Zod's spacecraft descended from the sky.
Wearing protective suits designed to isolate them from Earth's air and sunlight, they emerged from the spacecraft, their gazes surveying their surroundings.
Kevin was also observing them.
However, while observing, Kevin was also secretly using his Water Manipulation ability, hoping to directly deal with Zod and his group from a distance.
Their bodies beneath the protective suits should currently be just slightly tougher than ordinary human bodies, incomparable to a Supe.
If Kevin could eliminate them while they were still weak, then everything would be fine.
But unfortunately, Kevin failed to eliminate them in advance.
The Kryptonian protective suits, which also served as battle suits, were surprisingly tough; Kevin's ability was unable to penetrate their protective suits to attack their bodies.
The idea of resolving them through a shortcut seemed unlikely.
Kevin temporarily gave up, facing Zod and his group with a formulaic smile for negotiation.
Zod's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Kevin, who wore a crown on his head and special silver Atlantean battle armor.
He walked towards Kevin and asked,
"Are you the king of this planet?"
"No, to be precise, I am the king who governs the oceans of this planet; our people live underwater."
Kevin explained with a smile.
But Zod didn't care about that:
"It doesn't matter what kind of king you are. Since you represent Earth and are here, you should fulfill the agreement between Earth and us. Where are our people? Why haven't you brought them?"
"Because she doesn't want to come, are you satisfied with that explanation?"
The human general beside them: "?"
As soon as Kevin finished speaking, the Kryptonians' reaction was not yet mentioned, but the humans' eyes widened.
They had thought Kevin was here for peaceful negotiations with Zod, but now hearing the sting in Kevin's words, they vaguely felt uneasy.
This new King of Atlantis seemed not as gentle as they had imagined.
"…I said before that if you fail to hand over the person we need today, it will be considered a declaration of war against Krypton! Even so, do you still intend to break the agreement?!"
"Excuse me for interrupting, General Zod."
Just as Zod was about to angrily make a move, Kevin raised his hand and wagged a finger at him:
"It's not me who broke your agreement, but rather you never intended to spare Earth. After all, you are the most warlike group within Krypton, and what Krypton… once did in the universe, I know very well.
"What a warlike race, constantly conquering in the universe, and the most warlike among them, would do when they arrive on Earth, is clear to anyone who understands your race's history.
"So stop with the clumsy excuse of 'declaration of war'; you just want to invade us, that's a fact."
Kevin inadvertently glanced at the camera, revealing Zod's intentions to the whole world.
You heard it, if a fight breaks out later, it's not my fault; Zod already wanted to invade Earth.
"…You know about us, did Kara tell you?"
Hearing Kevin reveal details about Krypton, Zod was very surprised.
He thought Kara had told the other party about Krypton, but to his surprise, the other party shook his head:
"This is something I know myself; it has nothing to do with Kara."
"..."
"And now, I think you should make your move, General Zod, or do you not plan to terraform Earth and slink away from here?"
"Earthling, you have great courage. I hope… your strength matches your courage."
Hearing Kevin's clearly provocative words, Zod's expression darkened. He uttered a few formal words, then instantly flicked out a battle blade from his right hand, thrusting it directly at Kevin!
Zod's speed was very fast.
He perhaps recognized Kevin's strength and immediately launched his attack at the maximum speed allowed by his battle suit.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the cold, glinting blade was about to cut Kevin's throat.
But Kevin's reaction was by no means slow.
At the exact moment Zod drew his blade, a golden, flowing trident suddenly appeared beside Kevin.
The trident appeared at an extremely opportune moment, perfectly blocking Zod's sharp, thrusting blade!
Clang!!
Kryptonian metal collided with the trident, sparks flew from the point of impact, and a crisp metallic clang rang out.
The moment the clang sounded, it was immediately followed by a grating, extremely piercing sound of metal friction.
Looking at Zod, one could see Zod pressing his blade, which had collided with the trident, with continued force, sliding it upwards, attempting to break through the obstruction and harm Kevin's vital points.
Seeing this, Kevin, who had summoned the trident, rotated it, pressing Zod's blade downwards, and pointed the trident's tip towards Zod's face mask.
Their exchange happened in an instant, but the Kryptonians above already knew what to do.
The spaceship immediately activated its shield, and blue lasers fired from the spaceship towards the ground.
But at this very same moment, the Atlantean underwater warships, which had been hidden beneath the water, also launched their attacks.
Almost solidified energy water cannons flew from the water, striking the spaceship's protective shield, followed by a giant pincer that emerged from underwater. A few seconds later, the nearly thousand-meter-tall sea monster Karathen, surfaced.
The colossal monster from the underwater world, now Kevin's most loyal sea monster, Karathen, revealed its fearsome fangs on the surface for the first time!
"Engage the enemy!! Engage the enemy!!!"
Seeing that the battle had already begun, the human side could only cooperate with Kevin in launching an offensive against Krypton.
Fighters and tanks on standby in the distance advanced towards them, sweeping mightily towards the Kryptonians.
"So… so… we're fighting, right?"
Dark Barry, who had been waiting outside the battlefield with Batman, saw the beach suddenly turn into a battlefield and stammered to Batman.
