There was really nothing more to say after that, especially with Zod clearly lusting after Tifa's body.
It did not take long for him to elevate Tifa into a super heroine adored by millions. With her beauty, charm, and strength, it was hardly surprising that she became an idol even more dazzling than the biggest superstars.
Tifa was also startled by the fanaticism of the people in this world. Every single day, she received countless messages saying things like "I love you" and "I'd die for you."
"Do people in this world always express love so directly?"
Tifa asked Zod in confusion.
"Most of them do, more or less. But you don't need to care. The Divine Sword Bureau is an official organization. They can't affect us."
Zodhis nodded and looked at Tifa with open admiration.
If, a few days ago, she had still carried a kind of doll-like stiffness, then now she was a completely vivid, living Tifa. Even if she stood beside the original, Cloud probably would not be able to tell them apart.
"You... stop staring at me like that."
Tifa could feel how burning his gaze was, so intense that she no longer knew what to do with herself.
"Tifa."
Zod pulled her into his arms. Tifa gave him a slight push, so light that Zod did not even notice it.
Their breaths mingled at close range. Feeling the scorching heat of Zod's body, as though he were a blazing furnace, Tifa could not help but go soft.
"Zod..."
Tifa looked into his eyes.
"Tifa..."
Zod nodded.
What happened next could be summed up with a few lines of verse.
A light wine shared before others, soft jade cradled by lamplight.
When she turned and fell into his arms, every glance brimmed with feeling, "It hurts, hurts, hurts..."
She gently pushed at her lover, and slowly her trembling voice could be heard, while a startled flush spread across her face.
At last getting what she wished for, Tifa fell asleep in Zod's arms with a blissful expression on her face, while Zod gently stroked her long hair.
"So she's the newcomer?"
Then Esdeath pushed the door open and walked straight in. She glanced at Tifa and asked.
"Yeah."
Zod nodded, then noticed that Esdeath was actually wearing a body-hugging outfit with black stockings.
This woman was starting to feel more and more like an actual person.
Then, without any explanation, Esdeath pounced straight at him, turning into a little troublemaker and forcing Zodhis to give her everything he had.
Zodhis naturally fought back, grabbing Esdeath and launching a furious counterattack.
The two Kryptonians fought a fierce battle, but in the end, Zodhis was still the victor.
Taking care of two Kryptonians in one go was a bit much even for Zodhis.
The treasury had been drained dry. It probably would not recover anytime soon.
"My strength is still too weak."
Zodhis sighed again. If he could not handle fifty Kryptonians at once, what business did he have trying to run a harem?
Unfortunately, Zodhis had already entered a long growth period. The sun's enhancement was no longer giving him explosive leaps in strength like it did at the beginning. It would now take a very long time for him to grow stronger. Unless he slept inside the sun for several hundred years like Golden Superman, all he could do was wait for time to pass.
Esdeath probably kept running back for the same reason. She, too, had started to notice that sunlight was strengthening her more and more slowly.
But it did not matter. Zodhis was, after all, a mutant among Kryptonians, an Electromagnetic Kryptonian!
He also seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation because of the sun in the Marvel universe, although to the current Zodhis, that change was hardly worth mentioning.
On the surface, Zodhis looked like he spent his days fooling around, but in truth, he had always been researching himself, including the possibility of implanting the X-Gene and injecting Hulk serum.
It was just that both of those options were too unstable. The X-Gene was also completely countered by Leech, and through the free public physical exams Zodhis had been conducting, he had already collected Leech's genes.
Otherwise, he would not have casually helped others awaken their X-Gene or receive X-Gene injections. He had control measures in place.
After a long period of self-research, Zodhis finally found a suitable path.
Not Super Saiyan, but Super Kryptonian!
As everyone knew, Superman had a Solar Flare mode. Whenever Superman fell into despair, he could unleash Solar Flare, activating the yellow solar energy in his body and turning himself into a humanoid solar bomb. In that state, he was practically invincible, slaughtering gods and demons alike. Naturally, the side effects were just as obvious. After using Solar Flare, Superman would lose all his powers for the next twenty-four hours.
Of course, Zodhis had that ability as well. It was just that such a suicidal method, or rather a tactic that injured the enemy by a thousand while costing himself eight hundred, was far too crude.
Through self-research, and over a span of nearly three years, Zodhis had finally developed the Super Kryptonian state!
He took the yellow solar energy released by Solar Flare and filled every cell in his body with it in an orderly way, gaining a stable overall enhancement.
Zodhis gave it a try.
A dazzling golden aura shot into the sky. Zodhis's black hair stood upright and turned gold. His eyes, however, did not turn green. Instead, they became the same radiant gold, glowing brightly.
Golden energy surged all over his body, yet Zodhis frowned.
"Too much energy is being wasted."
In this state, Zodhis's combat power increased a hundredfold. At the same time, he did not have to worry about energy leakage, because electromagnetic force could directly convert energy to replenish whatever he needed.
That mutated superpower, Energy Absorption, meant Zodhis did not need to rely on yellow solar energy like other Kryptonians in order to recover. Any kind of energy could restore him.
That also meant he could maintain this state for a very long time.
Originally, Zodhis had only been at sub-Skyfather level. Now, he had directly stepped into Skyfather level, and he would probably count as one of the stronger ones even among Skyfather-level beings. In other words, he could now twist that purple potato's head right off.
"But if I don't understand how to use Cosmic Energy, I'll probably be at a huge disadvantage when facing that purple potato."
Zodhis fell into thought.
The ability to sense and manipulate Cosmic Energy was more or less a prerequisite for stepping through the threshold of godhood in the Marvel universe.
Within a single universe, Cosmic Energy was a fundamental force that virtually none of Marvel's top-tier powerhouses could avoid. At least ninety percent of the god-tier big shots in Marvel were tied to this stuff in one way or another. On the other hand, as long as a character had even the slightest connection to the words "Cosmic Energy," then at the very least, they were a hegemon capable of dominating the entire universe.
Cosmic Energy was different from ordinary energy. It was a sufficiently high-level power, and it might even help him break past his original upper limit. In the original story, Thanos, with nothing but his mortal body, directly broke through to multiverse level after absorbing a massive amount of Cosmic Energy. Richard felt that if he absorbed that much as well, he would definitely ascend beyond godhood.
But Cosmic Energy was not some common cabbage you could stumble across just by wandering around outer space a few times. Compared to how rare this stuff was, even vibranium could be considered commonplace. It was easy to imagine that plenty of powerful beings coveted such an extraordinary energy. However, since the birth of the universe, the purest portion of Cosmic Energy had only ever existed in a limited amount, and whatever could be absorbed had long since been absorbed by the god-tier powerhouses. Even if he wanted to search for it now, he would not know where to begin.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)