"Die!"
With a low growl, Ethan Drake threw his fist forward.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't punching an enemy. His fist struck nothing but empty air several dozen meters away.
Yet the moment his arm moved, a terrifying force erupted from his body.
The air in front of him rippled like the surface of a lake disturbed by a falling stone. Invisible waves spread outward in expanding rings, distorting the space between Ethan and the Kree rebels.
"Spatial Shock."
Extraordinary Strength LV14 had unlocked its own devastating technique, and this was one of them.
Boom!
The moment Ethan's fist completed its arc, the space ahead of him trembled violently. The air warped and twisted as though reality itself had been struck by an invisible hammer.
Ripples spread outward in layers.
Crack! Crack!
Sharp sounds echoed through the battlefield, resembling the shattering of glass.
The air itself appeared to tear open, splitting into thin black fractures that flickered through space like jagged scars.
"Not good!"
The Kree rebels' confident expressions vanished instantly. Panic spread across their faces as they sensed the overwhelming power rushing toward them.
Even the slowest among them could feel the danger.
"Move! Get out of the way!"
Their formation collapsed as they attempted to flee the battlefield.
But it was already too late.
Ethan's punch had unleashed a shockwave that surged forward like a tidal wave.
Boom!
The ground beneath them cracked violently as if struck by an earthquake.
The shockwave tore across the land like a hurricane, lifting soil and debris into the air as it surged forward with unstoppable force.
Before the Kree rebels could escape, the invisible impact struck them.
The force hit their backs like a speeding train.
Bones shattered instantly.
Their bodies were launched forward, thrown helplessly across the battlefield.
But the shockwave itself was only part of the attack.
The black fractures tearing through the air were far more terrifying.
Whenever one of those thin spatial cracks brushed against a body, the result was immediate.
Slice.
Armor and flesh parted effortlessly.
"NO—!"
Several rebels screamed as the invisible blades passed through them. Their armor, reinforced with advanced alloys, offered no resistance whatsoever.
Their bodies were cut apart as easily as tofu beneath a sharpened knife.
The wounds were perfectly clean.
For a brief moment, the battlefield fell silent.
Then blood began soaking into the shattered ground as fragmented bodies collapsed under the fading storm.
The entire Kree squad had been annihilated.
"This…"
The Kryptonian engineer standing nearby stared at the scene with wide eyes. His mind struggled to process what had just happened.
Every rebel lying on the ground was dead.
None of them had even managed to escape.
"Oh my god…"
His voice trembled.
Just minutes ago, those same soldiers had nearly killed them all.
Yet Ethan had destroyed the entire squad with a single punch.
Was this really the same young man they had known before?
How had he suddenly become this powerful?
"You're unbelievably strong," Todd said as he approached slowly.
The Kryptonian soldier looked completely stunned.
He and Ethan were both trained soldiers of Krypton, yet the gap between them now felt like the difference between an ordinary man and a god.
That single punch had wiped out a full team of Kree rebels.
"Spatial Shock… the name fits perfectly," Ethan murmured to himself.
The ability reminded him of certain destructive powers he had seen in stories from his previous life. By generating violent vibrations through space itself, the attack created shockwaves capable of shattering everything in its path.
The principle was surprisingly similar.
But Ethan knew the true limit of this power was far greater.
Right now he had only scratched the surface.
"Alright," he said calmly. "Let's go."
He glanced briefly at the lifeless bodies scattered across the battlefield before turning back toward the ship.
The Kree rebel squad had been completely wiped out.
On a lawless neutral planet like this one, no one else would be foolish enough to test them now.
Soon afterward, the crew resumed their work.
Fuel containers, food supplies, and essential equipment were quickly loaded into the Kryptonian reconnaissance vessel Aquarius without further incident.
Through the large observation windows of the ship, the remaining crew members had witnessed Ethan's display of power.
The reactions inside the cabin were impossible to hide.
"How did he become that strong?"
"What kind of Kryptonian soldier is this? He looks more like a general."
"No one would question that," someone muttered.
"Yeah… and he's ridiculously handsome too," Medic Lucini said with an almost dreamy expression.
Regardless of their shock, one thing had become clear to everyone aboard the ship.
For the first time since Krypton's destruction, they finally felt safe.
Hum—
The hatch sealed shut once again.
Moments later, the Aquarius lifted off the planet's surface and blasted through the atmosphere at incredible speed.
The neutral world of Dark quickly faded behind them as the reconnaissance ship entered the boundless ocean of stars.
During the journey, the topic of Captain Edward's death inevitably surfaced.
But the discussion carried little sympathy.
Edward's behavior in the final moments had destroyed whatever respect the crew once held for him. His hysteria and willingness to abandon his own people had revealed a leader unfit for command.
His death had only removed a dangerous liability.
"That damn coward," Todd muttered angrily.
"He almost got us killed."
He wasn't the only one who felt that way.
Besides Todd and the engineer, several other crew members had been outside the ship during the earlier conflict. Even the adjutant and one of the scientists had been caught in the chaos.
If Edward had successfully taken off without them, the result would have been catastrophic.
Silence eventually settled across the cabin.
"There are only ten of us left," someone finally said.
Ten.
The number hung heavily in the air.
Ten surviving Kryptonians.
Ever since awakening from cryogenic sleep, the crew had repeatedly attempted to broadcast quantum signals across nearby star systems, hoping to contact other survivors of Krypton.
But fifteen years had passed.
Not a single response had returned.
It was becoming painfully clear that Krypton might truly be gone.
They might be the final survivors of an entire civilization.
The last remaining flame of their people.
"If Krypton is going to survive," one of the scientists said slowly, "we need someone to lead us."
The others nodded.
"That person can't be unstable."
"They can't panic when things go wrong."
"They need to stay calm, think clearly, and guide us through whatever lies ahead."
"They also need courage," another voice added. "Because without courage, none of us will survive in this universe."
All eyes gradually turned toward Ethan.
"Clearly, only you meet those requirements."
The decision came naturally.
Ethan Drake became the new captain of the Aquarius.
In truth, this outcome didn't surprise him.
In his previous life, he hadn't simply been a wealthy heir enjoying luxury. Despite his comfortable background, he had still gained experience navigating the real world and building his own ambitions.
Now he had arrived in a universe filled with endless possibilities.
And with the Oracle System in his hands, Ethan felt a powerful sense of destiny rising within him.
A universe like this was far too vast to remain insignificant.
If he failed to accomplish something extraordinary here, it would be a waste of both his second life and the power he possessed.
The so-called three great interstellar empires.
The cosmic entities born alongside the universe itself.
Even figures like Thanos—the Titan who once wiped out half of all life with a single snap of his fingers.
Ethan intended to see them all.
"The future of Krypton will not remain bleak," he thought quietly.
"This will become the foundation for my rule over the stars."
Plans were already forming inside his mind.
…
Perhaps fortune truly favored them.
A few days later, while the Aquarius drifted through the endless sea of stars, the ship's communication system suddenly detected a familiar signal.
The control room erupted with excitement.
"It's a Kryptonian ship!"
"Someone responded to our transmission!"
"Oh my god… did we finally find another survivor?"