The Krypton mothership was eerily quiet. A corpse lay in the center of the hall, with a bloody hole in its chest. His eyes wouldn't close in peace.
When everyone recovered from their weakness, they all instinctively looked at Zod. Zod sat on the ground, his face full of disbelief, as if he had no idea what he had done.
The atmosphere began to grow strange.
The female deputy who first got up from the ground spoke: "Let's all return to the medical cabin and transport him to the cold storage."
No one moved.
A hint of fear flashed across the female deputy's brow. Her gaze swept over the subordinates, all of whom were expressionless.
Until one person finally got up, walked shakily to the corpse, and dragged it out. The others also stood up and walked outside, the entire process silent.
"General." After everyone had left, the female deputy looked at Zod and said, "They..."
Zod used his hand to support his body and stood up. His hand clenched into a fist, and his entire arm trembled.
"Don't be like this, Zod." The female deputy walked to his side and gently held his arm, then said, "It's not your fault."
"I was blinded by anger." Zod closed his eyes and sighed deeply, "I shouldn't have been so eager for success. I should have realized sooner."
"Humans are too cunning," the female deputy said. "No one expected them to create such powerful weapons in such a short time. It was just an accident."
Zod slowly shook his head and said, "No, everything had traces. If I hadn't been impulsive back then, we wouldn't have been exiled. It's all my fault."
He closed his eyes again, and his fist slowly unclenched. When he reopened his eyes, the marks of time seemed more apparent on his face. The female deputy hurried to comfort him: "But that also allowed us to escape the extinction crisis. As long as we drop the engine, we can transform Earth into our home. There is still hope."
Zod was silent. The deputy felt a bit panicked, and she said, "You are our backbone now, General. We can't give up."
"I'm not planning to give up," Zod said, pressing his lips together. "But I can't stay here any longer. Go and prepare my equipment; I'm going to Earth personally."
"What?! But..."
Zod extended One Hand to stop her from saying anything more. He turned around, looked in the direction where others left, and then said, "I accidentally killed my own subordinate, who will trust me now? They have already gained superpowers. If I don't leave, it might become even more unsafe."
"Moreover, the plan I formulated is constantly having flaws, and they will no longer follow my orders. I might as well go down myself to find the Central Treasure. You stay here, keep an eye on the ship and the engine."
There was nothing more to say at this point. The female deputy had no choice but to nod vigorously, and then said, "Don't worry, General. I'll prepare the equipment for you."
In the medical room, two soldiers walked out of the medical cabin one after the other. One soldier gave the other a look, and they both went to the hallway next door.
"The General has gone mad; we can't stay here any longer. Otherwise..."
"I agree. If I die on the battlefield, I have nothing to say, but dying by the hands of my own is utterly meaningless. Since being exiled, the General's temper has gotten increasingly irritable..."
"Have you regretted it?"
The other shook his head and said, "After all, it allowed us to escape Krypton's extinction, it did save our lives. But I never supported the Earth transformation plan. Are we just going to abandon our homeland like this?"
The soldier sighed and said, "Initially, I thought transforming Earth would be easier than rebuilding Krypton. But now it seems it would have been better to return to Krypton. Even if the planet disintegrated, we could find a way to obtain another star, there's no need to run this far."
"The General is probably still after the Central Treasure, after all, that thing is crucial for the reproduction of the Kryptonians."
"Come on, I've long heard that the biologist El already has primitive breeding technology. Why bother with the Central Treasure? Just go ahead and reproduce."
"How can you determine what kind of talent a child will have or what job they should do? Society will be in chaos!"
"Do you really think this is right? Implanting the General's genes into the embryo, the child will be the General; implanting a farmer's genes, he'll be a farmer for life."
"What's wrong with that? Isn't it always been like this?"
"Then why did Krypton perish?"
The younger soldier was left speechless. The other soldier sighed and said, "Perhaps the genetic Pandora's box shouldn't have been opened back then. But now it's too late to say anything."
"What are you planning to do?"
The other opened his mouth and said, "Look, we look just like humans, right?"
"That's true. I was stunned when I first saw them."
"We could live on Earth too."
"What?!"
"As long as we don't say it, who knows we're Aliens? As long as we get a set of human clothes, we can blend into the crowd."
"But... but we can't wear human clothes. The atmosphere and Star radiation might be toxic."
