Pulled up by Diana, Ethan changed into very ordinary clothes, then took Diana and directly teleported out of the hotel. They hovered in the air above the hotel, looking in the direction where General Zod's spaceship was parked.
General Zod initially parked his spaceship in synchronous orbit around the moon. Later, to terraform Earth into a new Krypton, he brought the ship into Earth's atmosphere.
His spaceship was currently still parked in synchronous orbit, which made it quite difficult for present-day Earthlings to access.
But this didn't include Ethan.
"How do we do this? Board directly?"
"Of course. They've already committed an act of invasion. They should know that Earth is not theirs to carve up as they please."
With a gentle lift of his hand, a portal appeared before them. Diana was about to step in, but Ethan grabbed her first.
"The air environment inside their ship is completely different from Earth. I don't know if you can adapt. You'd better make some preparations first."
Ethan had already forged a divine body, and his body's requirements for the environment had become very low. Even in the vacuum of space, it wouldn't affect him at all.
Although Diana was a natural demigoddess with noble blood, in many aspects, she was similar to ordinary Earthlings. While extreme environments didn't affect Diana significantly, they weren't without any impact at all.
In this situation, she could choose to protect herself with specialized equipment, or she could use the divine power within her to defend herself.
Ethan's reminder was simply to let her activate her divine power in advance, so she wouldn't be affected by the enemy ship's internal environment during combat.
"I understand."
Diana, who had been guided by Ethan since childhood, was significantly different from her counterpart in the original storyline. Besides her still superb and skilled combat techniques and formidable physical fitness, her use of divine power far surpassed the original version.
Moreover, decades had passed since they last parted, and Diana had constantly honed her power. Her strength had improved significantly compared to when they last separated. Especially her control of her divine power already carried a hint of Ethan's ease with using his own magic.
A faint white light, so subtle it made one doubt their eyes, flashed across Diana before she flew into the portal.
Ethan didn't hesitate and followed. As soon as he entered, the portal immediately vanished.
The other side of the portal was inside the Kryptonian spaceship. With Ethan's precise mental targeting, they appeared directly in front of General Zod and the others.
General Zod looked at the man and woman who had suddenly appeared before him with surprise, completely unaware of who they were or how they had just appeared in front of him.
"General Zod, I am Diana of Themyscira."
"Who?"
"I am the guardian of humanity. I need you to state your intentions."
"Guardian of humanity?"
General Zod re-examined Diana. As an experienced military commander and a powerful Kryptonian warrior himself, he would not underestimate her just because she was a woman.
His second-in-command, Faora, was also a woman, and a Kryptonian warrior with great strength.
However, the equipment Diana wore made him a bit speechless. These items, which could only be called antiques... was this really the guardian of a civilization? But her sudden appearance also puzzled him, which prevented General Zod from acting rashly, and he even stopped his subordinates, signaling them to remain calm for now.
"There is one of our people on the planet you are guarding. I need you to hand him over."
"That is a matter between you and that person. What I need to ascertain now is something else."
"What?"
"Your intentions."
"As I've said, I want the Kryptonian hiding on Earth."
General Zod began to wonder if the woman in front of him was deliberately playing games. Did she not understand what he was saying? His Earth language should have been perfectly clear.
At this moment, the young man next to her, whom he had not paid attention to until now, suddenly interjected.
"She wants to know if you intend to launch a military invasion of Earth?"
General Zod's face darkened. He hadn't mentioned this point earlier, precisely because he wanted to gloss over it.
As a general, Zod disdained lying and was unwilling to fabricate falsehoods to deceive people, even if they were lower life forms he looked down upon. But this was not the right time to reveal his true intentions, and the situation grew tense.
His reaction did not escape Diana's notice. This response already told her what she needed to know. General Zod did indeed intend to occupy Earth.
Zod himself quickly realized this as well. At this point, he naturally wouldn't bother making excuses. Instead, he admitted it bluntly.
"That's right. This is an excellent planet, very suitable to become the new home for the Kryptonian people."
"This is not the home of the Kryptonian people. This is Earth."
"If there are no Earthlings, then it will be New Krypton."
Diana had originally wanted to see if she could make Zod abandon his idea of invasion. After all, they just wanted a new home. With so many planets in the galaxy, and with their advanced spaceship, were they really afraid of not finding a suitable one?
Unfortunately, in General Zod's mind, such a possibility didn't exist. He saw Earth, thought it suitable, and decided to take it.
What? Someone already lived here? Then eliminate the inhabitants, and it becomes an uninhabited planet. Simple.
At this point, there was no need to continue talking. Diana had already drawn her long sword, and across from her, Faora also reacted quickly and charged forward.
Her movement speed was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, she had already arrived in front of Diana.
She originally thought she would startle the Earthling in front of her, but she didn't expect the other woman to smile at her... What did that smile mean?
The confusion in her mind didn't affect her actions. Her heavy fist was about to strike Diana's face, but in the next second, she felt herself hit by a tremendous force, and her entire body was sent flying uncontrollably.
Diana, who had sent Faora flying with a single punch, didn't stop moving. She also charged at General Zod with extreme speed.
Wonder Woman was very different from Superman and Batman. Once Diana determined someone was an enemy, she never hesitated because of things like "no killing" rules. The training she received from childhood taught her to fight enemies with the intent to kill.
Especially after traveling with Ethan and gaining new knowledge, Diana's attacks had become even more fierce and direct than her counterpart in the original story.
General Zod's reaction was already fast. As a powerful warrior with rich combat experience, the moment Diana sent Faora flying, he had already assessed the situation. This woman who called herself Earth's guardian was a very powerful warrior.
"No wonder she can be the guardian of a civilization."
General Zod was forced back several steps by Diana's attack, but those steps also gave him time to react and counterattack.
However, after landing several heavy punches on Diana, he was shocked to find that they had no effect. There seemed to be a layer of energy around her body that directly absorbed his blows.
"If I didn't have some strength, how could I deal with invaders like you?"
Diana glanced at the spot where she had been struck. General Zod's attack left no trace at all. Then she suddenly slashed with the sword in her right hand. As Zod dodged, a dazzling white light flashed from her left hand. At such close range, it all struck Zod's body directly, sending him flying.
"Oh, oh, you're using your divine power more and more effortlessly."
At that moment, Faora had already gotten back up. The female second-in-command didn't go to help Zod but instead charged toward Ethan.
The calm and calculated second-in-command realized Diana wasn't an easy opponent to deal with, so she chose Ethan, who appeared clearly underage and whose strength, she believed, hadn't yet matured.
Although she didn't understand why this Earth guardian brought a child, she wouldn't consider such things on the battlefield. Attacking the enemy's weakness was the judgment an excellent soldier should make.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you chose wrong."
Even though she had charged toward Ethan at astonishing speed, for some reason, Ethan's slow movements were clearly seen by Faora, including his slightly closed eyes, his gently shaking head, and the fingers that kept twitching.
"Not good!"
She realized something was wrong, but having already gone all in, there was no way to stop what was about to happen. Ethan lightly sidestepped to avoid Faora's punch, then followed through, grabbed her arm, twisted his body, and used both arms to slam her straight into the floor.
The dull thud and the shallow dent in the floor proved just how terrifying that blow was. Ethan didn't stop after landing the first hit, nor did he show mercy just because Faora was a woman.
Pinning her down with his knee as she tried to get up, he launched a flurry of punches, smashing them down relentlessly. Every strike hit Faora's face directly. The brutal impact nearly knocked her unconscious each time, but the pain immediately woke her up again.
All of this happened in a flash. The surrounding soldiers only now realized what was happening: a fight had broken out.
(To be continued.)