Antarctica stretched endlessly beneath a pale sky, a continent of eternal frost where storms howled across miles of untouched snow. The wind howled like a living thing, whipping clouds of ice crystals through the air and reducing the world to a blur of white and gray. In the middle of that merciless wasteland, a lone figure walked forward without hesitation.
Ethan Drake moved steadily through the blizzard as if the storm itself had no authority over him. Snow whipped against his coat and froze instantly on the ground behind him, yet none of it slowed his stride. His eyes scanned the frozen horizon with quiet focus, searching for something buried far beneath the ice.
During the golden age of the Kryptonian Empire, countless reconnaissance vessels had been dispatched across the universe. Their mission had been simple but ambitious: explore unknown systems and record anything that might benefit Krypton's future expansion. Tens of thousands of years ago, one such ship had visited this very planet.
That ship had quietly observed Earth, gathering data and transmitting information back to Krypton.
The knowledge it provided proved invaluable. Through its research, the brilliant Kryptonian scientist Jor-El had discovered the extraordinary relationship between Kryptonian physiology and Earth's yellow sun. Without the reconnaissance vessel's data, that revelation might never have been made.
Now Ethan had come to claim that same ship.
The vessel had crashed long ago and vanished beneath Antarctica's glaciers, buried under layers of ice that had accumulated over millennia. For ordinary explorers, locating something hidden that deep would have been impossible.
But Ethan Drake was far from ordinary.
A faint glimmer appeared within his pupils as his vision sharpened beyond normal limits. The world seemed to peel apart under his gaze as his sight pierced through snow, rock, and ice as though none of it existed.
Miles of frozen earth lay beneath his feet, yet the glacier offered no resistance to his penetrating vision.
Minutes passed as Ethan scanned deeper and deeper into the Antarctic crust. Vast tunnels of ancient ice appeared in his sight, along with compressed air pockets and fractures formed over centuries of shifting glaciers.
Then finally, something artificial caught his attention.
Deep within the frozen mass, buried under a mountain of ice, rested a colossal structure of alien metal.
A faint hum escaped Ethan's throat as he confirmed the shape. The craft was unmistakable.
After thousands of years entombed in ice, the Kryptonian reconnaissance ship had finally been found.
Ethan's eyes slowly narrowed.
A crimson glow began spreading across his pupils, replacing the earlier clarity of his vision. The color was completely different from the icy blue radiance of his freezing breath abilities. This light burned deep red, radiating heat so intense that the surrounding snow began to melt even before the beam was released.
Then the energy erupted.
A blazing ray shot from Ethan's eyes and struck the glacier beneath his feet. The beam sliced through the ice like molten steel through butter, instantly vaporizing massive chunks of frozen crystal.
The clash between fire and ice filled the air with thick clouds of steam. White mist surged upward as the glacier melted rapidly, carving a perfectly cylindrical tunnel straight down toward the buried ship.
Ethan stepped calmly into the tunnel as it formed, descending deeper into the glacier.
The crimson light in his eyes gradually faded as he halted the beam. The newly awakened heat vision had already demonstrated terrifying penetrating power. Even ice that had remained untouched for thousands of years offered no resistance.
Soon the steam cleared.
When Ethan's sight adjusted again, the enormous vessel finally revealed itself.
The reconnaissance ship lay silently within a cavern of melted ice. Its metallic hull gleamed faintly despite the centuries of burial, its design sleek and unmistakably Kryptonian.
Ethan studied the craft carefully.
"It's almost identical," he murmured.
The vessel's structure strongly resembled the Aquarius, the Kryptonian warship he had already acquired. The curvature of the hull, the angular architecture, even the positioning of the engines all suggested the same production lineage.
This ship had clearly been manufactured on the same technological platform.
Ethan walked closer, examining the massive frost-covered hatch that sealed the vessel's entrance.
"No signs of visitors," he observed calmly.
A thin layer of frost coated the door without any marks of disturbance. That meant no one had accessed the ship for centuries.
Clark Kent certainly hadn't discovered it yet.
In the original timeline, Clark had eventually activated this ship's systems. That signal had traveled across space and ultimately allowed General Zod to locate Earth. Without that signal, Krypton's surviving forces would never have known where to search.
Ethan had no intention of allowing that sequence of events to happen.
The heavy hatch creaked open effortlessly under the pressure of his hand. Despite its immense weight, the door moved like a toy in his grip.
Cold air rushed outward as the ship's interior was exposed for the first time in ages.
Ethan stepped inside.
The long corridor beyond the hatch was dark and silent, its metallic walls covered in frost. Rows of dormant systems lined the passage, their lights extinguished after centuries of inactivity.
