Chapter 63: Ambushing the Kryptonian
2023-10-23 Author: Rowing Without Oars 233
Gotham, abandoned steel mill.
This place was once a bustling industrial center, but it has been deserted since the last century. The remains of industry lingered in this desolate corner, a cold wind blowing slowly through the steel ruins. Cobwebs hung from the metal beams, and the walls, with their peeling paint, were covered in mottled water stains and moss.
Among Gotham's crisscrossing streets and alleys, there were countless abandoned factories and warehouses like this one. Places like this also tended to attract all sorts of strange gang members, superpowered beings, and aliens.
For instance, at this very moment, a woman in black was flying down from the rooftop, passing through the broken roof and landing inside the abandoned building.
The room was vast and silent. Abandoned shipping containers were piled up haphazardly, like evidence forgotten by time. Faint moonlight streamed down through the shattered glass, illuminating the broken wooden crates and tattered scraps of paper scattered on the ground. The air was filled with the smell of dampness and decay.
After landing, the woman walked straight toward a heavy iron door set into the floor. The building above was just a facade. Her real hiding place was in the basement of this abandoned factory. Her spaceship was parked there—her vehicle for arriving on Earth and her temporary stronghold.
The heavy, giant door creaked as she lifted it open with ease, revealing a flight of stone steps covered in moss, leading deep underground.
Just as the woman was about to step onto the stairs and head down, she suddenly frowned slightly and halted.
Right by her feet, not far down.
A transparent tripwire.
A trap?
The woman almost laughed out loud.
She immediately realized her hiding place had been exposed, yet she wasn't the least bit flustered. In fact, she hadn't put much effort into covering her tracks in the first place. The reason was simple: there was no need.
She was a Kryptonian.
Now, after being exposed to the radiation of a yellow sun, she was basically invincible. Her body was stronger than a starship, making her a walking interstellar weapon. Why should she be timid on such a primitive planet?
She paid no mind to this primitive trap and began to look around, searching for the enemy's location.
The Kryptonian's pupils contracted. Her eyes adjusted, and a faint blue glow flickered within them.
Darkness and walls couldn't block a Kryptonian's eyes. She was certain the ambusher was hiding nearby. No one could evade her eyes now.
And then...
And then she went blind.
A completely unexpected, intense burst of light exploded throughout the entire factory the instant she activated her super-vision. The incandescent light was like a small sun detonating in a confined space. In an instant, the flash made everything go black.
In that split second, she figured out her opponent's tactic.
Her opponent never expected that primitive trap to work. It was just a feint, a lure. The goal was simply to make her activate her super-vision.
Realizing someone was lying in ambush, activating super-vision to scan the surroundings would undoubtedly be the first reaction.
What a despicable enemy!
This was also a result Orin Vale had tested earlier. The flashbang specifically designed for Kryptonians would be exponentially more effective against a Kryptonian who was actively using super-vision. It would still land a critical hit on a Kryptonian who wasn't skilled enough with their super senses.
Simple psychology.jpg.
The moment their vision is blinded, an organism's instinct is to panic. At the same time, realizing they are still within the enemy's sight, they would undoubtedly become alert and immediately use their second-most-relied-upon sense to search for and locate the enemy.
Super-hearing.
At this moment, her body would instinctively command her super-hearing to activate, capturing even the faintest sound of a speck of dust falling. And unlike Superman, who had spent the better part of his life learning what to listen to and what to ignore, most Kryptonians in the early stages of their superpower awakening could only manage a simple on and off, or at best, adjust the range and distance. It was difficult to instinctively filter out extraneous sounds.
So when the woman activated her hearing, cocking her ear to listen, all she heard was—
A deafening roar.
It was a kind of suffering that ordinary humans without enhanced hearing could never imagine, an agony like countless needles pricking her eardrums. The intense pain nearly caused her brain to shut down in an instant. A dull buzzing echoed in her ears.
A sonic cannon.
Still simple psychology.
Having suffered heavy blows consecutively without even catching a glimpse of the enemy's shadow, the woman grew furious and enraged, roaring, "You shameless scoundrel, do you dare face me!?"
She struck a "come at me" pose.
And then she took one to the face.
The azure radiance of the Spacium beam shot out from the darkness, striking the Kryptonian, who was about to spew curses, right in the face, dealing direct headshot damage.
The red-and-silver mech stood silently in a dark corner, its arms in a cross-shaped pose, energy surging out wildly.
But the woman actually withstood it!
The impact from the Spacium beam blasted her head, breaking the skin. Blood flowed freely, but she quickly steadied her footing and caught the beam with both palms.
In a classic Superman-esque pose, she pushed against the energy stream, using her body to withstand the beam's output. She advanced step by step against the beam, her hands scorched bright red, enduring a searing pain, yet she continued to advance unyieldingly.
Finally, she arrived in front of the mobile armor, like a ship sailing against the current. She let out a great shout, and while still holding back the beam, she thrust her fingers forward, fiercely grabbing for the red-and-silver armor—
*Bang!*
A powerful hook punch suddenly struck from the darkness at her side. The punch landed squarely on her cheek, caving it in. A transparent shockwave erupted from her cheek. The woman in black shot diagonally downward, propelled by the force of the punch, smashing into the ground with a loud crack that made the entire factory seem as if it would collapse.
Orin Vale, in his Ultraman form, held his punching pose. He remained human-sized, standing beside the mobile armor.
He was never inside the armor to begin with.
Facing a genuine Kryptonian for the first time, while testing the targeted weaponry, Orin Vale still decided to play it safe. He transformed and entered the fray himself, just without using gigantification.
Meanwhile, the mobile armor was being controlled by Pal, still acting as bait.
Having lost both hearing and sight, when attacked by the Spacium beam again, the opponent would most likely not dodge. Instead, she would charge forward against the beam—because this was the only means she had left to lock onto the enemy's position.
This way, she would "voluntarily" take the full, sustained damage of the entire Spacium beam. Furthermore, she would actively walk right up to Orin Vale's already poised fist, taking the second wave of damage.
Orin Vale's movements didn't stop after throwing the punch. He immediately raised his right palm. Energy gathered there, and accompanied by swirling lightning, it transformed into the shape of a light wheel.
Eight-Split Light Wheel follow-up!
(end of chapter)