"How many punches do you think you can take from me?"
Ethan Drake's voice echoed through the massive cabin of the World Engine. The calm confidence in his tone made the words feel even heavier, as though the entire hangar had been struck by them.
Every Kryptonian present felt their expressions darken.
The arrogance was unbelievable.
This man had just boarded their ship alone, crippled several elite warriors, and now he was openly challenging the most feared commander Krypton had ever produced.
Did he truly understand who stood before him?
General Zod.
A name that once commanded entire fleets.
"Damn it!"
The insult cut too deeply for the soldiers around them to ignore. Even hardened warriors found their patience reaching its limit.
"I don't agree!"
The angry shout came from the ground behind Ethan.
It was Derrick.
The massive warrior who had been thrown down the gangway earlier struggled to rise again. His battered armor creaked as he forced his body upright, rage burning in his eyes despite his obvious injuries.
But before he could take even one full step—
A sudden force pressed down on his back.
Bang.
Ethan's foot came down heavily, pinning Derrick directly to the floor.
The alloy deck groaned under the impact.
Derrick's body slammed flat against the ground again, the air exploding from his lungs as pain shot through his entire body.
Ethan barely even looked down.
"Noisy."
His voice carried mild annoyance, as if he had simply stepped on something inconvenient.
Then he raised an eyebrow and casually stepped over Derrick's body, continuing forward through the hangar like nothing had happened.
A gust of wind suddenly rushed toward him.
Someone had already decided to attack.
The approaching warrior lunged forward with explosive speed, clearly intending to stop Ethan before he reached the command platform.
Ethan didn't even slow down.
He lifted his hand lightly and swung it through the air.
The motion looked almost lazy.
Yet the energy released in that simple movement erupted like a shockwave.
The attacking Kryptonian was instantly blown backward, his body sent flying across the hangar before crashing into a distant wall.
The impact echoed loudly.
Ethan kept walking.
"What?" he said casually, glancing at the surrounding soldiers. "Are you all planning to hide behind them?"
His tone grew more mocking with every step.
Warriors tried to intercept him again and again, but none of them lasted even a second.
To Ethan, their attacks felt almost meaningless.
He brushed them aside like dust.
Each strike he delivered was effortless. Each movement carried overwhelming force. One after another, the soldiers who attempted to block his path were thrown aside as though they weighed nothing.
Watching him advance felt surreal.
Ethan moved through their territory like a monarch inspecting his own palace. Every Kryptonian warrior present felt the same terrifying realization settling into their minds.
No one here could stop him.
"Enough!"
The roar exploded through the hangar like thunder.
General Zod finally moved.
He had watched long enough to understand what Ethan was doing. This display of dominance wasn't random violence—it was a calculated demonstration meant to break the morale of everyone aboard the ship.
And Zod would not allow it.
His body tensed.
Then he launched forward.
The massive commander shot across the hangar like a fired cannonball, closing the distance between them in a single terrifying burst of speed.
Boom!
The collision shook the entire chamber.
Ethan's body slid backward dozens of steps as the impact drove him across the floor. His boots carved two long trenches into the alloy deck before he finally stabilized himself.
But Zod didn't give him time to recover.
With a roar, the general stepped forward and unleashed a relentless barrage of punches.
His fists moved like blurs.
Each strike carried crushing power capable of shattering steel. The attacks fell like a storm, forcing Ethan to block and shift constantly to avoid being overwhelmed.
At first glance, Ethan seemed pushed into a defensive position.
His movements lacked any obvious pattern. He parried strikes from both sides, stepping backward under the pressure of Zod's assault.
"Kid," Zod growled, his momentum surging higher with every second, "let's see how long that arrogance lasts."
His figure flickered through the air like teleportation, appearing and disappearing as he launched another devastating attack.
Then—
Bang!
Their fists collided.
The shockwave exploded outward instantly, rattling the walls of the hangar.
Ethan was pushed backward again, sliding across the floor until his body nearly struck the edge of the command deck.
But Zod didn't escape the exchange unharmed.
The general himself was forced to retreat more than ten steps before stabilizing his stance.
Ethan flexed his fingers slowly.
A strange smile appeared on his face.
