Kara's departing figure had started as an ordinary light jog, but the moment she told Heisenberg to wait for her, her steps got away from her and turned into little bouncing skips.
Watching the childlike young Supergirl, Heisenberg pressed his lips together, a knowing smile spreading across his face.
Little one, in this world before you — the world where I exist — you will become the pride of Krypton and your aunt.
And of course, you will become my pride as well.
Heisenberg murmured the thought in his heart, then turned and walked over to where Clark and Bach stood.
Bach was currently busy calibrating the various Kryptonian signal streams, using them to determine and verify their real-time positions. Seeing Heisenberg approach, he gave a slight nod where he stood and spoke.
"Your Eminence, of the sixty-two remaining Kryptonian signals, twenty-six have confirmed contact. I have arranged them in order from nearest to farthest. Please extend your right hand so I may import these signals into your consciousness."
"Mn."
Heisenberg nodded and extended his right hand without hesitation, letting the base's communications core coil around his wrist.
At the same time, the nearest signal source flashed through his mind — a region near the edge of the southwestern sector of the Milky Way.
After registering the signal's location, Heisenberg nodded and looked toward Clark, who was waiting anxiously at his side.
"Prepare to depart."
"I've been ready all along, Great-Grandfather!"
Clark nodded heavily, then gritted his teeth and spoke with urgent fervor.
"Everything today has filled me with a torrent of emotions. I never once imagined that so many of our people were still out in the universe, struggling just to survive. I feel pain and guilt for my past oblivion. I... I have failed too many! My father would never have wanted me to become the man I am. Of that, I am utterly certain!!! Send me there, Great-Grandfather. As the hope in Jor-El's eyes, I should have stopped drifting in complacency and self-satisfaction long ago. At least I still have the chance to make amends — and I have so very much to make up for!"
"That is not your fault, Clark. That—"
"Call me Kal-El, Great-Grandfather. That is what our people will call me. I want to use the name they give me as a reminder never to forget the debt I owe them!"
"Very well."
Heisenberg nodded, casting a deep, meaningful look at the Superman before him.
Then he clapped Clark on the shoulder, fastening the communication device there as he spoke.
"To continue what I was saying — it is not your fault. On the contrary, all of it should have been your responsibility. And now, the time has come for you to fulfill that responsibility as the Son of Krypton!"
As his words fell, Heisenberg activated the communication device, and every image of Clark's surroundings appeared within Heisenberg's mind.
Simultaneously, a virtual projection of Heisenberg drifted into existence beside Clark.
The real Heisenberg before Clark and the virtual Heisenberg at his side spoke in unison.
"Let me verify the communication link integrity. Good — integrity is sufficient. In order not to lose a single precious member of our race, I will establish a complete communication link with each of you the moment you leave Earth. That way, if you encounter an exceptional crisis, I can bring you back at the first possible moment. The reason I do not simply retrieve our people directly is that, according to the various communications, most of them still have their own affairs to settle. So I need you awakened warriors to go to our people's side and resolve their troubles. Finally, once a member of our race is confirmed safe — bring them home. And now, the mission begins!"
The moment the words ended, Heisenberg nodded firmly, then opened the Bifrost and sent Clark hurtling through it.
After him, thirty Kryptonian warriors received their communication devices one by one, and thirty-one images bloomed within Heisenberg's consciousness.
As the Bifrost flashed again and again, the warriors departed one after another, vanishing from sight.
Just then, Bach, standing at Heisenberg's side, turned toward him and asked in a low voice.
"Your Eminence, there is one matter on which I wish to know your decision in advance. Should we make preparations to permanently stabilize the Phantom Zone passage that has already been opened? If so, I will ready the necessary materials in advan—"
"What is inside the Phantom Zone?"
Heisenberg cut him off abruptly, posing the question to him.
Hearing Heisenberg's question, Bach responded as though it were self-evident.
"There is nothing but void. It is a space that absolutely cannot be opened from the inside by any intelligence below the twelfth level. Moreover, it is riddled with space-time turbulence — time and space within it are disconnected from the outside. It is the most natural and perfect prison, Your Eminence."
"Indeed — a prison!"
Heisenberg nodded coldly, then continued with disdain.
"It is precisely because it is a prison that I have no need for it! Before me, common criminals whose offenses are minor will atone for their sins through labor reform and the fate of the Vanguard. As for any criminal who crosses my bottom line — they deserve only the fate of death! Therefore, we do not need a prison. Still less do we need the Phantom Zone, a special maximum-security penitentiary that consumes vast amounts of energy just to open!"
His words done, Heisenberg silently closed his eyes and turned his attention to communicating with the thirty-one warriors who had just set out.
As for Bach...
He raised an eyebrow and smiled in understanding.
As a Sage, the needs of racial survival and continuous strengthening had long since worn away any lingering desire for so-called freedom and democracy. He knew that forgiveness, granted again and again, yielded nothing but base betrayals and rising crime rates. Those things had never made a people or a nation strong.
Only forcing criminals who deserved to die to face the terror of death head-on was the supreme safeguard of justice and righteousness!
——
At that very moment, on a natural planet in the southwestern sector of the Milky Way, Clark descended in silence.
