Chapter 2

"Save Krypton?"

The projection of Jor-El calmly mocked himself.

"You don't have the mindset of a savior."

"Hail, you are merely driven by your own desires, wanting to dominate Krypton, to become a god of Krypton!"

"Hail, deep down, you are too arrogant."

Jor-El's angry rebuke was directed at Hail, who had been his son for ten years. In the end, he discovered that Hail was merely a facade of humility and kindness, hiding a mad desire for control and a delusional ambition to become a god, which deeply pained him.

Hail crossed his thumbs over his nose, pressing and rubbing it.

Really...

He had thought that even until the end, even after his father's death, he could maintain this 'perfect' image, making his father proud even in the afterlife.

With his true heart exposed, Hail no longer concealed his actions.

His hands, crossed over his nose, slowly lowered to the armrests of the steel seat. His back leaned directly against the steel seat, the cold steel sensation penetrating his skin and entering his blood. Hail sneered, slightly tilting his head, and looked down at the starry sky in front of him, completely ignoring his adoptive father, Jor-El.

Arrogant, huh...

Since crossing over to Krypton and learning that he was Hail, who would become the strongest Kryptonian in the future, the seed of arrogance had already deeply rooted in his heart. Allowing this arrogance to burn like a raging fire in his heart was the driving force behind everything.

Although in the DC universe, powerful deities are not few, in the vast multiverse, he might just be an insignificant ant that the gods do not care about.

But, the power to rule the stars is irresistible.

He really couldn't resist it!

"How did you know?"

Hail suddenly became curious.

It wasn't genuine curiosity, but if his performance was so poor that he was discovered at the last moment, he needed to learn from this lesson.

Perhaps he was truly arrogant, but there was nothing wrong with that.

Arrogance is just a form of dimensional superiority.

Arrogantly treating those inferior to oneself.

Absorbing all knowledge that surpasses oneself, then looking down from above.

The past, where he was humble, timid, hesitant, and endured others' moods, striving for a life of 6,561 pieces, was a miserable existence that made him laugh in contempt.

Now, this arrogant heart is the most true and real self at the core of his humanity.

"My brother, Zor-El, is a stubborn, traditional scientist. Our relationship has always been tense."

Jor-El spoke slowly, as if telling a heavy story.

"Through your close interactions, the barriers between us gradually disappeared."

"He often got drunk in front of me, patting my shoulder in emotion, believing that I had adopted a good son."

"He praised you without reservation, considering you the only choice to save Krypton, even placing his own status below yours."

"At the time, I was just happy that my relationship with Zor was improving, and I also praised you without much attention. Now, looking back, everything about you had early signs."

"Until my wife, Lara, also praised you highly, I realized that everyone around me seemed to speak highly of you."

"At that moment, I suddenly became curious about what such a perfect you was pursuing."

Hail looked down at the starry sky, silent.

He hadn't expected that the key to Jor-El's discovery would be everyone's lavish praise.

People always have desires, for wealth, beauty, power, or fame.

If one's perfection is too obvious in not desiring these, then the perfection must hide a much greater desire.

Jor-El's tone suddenly changed, becoming cold and stern. "I deliberately got Zor drunk and learned from him that you were collaborating."

"Then... I investigated and found out that you were violating the Council of Elders' ban on human cloning, creating a large number of clones with the same appearance as Krypton's high-ranking officials in Kandor City."

"You want to replace Krypton's high-ranking officials with clones, Hail, how dare you do such a thing!"

"I also found out that a reform movement was rising among the lower classes of Krypton, with a resistance army led by someone they call a god who will change Krypton's destiny."

"What do you want, Hail?"

"You want to dominate Krypton, to become a god of Krypton!"

By the end, Jor-El was already deeply angry. He hadn't expected that his perfect son, Jor-Hail, praised and admired by the world, would dare to disrupt Krypton so boldly.

He had always thought that Hail had no other desires, or if he did, it was only for scientific progress in the Academy. He hadn't expected that his son would be an unprecedented and ambitious revolutionary, wanting to overthrow Krypton.

This long-standing ambition was truly shocking to Jor-El.

"I am saving Krypton, Father. Do you think the high-ranking officials will allow you to investigate the core? The Council of Elders doesn't believe your investigation. Krypton is doomed, and these genetically fixed politicians are completely unaware of the severity of the issues raised by scientists."

"Krypton has become a rigid class system with no free thought. Its destruction is inevitable."

Hail responded coldly.

Kryptonian reproduction relies on embryo cultivation, with each individual predestined to become a politician, soldier, scientist, etc., like the cells in the eyes, ears, brain, and heart, highly specialized and each performing their own functions.

The mayor's son is a mayor, the general's son is a general, the bank president's son is a bank president, the scientist's son is a scientist, the politician's son is a politician...

This rigid class system is impossible to break, as it is locked in the genes.

If people had no thoughts, this rigidity would be a great good.

But unfortunately, people have thoughts.

This rigidity has become a hopeless prison.

"Replacing the high-ranking officials and causing chaos in Krypton will only harm more people. Your choice will bring the most severe damage to Krypton. There are other ways to solve the problem."

Jor-El shouted, Hail's ambition shocking him.

"What 'more people'? Just you!"

"Do you see the lower classes as animals?"

"Father, you don't understand the lower classes' grievances."

"I have delved into the lower classes..."

"Is that so? Under the mayor's leadership, inspecting the living conditions of the lower classes?"

"People cannot truly empathize with each other. From the beginning, your genes were destined to make you a superior being. Your joys and sorrows are not the same as theirs."

Hail spoke solemnly, his hands tightly gripping the armrests of the steel seat, his gaze cold.

"Their patience has reached the point where they no longer want to live. With just a little provocation, they will act, considering me their god."

"Do you think I want to be their god? No, I just want to use them to dominate Krypton."

"But since they want a god, becoming a god of Krypton after dominating it is not out of the question."

Hearing Hail's words, Jor-El knew that Hail was beyond redemption. He said with a sense of relief, "I am glad that I discovered everything before you were ready and can send you into space."