Building a space station was delicate work. Liu A'dou transported each container to orbit, then opened them one by one to install the parts. Superman and Kara were helping too. Kara was thrilled with her powers and couldn't stay still at all.
Superman had no choice but to keep her close, afraid she'd cause trouble if left alone.
"Diana suggested I send Kara to Themyscira for training," Superman said through his headset.
"The Amazon method's not bad," Kid replied, though he secretly thought Diana probably wanted every woman in the world to train on Themyscira. "Kara needs to learn how to control her powers and live like an ordinary person."
Right now, only the three of them were in space, laying the station's foundation. Batman and the others would come up later once the basics were ready. Kara had strength but zero patience. She kept flying around like a bee.
Now that she could do things that weren't possible on Krypton, she couldn't stop flying. Once she learned how to fly, she zipped back and forth nonstop.
"Kal, I can breathe in space!" Kara shouted excitedly.
"Kara, speak English. You're using Kryptonian—I don't understand you."
"Kid, I said I can breathe in space! It's amazing!" Kara spun joyfully in place.
"Little brat," Liu A'dou muttered, not bothering to comment on her showing off. He just hoped she wouldn't mess something up.
He picked up the manual, glanced at it, and continued assembling. Even though only two people were actually working, progress was fast. A lot had already been pre-assembled on Earth, so it was just about transporting and locking it into place.
"Kid, you're not Kryptonian, right? So how can you breathe in space? I'm starting to think you're not even human."
"Who says only Kryptonians can come to space?" Kid grinned. "I'm a shining example of Earth's greatness. Just look at me—you'll see humans have limitless potential. There's no way we're weaker than Kryptonians."
"Pfft, shameless. You humans still have a long way to go if you want to catch up."
"We'll get there sooner or later. I'm actually curious—aren't you Kryptonians gene-engineered? What position were you assigned?"
"Same as my mom—a prosecutor."
Damn, Kid hadn't expected this girl to be so hardcore. Barely a teen and already a prosecutor?
"Kara, now you've got a new chance to choose for yourself," Superman said. He didn't want his cousin to be stuck under Krypton's rules now that she was on Earth.
"I think so too. I don't know the first thing about Earth's legal system."
They chatted while building, and after a few days, the Justice League's space station was finally ready for entry. Batman, Flash, and Diana arrived. Batman started tweaking the systems, while the other two got to work furnishing the place.
The space station was huge. The main body had two levels, like a double-decker aircraft carrier. It would soon be equipped with Batman's fabrication gear. He planned to start developing high-speed spacecraft for space combat. Threats from space were only going to grow. Having space-grade weaponry was a must.
Batman had powerful research capabilities and didn't mind the cost. Sooner or later, he was going to develop those ships.
Flash ran up and down the station nonstop—he was always the one doing errands.
"Batman, I've got a question," Flash said during a rare break. "We're building this giant space station—aren't other countries going to complain?"
"We're not under any government's control." Batman's first sentence was cocky, but then he softened his tone. "With Superman backing us, and since the Justice League saved Earth, the United Nations approved construction."
Ah, that made sense. Flash felt relieved. He was just a local cop and didn't want to do anything that crossed the line. What he didn't know was that the UN's approval hadn't come easy—it followed fierce debate.
The United States especially wasn't happy about a sword of justice hanging over their heads. They could live with the Avengers because that group operated under government oversight. But the Justice League's whole purpose was to exist beyond any government, as an independent global force. And the biggest problem in the world—the one most afraid of that—was the United States. They feared the Justice League might turn against them.
But this wasn't something the United States could veto alone. Some countries agreed, others didn't. Nobody liked being watched, but in the end, it came down to a vote.
The five major powers all voted against it. But the smaller countries, feeling unsafe, voted in favor. The approval rate passed 70%. The major powers figured if they pushed back too hard and ended up being targeted by the Justice League, it'd be trouble. So, reluctantly, they agreed to the construction plan. And honestly, even if they hadn't, the Justice League would've built it anyway. This just made it official through the United Nations.
The reason the five major powers objected wasn't about the space station itself. It was because the Justice League had stepped outside the global structure and broken the rules of the game. They worried that if rogue states copied this example and started their own independent alliances, the post–World War II global order would collapse. Even if those countries weren't as strong as the Justice League, they could still stir up chaos.
When the vote passed, the five major powers held another meeting. They finally reached a decision: since they couldn't stop it, they might as well support the Justice League and raise them to a level that smaller countries could only look up to. That way, no small country would dare try the same. So the five major powers coordinated their message—unified support for the Justice League. They launched huge campaigns praising their contributions and exaggerating their combat strength.
The higher the Justice League's image, the more hesitant smaller nations would be to challenge the UN's authority by copying them.
And so, under the public support of the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia, the Justice League claimed a corner of space as their own.
Flash felt unbelievably lucky. He was part of the Justice League—and now they even had their own space station.
The station looked like a giant spinning top. The main body was a circular disk with a runway on one side. Inside, it had separate zones: living quarters, recreation, surveillance, research—everything.
Who would've thought this thing was hand-assembled and completed in just a few days? Superman and Kid built it all manually. Their hands were the wrench, hammer, and screwdriver. Superman even acted as the welding torch.
Flash had every reason to be proud. This space station was at least dozens of times more advanced than the International Space Station. It even had artificial gravity. Clearly, you couldn't run a superhero team without a billionaire. Watching Batman calmly managing everything, Flash had no idea how much money it would take to make Batman even flinch.
"It's done. Only the teleportation system test is left," Batman said. "Flash, go fetch Krypto."
That was ice cold. "You're not really going to use Krypto for the first test, are you?" Flash trusted Bunny, but he didn't trust Batman to fully understand teleportation tech in such a short time. He'd only seen humans use teleportation in movies.
"I never joke."
Flash thought, 'Fine.' But then he remembered—wasn't Krypto in the Arctic? How was he supposed to fetch him?
Batman pressed a switch. Flash vanished.
In the Arctic, Flash looked up at the sky and yelled, "Batman! I'll remember this! You actually used me as the test subject? I hate you!"
Batman smirked darkly. "Test successful." Of course, he had done plenty of ground testing beforehand and only activated the system once he was sure it was completely safe. He would never risk harming Flash.