In the city, white-collar workers bustled between office towers, streets crawled with traffic—a normal afternoon, or so it should have been.
But when the first massive shadow blotted out the sun, the whole city fell silent.
"Oh my god…what is that?"
A trembling passerby pointed skyward.
Above the clouds, a colossal warship—many tis the size of a carrier, with a matte black surface and brutal aesthetics—broke through the atmosphere. There was no thunderous roar, only a low-frequency hum that resonated in everyone's guts, pressing heavily on their hearts.
These warships hovered in the skies above the tropolis like floating tombstones of steel.
At the sa ti, every screen on Earth—from Tis Square's huge display to TV sets in remote mountain villages—was suddenly filled with static.
A few seconds later, a cold, majestic figure seized the visual field. He wore black Kryptonian armor, eaglesharp-eyed, his charisma clearly radiating madness and obsession. Behind him, tallic capsule walls and countless bustling Kryptonian warriors filled the fra.
This was General Zod.
"People of Earth, a new god has descended. Cease your pointless riots and obey my will."
Zod's voice broadcast through every channel on the planet, translated into all languages, echoing directly in everyone's minds.
"My na is General Zod. I co from the distant planet Krypton."
"We crossed the stars for two purposes: to find the fugitive hiding among you, and claim this planet as ours."
Zod stared down at the cara, looking at humanity as if at an ant colony.
"His na is Kal-El. You may know him as Clark Kent—or, as you call him, Superman."
People in capital cities exchanged glances of disbelief and terror. They were after Superman?
"Kal, I know you hear …" Zod's tone turned icy. "You carried our race's greatest treasure and handed it to these wretched natives. Surrender yourself in the next four hours, or…"
The screen cut to footage of the World Engine performing gravity tests on the moon.
A blue flash—huge lunar craters shattered to dust in an instant.
"Otherwise, you will pay the price. My fleet possesses weapons capable of exterminating all life on this planet. I care nothing for its survival. All I desire is Krypton's rebirth."
"Humanity, your fate is in your own hands: Hand over Kal-El or perish with your planet."
"Ultimatum ends. The countdown begins."
With Zod's final cold exhale, all the world's screens returned to normal—but what followed was an uncontrollable tidal wave of panic.
On city streets, cars crashed, people scread and fled.
If Thanos's invasion was a brutal war, then Zod's arrival was like the reaper's absolute decree.
Krypton's technological oppression—for civilizations even lightly familiar with physics—crushed all hope.
…
Washington D.C., S.H.I.E.L.D. secret headquarters.
Nick Fury, his one eye bloodshot, stood before a giant screen. His agents frantically hamred keyboards trying to trace the enemy warships' energy sources, but their findings filled them with despair.
"Director, it's useless! There's a biological gravity field around the enemy ships. Our missiles, even nukes, would twist and detonate before ever getting close. We can't break through at all!" one tech chief cried.
"There's pressure from the top—they want an imdiate solution. Riots in the capital are spilling into neighboring cities. People are looting supermarkets and fleeing to shelters…!"
Fury stared at the screen-dominating flagship. He turned to his team. "Where are the Avengers?"
"Tony and Captain Arica are headed to tropolis, but honestly, their power's not much use against a threat of this scale!"
"Damn it, must we wait for Lucci to show up again?"
"What about the others?" Fury slamd a fist on the table.
…
anwhile, in the capital, disaster escalated.
Superman—Clark Kent—hovered mid-air, scarlet cape slashing in the wind. His eyes saw straight through the black flagships overhead, sensing their cold, violent, conqueror's aura—the presence of his own kind.
"So it's finally co to this," Clark muttered bitterly. He'd longed to live an ordinary life, but Zod's appearance shattered that illusion.
He wasn't alone.
A streak of fire flashed across the sky.
Tony Stark's Mark Series armor streaked by, thrusters at full power, leaving a white after-trail.
"Hey, Clark, the world's not over yet. Stop acting like you're writing your will," Tony's voice crackled on the open channel, still sharp with sarcasm but unmistakably tense. "JARVIS has deployed every Stark Industries satellite. That giant black machine might be a ghost to radar, but it's a threat we can't ignore."
Behind him, several Quinjet fighters trailed. Captain Arica stood by an open hatch, determination blazing in his eyes, his vibranium shield shining in the gloom. Black Widow feverishly worked the controls, hunting for enemy energy leaks, while Hawkeye nocked a custom, high-yield arrow.
"Avengers, assemble!" The Captain's voice ca over the comms, giving countless earthlings a sliver of hope.
…
anwhile, in Gotham City—
Lights flickered in the Batcave.
Bruce Wayne, in reinforced bat armor, loaded his last reserve of kryptonite into a special launcher, just in case.
"Cyborg, have you hacked their comms yet?" Bruce's voice was low.
"No, their code operates on so sort of biological logic, far beyond human computers," Cyborg said, sparks flying as half his body integrated with a supercomputer. "But I've pinpointed the huge machine landing in the Indian Ocean. That's their World Engine. If we don't stop it, Earth's gravity will collapse in hours."
"Then we move."
In a blur, yellow lightning zipped through the hall—The Flash. "Take with you. My speed should help. But if Prince Lucci were here, things would be easier."
Bruce paused. Even the world's greatest doubter, faced with oppression from an interstellar civilization, had to admit: Lucci was now Earth's only chance.
"No matter the outco, we must defend our civilization's dignity till the gods intervene," Bruce growled.
