Zod looked at Clark and Kara.
"All these years we Kryptonians have been on Earth…"
"Wait!" Clark interrupted, "I may have Kryptonian blood, but Earth is the place that raised me. What I've done for Earth has nothing to do with Krypton!"
"Exactly! Well said!" Kara agreed.
Zod's face twitched... Are they really going to betray Krypton to the very end?
He glanced at Vex. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't win, he would've cleaned house right here and now!
After a brief silence, Zod turned to Fury.
"What does Earth want?"
The difficult question was thrown back at Fury.
Surely, they couldn't continue the war, right?
So Fury couldn't ask for too excessive of "war reparations."
Vex yawned. He wasn't too interested in the upcoming negotiations. He used his telekinesis to tap Kara's shoulder and turned to leave.
Kara hesitated for a moment but decided to follow him out.
On the deck, the two walked leisurely, unfazed by the strong winds around them.
"Hard to believe we only met yesterday," Kara mused. "And you only arrived on Earth the day before that... it's like you were sent by Rao to save me."
"Speaking of which, didn't we have plans for this exact time today?" Vex teased.
Kara blinked, then made a quick decision.
She jumped into the air, flying upward.
Instinctively, Vex looked up, catching a glimpse of her red... safety shorts.
"Whoever invented safety shorts deserves to be cursed..." he muttered, launching himself after her.
"If you can catch me, I'll let you... hehe!"
Upon hearing this, Vex floored the metaphorical gas pedal!
Kara was already flying at full speed, but she was naturally slower than Vex and had just fought a battle that drained her solar energy reserves.
The gap between them rapidly closed.
Until...
Vex caught Kara mid-air, pulling her into his arms.
Before he could make his next move, Kara had already launched a clumsy yet ferocious attack!
One thought echoed in Vex's mind:
'An air battle? How exciting!'
---
There was no denying it: Kryptonian bloodlines are incredibly powerful!
Vex, who could easily handle Lewis and Sharon, almost found himself completely drained by Kara.
He hadn't felt tired from the Earth-Krypton war, yet here he was, almost knocked out!
Luckily, Vex had the Horse Talisman, which allowed him to constantly refresh his stamina, and the Snake Talisman, so he didn't have to worry about being seen.
He went all out!
It took a day and a night, then another day and night before they both returned, fully satisfied.
And only then did Zod and Fury finally conclude their peace negotiations.
Kryptonians, due to a misunderstanding, had waged war and caused massive damage to Earth. As compensation, they offered:
- Photon Weapon Technology
- Kryptonian Flight Technology
- Human Genetic Adjustment Technology
- And 18 other technological advancements.
Zod also promised that whenever Earth needed help, Kryptonians would unconditionally assist.
In return, Earth would provide:
- Enough supplies for 10,000 people to survive a year
- Unrestricted access to the Sun in the Solar System for Zod's ship to recharge.
Hmm... it was basically a win-win situation for the Kryptonians.
After all, aside from the planet itself, there wasn't much on Earth that Kryptonians wanted.
Hearing all this, Vex couldn't help but remark...
"Fury, I thought you'd at least demand that Zod pay with blood."
Fury showed a helpless expression.
"Do you think I didn't want to?" Fury sighed. "But Zod is now the spiritual leader of Krypton. If we go after him, it would be equivalent to declaring war all over again."
"And how will you explain this to the public?" Vex asked.
"There's a superhero who eliminated the invading leader and made the aliens retreat." Fury glanced at Vex. "That superhero could be you. This would help you a lot in... expanding your community."
"Hmm... what's the catch?"
"One artifact."
Vex thought about it seriously...
S.H.I.E.L.D. owed him four artifacts, a gray teleportation stone, and one favor.
Losing one artifact wasn't a big deal. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have much that he really cared about anyway.
As for the title of "Savior"...
Just look at Lewis, and you'll see how much of a boost that could be in wooing admirers!
Even if they weren't admirers, it would at least raise people's opinions of him, making it easier to connect with them.
This trade seemed worth it!
"Alright, one artifact it is," Vex agreed. "I'm guessing you already have it ready?"
"Of course!" Fury stood up. "Come with me, it's in the next room."
They left the office and entered the adjacent room.
The first thing that caught Vex's eye was the gray teleportation stone.
In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., this thing only made a brief appearance before being swallowed by a space rift.
Vex wasn't sure what it was for, but it probably had something to do with "portals" or similar.
The second item was also familiar—The Obelisk
Thousands of years ago, the Kree used it to modify humans and turn them into weapons called "Inhumans."
It contained the Terrigen Crystals, the essential catalyst for awakening Inhumans.
Not a bad collectible.
The third item was a bit more ordinary—A Disguise and Invisibility Device
You could slap it onto your face, and it would make you look like anyone. Though it only worked for the face, not the body, so your figure was up to you.
Still pretty decent.
But the fourth item...
A USB drive?
Vex looked at Fury in confusion. What was in this thing?
"This is all 18 pieces of Kryptonian technology Zod gave us," Fury said gravely. "All packaged up for you as a special collectible, plus the one favor I promised. How about that?"
Vex: "..."
This guy was really good at playing the game, borrowing flowers to offer as gifts!
Moreover, Vex still needed to grow his community, so there was no such thing as having too much technology.
However, Fury clearly didn't know about Vex's deal with Zod!
He was going to get all of Krypton's technology eventually.
So what was the point of this?
"Forget it, I'm not interested in this one." Vex waved his hand dismissively. "Give me something with more impact."
°°°
A/N: The extortionist strikes again
20 advanced chapters in pătreon: Moziel