Frustration and A Drink
After five consecutive days of searching yielded no results, Linda was forced to stop and consider returning home.
She had searched the entire Kryptonian star system, along with five surrounding star systems, but still hadn't found any survivors.
Since conventional methods weren't working, the only place left was the Phantom Zone—the prison for Krypton's most dangerous criminals. Surely there were survivors there.
This thought was immediately rejected.
The people in the Phantom Zone were lunatics. One Zod was troublesome enough, let alone the others. Going there was tantamount to seeking death.
On the afternoon of the sixth day, the frustrated Linda visited Luke's room. Seeing the pigsty-like environment, she inexplicably burst into anger, gave him a piece of her mind, and stormed out before he could even react.
Luke: "?"
Such a short fuse! Could she be on her period?
After dinner, the girl reappeared, her face etched with loneliness.
"Do you have any liquor? I want a drink."
Luke pointed to a wooden box in the corner.
"Red wine, white wine, fruit wine. Take whatever you want."
Linda grabbed a bottle of Brandy and drank in frustrated sips, her gloomy mood practically written on her face.
Came with high hopes, left in disappointment! This perfectly described her current state. She had gone to great lengths to return to her homeworld, nearly falling out with her cousin. She had envisioned a joyful reunion with her people and sharing their longing for home, but it had turned into this.
And then there was Luke Shaw, the scoundrel, who just stayed cooped up all day, studying, studying, studying. He was absolutely no help. She regretted bringing him along.
The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. The more she drank, the more unhappy she became.
Why do I have to run around all day, exhausted like a dead dog, while you hide in your room drinking and reading?
It's not fair! Not fair at all.
The red-faced Kryptonian girl tossed the nearly empty Brandy bottle aside. She staggered over to Luke and pushed him hard.
"Hey! Earthling! Have you passed Level Five yet? Do you want big sister to teach you?"
She hiccupped a mouthful of liquor fumes, leaned in, and said with a silly smile,
"Don't worry, big sister won't charge you. Just call me 'Teacher,' and I'll teach you... well... everything I know."
Luke: "..."
He casually pushed her away, but the girl stuck to him like a burr.
Her flushed face was like it had been rouged, her eyes shimmered with a hazy glaze, her lips were slick, and the air wafting from her slightly opened mouth reeked of alcohol. Her body was curled up, with all the right curves in all the right places, her waist-to-hip ratio surprisingly exaggerated...
The eighteen-year-old girl was in the full bloom of youth, and her unintentional behavior exuded an astonishing allure.
Unfortunately, the setting was entirely inappropriate.
Luke glanced at the camera on the ceiling and cursed under his breath.
That damned A.I. Steward!
He just couldn't understand why the Fortress of Solitude's A.I. was so hostile towards him, constantly monitoring his every subtle movement.
Right now, if he made any inappropriate move, the robotic guards would rush in the next second to educate him on Kryptonian criminal law.
That damned A.I.!
Luke raised his middle finger.
"What are you looking at? Nothing to see here. Haven't you seen enough? Get over here and take her away!"
A few seconds later, the cabin door opened, and two robotic guards entered, carrying a stretcher, clearly prepared for Linda.
Luke placed the girl onto the stretcher and addressed the A.I. Steward, A.I.R., beside him.
"When are we returning to Earth?"
"That is a decision for Kara to make."
Luke frowned slightly. "Does she not want to go back?"
"I apologize. I cannot answer that question."
Luke sneered. He then asked a strange question.
"If Linda and I were to have a son in the future, would you call him Master?"
A.I. Steward: "..."
"You would call my son Master. As my son's father, shouldn't you also address me as Master?"
"I apologize. The scenario you described is non-existent. There is no data to indicate that Earthlings and Kryptonians can produce offspring through normal means."
"Is that so?"
Luke gave the A.I. a knowing look. The strange expression caused a feeling of inexplicable dread in the newly awakened artificial personality of the A.I. Steward.
The Phantom 1, Mark II
After sobering up, Linda seemed to have resolved many of her issues.
She gave up the idea of continuing to search for survivors. After leaving a video message at a space station, she initiated the spatial jump. This time, Luke didn't read. Instead, he stood by the viewport, quietly experiencing the ship's transition into dimensional space.
As the light and shadow vanished, the world abruptly spun, then fractured into countless shards. The sensation of tearing and warping was transmitted to every cell. Although it was an illusion, his body reacted honestly.
Luke grabbed a trash can and vomited everything he had eaten the night before and that morning.
"Damn it, you couldn't pay me to watch that again."
After throwing up, he rested on the bed for half a day, then returned to studying.
He had already broken through Level Five of the Kryptonian nine-level education and was striving for Level Six. Earth's current technological knowledge was at Level Four. This meant that if he wished, the name Luke Shaw could appear on the Nobel Prize list every year.
It's this comfortable to stand on the shoulders of giants and take shade.
The modifications to the Phantom 1 were complete. It looked the same on the outside, but the interior had been utterly transformed.
Luke used parts from the Odyssey for a comprehensive upgrade, replacing the original processor and energy core. In their place were an evolvable A.I. made from Liquid Metal and Kryptonian Energy Crystal plates. Both its endurance and data analysis capabilities had increased tenfold.
The weaponry on his hands also changed. Lasers and blue lightning were fast, but their damage and energy consumption were weak points, especially the laser, which was completely outclassed by Kryptonian energy cannons.
Luke simply disassembled the laser and replaced it with an energy hand-cannon. He tested it on the wall: a single blast resulted in a roar, and the wall, whose strength was comparable to tungsten alloy, now had a circular hole about a meter in diameter.
"This is too powerful! No wonder a single energy blast could send me flying dozens of meters even in the Phantom Armor."
Luke clicked his tongue in amazement. He immediately replaced the weapon on his right hand with an energy cannon as well, enabling it to automatically adjust its power output. He then installed levitation devices in the soles of his boots.
With everything complete, Luke donned the armor. Blue flames erupted from his palms and soles. The downward thrust gently lifted his body, just like the classic Iron Man.
"I'm flying! I'm finally flying!"
The young man opened his mouth and burst into joyful laughter.
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