He spread his arms, inviting Clarm to Look around, "This—this is the true Krypton. We are Krypton's future."
As Zod's speech continued, he regained his composure, pacing in front of Clark.
"All you have to do is give me the Codex, and we can build a new Krypton right here. Kryptonian life will be reborn. We can have a new home, Kal-El. To your left and right stand your true kin, and in front of you is the leader of New Krypton."
Clark had heard enough.
He couldn't stand another word.
"I won't give you the Codex," he said, his voice firm, "Krypton is gone. You can't bring back what's already been destroyed."
He strained his arms, trying to break free from his handcuffs, only to find that these Kryptonian cuffs were impossible to escape from.
Zod watched his actions and said, "You won't have the powers you had on Earth here. That yellow sun has pampered you. Kal-El, you grew up stronger on this inferior planet than any Kryptonian, but you have failed to use your powers properly—you should be conquering for Krypton, making those inferior beings give all their resources to Krypton. But you! You've done nothing!"
"I wasn't born to conquer," Clark continued to struggle, "I won't ravage like you. I only protect what I should protect."
"But they don't need your protection!" Zod glared at him, "Don't you see they'd rather hand you over? These people, these humans, they don't see you as one of their own. In their eyes, you will always be an alien. You are a Kryptonian, not a human!"
Clark looked up and said in a deep voice, "I am."
Zod lifted his foot and kicked Clark in the abdomen, "Fool!"
In the Kryptonian simulation environment aboard the spaceship, Clark's steel-like resolve vanished.
Zod's kick to his abdomen sent him crashing to the ground, and another foot stomped onto his head.
Zod pressed his foot heavily against Clark's cheek, threatening him, "I've never seen such a foolish Kryptonian. You must have been corrupted by those inferior beings. If you don't give me the Kryptonian Codex, I could easily kill you or make you wish you were dead—"
"Oh, and those so-called 'family' and 'friends' you cherished on Earth? We can treat them just like we're treating you."
"You dare!" Clark roared in anger.
For the first time in his life, Clark was consumed by such fury that he could no longer maintain a calm conversation with Zod.
His anger was overwhelming, and he clenched his teeth, pounding his fists into the ground.
His knuckles turned white, but he couldn't muster the strength needed to break free from Zod's confinement.
Zod savagely stamped down again, his armored boot striking Clark's brow bone, causing a deep cut, "I will, Kal-El! My soldiers are already descending to Earth. They will find every human around you—each minute you delay in telling me the Codex's location is another neck they can snap—"
The kick tore the skin open, and warm, sticky blood dripped from Clark's brow onto his eyelashes, blurring his vision.
His field of view turned crimson.
The rage inside him felt like it might tear apart his body.
His fists tightened, every muscle bulging and throbbing, veins on his forehead standing out.
The power within him was compressed to its limit—just a little more, just a bit more…
The sound of the handcuffs breaking and the spaceship's wall being breached occurred simultaneously!
Clark shattered the handcuffs, swung his fist, and struck Zod's knee!
Caught off guard, Zod lost his balance and fell to one knee.
Two nearby Kryptonian soldiers immediately raised their weapons to shoot at Clark, but a golden staff flew in from behind and knocked their weapons away!
—The imposing and indestructible Kryptonian spacecraft was forcibly breached from the outside.
The Angemon smashing through the spaceship's hull with its bare fists, appeared like a divine being above them.
At the same time, with the hull damaged, the rays of the yellow sun in space streamed into the ship unimpeded, shining down on Clark like a spotlight on a stage.
He turned his head and, through the haze of blood, saw the dazzling six-winged angel.
The cracked wounds healed rapidly in the sunlight.
Clark squinted slightly as the light pierced him, and the blood on his eyelashes began to fall away—
Zod's punch rushed past his ear!
Clark swiftly dodged to the side, then ascended, his eyes still blazing with unquenched fury, locking onto Zod.
—His eyes glowed a deep crimson, and terrifying red light shot from his gaze.
Heat vision, at thousands of degrees Celsius, swept across below, relentlessly targeting Zod!
Nothing could withstand such intense energy beams.
The entire spaceship was sliced apart in an instant.
As Zod swiftly evaded, the massive spacecraft, comparable in size to Earth's mountains, began to slowly disintegrate in space.
Realizing the dire situation, Zod quickly raced to a secondary module of the ship, boarded a small escape pod, and detached from the main vessel, heading toward Earth.
Clark with his fists clenched, floated in space.
At that moment, all his reason was consumed by rage, and his heat vision furiously tracked Zod's movements, slicing off the entire secondary module—
"Superman!"
Angemon stepped forward, grasping Clark's shoulders.
His golden hair which was frozen in the vacuum, flowed like a cascading waterfall.
"Go to Earth first. He has activated the World Engine. We need to shut it down—"
Clark shut his eyes momentarily.
He retracted his heat vision and, when he opened his eyes again, they were clear and deep.
"Thank you." He sincerely thanked the Angemon, then turned his gaze downward to the blue planet beneath their feet.
The serene blue planet was magnificent and vast, like a canvas unfolding against the backdrop of the infinite cosmos.
It was gentle, and it was unique.
It was one of the eight planets in the solar system, and it was the only one among the countless stars in the galaxy welcoming his arrival.