**Chapter 18: Distant Ocean Call for Help**
"Until you completely adapt and can filter useful data on your own, I suggest you turn off the internet. I've given you an external smartphone; you can use it to handle your daily online communication needs."
Finishing the advice recorded in the notebook, Ben turned into the changing room and changed into the Ben 10,000 version black and white combat suit he had custom-made from Batman not long ago—of course, a smaller version to fit his current size.
These days, to help Cyborg solve the hidden dangers on his body, Ben either transformed into Upgrade or Grey Matter.
Now that the hidden dangers on Cyborg were finally solved, Ben also wanted to play with the Omnitrix properly and try out the Kryptonian DNA recorded from Superman.
"Victor! Want to spar? Your opponent is a 15-year-old Superman!"
Returning to the training ground, Ben looked at Cyborg, who had just walked off the field, and issued a battle invitation.
Facing Ben's invitation, Cyborg didn't refuse. As the weapons mounted all over his body activated, he smiled and responded, "Okay, no problem!"
Getting Cyborg's response, and seeing the hourglass color on the Omnitrix dial finally turn from red to green, Ben immediately pressed the switch on the Omnitrix.
Turning the dial until the silhouette of a humanoid lifeform similar to himself appeared in the green frame.
"It's Hero Time!"
Accompanied by a flash of green light, Ben didn't feel any changes after transforming.
Aside from the watch icon moving to his chest, Ben felt no difference from before transforming.
"Are you sure you transformed?"
Seeing Ben complete the transformation, Cyborg retracted the weapons on his body.
He knew Ben had recorded Kryptonian DNA from Superman, but he thought Ben would transform directly into Superman's appearance.
"When recording DNA, the Omnitrix adjusts clothing and physiological parameters based on the wearer's body type, gender, and age."
While responding to Cyborg, Ben stretched his limbs to confirm his physical condition.
"The Kryptonian growth cycle is almost the same as Earthlings, so I still look like a teenager. Maybe because I haven't been irradiated by yellow sunlight, most Kryptonian abilities haven't been activated."
After a simple stretch, Ben felt the changes weren't obvious. After roughly determining the problem, Ben immediately used voice control to change the lighting in the training ground.
"Training ground! Simulate yellow sunlight irradiation!"
Besides basic shooting targets, the training ground also had environmental simulation functions capable of simulating dozens of completely different battlefield environments and climates.
As the simulated yellow solar radiation in the training ground shone on Ben, he immediately felt his entire body filling with power.
"Ready, let's do this!"
As soon as Ben's voice fell, Cyborg's hands turned into charged rifles and immediately fired.
"Zzz~~ Boom!"
Accompanied by a sizzling sound, the energy beam shot straight through the tips of Ben's hair. The focused beam followed Ben's dodging direction, but ultimately missed by a hair's breadth.
"Phew, that was close!"
Heaving a sigh of relief, Ben knew Cyborg had specifically weakened the weapon's power.
Otherwise, the size of that beam just now would have been much larger.
Given that even dodging with all his might resulted in his hair tips being hit, facing a normal-sized energy beam would mean defeat.
Ben wasn't frustrated by this at all. After all, the weapons Cyborg was using now were modified by him. If they didn't even have this much power, it would actually make Ben feel embarrassed.
However, Ben had only just started absorbing yellow sunlight. The Kryptonian superpowers were only beginning to manifest, far from reaching their peak.
At this moment, in front of Cyborg's eyes, the auto-aiming system Ben installed for him was calibrating based on the movement speed Ben had just displayed.
"Zzz~~ Boom!"
As the aiming system locked onto the target again, it continued to fire a beam of the same power as the last attack.
With the continuous irradiation of yellow sunlight, Ben's speed and strength were constantly increasing. But facing this attack, Ben chose not to dodge but to block it head-on.
As his eyes widened, red heat vision met the energy column fired by Cyborg. The two energies cancelled each other out in mid-air, but the power of the heat vision Ben fired was gradually climbing as he absorbed the yellow sunlight.
"Increasing output power!"
Noticing the change in the heat vision's power, Cyborg immediately issued instructions to his body's weapon system.
As Cyborg instantly ramped up the weapon's power, the energy beam he released instantly suppressed Ben's heat vision.
With a "boom," the focused beam finally landed on Ben's arms crossed in front of him.
The high-temperature energy ray landed on the skin of his arms, emitting black smoke. Ben could feel the heat burning, but there was no particularly obvious pain.
As the beam dissipated, there were only shallow scars on his arms, which were healing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"If it were Superman, an attack of this level wouldn't cause any damage at all."
Noticing the scars on Ben's arms, Cyborg calculated the damage based on the information stored in the system database. An attack of equal power on Superman wouldn't cause any effective damage.
"Compared to adult Kryptonians, the efficiency of sunlight absorption and conversion for teenage Kryptonians is much lower."
Nodding gently, Ben could feel that there was still a deep chasm between him and Superman.
However, with the yellow sunlight irradiation, Ben also felt his mind becoming clearer. The gap between him and Superman gradually turned into clear numbers appearing in his mind.
"Based on the current efficiency of power improvement, I need to sunbathe for at least an hour to possess power close to Superman's."
The answer emerging in his mind didn't disappoint Ben too much. Even if he only absorbed the sun for ten minutes, the power Ben obtained before the transformation ended would be enough for him to deal with the vast majority of villains on Earth.
"League members! Is anyone free?"
Just as Ben was preparing to continue testing the remaining abilities with Cyborg, a cry for help came from the communication facility in Mount Justice.
Cyborg used the smartphone Ben provided to receive the communication and checked the message sent by the other party.
"Government liaison. A Navy submarine lost signal in the middle of the Atlantic. In the recording, someone seems to be slaughtering the soldiers on the submarine."
...