Chapter 125 The Laws of Spacetime
Crashing through the rooftop, Orin Vale landed gracefully amidst countless falling stones in the great hall.
A gorilla subordinate, who had fallen to the ground, rubbed its eyes, its expression somewhat dazed. "Huh? Isn't this the judgment of the God of Lightning...?"
Orin Vale looked around, his attention quickly drawn to the brightest, most brilliant pillar in the great hall.
"Damn, these Speed Force energy readings..." He used the battlesuit's built-in system to check the readings on his Hyperspace Bracelet. "Is this the source of their Speed Force?"
Before he could even inspect it, a resonant voice boomed from the back of the hall.
"Intruder!"
Turning his head, he saw a gorilla wearing a crown, clad in golden armor, and trailing a cape had just appeared out of nowhere. This appearance all but had "I am Grodd" written on its face.
"I don't know how you broke through the defenses and burst into my inner sanctum, but daring to come here is courting death," Grodd roared furiously. "I am Grodd, King of Gorilla City! I don't even fear the divine lightning, do you think I'd be afraid of you!?"
The subordinate next to him gulped, thinking to himself, "My king, if you're not afraid, why were you running so fast just a moment ago?"
"Roar!"
The great gorilla roared furiously and executed a boar rush, its body crackling with electricity as it charged at Orin Vale.
Orin Vale dodged to the side and delivered a backhand to the face. But despite Grodd's large size, his agility was not low. He tilted his head back and actually dodged it, following up with a palm strike as lightning arced from his hand.
Evidently, as the king, the quality of Grodd's Speed Force was different. He was much faster than the gorillas that had invaded Central City.
Additionally, he also possessed a degree of super strength and durability. In the source material, he could withstand the Flash's supersonic heavy punches almost unharmed due to his physical constitution.
Orin Vale thrust out his left palm, unleashing a palm cannon. But Grodd, trailing electricity, swayed to the side and dodged it. The blast of light energy shot out and blasted a sizable hole through the outer wall of the great hall.
Orin Vale followed up with a kick and a jab, launching a flurry of kicks and punches, but Grodd still relied on his speed to continuously dodge. It seemed he had also realized his opponent's strength was not weak. Instead of clashing with his power, he relied on the Speed Force to avoid the brunt of the attacks.
He followed up with a straight punch aimed directly for the face. Grodd, as if gliding, rode lightning to float backward. The fist, tearing through the air, lost its momentum just a hair's breadth from his forehead.
"Not bad speed, intruder," Grodd said smugly. "But it can't compare to my super speed."
*Thwack.*
He was only halfway through his sentence when the fist poised before him suddenly flicked out its middle finger.
Flick Finger Divine Skill.
Although it was just one finger, empowered by Orin Vale's strength, it was astonishingly potent. Grodd, who had been wearing a smug grin just a moment before, had his head snapped back. The entire gorilla was sent flying, crashing through an unknown number of walls in the fortress and hurtling far into the distance.
The other gorillas in the great hall at first couldn't intervene because the two were moving too fast, but now, they were completely stunned.
What's this intruder's deal? He's so savage!
They were well aware of King Grodd's power. The king's power, speed, and mental fortitude were all exceptionally rare in the history of Gorilla City. In their eyes, he was a symbol of invincibility. This was also why many gorillas were willing to risk their lives for him, even if it meant abandoning their faith in the Lightning.
Yet this Grodd was taken down in a single exchange?
Combined with Grodd's arrogant, heaven-defying declaration just now, the lightning in the sky, and the speed displayed by this red-and-silver figure, which was almost on par with Grodd's...
Could this person truly be divine punishment sent by the Lightning?
Having landed a successful hit, Orin Vale, inside his armor, frowned slightly.
Grodd was indeed fast. Even after being spurned by the Speed Force, he still possessed such speed.
This made Orin Vale all the more curious about the technology he was using.
He walked up to the pillar known as the "Lightning Rod" and extended his right hand. The parts of his hand armor separated with a *click*, deactivating the armor. He touched the Lightning Rod directly with his bare hand.
His consciousness extended along with the light, tentatively exploring the pillar's principles and operating methods. His Light-Quantum Brain operated at full speed, rapidly analyzing the knowledge contained within.