After landing, he surveyed his surroundings — shattered mountain peaks and vast expanses of heavy gray rock stretched in every direction. He was deep within a mountain range.
What set Clark's heart slightly at ease, however, was the sight of a spaceship not far from him — one that was deeply familiar.
The ship's design was much the same as the one Clark had traveled in as a child, only somewhat larger.
Clark approached the vessel and examined it carefully. On its communication platform, crimson lights were flickering without pause.
"My kinsman is not nearby, but the ship is here. In that case..."
As he spoke, he activated his super vision. After scanning the planet for half a minute, he instantly locked onto a figure running seven hundred kilometers away!
Seeing this, Clark smiled. This kinsman was a young woman brimming with vitality.
And what was more — the crest of the House of El was stamped upon her chest plate!
"Great-Grandfather, I see her. She is a female member of our House of El. I am going to meet her now!"
"Mm-hmm~"
Beside Clark, Heisenberg's projection nodded casually.
"Sure, sure. I'm starting to see a pattern here. Of every three and a half people who escaped Krypton, at least two are from House El."
"Ahem — you jest, Great-Grandfather..."
Clark gave an awkward, sheepish laugh, then shot into the air instantly, following the passage the mountain cavern had long ago carved out and surging out onto the planet's surface.
Once outside, Clark couldn't help taking in the scenery around him.
He had to admit, this was the most beautiful alien planet he had ever laid eyes on.
The world was lush with vegetation, blanketed in green forests, with flocks of animals and birds teeming everywhere.
The air on this planet, especially — the feeling it gave Clark was countless times better than Earth's!
Heisenberg saw the planet's appearance as well. He shook his head with a sigh of melancholy and murmured softly.
"Look at that. Without intelligent life to wreck it, primordial planets just might all be as beautiful as this one before us. How wonderful..."
"But intelligent life also possesses its own unique beauty of civilization. Krypton and we are so; Earth and humanity are so as well."
Clark replied, then kept accelerating. He was worried that if he lingered too long and let Great-Grandfather fall in love with pristine environments...
When a god decided the world should return to being primitive and natural, calamity would descend in droves to make it so, wouldn't it...
As Clark picked up speed, Heisenberg's virtual projection soon caught sight of the running kinswoman.
The girl had sharp ears and keen eyes and immediately heard the sound of Clark's flight.
She looked up and observed for a moment, then suddenly roared at the top of her lungs.
"Who are you?! Why aren't you wearing armor?! Don't you know our bodies cannot withstand the universe's various radiations? It can easily trigger genetic pathologies!"
"I..."
Clark froze for a second, then let out a simple, unreserved laugh.
The first reaction of a Kryptonian clansman upon seeing him was still nothing but concern. It filled him with an indescribable warmth.
Still smiling, he descended and landed before her, speaking gently.
"I am Kal-El. This is—"
Before he could finish, the woman before him dropped sharply to one knee and bowed with deep reverence toward Heisenberg's projection.
"Tiff-Tang-El, paying respects to His Divine Eminence!"
"You may rise."
Heisenberg raised his right hand out of habit, but the woman did not get up immediately.
Ah, right — he was too accustomed to using his bio-field. At present, he had no means of exerting force through a mere virtual projection.
Even after hearing Heisenberg's command to rise, Tiff stubbornly observed the full three-second kneeling period required by etiquette. Only after her hands had completed the perfect ceremonial posture did she rise to her feet.
Once she was up, Clark couldn't help saying to her,
"Erm, hello there, Tiff. His Eminence and I have come to take you home. We have established a new Kryptonian base on a planet called Earth, in the Sol system. Welcome back, my kinswoman!"
Clark's voice was especially solemn, but Tiff did not even glance at him.
She turned her head away and instead spoke gravely to Heisenberg.
"Your Eminence, through my investigations of the cosmos, I have determined that gathering at least three Green Lantern rings will grant the power to traverse time itself! I have already located the position of one of those rings! It is on this very planet. Word has it that a member of the Green Lantern Corps by the name of Mogo frequents this place — this is his base and headquarters! So let us eliminate him, commandeer the Green Lantern ring he holds, then find more rings and return to the past to save our planet!!!"
Her words finished, Tiff looked toward Heisenberg, her eyes brimming with hope.
Only — the Eminence who had been smiling in her vision was now rolling his eyes in helpless resignation.
A moment later, Heisenberg shook his head with a wry laugh.
"I hardly know how to evaluate your plan, but... this matter actually does have a chance of succeeding.
However...
Here we are, standing on Mogo, discussing right in front of Mogo our plan to kill Mogo..."
Saying this, Heisenberg rubbed his forehead and turned his gaze toward the sky.
Across the cloudless azure expanse, countless rays of green light were gathering in mass.
In the very next instant, the entire planet was completely enveloped in emerald radiance!
Staring at the Green Lantern energy pervading everything, Heisenberg's virtual projection rubbed his temples with a pained expression.
"I knew it — the universe is far too vast to just randomly stumble upon a beautiful planet. Tiff, you were far too impulsive. And rude, at that. Look — you've gone and beaten a perfectly good planet into this state!"
/-\
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