Chapter 4

Hail took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth. He then grinned and picked up the 'fish bubble', saying, "In the ancient Kryptonian era, the stomach of the three-headed giant squid had a special property."

"It could isolate various metal radiations and chemical reactions," Jor-El's face was grim, clearly remembering that this was Hail's biology graduation project.

The three-headed giant squid's stomach, which could isolate metal radiation, had significant implications for Krypton's radiation protection suits, advancing research in underground, deep-sea, lava, and space exploration.

This was a discovery that could be widely applied to various radiation protections.

Hail became an instant star at the Science Academy, and Jor-El had also updated his family's battle suit with the finished research Hail had gifted him.

But who would have thought that Hail had swallowed a modified three-headed giant squid's stomach to bypass the pre-flight physical examination.

Under Jor-El's stern gaze, Hail tore open the white stomach of the three-headed giant squid, pinched it between his fingers, and extracted a key with an 'S' symbol engraved at its top.

"Even if you format me and take control of this spaceship, it's already too late."

Jor-El's expression was complicated; he realized he was at the end of his rope.

The commands he had uploaded had been executed, and he had no more cards to play to stop Hail.

He also couldn't understand why Hail was still struggling.

In deep space, without energy, the spaceship couldn't reach any distant yellow sun. This was a death sentence.

This is space.

Vast, empty, cold, and dark, offering no hope.

The stars you see are just remnants of light, millions of light-years away, which can drive one to loneliness and madness.

This struggle was futile.

Hail, holding the key between his fingers, walked to the control panel, inserted the key into the lock, and pressed the 'S' symbol on its top, fully embedding the key into the control panel. He smiled.

"Too late? Jor-El, you know nothing about me."

"But I know that you were already interested in the Codex of Life before I boarded this spaceship."

"The Codex of Life is the foundation of Krypton. I believed you would carry it to a planet with a yellow sun."

"Our battle is not over."

"I will obtain the Codex of Life, and I will rebuild Krypton."

Hail, with a clear vision of the future, waved his hand and said sharply.

"Reset, format him!"

Immediately, Jor-El's projection began to flicker. At this final moment, he showed a hint of gloom, his eyes filled with complex and unwilling emotions.

"Hail!"

"Even if I lose to you at this moment, it doesn't prove that you can defeat me."

"I don't want you to find me, and I don't want to open another battle with you."

"I can send you to the desolate space, and I can prepare thoroughly to trap you in an endless abyss."

"May this starry sky be your grave!"

Jor-El's eyes were filled with both mercy and cruelty as he looked deeply at Hail.

This deep space was too lonely. He had calculated that Hail had no way out, and the crystal core engine was not sufficient for a jump. He didn't believe Hail had any way to survive.

But Hail's struggle still cast a shadow over his heart.

Could Hail have a hidden move in this deep space?

"Arrogant, Jor-El. Despite your high status on Krypton, you were still forced to let me board this spaceship, and every move you made was according to my plan."

"The desperate situation you are in now is just what I wanted you to do."

Hail's lips curled into a cold smile as he looked at Jor-El's projection with merciless eyes.

On Krypton, under Jor-El's command, he had no way to counter. His only option was to initiate an underground revolution, aiming to replace the upper echelons. Jor-El, who knew his ambitions but had no evidence, was willing to 'let' him board the spaceship and leave Krypton for the sake of Krypton's stability.

Jor-El, all your actions were what I wanted you to do.

Jor-El's projection's face darkened, flickered a few times, and then disappeared into the starry sky of the control room.

"Formatting complete, Master. Reset has officially taken control of the Krypton Science Academy's space probe."

Hail nodded with a smile, having eliminated Jor-El's last threat, he was now truly free.

Controlling the spaceship to a desolate part of deep space to wait for death was not something he found hard to accept.

Compared to the explosion and death of all Kryptonians, his survival was much better.

He had long anticipated his current situation.

"I look forward to defeating you again."

Hail was already looking forward to the day he would find Earth and meet the brother of the God of Man in person. He believed that his adoptive father, Jor-El, would again use the trick of uploading his consciousness to protect his brother.

