"This is spectacular!"
Being there in person was nothing like watching a 3D sci-fi documentary in a theater. Apart from Zod, the others were utterly stunned. Two of the women came from worldviews stuck in the Middle Ages and the pre-Qin era, and while the third was from a post-apocalyptic future, Tifa had never been to space either. In those times, everyone was too busy just surviving and dealing with the Stigma Syndrome. Ever since they'd left the atmosphere, they'd been basically frozen.
Ahead, the starry sky blazed with countless points of light, like grains of sand on the Ganges, adorning the profound cosmos.
The vast, boundless spectacle pleased Zod enormously, especially since all three women were staring, spellbound. To them, this was the most beautiful scenery they had ever seen in their lives—the scattered starlight in the darkness shining like the most dazzling jewels.
Then Zod placed his hand on the curvature engine activation button.
"Brace yourselves, ladies."
He grinned and pressed it.
The moment the curvature engine engaged, the dotted star map in front of the cockpit stretched into countless streaks of light.
Zod's ship technology was beyond question. It possessed the advanced capability to cross the universe; shooting through a mere solar system was no challenge at all.
Setting the ship to autopilot, Zod began studying the star chart. The cosmos was boundless—without a star chart to guide you, you could fly blindly forever and never reach your destination.
"Let's see… where's the nearest wormhole?"
In high spirits, Zod hummed a little tune as he adjusted the star chart into a three-dimensional projection. Esdeath, Yanlingji, and Tifa all cast curious glances his way. They knew nothing about space navigation; they were in the novice learning stage.
"Zod, what are you looking for?"
"Spatial nodes, for long-distance jumps."
Zod gave the three rookies a quick lesson.
"The universe is vast and boundless, practically infinite in size. Just the Milky Way galaxy—ignoring the galactic halo and outer material—has a diameter of over 100,000 light-years. Relying on curvature engines alone, we'd never make contact with other civilizations. That's when shortcuts become extremely important."
That said, Zod still felt a bit uneasy about whether the Marvel universe and the DC universe played by the same rules.
After all, the DC universe was created by God, and the Marvel universe was created by the Old Man. Over in DC, theology reigned supreme, so the cosmic laws might differ from the real universe. As for Marvel… well, no need to say more.
The three women wore expressions of profound, uncomprehending confusion.
"According to mathematical modeling, the universe has a periodic honeycomb structure, which naturally generates a large number of spatial nodes. We can use these shortcuts to achieve spatial jumps—instantly crossing vast distances and enabling long-range cosmic flight."
Zod activated the ship's spatial node scanner. Fortunately, it detected one.
So things work the same here.
"The spatial node is near the Moon. That's pretty close. We could turn the Moon into a transit station later."
After seeing the results, Zod nodded. Looks like he should pay a bit more attention to that lunar base.
The node could be used long-term and repeatedly. The only question was where it would send them.
Hopefully not some dead, barren planetary belt—that would take forever to get out of.
Adjusting the curvature engine, the ship swiftly arrived at the far side of the Moon. In the deep space ahead, a mass of hexagonal lattice-like patches resembling a honeycomb structure appeared. One of the patches was a deep, dark color, starkly different from the semi-transparent ones around it.
Zod accelerated the ship and shot straight through the spatial node. The women on board felt their whole bodies shudder.
Thankfully, with their powerful Kryptonian physiques, this was nothing serious.
The instant of exiting and entering the node—the body was simultaneously repelled and pulled, suffocating, with an exhilarating thrill of facing death that was dangerously addictive.
For Kryptonians, though, that sensation was dulled by more than half.
Even so, it brought a distinct flush to Yanlingji, Esdeath, and Tifa's faces. Three pairs of glistening, watery eyes stared straight at Zod. Esdeath, bolder than the others, took his hand and pressed it against her own faintly blushing cheek.
Damn, they're playing with fire!
Zod looked around, then chose a planet to land on.
By then, Yanlingji had already impatiently wound herself around him.
She made Zod think of Queen Medusa. Next time, he'd have to create her to try it out!
Zod laid Yanlingji down and began instructing her.
Esdeath and Tifa, miffed that Zod had grabbed Yanlingji first, teased and provoked him from the side.
Zod ignored them and proceeded to impart his liquid knowledge unto Yanlingji.
The process went something like this:
orz2,orz2,orz2,orz2,orz2,orz2
As for Yanlingji, Zod could only say—
She was a pool a thousand fathoms deep.
Then came the ice-and-fire double act with Esdeath and Yanlingji, while Tifa awkwardly sat on the sidelines.
The battle of four Kryptonians shook heaven and earth. Only because the ship was built to last did it survive; otherwise, the planet's surface would've been wrecked.
The three women, exhausted to the point of half-death, clung to each other and fell asleep. Zod, by himself, set off on an alien planet expedition.
It couldn't be helped—the Doomsday Superman had boundless, inexhaustible energy. If he didn't break something, he felt restless all over.
After his great battle with the three Kryptonians, he felt a lot better, but only somewhat better.
This planet wasn't marked on the star chart the Ancient One had given him. That was normal—after all, the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj just used portals to travel into space. The Ancient One probably didn't even know there was a spatial node on the far side of the Moon.
"I wonder if we've left the Nine Realms or not."
Zod knew that Earth in the Marvel universe was special. Beyond the solar system, there was the Yggdrasil system of the Nine Realms, all under Asgard's rule and protection—except for certain realms, like the one where the Frost Giants lived, and Midgard, which fell under the Ancient One and wasn't under Asgard's protection or rule.
And there was a guy on Asgard he really couldn't stand: Heimdall, who could see every corner of the Nine Realms—even the entire universe—and hear the sounds there.
To protect his privacy rights, Zod felt it might be necessary to make Heimdall lose his sight.
Otherwise, he'd always feel like he was being live-streamed.
Luck was on his side. Zod hadn't walked far on this planet before he ran into a dozen aliens. After beating them down, he extracted their memories and learned where he was.
Ankarado'mor Star!
A planet dedicated to giving interstellar cosmic marauders a place to rest and trade. Zod and his group had simply barged right in.
/-\
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)