"God?"
Clark said, surprised.
Dane nodded; he didn't explain more, as it's best not to be too familiar when first making friends, even if Superman was generally a good person.
"I've been following you for a while, Clark Kent."
This was, of course, a bluff; even Dane himself had only just learned that this was the DC World, so how could he have been following him beforehand?
But who made Superman so naive? In a situation of unequal information, he actually believed it.
"Then do you know where I come from?"
He had only asked this question with one in ten thousand hope, not expecting much, but to his surprise, Dane actually nodded.
"The Planet you were born on is called Kryptonian; it is a celestial body located in the southern constellation Corvus, approximately 27.1 light-years from Earth.
This Planet once orbited a red dwarf star named RAO."
"This red dwarf star can be observed by Earth's astronomical telescopes; its designation is LHS2520. If you're interested, you can look for it."
Clark was uncontrollably excited; he even wanted to see his "homeland" immediately.
But he quickly suppressed his excitement, looking forward to Dane saying more.
However, what Dane said next dragged him from heaven to hell.
"Clark, I have to regretfully tell you that your home Planet, Kryptonian, has already been destroyed."
It died from resource depletion; you can only see its Shadow from 27 years ago now.
Clark's mood instantly plummeted, though he had a faint premonition about it.
After all, if it weren't for such a great disaster, how could he have been sent to Earth as a baby?
Dane lightly patted Clark's shoulder in comfort, saying so much just to build rapport.
Besides, even if he didn't say these things, Clarkwould find out when he located the spaceship frozen near the North Pole.
"The reason I'm telling you this is because I can't bear to see you wandering around aimlessly, always to no avail."
"Go home and see her, Martha has been missing you a lot."
Dane's words reminded Clark of his mother, alone at home, and he felt guilty.
"Moreover, cherish the present time; such peaceful days may not be common in the future."
Hmm?
Clark suddenly looked up. What did that mean?
Dane continued to mislead: "I possess a type of magicthat can roughly foresee certain fragments of the future.
Clark, I must say, the future situation is not optimistic."
Clark tensed up. Although he was an alien by blood, he had always considered himself an Earthling from the bottom of his heart.
How could he not be worried upon hearing such news?
And Dane wasn't exaggerating; setting aside everything else, Zod's invasion of Earth alone was an unavoidable catastrophe.
Flash had already proven in his solo movie that without Superman's suppression, General Zod was almost invincible.
Not to mention Doomsday, Steppenwolf, and later Darkseid, who were all lining up to come to Earth for their scenes.
"So, my finding you this time is also a heads-up, letting you know what you might encounter in the future."
"So the first problem we face is my people?"
Clark's expression was not good. He hadn't expected to face such a difficult problem.
He neither wanted to fight his own people nor did he want Earth to suffer because of it.
"Yes, although the exact time of Zod's arrival is unclear, he, being solely focused on restoring Kryptonian, cannot give up on Earth."
"And, he's coming for you."
Dane pointed to his chest.
In man of steel, Superman activated the scout ship in the North Pole, and Zod received the signal sent by this ship, thus coming to Earth.
But in The Flash solo movie, Superman was captured by Zod using unknown means before he even had a chance to grow, indicating Zod might have other ways to locate Earth.
So, thinking from the worst-case scenario, even if nothing is done, there's a high probability that Zodwill invade Earth.
Because he's searching the entire Universe for the Codex, and he will soon realize the connection between the Codex and Kal-El.
After all, he watched Kal's escape pod take off.
Hearing that Earth was facing this calamity because of him, Clark looked remorseful.
Dane knew this was an unavoidable calamity for Earth, so he didn't blame Clark.
Instead of that, he should focus on how to better solve this problem.
Although he knew some of the story's development, that was based on the situation before Flash created the Flashpoint Paradox.
If Barry had already started changing history, then the current spacetime continuum would have already been broken.
Spacetimes intertwined, creating countless possibilities.
No one could guarantee that Superman would still be able to handle Zod and his group alone this time, especially a group of Kryptonian.