"That was interesting."
His voice carried genuine curiosity.
"Honestly, I've never had a real head-on fight before. Turns out…" he continued, rolling his shoulders slightly, "fighting like this actually feels pretty good."
Since arriving in this universe, Ethan had rarely needed to exert real effort.
Most enemies had fallen instantly beneath his strength.
A single punch.
A single kick.
Even entire star fleets had failed to offer him much resistance. Battles ended before they could truly begin.
But General Zod was different.
As Krypton's former supreme military commander, Zod's physical strength had reached an extremely terrifying level. His body had been tempered through endless combat and harsh environments.
For the first time since arriving in this world—
Ethan felt resistance.
For a brief moment, he had even been pushed slightly onto the defensive.
And yet…
The smile on Ethan's face only grew wider.
"Unfortunately," he said lightly, "you're still nothing special."
The statement stunned everyone watching.
The surrounding warriors stared in disbelief.
Did he just say that?
He had clearly been pushed back moments ago. Zod had forced him into a defensive stance and nearly overwhelmed him with sheer aggression.
And yet this man was still acting like he held the advantage.
Was he insane?
Although the Kryptonian soldiers understood their own abilities were inferior to Ethan's, they were absolutely certain of one thing.
General Zod was stronger than this outsider.
The only reason none of them spoke up was fear.
They had already seen what happened to anyone who challenged him.
Now they could only wait.
They hoped their commander would crush this arrogant stranger and restore their pride.
"Damn brat…"
Zod's jaw tightened.
His expression remained grim, but something new flickered deep within his eyes.
Fear.
Yes.
Fear.
Outwardly, it might have looked like he held the upper hand during their clash. But Zod knew the truth better than anyone.
His right arm still throbbed with pain from that last collision.
The bones felt like they had been hammered by a meteor.
And Ethan?
The bastard looked completely fine.
Zod's relentless barrage of attacks had produced almost no visible effect.
Just what kind of body did this man possess?
Was his durability truly that terrifying… or was his recovery ability something even worse?
Zod understood something critical in that moment.
If this fight dragged on too long—
He would lose.
The realization forced a cold clarity into his mind.
This battle had to end quickly.
But before Zod could make another move—
Ethan stepped forward.
"Since I already made that promise earlier," he said calmly, "I should at least keep my word."
His tone turned casual again.
"Alright. I've had enough fun."
He lifted his head slightly.
"It's time you understand just how big the gap between us really is."
Then he took a single step.
Thud.
The moment his foot touched the floor, the atmosphere changed.
A terrifying pressure began rising from Ethan's body.
Step.
The force grew stronger.
Step.
His aura surged upward like a pillar of fire piercing the sky.
Inside his body, billions of cells began operating like blazing furnaces. Energy flooded through his bloodstream as every part of him activated to its peak state.
His heartbeat thundered like a roaring river.
Why was Superman so powerful?
Because the radiation of Earth's yellow sun empowered every cell in his body.
Ethan possessed a different advantage.
His ability to absorb energy allowed the endless free energy surrounding him in space to continuously pour into his body.
And now—
For the first time—
He released it completely.
This was Ethan Drake at full power.
"Not good!!"
Shouts erupted across the hangar.
Even the dullest warrior could feel the horrifying transformation happening before their eyes.
Ethan's presence had changed entirely.
It felt as though the sky itself had overturned.
Before Zod could retreat—
Ethan's fist was already there.
The speed was impossible.
Boom!
Zod roared and threw his own punch forward in desperation.
But the moment their fists collided—
Crack.
Zod's arm shattered piece by piece.
Bone fragments splintered through muscle as the terrifying force tore through his defenses. His entire body lifted off the ground like a shell fired from a massive cannon.
The shockwave blasted him backward.
His body tore through multiple decks of the World Engine, smashing through layers of armored flooring before bursting out of the ship entirely.
He was launched straight into the open vacuum of space.
"NO!"
Someone screamed from inside the hangar.
Whoosh—
Just as Ethan's eyes flashed with an icy blue glow, a terrifying freezing beam shot across the void, slicing through the starry darkness and striking General Zod's body as it floated helplessly in space.
....
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