Whoosh!
An ice-blue beam of light shot upward from the surface of the planet, tearing through the atmosphere like a spear of frozen lightning. In the blink of an eye it pierced straight into space and slammed into a pursuing Kree battleship.
Boom!
The warship detonated instantly. Flames and shattered metal erupted outward as the vessel was ripped apart, scattering burning debris across the surrounding void like petals thrown into the wind.
"It's him!"
Ronan the Accuser erupted in fury. The veins on his forehead bulged violently as he stared at the scene unfolding outside the command window.
"Kill him!" he roared.
The moment the Kryptonian's location was confirmed, Ronan gave the order without hesitation. The existence of the new generation Kryptonian Superman had been verified, and that alone made the mission worthwhile.
But the next report from the crew stunned everyone present.
"General, this planet has no oxygen and no life signatures whatsoever," a technician said quickly. "It's a decaying dead world. No living species could possibly establish a base here."
"What?"
The words had barely fallen when the expressions of the Kree officers changed dramatically.
A lifeless world?
A planet completely devoid of life could not possibly serve as a settlement.
Which meant only one thing.
"Wait… are we the ones who walked into a trap?" someone muttered nervously.
Moments earlier, the Kree fleet believed they had successfully tracked the Kryptonians to their hidden base.
Now the situation looked very different.
Originally, the Kree Empire had been the hunter setting the snare. But somehow the roles seemed to have reversed.
"If we had just attacked the reconnaissance ship at the beginning," another officer whispered cautiously, "none of this would be happening."
Ronan's face twisted with rage.
The long pursuit had been his strategy, his plan to catch a big fish by letting the bait swim freely. Now that same plan appeared to have been turned against him, and the humiliation ignited his temper instantly.
"Bastard!"
Without warning he raised the massive hammer in his hand and smashed it downward.
The officer who had spoken collapsed instantly, his body crushed beneath the brutal strike. Blood splattered across the floor of the command deck.
The horrifying scene silenced the room.
No one dared speak another word.
Ronan's chest heaved as he glared at the remaining officers.
"Useless trash!" he snarled. "Use your brains for once. Even if this planet isn't their base, the Kryptonian brat is here. Killing him alone is enough to make this entire operation worthwhile."
The logic was undeniable.
If the new Kryptonian Superman were eliminated now, the future threat of Krypton would be erased before it could truly grow.
But a troubling thought lingered in the minds of many officers.
If their enemy had deliberately lured them here… then perhaps the trap was deeper than they realized.
No one dared say that aloud.
The still-warm corpse lying on the floor made sure of that.
"The entire fleet will prepare for combat," Ronan ordered coldly. "Mobilize all weapons and concentrate fire. I want every Kryptonian here wiped out."
His command echoed through the fleet.
Across the surrounding star field, more and more Kree warships completed their space jumps. Dozens of vessels assembled in formation, forming a massive blockade that sealed the region like a steel net.
Nearly a hundred battleships stood in the front line alone.
Their weapon systems powered up simultaneously, energy surging through countless cannons and beam emitters as they locked onto the Aquarius, which was descending toward the planet's surface.
At that exact moment, a figure rose from the ground below.
It was Ethan Drake.
He had been waiting on this barren world for a long time.
With a single leap he shot upward into the sky, passing effortlessly over the descending Aquarius. The moment his feet left the ground, his body accelerated violently.
Boom!
The air shattered around him as he launched upward like a rocket.
One week earlier, after receiving Faora's report, Ethan had quietly traveled to this dead planet and prepared the ambush.
Why this world?
Because the planet had once been used by the ancient Kryptonian Empire as an abandoned outpost.
The coordinates were known only to Kryptonians.
Neptune's location could never be exposed to outsiders. Instead, both sides had secretly agreed to lure the pursuing fleet here.
The result was inevitable.
This would not be a battle.
It would be an annihilation.
The Kree fleet believed they had come to destroy Krypton's remnants.
In truth, Ethan had come here to erase them from existence.
Boom!
With his super flight activated, Ethan surged through the atmosphere in seconds. His body tore past the planet's upper layers and emerged into open space.
Ahead of him waited the Kree fleet.
Under the vast starry sky, hundreds of warships stretched across the void like a massive shield. Their formations formed a cage of steel and fire that completely surrounded the battlefield.
From a distance, Ethan looked like a lone butterfly trapped inside a spider's web.
The sight was breathtaking.
There was no retreat behind him.
The Aquarius was descending below, one of the only two remaining Kryptonian vessels.
But Ethan had no intention of retreating.
Because tonight, this star field would become their grave.
"Fire!"
Boom!
The moment Ronan's order rang out, the Kree fleet unleashed its full firepower. Thousands of cannons ignited simultaneously as torrents of energy beams and explosive shells flooded the battlefield.
Blazing artillery streaked toward Ethan like a storm of light.
At the same moment—
Ethan moved.
"Roar!"
He opened his mouth slowly, drawing in a deep breath.
"Super Roar!"
The newly awakened ability surged through his body.
Then he exhaled.
The air expelled from his lungs transformed instantly into a violent hurricane. The force released in that single breath dwarfed anything humanity had ever recorded.
Even the most powerful typhoon in human history could not compare.
Boom!
An unimaginable storm exploded outward into space.
The hurricane tore across the battlefield with terrifying speed, its violent winds ripping through the vacuum as if the laws of nature themselves had bent to Ethan's will.
The incoming artillery fire was swept up instantly.
Energy beams, missiles, and plasma blasts were all dragged into the storm and hurled backward.
In a single instant—
Boom!
The Kree fleet became the victim of its own attack.
Warships struck by their own redirected fire exploded violently. One after another, steel hulls ruptured under the overwhelming force, turning the once-mighty fleet into bursts of blazing destruction.
Across the star field, explosions ignited like fireworks.
Flames flickered everywhere, brilliant orange light illuminating the dark void.
And the storm had not yet finished.
The hurricane generated by Ethan's breath was so powerful that even massive battleships could not maintain their positions. The enormous vessels were dragged helplessly through the raging currents.
Boom!
Two warships collided violently and detonated together.
The chaos spread instantly.
With so many vessels packed tightly in formation, the uncontrollable hurricane forced them into each other again and again.
Chain reactions erupted throughout the fleet.
Explosions spread across space like a rain of fire.
....
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