Moments later—
Azuma emerged from the barn, single-handedly carrying the small ship that had brought Clark to Earth.
"You heading straight over?"
Azuma asked him.
"No, I need to brief General Swanwick first. We'll need human assistance," Clark replied.
Azuma didn't mind. His only goal was to rack up his mission achievements.
How the rest played out? He was fine with whatever.
Military Base—
Azuma landed on the runway, still holding Clark's small ship with one hand.
The Eagle Sauce soldiers bustling around turned curious gazes toward this black-haired, yellow-skinned Asian teenager.
Clark touched down beside him shortly after.
"General Swanwick!"
Clark strode toward a group ahead.
"Zod's already making his move. We need to act fast," Clark said.
"What's your plan?"
General Swanwick asked.
He'd just received orders from above: cooperate fully with the two aliens' actions. The empire wouldn't intervene yet—just let these aliens fight it out first, then figure out the next steps.
Swanwick had no objections.
He'd seen these aliens' strength firsthand.
Bodies of steel, unscathed by missiles—truly awe-inspiring!
Since the higher-ups had decided to let the aliens duke it out, Swanwick was happy to oblige.
"Here's my plan…"
Clark laid out his strategy to General Swanwick.
Hearing that Clark intended to tackle the World Engine in the Indian Ocean alone, Lois, standing nearby, couldn't hide her worry.
But she knew he had to do it—or humanity was doomed!
"Alright, since you've made up your mind, we'll support you fully!"
Swanwick said, his gaze shifting to Azuma, who'd set the small ship down.
"Superman, care to introduce us?"
Swanwick prompted.
Clark nodded. "This is my kin. You can call him Mr. X."
Mr. X?
Swanwick glanced at the golden "X" on Azuma's chest and nodded.
"Mr. X, we're counting on you for that ship over Metropolis!"
Swanwick stepped forward to address Azuma.
"Leave it to me. I'll make sure they all go meet Krypton's ancestors!"
Azuma grinned.
Swanwick studied him, eyes narrowing slightly.
This Mr. X felt entirely different from Superman.
Superman radiated a noble, righteous aura—kind-hearted, willing to sacrifice himself for others.
But this Mr. X? With decades of experience, Swanwick could tell at a glance he wasn't the self-sacrificing type like Superman.
A bad guy? Maybe not.
But definitely not the pushover, saintly type Superman was.
That much was clear from his casual quip about sending Kryptonians to their ancestors.
Superman would never say something like that!
This guy showed no mercy, even to his own kind—treating their lives like nothing. How much goodwill could you expect him to have toward Earth's humans?
Thankfully—
He seemed tight with Superman. Their bond looked solid.
With Superman around, this guy probably wouldn't do anything too outrageous.
Plus—
Mr. X must've lived on Earth for some years now.
There'd been no tales of a "god among men" wreaking havoc, so at worst, he just had a rough personality. He likely wouldn't go out of his way to commit genocide or anything.
Wait a sec!
Didn't three F-35s get shot down a few days ago?
They still hadn't pinned down who or what was responsible.
Now that he thought about it—could it have been this Mr. X?
After all—
Across the whole planet, only Superman and this guy could pull off something like that.
Superman wouldn't.
But this Mr. X…
Nine times out of ten, it was him!
"General, what's on your mind?"
Azuma suddenly asked with a smile.
"Nothing. Need any assistance later?"
Swanwick replied, brushing it off.
He kept his suspicions to himself. One, it wasn't his business. Two, they were allies right now—bringing up something like that could sour things.
Any issues could wait until this crisis was over!
"Nah, I've got it covered. If you've got nothing to do, evacuating civilians wouldn't hurt," Azuma said.
He waved to Clark, then grabbed the small ship again. With a bang, he rocketed skyward, vanishing into the horizon in a flash.
"Time for me to head out too!"
Clark said.
"Wait!"
Lois called, pulling him aside to say something privately.
"General, something wrong?"
Colonel Hardy approached Swanwick, noting his furrowed brow.
"Nothing," Swanwick shook his head, then turned to head off.
Mr. X might not need their help, but they still had to support the Metropolis battlefield.
The base sprang into action—fighter jets, armed helicopters, and transports took off, all bound for Metropolis.
Metropolis—
Azuma arrived ahead of everyone else.
Eyeing the octopus-like ship in the distance, he pulled out the key Clark had given him, inserted it into the small ship's console, and powered it up.
"Here's a big gift for you!"
Azuma grinned, hoisting the ship with one hand and flying toward the octopus vessel.
Onboard the octopus ship, Zod had slipped away unnoticed.
The remaining Kryptonian warriors had gathered in the engine room, where a Kryptonian scientist was operating the Phantom Engine, syncing it with the World Engine on the other side of the planet to terraform Earth below.
"Someone's coming—it's another traitor!"
A Kryptonian warrior spotted Azuma flying toward them and rallied a few others to intercept him.
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