly cut off, "Of course not, I never fail."

"Then let's get to it."

Steve Rogers, holding the shield, looked resolutely at the World Engine in the sky.

—This former legendary soldier had never taken a step back in the face of enemies and had never been afraid of any difficulty.

As long as he was there, everyone could find that unbreakable banner.

Seventy years ago, he fought on the front lines against fascism for world peace.

Seventy years later, he would still go to the first battlefield against extraterrestrial forces for the safety of all humanity.

"But we're missing one person," Soren suddenly spoke up, clenching his fists, "He will be the strongest among us... the strongest one. I'll go find him."

…

Clark flew into space.

The Kryptonian spaceship floating in the cosmos resembled an inverted mountain, with four enormous thrusters extending from its base, silently awaiting his arrival.

As soon as he entered the spaceship, he felt the power within him being compressed.

The environment inside the ship was not the Earth's atmosphere he was used to, but a simulated environment from his unvisited home planet.

Two Kryptonian soldiers who looked no different from humans, escorted Clark into the presence of the highest commander aboard the ship.

They had bound his hands behind his back with special handcuffs that was made to restrained Kryptonian, but Clark only glanced at the two soldiers without attempting to struggle.

Sitting high on the command chair was General Zod.

His bulging eyes were like the eyes of lizard, give no hint of warmth, only a cold-blooded indifference devoid of life.

"Kal-El," he sneered, pronouncing Clark's Kryptonian name.

His gaze, as cold as a snake's tongue, flicked over Clark's face.

"I searched for you across the universe for many years… I never imagined Jor-El would hide you on such a primitive planet."

Clark looked at him calmly, "You're nothing but a criminal, exiled by the Kryptonian Council, Zod. You have no right to call yourself a general, and even less to apprehend me."

"It's because the Council believed your father's lies!" Zod roared in fury.

He leaping from his chair and striding toward Clark, grabbing his jaw in a crushing grip.

Zod leaned in, their faces almost touching, his eyes boring into Clark's as he growled, seething with rage, "Who are you to judge me? I'm the one who truly sought a future for Krypton! Jor-El did nothing! He was nothing but a liar!"

"I will not allow," Clark gritted through his clenched teeth, his jaw muscles tensing visibly, "you to insult my father like this."

Before coming aboard this ship, Clark had returned to the Fortress of Solitude, where he learned from Jor-El's holographic image about everything that had happened on Krypton.

Kryptonian technology had reached extraordinary heights before the planet's destruction.

For centuries, Kryptonians had relied on the Codex to ensure efficient societal organization and resource management.

Through artificial synthesis, new lives were engineered before birth, with their genetic codes already imprinted: warriors, workers, scientists, administrators...

Each Kryptonian was born into a predetermined fate.

Their different genetic codes dictated different destinies—an inescapable condition from birth.

While this system had initially worked well, maintaining a highly efficient and stable society, its consequences soon became apparent.

The rigid social structure led to stagnation, halting Krypton's technological advancement.

In order to meet survival needs, Krypton began overexploiting its resources.

After a few more decades, the planet was like a hollowed-out beehive, on the verge of collapse.

Zod, a member of the radical faction, sought to lead Kryptonians in expanding to other planets and finding new colonies.

The High Council of Krypton rejected his proposal, but Zod secretly stole Krypton's most advanced technology, building the World Engine and transforming a nearby Kryptonian system's inhabited moon into "New Krypton."

In the process, billions of lives on that moon, which had its own intelligent life, were wiped out overnight by the activation of the World Engine.

Zod's ruthless actions outraged all of Krypton.

The High Council immediately ordered his exile, sending Zod and his loyal followers to the Phantom Zone.

However, Krypton itself was also approaching its own crisis.

The planet had deteriorated beyond repair and was teetering on the brink of destruction.

In the final days before Krypton's destruction, Clark's parents, Jor-El and Lara, secretly gave birth to him.

Soren was the first naturally born child on Krypton in centuries.

Unlike any other Kryptonian, he wasn't designed with predetermined genetic codes.

He could become whoever he chose to be.

Jor-El also placed the Codex—the essence of Kryptonian life—within Clark.

On the day Krypton was destroyed, Clark was sent to Earth in a spaceship, carrying the Codex with him.

Clark's anger only made Zod sneer.

Zod stepped back, taking in the sight of Clark standing before him.

"But what can you do to stop me?" Zod asked, his voice dripping with cold disdain, "You've come here, haven't you? And those humans who sheltered you? They handed you over without hesitation. They will never truly accept you. You belong here, Kal-El."