The Return of the Divine

The turmoil in the Star Sea continued, but Heisenberg, who had sent the message, quickly rose from his seat.

He flicked his right hand, and the energy transfer system on his wrist instantly fell off.

Meanwhile, the crowd of Metropolis citizens surrounding the Kryptonian ship grew larger, and the human armed forces gathered there gradually increased until the ship was completely encircled!

Seeing this scene and sensing the countless worries of the Metropolis citizens, Superman finally appeared!

Just as countless police officers and soldiers remained on alert, Clark suddenly flew near the ship, hovering directly in front of the humans.

"It's Superman!"

"Superman's here!"

"Everything should be fine now, right?"

"It will be, we have to trust Superman!"

The crowd whispered, while Clark, under the gaze of countless eyes, accurately found the commander of the Metropolis armed forces.

Descending to the commander, Clark frowned and spoke softly.

"Don't send more troops to guard this ship. I guarantee it won't harm Metropolis!"

"But we're acting on orders from Congress and responsible for the safety of the citizens. I'm afraid I can't withdraw the troops!

At the very least, we need to know what's happening with this ship and what it intends to do.

Congress and the public need answers, and I can't just take your word for it!

We need facts!!!"

Listening to the commander's intense words, Clark helplessly furrowed his brow.

It was another official endorsement, and he was particularly annoyed by such dialogues that invoked authority and the people!

But undoubtedly, the reason Clark disliked these conversations was that this method worked remarkably well on him.

He had no idea that after Superman's emergence, top psychologists across the nation had gathered to create an extremely detailed psychological profile of him.

They adjusted their findings based on every appearance and conversation of Superman.

The commanders who interacted with Superman typically received corresponding dialogue strategies on the day of the encounter!

Today's core strategy was to uncover the specific reason for the changes in the Kryptonian ship, even if Superman tried to obstruct them!

Facing the slightly aggressive commander and looking at the worried Metropolis citizens around him, Clark sighed deeply and said softly,

"The ship's changes are because its true owner has returned home. As for who that person is, the news has already reported it!"

"So its true owner is the Abyss Knight who killed the monster tonight?"

The commander asked loudly, his words causing Clark to pause slightly.

"Abyss Knight?!?"

Seeing Clark's bewildered expression, the commander immediately smiled awkwardly and explained.

"Uh, that's the title we gave him. After all, his style, his armor, and the lava-like special effects—

they match the abyss perfectly, right?

But he's also the hero who saved Metropolis and Gotham, so he obviously isn't a demon from the abyss. He must be the Abyss Knight, right!"

At this, Clark smiled faintly, feeling a bit happier after communicating with the commander.

"I think he'd like the title you've given him!"

Clark chuckled, then turned to look at the Kryptonian ship behind him and continued,

"But he's not some abyssal creature. He's my ancestor, an ancient deity who came to Earth 18,000 years ago. He is the Sun!"

Saying this, Clark turned back to the commander, raising his tone slightly.

"Don't worry about him harming Earth. My ancestor is simply returning home, and this is his home!

And you're blocking his doorstep, trying to break in—that's not in line with Earth's etiquette!"

As soon as Clark finished speaking, the presidential conference room, thousands of miles away, erupted into chaos.

Countless people were throwing out their theories to the President!

"My guess was right. That person summoned the Sun from the sky to defeat the monster. He's definitely Apollo!"

"But no mythology confirms Apollo as an extraterrestrial. He's still the ancestor of Kal-El, the Kryptonian!"

"But he's a Kryptonian who's been on Earth for 18,000 years. No one knows what he experienced in ancient times!"

"Our first decision should be whether he poses a threat to the United States!"

"Theoretically, there should be no threat. Our psychological profile never suggests Superman would deceive us. If he's a solar deity who's survived on Earth for 18,000 years, there's no reason for him to try to destroy us after all this time!"

"I agree there's no threat, because the Kryptonian ship's first action after awakening was defensive, not an armed offensive!"

"I concur, but that doesn't mean we can sit idly by. The psychological profiling team for the Kryptonian ancestor, the Solar Deity, must be assembled quickly!"

"We need to meet this ancestor. I suspect he's also an ancestor of humanity, which would perfectly explain the physical similarities between humans and Kryptonians!"

"Meet him? That's impossible!

Unless he, like Superman, has an internal phenotype personality and a desire to integrate into human society.

Otherwise, we'll have no chance to enter that awakened fortress!"

"That's the issue we must consider. We must establish sufficient communication with him—we must!!!"

…

As the voices in Congress continued, Superman in Metropolis was still chatting with the commander.

After hearing Clark's explanation, the commander's eyes widened in shock!

"Wait, you're saying he's a sovereign?!?"