"Batfighter, launch!"
…
Across tropolis, as people fled Zod's threat, they looked up to see the Avengers and Justice League assembling in the skies.
This was Earth's greatest lineup of normals and superhumans, forming the final defensive line with their own bodies.
But inside the Kryptonian flagship Black Zero, Lieutenant Faora only sneered at the advancing human craft and heroes on-screen.
"Look at these insects, General—natives not fully freed from their ho-world's gravity, daring to challenge the Kryptonian army. Brave…but how ignorant."
Zod, seated in his command chair, didn't even glance up. "Ignore these gnats. Once the World Engine activates, their gravity environnt will double instantly. All those so-called heroes will be glued to the dirt, unable to even move a finger."
"Kal, you wretch—still hesitating?" Zod glared at Superman's back on the screen. "If you want to be their guardian angel, I'll snuff out their last hope before your eyes."
"Fire main cannon—target the red and gold flying tin can."
As cold orders snapped, a nacing red light gathered on the flagship's underbelly.
Tony Stark's alarm rang out imdiately.
["Warning! High-energy reaction! Tony, big surprise incoming…"]
In this crisis, as the world's heroes braced themselves for the first wave of death—
The dark sky was suddenly illuminated by an unprecedented pure golden light.
It was both gentle and overwhelming, forcefully suppressing the gathering destructive red light.
A transdinsional portal suddenly opened over the apocalyptic ruins.
Buzz—
A spatial ripple, like a giant water surface, swept across the entire city.
In full public view, Lucci, dressed in black, handso and cold, stepped into the air beside Jean, Jane, and Diana. With every step, golden lotus flowers of rune symbols blossod at his feet. Facing the Kryptonian fleet intent on global destruction, his profound calm was as if taking a stroll through his garden.
"That's him—the god!"
"Prince Lucci! He has returned!"
Thunderous cheers broke out, overwhelming even the noise from the Kryptonian warships.
Tony Stark let out a long sigh of relief under his visor and spoke into comms, "Okay, everyone, I think you can cancel your insurance. The boss clocked in on ti."
Lucci hovered at ten thousand ters, not imdiately attacking the warships. First, he coldly glanced at Zod's severe face displayed across global screens.
"Interrupting with random comrcials in my domain… not a good habit."
He spoke with chilly disdain.
Raising his right hand, he swiftly drew a line in the air.
With that gesture, ancient, profound Asgardian runes—a code Lucci had woven from the "law of causality" and the "law of reality"—shimred in the sky.
"MagicNet, control transfer initiated."
At that instant, Earth's satellites, networks, fiber optics, and even electromagnetic radiation—previously hijacked by Krypton's tech—were all forcibly transford by the golden rune invasion.
Zod's military broadcast was abruptly cut, his intimidating image replaced everywhere by Lucci's: confident, handso, face faintly smiling, standing calmly in the void before the massive Kryptonian ships. His eyes, seemingly capable of seeing through ti and space, gazed serenely upon billions.
"People of Earth, there is no need to panic."
His forcibly broadcast voice carried a strange power, soothing hearts and quelling fear.
"As you see, these are nothing but stray dogs of the cosmos."
"They are enraged at losing their ho, but they have chosen the wrong enemy."
"I am Lucci Odinson. This is my territory."
"No matter what civilization or technology, in this domain, you follow my rules."
"Now, cast off fear and look to the sky. Let show you what true power ans."
Shoo—
The whole world boiled with excitent.
If Zod's ultimatum foretold doom, then Lucci's words were a divine sanctuary. Where terror once ruled, now his mighty aura made all speechless, filling hearts with unprecedented reassurance.
The gods had promised victory!
Compared to the prince who had slain Thanos, what were re aliens?
"Damn it, what's going on?"
Back in Black Zero, a Kryptonian tech officer nearly jumped out of his seat. "General, our world broadcast system has been forcibly taken over! The other side isn't using digital code—they're using an unreadable energy matrix!"
Zod's teeth gnashed in rage.
What he found most intolerable as a military commander was his "deterrence" being publicly humiliated.
"That native…"
"Fine, if he wants attention, we start with him. Fire a gravity pulse and annihilate the space around him!"
"Yes, General! All units—on my order—" Faora's pupils suddenly constricted. For, on the viewing panel, Lucci abruptly flashed a mischievous smile directly into the cara. The next mont his figure vanished, and a cold, mocking voice echoed through the warship interior.
"No need to keep watching. I'm coming in."
Instantly, every Kryptonian froze, staring in disbelief at the center of the command platform.
Zod and Faora's eyes widened—they spun around.
Lucci now stood quietly beside the command chair, the seat once empty. His black, casual attire seed out of place amid all the icy Kryptonian machinery, yet he exuded an eerie harmony with the scene.
He stood there—unhurried, not radiating intimidating auras, not posing for battle.
He reached out, gently stroked the edge of a command console made from special Kryptonian alloy, as if estimating ship-building costs for fun. "Your personalities are a ss, but I have to admit, the beauty of your spaceship's design remains superb. I prefer your cool sense of order to Thanos's brutality."
Lucci glanced up at General Zod, a faint smile playing about his lips.
"Who…who are you?" Faora was instantly furious. As one of Krypton's strongest warriors, she had never known such humiliation. Their opponent had breached both the biofield and impenetrable barriers of the warship, teleporting straight to the flagship's heart without anyone noticing.
Such mastery of space—a concept even Kryptonians had never encountered.
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