"But there's no future staying on the ship. The General has gone crazy, and that so-called Earth transformation plan is just a fantasy. We've followed the General for so long, went to prison with him, and traveled thousands of miles to get here, we've done enough for him. Why can't we think about ourselves for once?"
"You mean we take a gamble?"
"Exactly. Since Earthlings look so much like us, maybe the planet's environment is similar too, it shouldn't be that breathing a few mouthfuls of air and basking in the Sun for a few days would poison us, right?"
The soldier showed a conflicted expression on his face. He thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'm just worried I won't get along with those humans."
"They're not so different from us. Better than being stuck in a room with some Monsters with hooves or tentacles, right?"
The young soldier took a deep breath and said, "You're right. I don't want to die without knowing why. We've already done enough. So, how do you suggest we leave?"
"The General didn't take my ID card. I can activate the small Escort Ship. We'll pilot this ship to Earth and then let it return automatically."
"And the others..."
"Don't tell them," the older soldier instructed, "Some of them are loyal to Zod, especially his deputy. If they find out, we won't be able to run. Besides, if they want to escape, they can pilot their own ship."
The young soldier nodded and turned to pack his things.
About half an hour later, a small spaceship landed in the Desert of New Mexico. Two figures stealthily emerged from the ship. As soon as they stepped out, they both exclaimed in surprise.
It was incredibly hot here. Even though it's winter, the Desert in New Mexico remains scorching under the bright Sun. As soon as they touched down, they were almost roasted by the Sun.
"I told you we should've worn protective suits," the young soldier said, "This Earth is too hot."
"Forget it. I saw someone over there when the ship landed, let's go check it out."
The two walked forward patiently, and aside from the heat, they didn't feel uncomfortable; in fact, they felt more energetic. They could only attribute this to Earth's lower gravity and higher oxygen content in the air, which might be more suitable for strenuous activities.
As they approached the house, before they could say anything, they saw the black barrels of guns pointed at them. They recognized these since Zod had just used them to kill one of their companions.
"Don't shoot, we're lost!" He suddenly realized he can't speak the Earth language, he only knows Kryptonian. And without wearing Armor, there's no translation System.
The two were extremely nervous, fearing they would be exposed. Unexpectedly, the two soldiers holding guns seemed unfazed, gesturing with the gun barrel for them to walk in one direction.
The pair had no choice but to head where they were directed. As they walked over, they noticed there were quite a lot of people here. They seemed like humans, but with varied skin tones. Most had darker skin, but a few were white, like them.
The armed Guards stood at the house entrance, letting them in one by one. The two were pushed inside too. Initially, they thought there might be weapons inside, but instead, someone gestured extensively at them and then asked them to leave a fingerprint on a form.
As they were about to leave, the older soldier keenly saw the person sitting at the desk make a gesture to another person. After leaving, he said to the younger soldier, "This place seems like a checkpoint."
"Checkpoint? So these people are detained?"
"Something like that. They'll probably take us somewhere."
"What should we do? Try to escape?"
"What's the point of running? No matter where they take us, we'll just end up doing hard labor. We're outsiders, can't ask for much. Let's find a foothold first."
The young soldier nodded.
Soon enough, a bus arrived and took them to an even more crowded place. From the barbed wire on the perimeter, it seemed like a prison.
Everyone was sent here. They were chattering about something, and at first, the two couldn't understand a word. But gradually, they started to pick up some words, and within half a day, they could comprehend some short sentences. So they tried to communicate with the locals.
"Ah, don't worry. This is an immigration prison; once it's full, they let us out. But you should be smart, don't say you're from Mexico, or you'll easily be deported. You two are white, just say you're from Europe or South Africa, and they won't be able to do much to you," said a dark-skinned human who was already in the prison.
The two understood bits and pieces, but they took note of the word "South Africa." Sure enough, another group was brought in that afternoon, and the prison was packed full. At this point, they started releasing people out the front door.
The two seized the opportunity and squeezed towards the exit. These two were, after all, trained soldiers, who could compete with them? Soon enough, they were near the gate, and the Guard at the entrance asked, "Where are you two from?"
They understood this question, so they quickly replied, "South Africa."
The Guard scrutinized them, noticing their tall, muscular build, not looking like poor folks, he said, "Here to avoid debts, perhaps? Go on, hope you survive this winter."
Thus, the two were released and taken by another vehicle to a more bustling place. Everything here was novel to the Aliens. Using the phonetic principles they had just learned, they read the sign's letters— "Ding Fatty Square."