Yet the moment Ethan entered, the vessel began to awaken.
Hovering drones emerged from hidden compartments along the ceiling. The small escorts floated quietly through the corridor, scanning Ethan's body with blue beams of light.
None of them attacked.
His Kryptonian genetic signature had already been recognized.
The ship's ancient systems hummed as power surged through its circuits once more. Lights flickered on along the walls, illuminating the corridor in pale white.
Ethan continued forward without hesitation.
Within minutes he reached the command bridge.
The cockpit was vast and circular, filled with consoles arranged around a central command platform. Transparent screens flickered to life as the ship's systems booted up after thousands of years of dormancy.
Then suddenly, a figure appeared.
Light condensed in the center of the room, forming a detailed holographic projection. The figure looked almost real, standing calmly before Ethan with the composed posture of a scientist.
The hologram stared at him with visible confusion.
"You are…"
"I know who you are," Ethan interrupted flatly. "Jor-El."
He barely spared the hologram a glance before stepping toward the main console.
Thanks to the passive enhancement of his activated mind, mastering unfamiliar technology had become effortless. His brain processed the ship's interface in seconds, deciphering its systems with astonishing speed.
Jor-El, the greatest scientist Krypton had ever produced, watched him with growing suspicion.
In many ways, Jor-El and General Zod had pursued the same goal.
Both men had wanted to save Krypton.
Zod, born as a soldier and bred to command armies, believed salvation required power. When he realized Krypton was collapsing, he launched a coup to seize control of the government. His rebellion failed, and he was ultimately exiled.
Jor-El took a different path.
As a scientist and philosopher, he believed Krypton's rigid genetic caste system was the true source of its decline. Instead of fighting the government directly, he attempted to destroy the Genesis Chamber and the genetic codex that dictated every Kryptonian's destiny.
That was why his son had been born naturally.
Kal-El had been given the freedom to choose his own future.
Ethan shook his head slightly.
"Both of you were wrong," he said calmly.
Jor-El's hologram stiffened. "Wrong?"
He studied Ethan carefully, clearly trying to determine who this stranger was and why his son had not been the one to arrive.
"Zod failed because he lacked the strength to succeed," Ethan continued. "His rebellion collapsed, and he was exiled like a criminal."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"And your mistake was even worse."
Jor-El frowned deeply.
"You hid Krypton's most important legacy inside your son," Ethan said coldly. "The Codex contains the genetic blueprint of our entire civilization."
"Who are you?" Jor-El demanded.
Ethan finally turned toward the hologram, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"I imagine you're confused right now," he said. "You left this ship behind for your son, filled with tools and knowledge meant to guide him. You expected Kal-El to find it someday."
His smile widened slightly.
"Instead, someone else arrived."
Jor-El's expression darkened as the implication became clear.
"You…"
Ethan's voice remained calm.
"I'll tell you the truth," he said. "The Supreme Council is gone. The empire has returned to monarchy."
Jor-El's eyes widened.
"I am the Emperor of Krypton now."
Silence filled the bridge.
"A new world has been discovered," Ethan continued. "A new Krypton has already begun to rise. Our civilization is returning to life."
Jor-El stared at him in disbelief.
"That's impossible."
Ethan tilted his head slightly.
"You're a Kryptonian scientist," he replied coolly. "Shouldn't the revival of Krypton make you happy?"
Jor-El's expression twisted with uncertainty.
"You…"
"In truth, your loyalty to your son outweighed your loyalty to Krypton," Ethan said bluntly. "You hid the Codex within him because you wanted him to shape the future alone."
Jor-El tried to protest, but Ethan cut him off.
"I will reclaim the Codex," Ethan declared calmly. "Everything on this ship now belongs to me."
"No," Jor-El shouted. "You can't."
His holographic form flickered violently as he tried to resist the ship's new command authority.
There were still many systems on this vessel that he had left behind for Kal-El.
Ethan looked at him with clear indifference.
Then he snapped his fingers.
The sharp sound echoed across the bridge.
In the next instant, Jor-El's holographic projection shattered and vanished from the air entirely. Once Ethan had taken full control of the ship's systems, deleting the artificial intelligence had been effortless.
The bridge fell silent again.
Ethan surveyed the fully awakened consoles with satisfaction.
"Alright," he said calmly. "Time to go home."
Moments later, a pillar of radiant energy pierced the Antarctic sky.
The Bifrost opened above the glacier as the massive Kryptonian reconnaissance ship erupted from the ice and vanished from Antarctica in a flash of cosmic light.
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