He would take back everything that belonged to Krypton.

I will create a new Krypton.

A Krypton ruled by me!

Jor-El.

Our battle is not over.

"Display the star map and calculate the distance to the nearest planet."

"How long can the crystal core engine sustain?"

"How far is it to Earth?"

Hail issued commands. Reset was the intelligent system he had secretly created to take control of the spaceship after formatting Jor-El.

Hail's trump cards were far from just these.

He was not afraid of being lost or exiled in space.

Even in the vast, cold, and lonely space, he still had the ability to travel between worlds.

In his consciousness space, there was a vortex that could transport him to other worlds.

The reason Hail had not traveled to other worlds before was that Kryptonians' physical constitution was among the top tier in many worlds.

Why was it considered the top tier? Because it required no effort, no cultivation, and just sunbathing gave them the power to destroy stars.

Few powers were as easily obtained as being a Kryptonian.

Facing the unknown dangers of unknown worlds, mastering the power of Kryptonian physiology was the right choice.

Also, if his consciousness traveled to other worlds, his physical body would still be on Krypton, and he feared that if his consciousness didn't return in time, Krypton would explode, killing his physical body.

So, from the moment he boarded this spaceship and left Krypton, Hail had already won.

Not dying in the destruction of Krypton, an infinitely bright future was already opening its arms to him.

"Reduce the spaceship's internal protection, adopt the minimum survival limit, stop the operation of engineering machinery, and proceed on a safe route to the next star, MT745. The time required is 61,320 hours, and it will consume 1.7526% of the crystal core engine's energy."

"The distance to Earth is approximately 2.94 million light-years."

Hail's brows furrowed.

Jor-El had used the crystal core engine too harshly, specifically jumping to a region of space with few stars and scarce resources.

2.94 million light-years was too far.

Without energy or resources, it was no wonder Jor-El chose this part of space.

"Head to the MT745 star to rest and search for the colonies Krypton once occupied."

Hail issued the command.

Krypton had once colonized vast regions of space. In that unknown era, the entire sky sang of the glory and fame of the Kryptonians, fearing their warships and military might.

It was an era that could not be forgotten, where the mention of Kryptonians struck fear into the hearts of the cosmos.

But later... According to Hail's research of ancient history, it seemed that the ancient Krypton was besieged by the entire universe, leading to a cosmic war of annihilation.

For a time, Krypton fought alone against the entire universe, researching the ultimate weapon, the Day of Destruction. From the ancient history, Hail could sense the frustration and difficulty Krypton faced during this period, which led to the angry and proud Kryptonians beginning the research on the Day of Destruction.

Whether the research on the Day of Destruction was successful is not clearly recorded, but it is passed down as a legend of supreme terror and invincibility.

Hail felt that it must have been successful, but this uncontrolled Day of Destruction directly harmed Krypton, leading to its failure in the war against the entire universe.

Krypton's ancient history is passed down in a mythological way. Hail didn't know if it was true, but combining the information he knew, he could guess the glorious era of Krypton in the universe.

It was an era of supreme honor, where the mention of Krypton struck fear into the hearts of the cosmos.

The name of that era was: Krypton!

Now, so much time has passed that the universe has forgotten the Kryptonian race, leaving Krypton in isolation. Hail didn't know if he could find the colonies Krypton once occupied, but it was a direction to obtain resources and energy.

This deep space was truly too lonely.

The probability of Hail dying in this deep space was 99%. This was what Jor-El hoped for.

"Shut down all life support systems, leaving only the basic life support in the meditation room."

Hail's brows furrowed, deciding to travel to other worlds.

Otherwise, in this space, it would be a slow death.

He turned and left the control room, entered the meditation room, sat on the meditation seat, and entered his dark consciousness space, subconsciously diving into the vortex of travel.

But Hail never expected that the vortex in his consciousness space would also pull his physical body into it.

Hail suddenly realized and was overjoyed. He originally thought he was traveling with just his consciousness, but now he realized he was traveling with his physical body as well.