After a wormhole jump, the spaceship had appeared in the star system where the life-sustaining planet was located.
Looming in the distant sky was a colossal star radiating an intense white light.
Seeing this, Zod's mind stirred.
"I remember a saying from my previous life about Superman: he can not only absorb solar radiation but also radiation from other stars, and some stellar radiation even provides a stronger effect than the sun."
"If this statement is truly valid, then do we, as his kin, also possess similar abilities?"
"Furthermore, I recall that H'el, the super Kryptonian, also gained more diverse abilities than average Kryptonians because he absorbed radiation from many different stars."
With this thought, Zod directly told Leto, "Change course first and head to the planet closest to that star. I need to verify something."
"Yes, General!"
Although they didn't understand Zod's intentions, no one would question his orders.
The spaceship landed quickly. Zod was the first to fly out, then he opened his battle armor, allowing himself to be bathed in the intense white light.
However, as time passed minute by minute, Zod was somewhat disappointed that his body showed no changes.
"Truly disappointing. Perhaps the key issue still lies in our own genetic sequence."
As Krypton's military commander, his current body was among the top tier in terms of innate genetic level across all of Krypton.
Yet, he was still unable to absorb the radiation from this star, which was similar to the sun. That could only mean something was missing in their genes.
Perhaps it was this slight difference that created the super Kryptonian, H'el. As for Superman, it might be related to the Kryptonian codex within him.
After all, the codex recorded all Kryptonian genetic sequences from ancient times to the present.
Some of the oldest, most primitive genetic sequences were completely preserved, meaning Superman carried all the possibilities of Krypton's development over a hundred thousand years, which is why he could become that miracle.
As for them, the last Kryptonians, their genes had been edited countless times, and perhaps it was during these edits that certain gene fragments were removed, leading to this result.
Over hundreds of thousands of years of development, Krypton's genetic technology had reached a height that other civilizations in the entire universe could hardly aspire to.
In ancient times, those mad Kryptonian scientists even created terrifying monsters like Doomsday. That monster once nearly plunged all of Krypton into destruction.
Thinking of Doomsday, Zod was suddenly startled: "I seem to have overlooked something."
According to memories from his previous life, he vaguely recalled that the ancient Doomsday, created by Kryptonian scientists, was sealed deep within Krypton.
Krypton's destruction might also have been the catalyst for his escape.
"Phew! The sins of the ancestors ultimately fall upon their descendants. Before I have absolute strength, I hope I don't encounter that guy!"
Seeing Zod let out a long breath, Fiora and the others dared to fly forward.
Then she asked, "General, is there something wrong with this star?"
"I merely considered some possibilities and wanted to verify them. It just turned out to be a failure."
Hearing this, Leto seemed to recall something and immediately said, "General, were you just trying to verify if you could absorb the radiation emitted by that star?"
Upon hearing this, Zod looked at him with an appreciative gaze. He truly was a research-oriented Kryptonian.
It seems that after retrieving the codex from Superman, the first priority will be to cultivate scientists with advanced genes.
In Zod's eyes, naturally conceived free life forms are good, but in some ways, purposefully cultivating relevant talents through the Genesis Chamber also has its merits.
"That's right. We can absorb the radiation from a yellow sun to activate our innate abilities, but ultimately, a yellow sun is just one type of star. So I wanted to see if I could absorb radiation from other stars."
"Unfortunately, I failed. However, I hope that after we retrieve the codex, you can find a way to give us infinite possibilities. At that time, you will be New Krypton's hero."
Habitually drawing a grand vision and praising others highly—this was something Zod had learned from his previous life's corporate world.
Indeed, upon hearing Zod's words, Leto's breathing became somewhat rapid, his heart pounding violently. The sound, to those present, was like a drumbeat.
This was enough to show his inner excitement.
Then, he clenched his right fist and slammed it hard against his chest, making a dull thud, and excitedly declared, "Please rest assured, General, I will not fail in my mission."
"I have seen your resolve. All of us will await that day, witnessing the birth of a hero together!"
With a single sentence, a flush of blood-red spread across Leto's already steel-like face, and the circulation of blood in his body accelerated by an immeasurable amount.
After the small interlude, their spaceship officially landed on the only civilized planet.
Unfortunately, the civilization on this planet fell short of Zod's expectations.
Based on their architecture and living conditions, compared to Earth's civilization in his previous life, these humanoid life forms were likely in a feudal society.
Watching the colossal steel object descend from the sky, all the natives on this planet fell to their knees in fear, kowtowing repeatedly, muttering incomprehensible languages.
Especially when Zod and his crew, clad in battle armor, stood suspended in the air, these natives regarded them as beings from their beliefs.
However, Zod and his group weren't concerned with any of this. The most urgent matter now was to recharge the spaceship.
In fact, according to Kryptonian crystal technology, replenishing energy was not difficult. The countless radiations in the universe could serve as energy sources to power the spaceship.
Even if the spaceship traveled at a normal sub-light speed through the universe, there would be no energy shortage issues.
However, if they were to perform ultra-long-distance wormhole jumps, the energy consumption of the spaceship would increase exponentially.
At this point, normal energy replenishment methods would be far too slow to keep up with the consumption, and Zod and his crew needed to perform multiple jumps, requiring even more massive amounts of energy.
Under such circumstances, the simplest and most direct method was to find a life-sustaining planet and directly extract energy from its planetary core.
As for why they needed to find a life-sustaining planet, it was because planets capable of nurturing life had more vigorous energy within their cores.
Soon, a powerful energy pulse shot from the spaceship, piercing the surface and reaching the planet's interior.
The spaceship then began to recharge at an extremely fast rate, estimated to take only about two hours to draw enough energy for them to complete continuous jumps.