Zod's maniacal laughter became the background music for the entire disaster.
"Rumble—"
The ground began to undulate like waves, spreading outwards.
The glass curtain walls of countless skyscrapers simultaneously shattered in an instant, billions of fragments raining down.
The ground cracked open, giant fissures swallowing streets, cars, and panicked crowds.
Fortunately, some superheroes reacted quickly, flying down to rescue people.
In the distance, the skyline was completely altered by two towering pillars of light.
One was in the city, the other far on the other side of the Earth, but both aimed towards the planet's core.
Those two pillars of light were frantically terraforming the planet.
"Holy crap! This is way too big!"
Deadpool hugged a nearby lamppost, his whole body fluttering like a flag.
"Little Spider, hold on tight! If we fall, we'll have to pack it in and start over!"
Spider-Man had no time to respond. He shot out webs, swinging back and forth between collapsing buildings, pulling civilians who were about to be buried alive to relatively safe locations.
"Gentlemen! Ladies! Stop filming! Run!"
In the giant pit.
Clark's foot ultimately couldn't bring itself to stomp down.
He slowly withdrew his leg, his body trembling slightly from extreme anger and struggle.
Zod's words stung his nerves.
Earth was turning into Krypton.
The cost was the extinction of all life on it.
"You see..."
Clark looked at Zod, who was still laughing wildly at his feet, then looked up at the apocalyptic scene in the distance, his expression extremely complex.
"Look what you've done."
His tone was filled with deep weariness.
"Tsk."
Tel-Ror, standing by the pit, clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"Seriously, at a time like this, what are you still wasting words on him for?"
Tel-Ror stood with his arms crossed, an expression of someone watching a show.
"Isn't this more exciting than a movie? Global live broadcast, synchronized terraforming, a grand spectacle."
He even started commenting with great interest.
Clark didn't look back; he knew what his cousin was like.
"You won't win, Kal-El!"
Zod coughed up blood, yet a victorious smile was on his face.
"Soon, I will stand on the soil of this new Krypton, and you, along with these insects you protect, will turn to cosmic dust!"
Clark closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the fire in them had extinguished, leaving only cold resolve.
He raised his hand and delivered a swift, decisive chop to the back of Zod's neck.
"Ugh..."
Zod's laughter abruptly stopped, his head lolled, and he completely passed out.
"How boring."
Tel-Ror pouted.
"Are we keeping him for the New Year?"
As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the six Kryptonian soldiers still frozen in place.
Those six had been terrified speechless by the scene before them.
The General had lost.
Tel-Ror beckoned them with his finger.
"Game over."
He smiled brightly.
"You all lost."
The six Kryptonian soldiers wanted to say something.
"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!"
Six purple-gold beams of light shot from Tel-Ror's fingertips, precisely piercing each of their foreheads.
The six bodies fell one after another, lifeless.
"Alright, the cannon fodder is cleared."
Tel-Ror clapped his hands, not looking at the fallen bodies.
He walked to the edge of the giant pit, jumped down, and landed beside Clark.
"cousin, don't look like your parents just died."
"What now? Those two light pillars look pretty intimidating."
Clark looked up, gazing in two directions.
"We have to stop them."
His voice was heavy.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Tel-Ror grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"One each, who's faster?"
The power stone in his right hand pulsed with even more vibrant purple arcs.
Just then, Clark's communicator rang.
It was Bruce Wayne's voice, filled with various alarms and explosions in the background.
"Clark! Where are you?!"
"Stark Tower's shields won't last much longer! This damn thing is changing Earth's gravity!"
The batwing was flying precariously over New York at this moment, its fuselage constantly being thrown off balance by the invisible gravitational field.
"j.a.r.v.i.s.! Report status!"
On the top floor of Stark Tower, the virtual screen in front of Tony Stark was glowing red.
"Sir, the energy pillars are restructuring Earth's molecular composition. The global gravitational field is rapidly increasing, and atmospheric composition is also changing."
"It is estimated that within twelve hours, Earth's environment will no longer be suitable for human survival."
j.a.r.v.i.s.'s tone was calm, but the content of his report was chilling.
"Damn it!"
Tony cursed.
"Notify every Avenger who can still breathe; all living ones get your asses over here!"
At the bottom of the giant pit.
Clark cut off the communication.
He looked at Tel-Ror.
"I'll go to the one in the Indian Ocean."
"Okay."
Tel-Ror shrugged indifferently.
"Then I'll go to the other one, it's on my way anyway."
They exchanged glances, saying no more.
The next second.
Two figures, one red and blue, one gold and purple, shot up from the giant pit!
They flew in opposite directions across the Earth, at speeds exceeding sound.
Leaving behind only a devastated New York and the unconscious Zod at the bottom of the pit.
Deadpool watched them disappear and whistled.
"Whoa, two protagonists splitting up. This is the rhythm of opening a new map."
He turned to Spider-Man.
"Little Spider, what should we do? How about we tie up that charcoal head and display him in Times Square?"
Spider-Man shook his head, his expression grim beneath his mask.
"We need to save people."
He said, shooting out another web and swinging towards another pile of ruins.
However, less than a minute after Clark and Tel-Ror left.
"Boom!!"
Another loud bang!
Two entangled figures plummeted straight down from thousands of meters in the sky, landing right near the giant pit!
As the dust settled.
Fiona had a foot on Kara's chest, pinning her firmly to the ground.
The Kryptonian warrior had barely managed to suppress Kara after a struggle.
"Give up, Kara Zor-El!"
Fiona panted, her battle armor long gone, wearing a black, form-fitting undersuit that accentuated her figure, but her eyes were filled with fanaticism.
"Look! This is Krypton's future! It's our future!"
She pointed at the pillar of light in the distance that reached the Earth's core, shouting excitedly.
Kara struggled, but couldn't budge Fiona in the slightest.
She looked at the surrounding ruins, at the people crying out in the disaster, her heart filled with anger.
Just then, Fiona noticed the unconscious Zod, clad only in tattered battle armor, in the giant pit.
"General!"
She gasped, flying out and instantly rushing to Zod's side.
"General! Are you alright?!"
She knelt beside Zod, anxiously checking his injuries.
Kara seized the opportunity to stand up. She clutched her throbbing chest, looking at Fiona, then at the World Engine in the distance.
It seemed she had to do something.
She took a deep breath, and her eyes began to glow red.
However, a hand suddenly rested on her shoulder.
"Easy there, little girl."
A lazy voice came.
Kara turned around to see a strange man in a red and black bodysuit, with two swords on his back.
"Deadpool?" Kara was stunned.
"The handsome one himself~"
Deadpool pointed at Fiona, who was comforting Zod.
"I'm your backup, you idiot."
"Look, the BOSS over there has help. If you rush over now, aren't you just giving yourself away?"