Chapter 101: The Great Purge
2023-10-23 Author: Rowing Without Oars 233
Astra was becoming more and more confused.
Krypton had its own transformation and disguise technology. It could change one's appearance, body shape, and voice, but even so, it was impossible to fool advanced equipment. Because no matter what method or technique was used, one could never truly become the person they were impersonating, from the inside out.
But this alien had actually fooled her ship's AI?
And it seemed he hadn't used any tools or technological means, relying completely on his own ability.
So, your race's skills really are all just made up on the spot as needed, aren't they?
"A basic operation. Calm down."
After giving her a small Ultraman-style shock, Orin Vale immediately changed back to his original appearance.
Adjusting his appearance or even replicating genes was very simple for him, far from being as difficult as others might imagine. This was mainly because his life form was different from that of a regular creature.
Ultraman itself is a very abstract type of being. Even his current appearance was completely sculpted based on his imagination. The reorganization of light particles allowed him to assume any form, and he could even adjust his genes.
However, this didn't actually mean his mimicry was truly perfect. Quite the opposite. In the TV series of his predecessors, Ultraman's mimicry was nearly perfect in front of humans, yet various aliens who came to Earth could always spot the "shiniest boy" in the crowd at a glance.
The main reason was likely that he was too powerful to conceal.
Because particles could be reorganized and the body could be transformed, no matter how he changed, the sun-like energy within his body couldn't be hidden. Even in humanoid form, they were like walking light bulbs. So, in the eyes of aliens with a certain level of perception, they probably looked like Lex Luthor walking at night—his bald head was just too eye-catching.
But it didn't matter. Orin Vale was already working on a solution to this problem. What couldn't be achieved by his own power had to be solved with science. As an intern for the Technology Bureau, Orin Vale considered himself to have a scientific worldview in the same vein as his own Blue-skinned Director. He already had an idea and was confident he could soon fix the only shortcoming of his mimicry ability.
Astra's face was livid. "What are you planning to do to my husband with my face?"
"Let's not make it sound so weird," Orin Vale said helplessly. "I was just planning to borrow your face to get him to let me in, and then see if I could say some things that are only meant for you..."
Hiss, somehow, saying it out loud made it sound even weirder.
Astra's expression was foul. She was furious, but there seemed to be nothing she could do about it.
"Your teammate's identification signal is coming from Blüdhaven," Orin Vale continued. "I took a look, and there have been a series of disappearances there recently... could it be related to your friend?"
Blüdhaven is also a fictional DC city, a sister city to Gotham. Compared to Gotham, its crime rate made them two of a kind. In the original work, it's the city that the first Robin, Dick Grayson, took under his protection after leaving Batman and going solo under the new codename "Nightwing".
At this stage, Nightwing was still a kid, and Batman had only just debuted and couldn't even handle Gotham yet. Therefore, the current Blüdhaven was basically a lawless no-man's-land. The police's one and only specialty was eating donuts, the Mayor and the gangs were thick as thieves, and the people were living in utter misery.
Every time Orin Vale came down to interrogate her, he would remember to have the Old Wizard refresh his Truth Spell. Astra, completely powerless, couldn't resist at all. She said sullenly, "Perhaps they are preparing for the 'Great Purge'."
Orin Vale raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"'The Great Purge' is a technology my husband and I developed that can brainwash an entire planet," Astra said coldly. "If Non plans to use it against Earth, then he'll need to capture enough human samples to study their brains and bodies in order to make specific adjustments to the 'Great Purge' system.
"That way, when the system is activated, it will only brainwash humans. And we Kryptonians won't be affected even if we're within the signal's range."
Orin Vale frowned. "But I remember you said you weren't interested in Earth."
"I am the one who isn't interested in Earth," Astra said drily. "My husband, Non, has always advocated for taking Earth to establish New Krypton. I was the one who believed it was only a matter of time before Earth was destroyed by Brainiac, and that we didn't need to clash with him head-on."
"I am a General. My military rank is far higher than my husband's, so they all listened to me before. But now that I've obviously fallen into your hands, my husband will take my place.
"If he has his way, then activating the Great Purge on Earth is to be expected."
Orin Vale frowned slightly.
The Great Purge...
If it were to really happen on Earth, that would indeed be cause for alarm. That massive brainwashing AoE was considered forbidden technology even on Krypton; it was a ridiculously overpowered ability. Although Orin Vale was fairly confident in his own psionic power, it would naturally be better to stop the thing from being activated in the first place, just to be safe.
Besides, even if he himself was immune, the very existence of an anti-human system like the "Great Purge" was fundamentally incompatible with a member of the Ultraman Race like him, who was fueled by light and hope. Given the chance, he would have to destroy every last trace of it, including its backups.
Orin Vale went to Blüdhaven that very night to take a look for himself.
As its sister city, Blüdhaven was right next to Gotham. To someone with Orin Vale's speed, this distance was basically the equivalent of an after-dinner stroll.
He accessed a backdoor into the Blüdhaven authorities' systems—this part wasn't difficult; after all, on this Earth, even the Pentagon's security was like a public restroom. He quickly went through the information related to the string of disappearances, but unfortunately, he found nothing of value.
So far, nine people had disappeared. But looking through the series of investigation files, it seemed to Orin Vale that between the lines, from beginning to end, he could see only one word—
—slacking.
No investigation, no questioning. They just made a simple record and called it a day. It seemed like no one had any intention of seriously finding out where the missing people had gone.
Near the residence of one of the missing persons, he even ran into a couple of cops.
According to the archives, they were the pair of partners from the Bludhaven Police Department who had been assigned this hot potato.
"Alright, don't even get out of the car. Let's just drive a lap to make it look good and head back," the Old Police Officer said.
"Huh?" the young police officer said, stunned. "But aren't we supposed to look for any missed evidence?"
The Old Police Officer had a look of disbelief on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Don't tell me you're suggesting we should actually try to solve this case?"
The new police officer stammered, "N-no, I mean, I think... maybe... uh... we should?"
He looked cautiously at the Old Police Officer.
"Isn't this our job?"
"Ha, and what do you think our job is?"
"...To protect the citizens?"
"Wrong!" the Old Police Officer lectured earnestly. "It's to make people *think* the citizens are protected!"
The new police officer: "?"
The young man was stunned for a moment before cautiously asking, "Make the gangs think so?"
"Our citizens, of course!"
The Old Police Officer gave him a "what are you even thinking?" look.
"The gangs have known for a long time that the citizens aren't protected."
The new police officer looked as if his entire worldview had been shattered, but he still made a last-ditch effort. "But... but I think I have a clue! Something everyone overlooked. There's a commonality among the missing persons. They had all been to the Badger Bar."
"Maybe we can actually—"
"Forget that stupid bar theory of yours! Why do you think I didn't write that dumb theory in the report? It's because I was afraid some idiot who read it would actually believe it!
"And then we'd actually have to go investigate that bar!"
The Old Police Officer was so angry spit flew from his mouth.
"And what's worse, what if we actually find something?"
Orin Vale: "..."
Although it was a bit strange, for some reason the whole system in Blüdhaven gave off the vibe of a state in terminal decline...
Still, it wasn't a total loss.
The Badger Bar, huh?
(end of chapter)