"Uh, although he doesn't like being called a sovereign, he is indeed a deity, the real kind!"

Clark nodded, and this affirmation caused the commander and the special forces soldiers nearby to remove their helmets in unison.

The soldiers decisively held their helmets to their chests and silently bowed to the ship.

"We never imagined that after Superman saved us, a deity would come to save us today!"

This gesture shook Clark's heart, and his wariness of these people instantly diminished by a third.

He felt happy for Heisenberg and continued to the commander,

"Yes, before today, I never imagined I'd have a divine great-grandfather. It all sounds so incredible, even more than my own existence, right!"

As soon as he finished, a new wave of debate erupted in the office hundreds of kilometers away.

"He's his great-grandfather, not just an ancestor. We need to revise our assumptions about him!"

"Superman doesn't know the Solar Deity's background, so why is he so certain about his great-grandfather's identity?"

"Who's the other woman? Her ancient Greek-style armor and combat methods make me suspect she's also one of the gods, like Athena?"

"To avoid upsetting Superman, we've only been monitoring and never communicating with the personnel on-site.

It's frustrating. We need more information, especially his name!"

"Let's keep listening. The discussion will formally begin only after everything is over!"

As they quieted down, the commander on the Metropolis site reacted perfectly.

"Superman, can we know the name of this sovereign? My soldiers and I would love to engrave that name on a monument. Americans will never forget the heroic deeds of the one who saved us!"

"Uh, his name?"

Clark paused, then decisively shook his head.

"If he's willing, he'll tell you himself!

My ancestor is very kind and benevolent. If you get the chance to meet him, you'll be even more amazed than I am!"

As the junior, Clark never hesitated to praise Heisenberg. When Heisenberg was admired and thanked by countless people, Clark felt proud.

This feeling only emerged when he first learned he had a living elder.

"That's wonderful. I'll order my men to lower their weapons and request the removal of armed defenses from my superiors. That's the respect the Abyss Knight deserves!"

As the words fell, the commander raised his right hand firmly.

"Stand down!"

The special forces soldiers uniformly lowered their weapons, while the police officers sporadically holstered their pistols.

Clark faintly heard the distant police officers grumbling.

"We should've done this earlier. No matter what's inside, our pistols are useless."

"Exactly, especially since Superman's here. If he can't solve the problem, what good are our pistols?"

"Nonsense. Even if we were Rambo, we couldn't solve it, and we're not!"

"True."

The officers' words made Clark smile knowingly. He turned back to the commander and nodded lightly.

"Trust me, you won't regret your decision. Metropolis will only get better. I guarantee it!"

"Of course, Superman, we trust you, and we honor the deity!!!"

The commander smiled excitedly, took out his phone, and extended it toward Clark.

"To be honest, my superiors didn't approve this, but I really want a photo with you!

Of course, you can refuse—no problem!"

"Haha, no issue, go ahead. Who'll take the photo? Can I do it?"

Hearing the commander's request, Clark smiled politely and took the phone.

Then Clark stood beside the commander, side by side.

Click!

The flash lit up, capturing the commander's excited smile alongside Superman. This time, the commander was genuinely thrilled.

After the photo, Clark returned the phone to the commander and looked at the helmetless soldiers behind him.

He could tell they also wanted a photo.

Kind-hearted Clark didn't want to disappoint them and planned to take a few more shots.

But just then, the awakened fortress behind him suddenly opened its gates!

Accompanied by flashing blue light, Clark turned abruptly, staring at the now-open ship entrance.

Two rows of over 280 Kryptonian armed robots stood rigidly on either side of the gate, slowly hovering outward.

Seeing the robots, everyone nearby fell silent, their eyes fixed on the ship, their hearts pounding with tension.

Even Clark grew nervous. Only three months into being Superman, he had no idea the ship held so many armed machines!

The floating robots stopped 20 meters from the ship, splitting into two columns, facing each other, seemingly awaiting someone's arrival.

In the silence of Metropolis's central district, where a pin drop could be heard, footsteps echoed from the ship, each one pounding on the hearts of the people.

The atmosphere made Clark increasingly tense. He turned away from the commander and flew toward the ship's entrance.

As he approached within 15 meters of the robots, the nearest ones suddenly sprang into action.

Oval-shaped limbs resembling penguin arms emerged from both sides of the robots, pointing at Clark, their tips glowing with crimson light!

"Wait, it's me, Kal-El!!!"

Clark quickly explained, then looked deeper into the ship. Through his super vision, he saw Heisenberg emerging, invisible to humans.

As Heisenberg walked, he lightly pressed his palm.

The Kryptonian robots immediately retracted their weapons, resuming their formation.

Seeing this, Clark exhaled deeply.

"Great-grandfather, you nearly scared me to death!!!"