As expected, he immediately felt the presence of the Speed Force, flowing rapidly within the Lightning Rod, being drawn from another spacetime.
He felt greatly inspired.
This was different from the energy he had directly contacted in the Speed Force realm before. What he had encountered before was wild, unapplied Speed Force—pure energy. What he had observed from Barry was similar. The novice Barry, though very fast, was a case of brute force creating miracles. The Speed Force realm was practically wide open to Barry, with an unlimited supply of energy, giving him as much as he wanted. There wasn't much technical skill involved.
But this Lightning Rod was different. It was the method the gorillas used to try and steal the Speed Force after being rejected by it. If Barry's Speed Force was a vast ocean, then this amount of energy was like a household water pipe.
But this small pipe contained the crystallization of generations of scientific research on Speed Force energy by the gorillas since the founding of their civilization, maximizing efficiency with minimal energy. The way the energy operated within it, their perspective on understanding the Speed Force, and even by extension, their understanding of the laws of spacetime of the entire DC Universe... all of it broadened Orin Vale's horizons considerably.
Just as described in the source material, in the DC Universe, to a certain extent, speed and time are the same thing. Some of the laws contained within the Speed Force are both speed and time.
Orin Vale had already figured out some tricks to use his own light to simulate the Speed Force's method of propulsion. And now, with these new perspectives and viewpoints, he felt he could go even further.
Time, for an Ultraman's light, was not such a mysterious and unattainable law.
In the works most familiar to Ultraman fans, Tiga was suspected of using a spacetime ability at the end of the "Star of Ultraman" episode to travel from the past back to the present. And if his performance in that episode is controversial, then as early as the Showa era, there was the example of Ace leading the entire trapped TAC team through spacetime back to the modern era.
Not to mention the representative of time-based abilities, Zero Bunny. In his Shining form, he can reverse time and had once created a special spacetime in "Ultra Fight Orb" to specially train Orb. Ten years passed in Shining Zero's spacetime, while only ten seconds passed in the outside world.
This was quite similar to the effects of the Speed Force.
As described in the official novels, Zero, in order to develop the potential of his Shining form, specifically traveled to the "Waterfall of Time" in the universe, and only through training and learning did he grasp the trick to controlling the law of time. And even so, he still hasn't fully developed the potential of this form.
Time-based abilities were considered high-end techniques. As a trainee Ultraman, Orin Vale hadn't dabbled in them before. But now, having come into direct contact with the very source of the DC Universe's laws of spacetime, he suddenly felt a continuous stream of inspiration welling up.
Slowing down time and accelerating himself—he didn't need to rely on a connection to the Speed Force; using only his own light was more than enough to accomplish it.
All he needed was knowledge, to adapt and familiarize himself with the laws that made up this universe itself.
"Roar!"
His Light-Quantum Brain operated at full speed, but only an instant had passed in the outside world. A ferocious roar sounded out. When Orin Vale turned his head, he saw the great gorilla, clad in its cape and trailing lightning, had already charged back at full speed.
The great gorilla had been sent flying so far by a single blow, yet surprisingly didn't seem seriously injured. Grodd's own superhuman endurance was one factor, and the high-speed protective effect of the Speed Force field undoubtedly played a part as well.
But now...
Orin Vale smiled faintly.
"I'm going to turn you into scrap metal, and then I'm going to eat your brain!"
Grodd roared, turning into a giant afterimage as he lunged forward, raising both fists to smash down from above!
Orin Vale calmly folded his arms, standing his ground, watching it charge all the way over without moving an inch.
Until the moment its super-speed dash brought it right before him, and it brought its clasped fists smashing down.
Orin Vale moved.
*Whoosh.*
In the instant before Grodd's fists slammed down, the red-and-silver armor seemed to vanish into thin air. The gorilla's heavy punch cracked the floor, sending fissures spreading. Gravel flew everywhere, wreathed in lightning.
Grodd's punch hit nothing. Staring at the afterimage that had vanished like a ghost before him, his pupils instantly contracted, and a thought immediately surfaced in his mind.
Impossible!
(end of chapter)