Zod would never bring out the Kryptonians, of course.
He didn't even dare to bring out the scientific-research types. The Kryptonians' weakness had not yet been discovered. If their numbers grew too large and their weakness were accidentally exposed…
Zod himself wasn't afraid, but Esdeath and the other two were. Once the Kryptonian Empire emerged, the entire universe would feel that, before long, the Three Great Empires might well become the Four Great Empires — provided the Kryptonian Empire could keep up that level of strength forever.
In truth, Asgard could also have become a fourth empire, but Odin had no interest in that. He also observed the principle that a tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind.
Zod held no such concerns. In his view, as long as one possessed enough strength, there was no need to weigh every scruple. The Three Great Empires had thrown their weight around for years without being destroyed. Even the mad Titan, Thanos, whose plan was to wipe out half the life on every planet, only targeted worlds that did not belong to the Three Great Empires. Why? Because the Three Great Empires were so mighty that Thanos himself was unwilling to provoke them. Planets and factions outside them? Wiped out, and that was that.
The Kryptonian Empire was the same. After Thanos had witnessed the combat prowess of Esdeath, Yan Lingji, and Tifa, he lost interest in targeting them. Individuals who could take on entire fleets single-handedly were rare in the universe — every one of them was an overlord of a region. Yet the Kryptonian Empire had so many of them. "Emperor" Zodhis had never even shown his hand, so no one knew how strong he was. But if his favored consorts were that powerful, then the man himself could only be even stronger.
At that moment, Zod was embracing his beloved consorts in a hot spring.
For Kryptonians, technically only something like magma would barely count as a hot spring, but when it was for the sake of mood and intimacy, anything went.
"The Kryptonian Empire… I never expected you'd suddenly become an emperor."
Esdeath found the perfect position and slowly sat down, her voluptuous, succulent body draping over Zod.
Zod grunted. A Kryptonian's physical density far exceeded a human's, which meant that, in Type-Moon Heavy Industries parlance, Esdeath was essentially at the level of a hydraulic press. If an ordinary person, or anyone whose strength wasn't up to par, tried to do anything with her or the others, they would likely end up as meat paste. So there was no need to worry about them straying or Zod being cuckolded — there were far too few powerhouses who could satisfy them, and those few who reached that level of power were no match for Zod.
Zod had stopped seeking out Urd and Ada Wong. The two of them felt like nothing to him, softer than tofu. Without a bio-field, they would probably die just like that, the way Homelander or Hancock would.
The three Kryptonians took turns, throwing themselves into a three-on-one battle of pleasure against Zod, yet they still couldn't take him down. In the end, they were thoroughly defeated, leaving rivers of blood in their wake.
When it was over, Esdeath, Yan Lingji, and Tifa lay in Zod's arms, gazing at the starry sky. The hot spring was set atop a high mountain, and the stars seemed to hang just overhead, as if within arm's reach.
"I used to feel sorry that the sky was too high, that I couldn't touch the clouds or the stars," Yan Lingji said, looking up at the heavens. At that moment, her eyes held the light of stars, breathtakingly beautiful. "But now that I can fly up there, I've learned that clouds and stars can't actually be touched after all."
"It's like always wanting to pluck the stars and the moon?" Tifa chimed in, as if seeking agreement.
"The tower stands high, a hundred feet tall; one could reach out and pluck the stars. I dare not speak in a loud voice, for fear of startling the celestial beings above," Zod recited. He was genuinely curious — if Li Bai had known the truth of the great void, how would this poem have changed?
"I think it's better this way," Esdeath countered. "Every one of these stars is a world. Countless worlds, endless wars — I can keep fighting forever!"
She would rather not have the sky be only that high, something you could just fly up and touch. These boundless battlefields and ceaseless wars were exactly what she dreamed of.
Zod caressed Esdeath's face, and she nestled against him with evident pleasure. Unlike Esdeath, Tifa and Yan Lingji were never the type who loved war. Esdeath might be able to constantly expand the territory, sweeping through thousands of troops like rolling up a mat, but Tifa and Yan Lingji would likely grow weary very soon. That was fine, though — he had many other candidates, and there would be some who, like Esdeath, truly loved combat. If nothing else, there were still plenty of male characters. He could just bring out a few of them. Heracles the Mighty, for instance. Although he wasn't a Kryptonian, his performance was still outstanding.
…
The Kree scientists they had acquired now all knew that the Supreme Intelligence had agreed to the Kryptonian Empire's demands. None of them had expected the Burning Legion would suddenly turn into an empire. With only a handful of people in plain sight, how could it be called an empire? But the outside world had no idea of the Kryptonian Empire's true nature, nor did they know that this so-called empire had, in total, only a thousand or two thousand citizens.
Left with no choice, the Kree scientists resigned themselves to their fate and began researching various technologies for the Kryptonian Empire. Two months later, the Kree Empire sent the knowledge and personnel Zod had requested. Zod checked them over, primarily to see whether the Supreme Intelligence had done anything to them. After confirming there was nothing wrong, he allowed them to start contributing to the Kryptonian Empire's foundations.
Meanwhile, Zod had also made progress in his research on the Power Stone. The Dark Elves' Cursed Warriors were created using fragments of the Aether particles. The Power Stone naturally didn't have the kind of fragments the Aether had. Instead, because its power was too violent, it had been sealed inside the Orb. Extracting the Power Stone's energy was extremely difficult. One slip, and it could easily spiral out of control. Zod had to teleport into space several times to prevent the Imperial Star from being destroyed in the process.
Fortunately, the efforts finally paid off. He successfully extracted the Power Stone's energy, and by bestowing this power, he could directly turn someone into an extraordinarily formidable super-soldier. He wasn't sure whether they were stronger than the Cursed Warriors, though. However, because the Power Stone's energy was so wildly violent, those transformed this way wouldn't live very long. It was a flawed creation.
Zod didn't mind. To him, this was only a pastime. The real goal of the Kryptonian Empire was a harem of three thousand beautiful consorts, not burdening himself with a bunch of troublesome citizens. Zod wasn't so full and bored that he'd go to all that trouble for others. Weren't three thousand figurine wives far more appealing?
And right now, Zod had a new figurine-wife candidate. He held up the figurine in his hand.
"Something like this, I suppose?"
Zod examined it and then murmured to himself.
/-\
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