A heat ray shot from Zod's eyes, melting the ice that encased him.
"You anger me, and you surprise me. I thought nothing on this planet, besides Kal, could threaten us, yet you killed Nam and gravely wounded me... You are an excellent warrior, but unfortunately, you are not Kryptonian; you are an Earthling."
Zod coldly stared at Qingshui with his single eye, the red glow intensifying. He aimed at Qingshui and fired another heat ray.
With little Speed Force remaining, Qingshui was using it sparingly. He relied solely on White Knight's thrusters, combined with its gliders and Airflow Manipulation ability, to fly and dodge in the air.
"You've slowed down. It seems your metallic shell has good power output, but poor endurance."
Zod coldly pursued him, firing rays as he chased.
Bright red heat rays shot wildly in all directions.
Many buildings in Metropolis were damaged, and even the LexCorp headquarters had a corner sliced off by a heat ray.
Qingshui dodged until he could dodge no more, finally deciding to take a heat ray head-on.
Behind him was his own TSL Company building.
When Qingshui bought that building, the money he spent was in the hundreds of millions!
It also contained a wealth of data and equipment related to new energy vehicle research and other technologies. If Zod destroyed it, he would suffer an immense loss!
The scorching ray landed on White Knight, heating its Promethium shell until it glowed red.
Then, two more heat rays shot out, not only countering Zod's heat ray but pushing it back in a wave.
Under the golden sunlight, a red cape flapped.
In a short time, Superman had circled the Earth, destroyed the World Engine located at Earth's antipode in Metropolis, and had successfully returned.
The heat was absorbed by the Promethium, and White Knight's glowing red exterior quickly returned to normal.
"You finally made it."
Qingshui sighed in relief, looking at Superman, who had stopped in front of him.
When the powerful Superman was on his side, it gave him a great sense of security.
"War Warrior, thank you for your help. I'll take it from here."
Superman nodded politely to Qingshui, then instantly lunged at Zod.
"War Warrior?"
Qingshui mumbled, puzzled.
"That's a codename I gave you for convenience, to conceal your identity," Batman's low, raspy voice came through the radio.
"It sounds pretty low, but cooler than 'Batman' or something," Qingshui said to Batman.
Batman ignored Qingshui's teasing. He continuously tapped on the touchscreen on his arm, controlling the Batplane, which had already reached Metropolis, according to Barry's trajectory.
Superman had already circled the Earth, and The Flash had also completed his acceleration and build-up.
In a flash, time seemed to stand still.
A red lightning bolt streaked from the ocean, crossed the vast farmlands of Kansas, and arrived in Metropolis.
Barry ran up the side of a skyscraper, leaped into the air, then used the top of the Batplane, suspended mid-air, as a springboard to propel himself higher.
A Batarang, imbued with a bit of Speed Force, was hurled by Barry.
Then...
*BOOM!*
The World Engine exploded, but its contents rushed frantically towards a specific location.
Finally, half of the entire World Engine was cut away and vanished by a spatial singularity, while the remaining half transformed into streaks of meteors in the sky, trailing fiery tails as they fell.
"No—!"
Zod roared, staring at Superman.
"You've destroyed Krypton's chance to continue existing!"
"But I've also preserved Earth's hope to continue existing!"
Superman puffed out his chest, the S-symbol of hope on his chest appearing glaringly bright to Zod.
Sonic booms exploded as the two Kryptonians clashed in the skies above Metropolis once more.
Red lightning flickered, and Barry began running again.
He was rescuing people on the ground who had been injured by the battle.
A few Kryptonians plus Qingshui created quite a commotion when they fought, and many people were caught in the aftermath.
A grappling hook shot out, and Batman swung between tall buildings, landing beside Qingshui.
"We need to deal with Zod quickly, or he'll just keep getting stronger," Batman said to Qingshui.
"Superman is capable of killing him."
"I can tell he's holding back. He won't kill unless he's pushed to the brink, and this is a test for him too."
"I see now. You don't trust him, so you want to force him to kill the Kryptonians' current sole leader himself, to prove he's on humanity's side."
Qingshui understood Batman's meaning.
A pledge of allegiance, then!
"What are you planning to do?"
"Can your suit still use the Speed Force?"
Batman countered.
"A little bit left."
"I need you to be the final safeguard."
As Batman spoke, he pulled a launcher from beneath his cape.
"You plan to use that thing against a Kryptonian?"
Qingshui grumbled.
Batman glanced at Qingshui, then reached out and tapped the touchscreen on his arm.
The Batplane landed nearby.
"The Batplane's rear compartment has lead plating that can block Kryptonian x-ray vision. Get in there. If things get out of control, I'll use other means to hold back Zod. You're responsible for the killing blow, and if it's possible, that includes Superman."
A opening large enough for one person to pass through opened on the side of the Batplane.
Batman simultaneously pulled out some tools and began modifying the launcher in his hand.
"What other means do you have?"
Qingshui asked curiously.
But Batman didn't show any intention of explaining, simply saying:
"Hurry! The longer we delay, the stronger Zod will get, and the higher the danger will become!"
Qingshui could only give Batman a look of disdain before crawling inside.
The Batplane ascended and concealed itself. Qingshui sat in his seat, watching the scene below through the display.
"Alfred."
Batman whispered.
"The Batcomputer has comprehensively analyzed the data on both Kryptonians and Watt, Master Wayne. Next, you'll need to predict their positions based on the real-time simulations displayed."
"Understood."
Batman responded in a low voice, unlatching the slot on his left arm, removing the touchscreen, and attaching it to the launcher. He then took out a magazine clip and attached it to the bottom.
"Activate ballistic correction."
A few seconds later.
With a "bang," multiple bullets fired simultaneously.
These weren't ordinary bullets, but ones made of a special hollow metal structure embedded with Kryptonite, ensuring the Kryptonite wouldn't rapidly shatter from external forces during high-speed flight.
In short, these were bullets capable of posing a threat to Kryptonians.
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