Chapter 38: Run!

Shen You really admired one particular trait of Batman: always being prepared.

In the DC universe, there's a saying: you can fight Batman, but you should never schedule a fight with him. If you're a superpowered being with strange abilities and you encounter him by chance, Batman might appear to be just an ordinary person, and you could stand a chance. But if you arrange in advance to have a showdown on a specific date and time, you're doomed. He won't show up unless he's come up with at least three to fifty strategies to incapacitate you, plus contingency plans for those strategies, and even backup plans for the contingencies.

Shen You very much agreed with this philosophy. After all, in the Land of Light, he was just a scientist with no real combat ability; relying on his intellect was far more important than relying on brute strength. It's crucial to understand your opponent thoroughly before a fight and to lay traps in advance.

Fortunately, he had his memories of DC Comics, which gave him a quasi-omniscient perspective on many characters' abilities and weaknesses. On top of that, he had the advanced scientific knowledge he gained in the Land of Light, enabling him to develop countermeasures against various abilities.

Just like now.

The Task Force X agents were utterly dumbfounded. Just a moment ago, the man with the axe had appeared to them like an invincible war god. Bullets felt like mere pinpricks against him, and missiles were like a relaxing sauna. He could single-handedly charge through the entire base with just his axe, like a demon straight out of myth.

Then this armored guy showed up, and the atmosphere completely shifted. The man who had seemed almost invincible suddenly turned into a bit of a clown, performing two high-difficulty kneeling slides and taking blow after blow.

It felt like watching their team getting wrecked in a game by an opponent pulling off unbelievable moves, only for their own boss to join and suddenly the other side was fumbling around like a confused newbie.

"Roar!"

With another furious roar, Vatox charged out of the flames like a wounded beast!

He was covered in blood, his whole body battered and bruised, and his shirt shredded to tatters. But he ignored all the pain, his eyes red with rage as he lunged at Shen You.

He looked terribly miserable, but the fact that even a Spacium warhead hadn't dealt a fatal blow spoke volumes about his impressive defenses.

And the fact that the blast hadn't even stunned him was a bit of a surprise to Shen You. He quickly activated his super speed, and the suit's thrusters fired, preparing to jet sideways.

But Vatox was faster. He reached out and grabbed Shen You by the ankle just before he could escape, smashing the thruster on his left foot with a single punch and slamming the suit back onto the ground.

Shen You quickly raised his right palm, a burst of light glowing in his palm, ready to fire an energy blast directly at Vatox's face. But Vatox was incredibly quick, grabbing Shen You's wrist. The terrifying grip strength crushed the armored wrist, causing it to bend inward with a screech, sparking and crackling. The light in his palm flickered out, and the energy cannon in his right hand went offline.

Seems like there's still room for optimization, Shen You quickly concluded.

He felt that there wasn't much wrong with his strategy or preparation. It's just that the first-generation powered armor he was using was a bit underpowered against this level of opponent, with its basic performance being outclassed.

Another possibility was that Vatox's super senses were far inferior to those of a Kryptonian, so the sensory-targeting weapons weren't as effective as they could have been.

In fact, Vatox's vision was slowly returning. Although his eyes were still sore, and everything looked pixelated, he was regaining some basic combat ability.

Regardless, the testing purposes had been achieved, and the data collected from this fight was incredibly valuable. Analyzing and refining this data would be crucial for future confrontations with Kryptonian enemies.

The test was over, so it was time to wrap things up.

"Pal, take control of the armor," Shen You said calmly.

"Yes, sir," Pal's voice echoed inside his helmet. "Entering proxy mode."

As he spoke, the armor had already been pinned down by Vatox, who roared and raised his fist, ready to smash it down.

In an instant, light bloomed like a lotus of pure energy.

The blinding white light made it impossible for anyone to keep their eyes open; even Vatox instinctively covered his face and shut his eyes, his raised fist never descending.

Then he felt an icy chill at the back of his neck, a profound sense of impending doom.

He turned his head just in time to see the red and silver giant, still radiating light that had not yet fully dissipated.

And then the fist came, faster than sound, like a cannonball.

Boom!

The thunderous roar echoed throughout the entire base, and a ring of white energy burst into the air. Vatox, who took the punch head-on, was sent flying, crashing through layer upon layer of debris until he landed in the open forest outside the base.

Seeing this terrifying display of strength up close, hearing the deafening explosion and the roar of the air splitting open, the Task Force X agents were stunned.

In this pre-Superman era of Earth, who had ever witnessed such power?

This godlike strength made their guns and missiles seem like little more than Lego bricks.

Agent Dyson swallowed hard and glanced at the equally stunned Commander Nicholson beside him.

"Sir, the Ultraman you wanted has arrived. Should we capture him?"

Nicholson gave him a fierce glare.

The look on his face seemed to say, "Please use that tiny brain of yours; do you even realize the idiocy of what you're saying?"

Shen You's feet pushed off the ground, and his fifty-meter-tall body darted forward in a burst of transparent wind.

In this transformed state, all his base stats had skyrocketed to absurd levels. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the point where Vatox had landed.

The alien was sprawled on the forest floor in a faceplant. Just as he was getting up, a massive shadow loomed overhead, and a silver fist, like a burning meteor, came crashing down.

Boom!

Caught mid-rise, Vatox was slammed back down. The ground caved in, trees sank, and the earth cracked and collapsed outward.

If Vatox had been in peak condition, he might have been able to put up a fight against Shen You. With his basic attributes, he could have at least traded blows for a few rounds.

But after all the tricks played on him, his ears were still ringing, his eyes hurt like hell, and his vision was blurred. His brain felt foggy, his movements slowed, and the Spacium warhead blast had left him bruised and bleeding all over.

Vatox was now fighting at less than half his strength, while Shen You was at full health, with full energy, and had even managed to catch him off guard with a flashy transformation. A series of combo attacks pinned Vatox down, giving him no chance to fight back.

Another punch landed on him, and Vatox felt like he'd been struck by a comet. His body felt like all the bones had been pulled out, leaving him utterly powerless as he was flung into the air like a ragdoll caught in a storm.

Shen You crossed his arms, which began to glow blue, crackling with thousands of arcs of electricity.

Vatox finally seemed to understand why his two teammates had disappeared without a trace on this seemingly primitive and backward planet.

Turns out, it wasn't because his teammates were weak.

It was because there was something truly terrifying here!

Cunning, insidious, ruthless—no tactic was off-limits…

And on top of that, incredibly powerful!

How could anyone possibly win against this?

In the final moment before the Spacium beam engulfed him, he desperately sent a message to his teammates.

"Earth is terrifying, run!"