Chapter 131: I'm Just a Clerk
Fort Rozz, the super-prison built by the Kryptonians within the Phantom Zone, housed the most infamous criminals in Krypton's history.
Its current leader was presumed to be Astra's husband, Kara's uncle Non—a typical hawk who was seemingly preparing a "Great Purge" plan to brainwash all of humanity and was plotting to conquer Earth.
Based on the information obtained from Astra and Indigo, Orin Vale adjusted the detection frequency of his anti-Brainiac radar, retuning it to scan for a signal from Fort Rozz. This way, the radar should react immediately once Fort Rozz approached Earth.
Just like now.
Quickly marking the position on the radar, Orin Vale glanced at it and frowned slightly.
Could the Great Purge be about to begin?
Astra and Indigo were imprisoned one level below his laboratory. He thought for a moment, and with a mere thought, his entire body was enveloped in a glow. He passed directly through the wall and descended, shrouded in brilliance, from the ceiling into the lower-level holding cell.
After all, his human host was just a disguise; his body was essentially a collection of light particles. If the Flash could phase through walls by oscillating his body's atoms to squeeze through their gaps, then phase-shifting was an even more fundamental skill for Orin Vale.
Indigo's eyes widened as she watched the humanoid form descend straight through the wall.
A few seconds later, she turned to look at Astra. "He can freaking phase through walls, did you know that?"
"No," Astra said calmly.
"And you're still so calm?"
Indigo was still horrified by Orin Vale's seemingly bottomless list of skills.
"I'm used to it, I suppose. It's no big deal," Astra said placidly.
Indigo: "?"
Wait, what's with this defeatist attitude? It's as if she's completely given up the struggle.
"Sorry to disturb you, ladies, but I have a few questions..."
Orin Vale walked forward, glancing at Indigo, who looked as if she had just seen a ghost.
"Don't get so worked up. It's just phasing through a wall. Where I'm from, this isn't even considered a proper course. I learned how to do this three thousand years ago—literally."
Indigo fell silent. She was suddenly at a loss for what to comment on first: the three thousand years or the concept of it being a course.
After a moment of hesitation, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you saying that these abilities of yours, all of them, are taught in classes where you come from?"
"What, I haven't told you before?" Astra glanced at her with her arms crossed. "This guy comes from a planet of monsters like him."
"An entire planet like this!?"
Indigo felt as if the very boundaries of her imagination were being assaulted. She couldn't begin to fathom what a planet teeming with such overpowered individuals would be like.
"Not quite. Not everyone on my planet is like me," Orin Vale said.
This brought Indigo a slight sense of relief.
That made more sense. Perhaps this overpowered individual before her was just a more outstanding member of his planet. If an entire planet were full of such godlike beings, what would you even call that? A divine realm?
Then she heard Orin Vale continue, "Actually, don't be fooled by my appearance. Where I'm from, I'm just a scientist... No, not even a scientist. I'm just an intern who recently graduated from school.
"Strictly speaking, I'm a clerk, not a warrior. We have an organization above us called the 'Space Garrison.' Their combat-enlisted members are the real powerhouses. Compared to them, I'm nothing..."
Indigo: "???"
Astra: "???"
You're just a clerk? Say that again?
A recently graduated, intern, clerk?
Hold on, are you guys literally mass-producing godlike beings over there? What right does a monster like you have to call yourself a clerk?
The two aliens were struck silent for a short while.
Finally, it was Astra who couldn't resist asking, "By the way... is your planet's population... large?"
Although Astra felt her tolerance for the outrageousness of this light-based race had increased significantly, she suspected she still couldn't handle it if the number was too large.
"Oh, we're a small planet. The population is quite small," Orin Vale shrugged.
Astra and Indigo exchanged a glance, their faces showing an "as expected" expression of relief.
But their relief didn't last two seconds before his next sentence nearly made them both spit up a mouthful of blood.
"The last census recorded eighteen billion, so it should be a little more by now. I'm not sure by how much..."
The two aliens: "??????"
How... how many?
Wait, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the concept of a "small population"?
Eighteen billion overpowered individuals walking around, and according to him, he was just an unremarkable one among them...
But, in all honesty, Orin Vale was telling the truth.
Eighteen billion sounded like a lot, but the vast majority of them were not warriors. In contrast, they had an entire universe to manage. Oh, and since the New Generation era began, it's been far more than a single universe. The Space Garrison was currently expanding its operations throughout their entire multiverse.
Orin Vale could swear on the Plasma Spark Tower that he was absolutely not humblebragging. The Security Patrol was genuinely short-staffed right now...
Indigo once again cast her gaze toward Astra, her eyes seeming to speak.
*Should we just give up and go to sleep? Krypton is already gone. With the handful of people we have in Fort Rozz, going up against a civilization of godlike beings seems even worse than taking our chances with Brainiac...*
Astra, expressionless, returned the look.
*I've been thinking that for a while now.*
"So, I adjusted the radar based on the information you provided, and this is the identification signal I just detected near the Moon. It partially matches the characteristics of Fort Rozz."
Orin Vale swiped open a floating screen, displaying it in front of the two.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on?"
The two exchanged a look, each moving closer to the glass to examine the readings on the floating screen.
"This is our signal, but it's not Fort Rozz."
Indigo shook her head and said.
"But if I had to guess... it's probably an outpost."
"An outpost?"
"Fort Rozz is made of many parts. Different sections can be detached to operate independently," Indigo said.
Astra also added, "Establishing an outpost before an operation is a basic principle. It's very logical. Perhaps Non is finally preparing to launch his operation."
"An outpost, huh..."
In any case, now that he had a clue, Orin Vale felt it was worth a personal visit.
In truth, supervillains often rely on a "first-encounter kill." It wasn't that the heroes couldn't win, but they were often caught in the open while their enemies were hidden. Being forced to react passively to a surprise attack made it easy to suffer a setback.
So now that he had a clue, he had a chance to seize the initiative.
Leaving the basement, Orin Vale was mentally planning his trip to the coordinate near the Moon, the location of the suspected outpost, when he ran right into Kara.
"There's a little situation at the shop," Kara said.
"What is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing much, really," Kara said. "Some lunatic named Two-Face showed up with a group of gun-toting henchmen and said they were here to take us hostage."
Orin Vale: "?"
(end of chapter)