Chapter 5

Earth.

The stratosphere, also known as the isothermal layer, is a layer in the Earth's atmosphere where the temperature increases with altitude. This layer is divided into different temperature zones, with the warmer layers at the top and the cooler layers at the bottom.

The reason the stratosphere's temperature increases with altitude is that its upper part absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun, causing it to heat up.

*Peng*

At the top of the stratosphere, 48 kilometers above the ground, Hail suddenly appeared.

In the moment of traveling between worlds, Hail learned from the vortex that it would transport him to a world that matched his thoughts.

At that moment, Hail had only one thought: to bask in the sun and awaken the Kryptonian genes.

In an instant, Hail appeared at the top of the stratosphere, 48 kilometers above the ground. Before him was a clear blue sky, and he could touch the parallel white clouds and the enormous, glaring sun.

The sunlight penetrated Hail's body directly. He absorbed the sunlight like a bottomless pit, causing a light collapse in the area.

"Ah!!!"

Suddenly appearing in the bright, clear stratosphere after being in a dark environment, Hail lifted his head and stared directly at the sun. As joy rose in his heart, he let out a scream.

The sunlight was the key to unlocking the Kryptonian genes, penetrating deep into Hail's body.

His body arched like a mature shrimp in the stratosphere, his hands stiffened into chicken claws, and his eyes, which were staring at the sun, stung and blurred, creating multiple afterimages of the sun. The sun appeared as hundreds of images, his vision becoming like a compound eye, accompanied by intense pain, and tears mixed with blood streamed down.

The deepest genes in his body began to activate under the radiation of the sunlight, and the cells started to awaken.

The ribosomes, receiving the sunlight, synthesized sunlight-like proteins, which were transmitted to the cell membrane. The phospholipid bilayer and the embedded proteins and glycocalyx of the cell membrane, stimulated by the sunlight, produced a reaction similar to an electric shock, rapidly transmitting through the body like an electric current.

The cytoplasmic vacuoles boiled as if on fire, the electron reactions within the liquid intensified, and the concentration increased tenfold. This is why Kryptonians can control the bio-magnetic field—due to the constant, intense electron movement in the cytoplasm, which feeds back to the entire body, forming a controlled bio-magnetic field.

The cell nucleus, after passing through the cell membrane, cytoplasm, chlorophyll light-absorbing factors, chlorophyll decomposition fluid, restructuring fluid, and protoplasm, received the feedback from the sunlight and entered the cell nucleus. In the cell nucleus, the chromosomal network channels began to separate the chromosomes, leading to cell division.

When the first cell exposed to the sunlight successfully divided, it began to spread the activation of cell differentiation like an infectious disease.

Cell differentiation refers to the process by which cells, after division, change in shape, structure, and function.

Cell differentiation forms different tissues, and the cells before and after differentiation are of different types.

Groups of cells with similar shapes, structures, and functions are called tissues. Different tissues, arranged in a specific order, form organs. Various organs work together to form systems.

This is why Kryptonians have heat vision, freezing breath, a steel-like body, super healing, super vision, and other superpowers.

"Pain... too much pain... hahaha... hahahahaha!!!"

Hail knew he was about to undergo a transformation, but the pain was so intense that it made him grind his teeth, literally. His old teeth were ground to pieces, and new ones grew back rapidly.

He laughed wildly amidst his screams, 48 kilometers above the ground in the stratosphere, where he was being pulled by Earth's gravity. He was a glowing body, continuously absorbing sunlight and falling due to gravity.

From a distance, even in the daytime, he looked like a bright star with a fiery tail, plummeting toward the ground.

The light seemed to be chasing him.

"Ah... hahaha... ahhahaha..."

Hail laughed, his teeth grinding and regrowing, his throat burning like lava, his eyes bleeding profusely, and his vision alternating between darkness and light as his eyes were constantly damaged and repaired by the intense sunlight.

The acceleration of his fall became more and more intense. His skin, rubbing against the air, began to burn, revealing deep red and beautiful muscle lines and white bones.

He turned, assuming a fetal position, with the skin on his face rubbed off, revealing muscle lines, his eyes exposed, and his teeth gleaming white, his expression fierce and laughing wildly.

In the midst of pain and ecstasy, the ecstasy overwhelmed the pain.

The friction of his fall through the air made him burn like a meteor. The strong muscles on his back began to burn and tear, revealing his ribs and internal organs, his blood evaporating and mixing with the scorching flames, creating a vivid scene of blood and fire.

In the next moment, his muscles, blood, bones, and skin fought against the elements. The Kryptonian ability to absorb sunlight and super healing worked continuously, balancing between healing and burning.

If time were extended, even with the increasing speed of his fall, the Kryptonian's super healing would eventually prevail. But now, he had reached the ground.

Hail, like a meteor, appeared in the stratosphere, trailing a fiery tail as he drew an arc in the clear blue sky, heading toward the Pacific Rim United Defense Force's Anchorage Base in Alaska.

"Attention, Test Training Ground 01, attention, Test Training Ground 01."

"Radar has detected a small meteor. The estimated impact location is Test Training Ground 01. Please evacuate immediately, please evacuate immediately."

"Repeat, please evacuate immediately! Please evacuate immediately!"

"Dangerous Wanderer, stop maintenance testing! Stop maintenance testing! Evacuate the ground immediately! Evacuate the ground immediately!"

The workers on the ground turned to see the fireball hurtling toward them and quickly boarded the engineering vehicles, following orders to evacuate the ground in an orderly manner.

The two pilots of the 79-meter-tall Dangerous Wanderer mecha, Raleigh and his brother Yansi, adjusted the visual system of the Dangerous Wanderer and saw the base defense cannons and MGM-134A ballistic missiles firing directly at the meteor in the sky.

Raleigh couldn't help but laugh and said, "Looks like today's maintenance can't be avoided."

His brother Yansi, staring at the meteor, saw it dodge the missile's lock-on trajectory and head toward the ground.

Yansi quickly said, "Hurry, hurry, get out of here!! That meteor is coming for us."

Just as the two were about to control the Dangerous Wanderer to leave the ground, the meteor fell and struck the knee of the Dangerous Wanderer, breaking the joint, severing the steel cables, and causing the 79-meter-tall giant to tilt and fall.

Finally, under the control of the two pilots, the Dangerous Wanderer stopped in a half-kneeling position.

After stabilizing,

The engineering mechanics quickly mobilized large machinery to lift the Dangerous Wanderer.

"What kind of meteor is this?"

Someone waved their hand to fan away the burnt steel and strange smell, approached the meteor's impact site, and shouted in shock.

"This isn't a meteor, this isn't a meteor, why is it a person!"

There, a tall figure lay in a fetal position in the meteor crater, with blood flowing from his back, creating a strong, pungent smell. In the blink of an eye, broken bones protruded, muscles writhed and restructured, and skin, accompanied by sparks, climbed over the muscles. Hail, still in a fetal position, unconscious but still grinning, lay there.