Although they fell into the ocean, neither of them seemed affected in the slightest. Even under the crushing pressure of the deep sea and the resistance of the water, their combat strength remained undiminished. Fierce blows were exchanged beneath the waves, each strike sending shockwaves through the surrounding water.
Meanwhile, above the ocean surface, Phoenix and the others hovered in midair, exchanging uneasy glances.
Although Firelord's body temperature was unimaginably high, even he couldn't boil the entire ocean. Heat required a medium for conduction, after all. At best, his intense energy vaporized the seawater immediately surrounding him, forming clouds of steam and bubbles.
But at least the battle had shifted away from New York. Despite the tremendous scale of the clash, the deserted expanse of the ocean made it preferable to fighting in a densely populated city, where the earlier conflict had already caused tens of thousands of casualties.
Beneath the waves, Shin's advantage grew stronger. He studied underwater combat techniques, including Fish-Man Karate from the One Piece world, with this experience, he moved fluidly through the currents. In contrast, Firelord was clearly out of his element. While the stellar fire burning inside his body was not easily extinguished by the water, the ocean's resistance greatly reduced his close-combat effectiveness. In hand-to-hand combat, he was no match for Shin.
After exchanging just over a dozen powerful strikes, Shin thrust the Firelord's own scepter directly through his chest. Golden cosmic energy spurted from the wound, instantly raising the temperature of the surrounding sea. The once-still water now roiled with bubbling steam.
Shin frowned. "This is going to be a problem."
He had underestimated just how much stellar energy Firelord's body contained. Even a small amount of his blood, infused with cosmic fire, was enough to raise the ocean's temperature by several degrees. The environmental impact could prove disastrous, far worse than the immediate casualties in New York.
But Shin didn't have the luxury of worrying about global climate shifts right now. His priority was to drain Firelord's power completely.
He had tried several times to absorb him into the dark dimension using the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, but Firelord's internal energy was too immense. Even with the attracting gravity of the dark dimension, Shin couldn't pull him in. The energy coursing through Firelord's body was so concentrated that it practically defied gravitational laws.
Though Shin's mastery over the Dark-Dark Fruit had improved steadily, his physical enhancements had outpaced it for now.
But Firelord's injuries were piling up. With another burst of pain, he wrenched the scepter from his chest and surged upward, breaking the surface of the sea. Just as he did, the twin Phoenix unleashed coordinated phoenix flames. Their fiery attacks collided with his already battered form, causing all his wounds to rupture at once. His body flared like a star about to go supernova.
Shin's hand emerged from the sea. Black energy surged upward in a wave, enveloping Firelord in an instant. This time, he didn't break free.
"Finally," Shin murmured, a small but satisfied smile flashing across his face.
He had succeeded in capturing Firelord.
Shin didn't care much for Firelord's physical body what made the man powerful wasn't his cells, but the immense stellar energy granted by Galactus. What Shin needed now was to extract that energy and make it his own.
Back at the underground laboratory, Shin used the Dark-Dark Fruit's gravitational pull to slowly and methodically draw out the stellar fire from Firelord's body. The process took several hours. As the energy left Firelord, it coalesced into a glowing mass suspended in the dark dimension, a miniature sun pulsing with restrained cosmic fire.
Unlike the uncontrollable fury of a true star, this energy was calmer, more refined internalized cosmic power, not elemental chaos. Though still potent, it was far easier to absorb.
Shin stood before the stellar flame, deep in thought. If he were a full-blooded Kryptonian, absorbing this energy might elevate him to a state like Silver Superman or even Golden Superman. But unfortunately, he only possessed a quarter of the Kryptonian bloodline.
"I should probably wait until I acquire the complete Kryptonian genome," he mused. "But then again... with more strength, that task might come easier."
He dismissed the hesitation. The power was here, now. Waiting for a perfect opportunity could mean missing it entirely.
Besides, Superman's infinite potential didn't necessarily apply to every Kryptonian. Clark Kent was the narrative center of the DC Universe his growth was boundless. But the average Kryptonian likely had limits, and Shin wasn't willing to bet his future on assumptions.
He pressed his hands forward and began absorbing the refined stellar fire into his body.
Once the extraction was complete, Firelord's body appeared much more subdued. With Galactus's influence stripped away, his mind cleared, and he began to remember who he truly was.
His name was Pyreus Kril. Once an officer in the Nova Corps of Xandar, he had been trained in advanced alien technology, interstellar navigation, and military operations. Years ago, his close friend Gabriel Lan had been abducted and transformed into a herald of Galactus then known as the Air-Walker.
In a desperate attempt to find his friend, Kril had volunteered to become a herald himself. But once under Galactus's control, his memories were wiped, and his quest was forgotten.
Shin found Kril's story tragically naive. "You gave up your identity and your mind to search for a friend... and then forgot who you were."
Still, he kept the criticism to himself. With Kril's injuries stabilized using the Munch-Munch Fruit's capabilities, Shin released him and tossed him into the same containment sector as Norrin Radd, the former Silver Surfer.
While Norrin still retained his core cosmic energy, much of his true power had been taken when Shin stripped him of the Galactic Glaze. His silver surfboard still held residual energy, enough to make Norrin a potential explosive risk if provoked.
Kril, however, was no such threat. His energy reserves were completely depleted. Devoid of his Nova Corps armor, he had no means of regaining power and was effectively no stronger than a normal enhanced human.
His primary value now lay in his memories, knowledge of Xandarian technology, interstellar coordinates, and most importantly, intelligence on Galactus himself.
Even so, within the heavily secured lab surrounded by superheroes, Kril posed no danger.
He was just another piece in the ever-expanding web of cosmic information Shin now controlled.
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