Although Zod ruling the World wouldn't mean much to Dane, he didn't like the general's style.
So, he would, of course, actively participate in this dungeon to defeat Zod.
"Don't think too much right now. It will take some time for Zod to reach Earth. You can use this time to strengthen your abilities."
Clark looked at him, then at himself, and scratched his head.
How could his abilities be strengthened? Earth was already very fragile to him now.
Dane stood up and patted non-existent dust from his clothes:
"Before that, let's see how strong you are. You don't mind a sparring match, do you?"
"Sparring?" Clark looked surprised.
"Yes, I imagine you've been extremely cautious all these years, fearing you might accidentally destroy this paper-thin World. That feeling must be awful."
He then pointed to himself:
"Coincidentally, since becoming a 'God,' I haven't gone all out either. I think I'm qualified to be your opponent."
He wanted to know where his strength stood in the DC ecosystem.
Shazam's strength, like other superheroes, was erratic; when he was super-powered, he was on par with Superman, and their positions were the two unsolvable powerhouses of magic and reality.
But when he was super-weak, Shazam actually fought evenly with third-rate villains, although this also had to do with Billy Batson himself being immature.
But it also showed that Shazam's own combat power was not stable.
After hearing Dane's suggestion, Clark thought about it carefully and agreed. He had also always been curious about his own limits.
"Are we fighting here?"
He looked at the Rock of Eternity. It didn't feel very suitable. He was afraid that if he let loose even a little, it would collapse.
"Come with me."
Dane called out to him, walked through a long corridor, and arrived at a secret room where countless doors floated.
He randomly picked a door and walked in. Clarkfollowed suit.
Passing through the door, the two arrived in an empty valley.
Clark felt it was magical. He looked back at the door; inside and outside the door were two different Worlds.
"So that's what your earlier reminder meant."
He exclaimed in admiration.
"Not bad, right? I plan to set up portals in various natural scenic areas around the World, so you can live wherever you want in the future."
Dane carefully sensed his surroundings, only relaxing after confirming there were no humans present.
"Shall we begin?"
As Dane spoke these words, he felt his blood boil.
This was Achilles' Courage at work, always maintaining a vigorous fighting spirit and an optimistic attitude towards battle.
Huh? Was his compatibility with the Shazam Forcereally this good?
"Here I come!"
With Clark's warning, he suddenly rushed over at super speed.
Dane didn't use air superiority to bully him, landing on the ground to fight him fairly.
Both had super speed, as well as super-fast thinking and super-reflexive nerves. Dane saw the trajectory of Clark's fist clearly.
Even if that fist was supersonic!
Dane raised his right fist. Hercules' Strength gave him power strong enough to rival Superman, and Achilles' Courage gave him an invulnerable man of steel.
The two fists collided with a crash, and an Impactwave spread in all directions, destroying everything in its path!
Clark couldn't withstand the force and flew backward!
"Clark, don't hold back. I am a 'God'; I won't die."
At least not now.
After that initial test, Clark also realized this point, and he finally stopped restraining himself.
His eyes glowed red—it was Heat Vision!
Dane understood him better than he understood himself, but he intentionally wanted to test his own abilities, so he didn't dodge.
He gathered all his divine power. Zeus's lightning, that was divine lightning capable of directly blasting open a mother box composite!
Influenced by Dane's strong will, Zeus's Power also gave a strong response.
Lightning, like armor, enveloped his entire body, and Dane's eyes emitted a brilliant White lightning.
As Clark released his red rays, Dane's hands also released brilliant White lightning.
The two streams of energy collided in the air, causing a huge explosion. Intense heat scorched the Earth, and the Impact wave tore through the clouds!
Dane and Clark both flew backward simultaneously, then stopped at the same time.
Dane's feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground. He looked up, and Clark's newly changed clothes were already tattered again.
"Again?"
Clark's fighting spirit was high: "Good!"
The two faced each other, once again extending fists that could split mountains and part the seas.
The valley shattered, and the Water flowed backward