The scenery was pretty much the same as the South Pole, except the North Pole had cute polar bears, while the South Pole only had annoying penguins.
Snow and ice were everywhere—pure and spotless. Liu A'dou didn't know exactly where the Fortress of Solitude was, but he pushed his Microcosmos to the limit and skimmed low over the terrain to search. Thanks to global warming, the Arctic glaciers had shrunk quite a bit, which helped narrow his search.
After just two laps in the plane, he spotted a lone, glowing structure in the endless snow. It reflected light like a crystal, standing tall and alone just as its name suggested—Solitary and majestic atop the Arctic ice sheet. This was Superman's home. The place where he stored dangerous equipment, captured alien criminals, and kept all kinds of Kryptonian technology and precision instruments. Only a few people on Earth knew how to find this place hidden among the glaciers. The freezing cold here would cause most human aircraft to malfunction, and the brutal environment could strip away anyone's ability to move.
But that wasn't a problem for Kaitou Kid. He had arrived.
He jumped down lightly from the plane. No one was watching—except for a polar bear in the distance, curiously eyeing the white figure falling from the sky. Was that a giant snowflake or a chunk of hail?
Landing on the snow, he left only shallow footprints. Liu A'dou smiled at the Fortress of Solitude. "Open sesame, open sesame. Kaitou Kid is here."
It looked like the Crystal Palace from Journey to the West, except this one was in the Arctic, not under the sea. The massive complex sat in a basin surrounded by glaciers. Giant crystal pillars shot into the sky, their tops connecting overhead like an upside-down bowl of crystal. The sharp edges sparkled, and the chill seeped into the bones.
Standing before this majestic structure, Liu A'dou felt like a sparrow. When he reached the entrance, he stared speechlessly at a red doormat stamped with Superman's logo. Not bad—Superman had taste and knew how to enjoy life. Now the question was: did he hide the key under the mat like a regular guy?
Curious, Liu A'dou lifted the mat. And yeah, sure enough, Superman grew up on Earth. He had human habits. The key was right there under the mat.
Liu A'dou looked at the key and realized the lock was super basic. He could've opened it with his eyes closed. But since the key was there, might as well use it.
Except... he couldn't pick it up.
Trying to lift it felt like trying to grab Mjolnir. That tiny key was shockingly heavy. Liu A'dou instantly understood—this was Superman's idea of home security. Brutal but effective. Leave the key out in the open, but make sure no one could actually use it. No matter how easy it looked, if you couldn't lift it, it was useless.
He tried burning Microcosmos to lift it. He strained with everything he had, but it barely budged. No good. Then he tried the Force. It didn't rely on muscles.
Teeth clenched, veins popping on his forehead, Liu A'dou pointed at the key and focused the Force. Slowly, it started to rise.
Ten centimeters? Maybe not even that. Sweat was already trickling down his face.
Thud! The key slammed back down. The ground shook. Liu A'dou hadn't been practicing the Force long enough—there was no way he could lift a fifty-ton key. It sank deep into the glacier.
The impact nearly knocked Liu A'dou over. He stumbled, almost falling face-first into the snow. He was speechless. Really. Just speechless. If anyone ever joked again, "Oh no, you dropped your keys—just pick them up," Liu A'dou would drag them here and see how they liked it.
But the experience made him realize something important. Training in the Force could help make up for his lack of raw strength. Microcosmos could give him an immortal body and insane destructive power, but it couldn't make him stronger. Even a Saint couldn't lift a giant boulder weighing tens of tons—let alone a planet. They could only smash things, not move them.
But with the Force, things were different. Liu A'dou believed that one day, he really could move a planet.
In the end, it still came down to Kaitou-level lockpicking. With a wire and the Force, Liu A'dou used every bit of strength he had to finally pry the door open. Now he truly understood what it meant to overcome skill with brute force. One brute push beats ten clever tricks. Superman's idea of security was stupidly simple and heavy-handed, but it almost put a dent in Liu A'dou's thieving reputation.
The lock on that door actually required a fifty-ton key to turn. Liu A'dou had to combine Microcosmos, Ripple, and the Force just to get it open. It wasn't easy—he was soaked in sweat that had already turned to frost on his clothes.
He swore he had to swipe a good stash of crystals today. After all that effort just to get in, if he didn't take enough, he'd be letting himself down—not to mention disgracing the Kaitou Kid name.
Past a beautiful crystal corridor was the main hall of the Fortress of Solitude. At the center sat the Kryptonian spaceship that had brought Superman to Earth, and all around were dazzling crystals glowing brightly, as if luring a thief in for the taking.
One particularly eye-catching feature was a massive monument wall in the hall that looked like an open book. It was Superman's journal. Judging by the engravings, he'd used his heat vision to etch entries into the smooth stone slab. Definitely high-class—only someone like him would even think of doing that.
In this place, Superman didn't have to hide his powers. He could do whatever he wanted without worrying about scaring humans. Liu A'dou skimmed the log and saw that most of it was about boring day-to-day stuff. Then it made sense—this place was called the Fortress of Solitude for a reason. Other than his mom, Superman had no one to vent to. So he poured all his feelings into this diary instead.
Too bad Liu A'dou could only read one page. The "book" was ridiculously heavy. Flipping a page? No chance.
On the open second floor sat Superman's Kryptonian computer, which contained an AI version of his father.
But Liu A'dou was worried Superman might show up at any moment. He only took a quick glance around and didn't explore too deeply. Instead, he got straight to work harvesting crystals. Those long, clear crystals looked as smooth and pristine as a maiden's arm.
Better to grab extra now than come back later. He didn't know how many attempts it would take to get a proper lightsaber made—or how many crystals he'd ruin in the process. And even if he didn't use them all, he could still make some jewelry for his future wife. So Liu A'dou moved fast, chipping off crystals with crisp metallic clinks and stuffing them into the backpack he brought.
Woo woo woo...
From an unnoticed corner, a pair of eyes watched Liu A'dou's every move. His thieving spree hadn't gone unseen.
Paws scraped against the floor, ready to spring into action at any moment. What was it?
It was Krypto—the super dog. Superman's dog.
Wearing a red cape and a dog tag with Superman's emblem, this white-furred super dog had all of Superman's powers. In fact, its sense of smell and hearing were even sharper than his. The only difference was its smaller size and regular dog-level intelligence, which meant it wasn't quite as strong or clever as Superman.
Krypto was originally a test subject, sent by Superman's father to Earth before Superman himself. No matter how advanced Kryptonian scientists were, they couldn't be sure how Earth would affect a Kryptonian lifeform. Sending a dog first for testing made sense.
Unfortunately, something went wrong with the dog's ship. Superman's father eventually had no choice but to launch his son instead. It wasn't until more than twenty years after Superman's arrival that Krypto finally made it to Earth. They reunited and the dog became Superman's loyal companion, guarding the Fortress of Solitude.
If the impossibly heavy door and key were the first line of defense, then the super dog was the ultimate security system.
And Liu A'dou hadn't realized yet that he was already in its sights.