He left?
Alex felt slightly surprised.
But now wasn't the time to analyze Nuclear Man's behavior.
Without any delay, Alex's body blurred—and he vanished on the spot.
Boom!
All that remained was a sonic boom.
In the blink of an eye, Alex appeared on a bustling street.
There, a crowd had gathered around the injured Superman, voices overlapping in anxious discussion.
"Superman's hurt—he can't even fly anymore!"
"He was injured trying to protect us!"
"What do we do? Is there anything we can help with?"
Everyone was filled with worry and concern.
After all, Superman had been injured while saving the city—while carrying away the Statue of Liberty.
But beyond words, the bystanders could do nothing.
Just then, another figure flashed into view, instantly lifting everyone's spirits.
"Alex!"
"It's Alex!"
"Great—Alex is here!"
Alex and Superman were known to be friends.
The two of them had once joined forces to defeat General Zod's invasion.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd—
Alex, now without his glasses, walked straight up to Superman, lifted him in his arms, and shot into the sky.
Whoosh!
In a flash, Alex arrived at a deserted location with Superman and gently set him down.
"Clark, how do you feel?" Alex asked.
At the same time, he activated his x-ray vision to examine Superman's condition.
His brow immediately furrowed.
Superman had incredibly powerful self-healing abilities, but Alex could clearly see horrifying injuries beneath the suit.
Worse still—
Superman's internal organs had suffered severe trauma.
Some strange energy had been driven into his body by Nuclear Man, preventing his wounds from healing.
That energy was still actively destroying his body.
It was serious.
Superman was gravely injured.
And this was something even Alex couldn't fix.
"Clark, hold on. I'll take you somewhere to be treated," Alex said after a brief pause.
He decided to take Superman back to Krakoa.
Given Superman's current condition, only Ike Daemon of Krakoa might be able to heal him.
"Alex… take me to the Fortress of Solitude…"
Superman's weak voice sounded.
His face was deathly pale, his voice barely audible.
"I understand."
Boom!
The moment the words fell, Alex vanished again.
The next instant—
Alex and Superman appeared in the Arctic, inside Superman's secret base: the Fortress of Solitude.
Hum—
Jor-El's hologram appeared immediately.
"Put him down," Jor-El said urgently, not even pausing to greet Alex.
Alex followed instructions, placing Superman on the ground.
Jor-El quickly began a full examination.
His expression darkened.
"It's an unknown form of energy," Jor-El said gravely.
"That energy has integrated into his cells and is destroying his cellular structure."
"Can you fix it?" Alex asked seriously.
"If we were on Krypton, it would be no problem," Jor-El replied.
"But here, with only the resources of this fortress, I can only do my best."
The Fortress of Solitude was still just a limited base.
Many advanced facilities were missing.
Even though Jor-El knew how to treat Kal-El, he was constrained by available resources.
He could only try.
Alex nodded without saying anything.
If Jor-El succeeded, all would be well.
If not, Alex would take Clark to Krakoa himself.
---
Luthor's Secret Base
The Nuclear Man—who had nearly killed Superman—now stood obediently beside Lex Luthor.
His eyes were dull, his body motionless, as if shut down.
And in fact, that was exactly the case.
Nearby, teams of technicians furiously typed at consoles.
Others circled Nuclear Man, conducting detailed inspections.
Lex Luthor stared coldly at the scene and spoke mercilessly:
"I don't want the same problem happening again."
"Next time, I want Nuclear Man to kill Superman."
"If Superman lives—you die."
Yes.
Nuclear Man letting Superman go at the critical moment wasn't mercy—it was malfunction.
Due to excessive output or some unknown factor, he had shown signs of overload.
Lex Luthor had been forced to recall him immediately.
Otherwise, Nuclear Man would have been permanently damaged.
So Luthor had no choice but to bring him back for repairs.
Tap tap tap!
Beep beep beep!
Machines flickered, data streamed across screens.
After a long period of frantic work, a balding technician with glasses approached Lex Luthor.
"Mr. Luthor, the problem has been resolved."
"Nuclear Man is ready to be deployed again at any time."
Luthor's eyes lit up—then narrowed.
"You're sure the problem is fixed?"
"Yes, Mr. Luthor."
The technician carefully reviewed everything once more, paused for nearly half a minute, then nodded firmly.
"Good."
Only then did Lex Luthor show satisfaction.
---
[New Mission Generated]
[Mission Objective: Resolve the Nuclear Man Crisis]
[Mission Reward: 20,000 Origin Points]
Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Alex felt a surge of excitement.
This trip to Metropolis hadn't been in vain.
A new mission—just as expected.
Excellent.
"Jor-El, I'll leave Clark in your care. I need to handle something first," Alex said.
After giving his instructions, he left the Fortress of Solitude.
Activating his super-hearing, Alex instantly covered all of Metropolis—but heard nothing relevant.
After a brief pause, he expanded his range.
This time, his hearing spanned the entire globe.
Sure enough—he picked up something interesting.
Without hesitation, Alex vanished again.
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