31: Absolute Devour

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean!

In an abandoned military fortress!

While the outside world was in immense panic due to Zod's arrival and threats, Li An remained in the incredibly quiet military fortress, continuously absorbing kryptonite energy.

Of course!

Absorbing energy was only one of Li An's goals; his primary objective was to analyze and separate the properties of kryptonite through one of his abilities, thereby allowing him to possess the same properties as kryptonite.

Only by possessing the same properties himself could he be absolutely confident of victory in the upcoming battle.

In fact, before making this decision, Li An had another plan: to envelop kryptonite with his biomorphic tendrils, thereby affecting the combat power of Superman and other Kryptonians during a fight.

However, this idea was ultimately rejected by Li An. The reason was that while encasing kryptonite could affect the Kryptonians' combat power, it would only be an influence. If he couldn't reduce Superman's abilities to an extreme degree, he would be courting death if he tried to kill Superman with his mere eighty-plus attribute points!

It's important to note that the current DC Universe is still in its early stages; the various powerhouses of the Justice League haven't appeared or met yet, and he just so happens to know Superman's weakness and the approximate location of kryptonite, among other things.

It could be said that if he were to face other superheroes, he wouldn't be as relaxed as he is against Superman; he might even be severely wounded and subsequently imprisoned in a facility specifically for super-criminals.

Time passed!

Inside the fortress, at some unknown point, it had become completely enveloped in a crimson mist, and the originally massive kryptonite had shrunk considerably, now only about the size of a soccer ball.

Enveloped by the crimson gas, kryptonite energy was continuously extracted and then further purified. One should not underestimate this purification process; the reason kryptonite is key to restraining Kryptonians lies in this kryptonite energy.

And if Li An wanted to acquire the same ability as kryptonite, which could restrain Kryptonians, he had to further purify the kryptonite energy from its original base and then absorb it.

Only this way could he gain the ability to restrain Kryptonians while simultaneously increasing his attribute values.

Metropolis!

By now, Metropolis had transitioned from night to day. Due to Zod's speech after his arrival last night, the military quickly apprehended Lois, who was suspected of having ties to Superman. The subsequent plot unfolded as in the movie: Clark eventually learned of Lois's capture and chose to don his battle suit and surrender.

At this point, Clark still harbored hopes of a peaceful resolution to this matter, as one side represented his true homeland, while the other was his current second home!

Finally, with the military's cooperation, the news of Superman's surrender reached Zod's side. They quickly contacted the military, stating that they would meet at noon tomorrow at a military base to take Clark away and thus achieve a treaty of peaceful coexistence with humanity.

The progression of events at this time was almost exactly as Li An had originally known, and this was the result Li An had wanted to see from the beginning. After all, from the moment he first arrived in this world, he had tried to avoid direct contact with Superman and Lois, fearing that his appearance might affect the plot's development.

But now, with Li An's objective achieved and Zod's arrival, he no longer needed to worry about this issue. As he was about to acquire the same abilities as kryptonite, he could already influence this destructive war initiated by the Kryptonians!

The situation was still following the predetermined plot, but at this moment, Li An received an unexpected visitor!

It turned out that after Li An had been in the Indian Ocean for a long time, Lex, who had not received any news back, finally took action. He quickly turned Gavin, who had hosted Li An, and then obtained Li An's current location from Gavin. Because he was well aware of Li An's combat prowess, Lex preemptively hired Deathstroke, a renowned master of strategy, tactics, and all weapons in the DC Universe.

Lex's goal was simple: his interest in playing with Li An was gone; it was time to get rid of this flea, Li An.

With Zod's arrival, his interest in this suddenly appearing "alien" was clearly greater than his interest in Li An. After all, Li An was just an Asian, an ordinary Earthling!

And how could an ordinary person absorb his interest more than an alien?

Therefore, Deathstroke's arrival was the most spectacular curtain call he could give to Li An, the Head of Security at LexCorp Headquarters.

Outside the military fortress!

Deathstroke, led by Gavin, had arrived outside the tightly sealed bunker door. Because this was a nuclear-grade military facility, destroying the door from the outside was extremely difficult, and for ordinary people, it was almost impossible.

But who was Deathstroke? He merely glanced at the closed door in front of him, then acted without a word. As a former modified soldier of the Big Beautiful Country's military, he was proficient in using various high-tech equipment, including specialized weapons and gear.

And this time, upon hearing about the target's location, he had specifically prepared weapons for dealing with this level of fortification.

A laser weapon!

Under normal circumstances, he definitely wouldn't be able to use such a weapon, as it was massive, and besides its huge energy consumption, transportation was also difficult. But fortunately, LexCorp helped this time, so it was easily transported over.

"Do it."

Of course, Deathstroke wasn't alone; he had brought an elite mercenary squad with him.

At his command, the set-up laser cannon quickly charged, and then, as all the energy converged to a single point, a laser beam shot out, striking the closed door in front of them with immense force.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle ~

Instantly, an ear-splitting cutting sound erupted, making the previously silent military fortress suddenly noisy. At the same moment Deathstroke made his move, Li An was also startled by the sudden commotion.

"This is... someone is destroying the door outside!"

Li An, startled, reacted immediately. A look of surprise first appeared on his face, then he quickly understood the key: the only person who would attack him at this time and place was clearly Lex!

"As expected of one of Superman's greatest lifelong enemies, Lex's intellect is truly terrifying."

Li An wasn't at all surprised by Lex's sudden move against him. After all, he held the position of Head of Security only because of his powerful combat abilities. But now that Lex dared to make a move, it indicated that he must have found a way to deal with him.

He was very curious about this!