Batman, who had seen the scene in the distance through binoculars, lowered them and walked towards the Batwing:
"Yes, we're fighting. Get ready, Barry."
He said, then climbed into the Batwing himself, while instructing Barry:
"I'll provide support from the air. You… be careful. Don't die, kid."
Batman didn't really approve of letting Dark Barry, who was only eighteen and had just gained his powers, participate in this operation.
But there was no choice; this was a crisis for the entire Earth. As long as there was a possibility of stopping Zod, no matter how recently Dark Flash had gained his powers, he had to contribute here.
After all, only by overcoming this crisis could they talk about the future.
The Batwing took off, heading straight for the distant battlefield.
Dark Flash looked at the distant battlefield, already ablaze with gunfire, and slapped his own cheeks.
He took a deep breath, looked at the lightning suit his future self had lent him, and began to cheer himself on:
"Barry, you can do it, Barry. You got this, Barry… Let's go, Barry…!"
With that, blue electrical currents crackled around him.
In the blink of an eye, Barry vanished from his spot and arrived at the battlefield even faster than the Batwing.
Blue lightning flashed across the battlefield, but Kevin, who was locked in a struggle with Zod, had a solemn expression.
Zod was stronger than he had imagined. Even though the current Zod was merely Zod magnified by his battle suit, not the other Superman who had been exposed to sunlight, Kevin found him very difficult to handle.
As an opponent of Superman, a powerful being who once suppressed Superman, Kevin's current physical strength alone made it somewhat impossible to kill him.
Currently, the only way he had a chance to kill him was to break through his defenses while Zod hadn't been exposed to the sun yet, and then use his Water Manipulation ability to crush the opponent's brain or heart.
Kevin thought so, and he acted accordingly.
Therefore, the moment the trident was summoned, Kevin's target was the opponent's head.
The trident thrust directly at Zod's brain, which was encased in his protective suit!
But Zod was a Kryptonian general, trained in all combat techniques from birth. His fighting skills were superior to Kevin's, and even his combat experience was incomparable to Kevin's, who had only been in a few fights.
So when he saw Kevin's trident thrusting towards him, Zod didn't dodge. Instead, he tilted his head, grabbed the trident with his left hand, and held it.
In his battle suit magnified state, Zod's strength was nearly equal to Kevin's, and the two briefly entered a state of grappling.
If there were no other interferences, they would likely remain in this stalemate for some time.
But Kevin knew magic.
Crack crack—
Frost, cold and creeping, began to spread across the trident.
The frost rapidly covered the entire trident and began to freeze Zod's arm that was gripping the trident!
A battle suit usable in the extreme environment of space, of course, wouldn't be damaged by the frost Kevin created. But even so, if Zod's entire arm were to be frozen, it would have a critically important impact on the battle!
After all, Zod and Kevin's strengths were currently not far apart, and in fact, without sunlight exposure, Zod's raw strength was slightly weaker than Kevin's.
Once affected by the ice, it would be fatal for Zod!
But Zod surprisingly chose not to let go.
Taking advantage of the moment he had Kevin's weapon, his other hand, which bore a blade, thrust directly at Kevin's heart!
Kevin, having no choice, grabbed Zod's wrist with his left hand, deflecting the blade in his hand.
It was at this moment that Zod shattered the ice on the hand gripping the trident, pulled hard, yanked Kevin in front of him, then raised his leg high and kicked Kevin flying.
Bang!!
Kevin lost his balance and flew backward.
To quickly regain his balance, Kevin used his Water Manipulation ability to forcefully control his own blood to rotate his body, allowing his feet to land back on the ground.
At the same time, he also picked up the trident and forcefully plunged it into the sand, counteracting the inertia from being kicked away.
Kevin's reaction was extremely fast; all these actions were completed in just one second.
But Zod's movements were even faster. He stomped on the ground with force, and with a 'bang,' he was already in front of Kevin again!
Having run to Kevin's front at supersonic speed, Zod swung his fist and smashed it into Kevin's chest and abdomen, who had just stabilized his stance.
Kevin only had time to hold the trident vertically in front of him to block Zod's attack.
Fist collided with trident, Zod's immense force transferred to Kevin's palm, sending Kevin sliding even further.
But this time, Zod did not press his advantage.
Because behind him, the sea monster Karathen was toying with the warship he had arrived in, like a plaything.
The Kryptonian warship had a protective shield, and the technology of this shield was very advanced; neither human weapons nor Atlantean weapons could temporarily break through its defenses.
Including the sea monster Karathen.
However, Kryptonian attacks also couldn't cause effective damage to Karathen.
The reason was Karathen's enormous size; its nearly thousand-meter length was practically a walking giant mountain!
The Kryptonian warship was now being flipped back and forth by Karathen like a ball!
Not to mention activating the Genesis Engine, it probably couldn't even mount an effective counterattack!
And most of the Kryptonians were held back by the human and Atlantean armies, especially Mera, who could control water, and Arthur, who wielded the silver trident.
Their combined efforts tied down a large portion of the Kryptonian main force, causing the Kryptonians to be unable to free up their hands to activate the Genesis Engine!
Zod only realized the Kryptonians' predicament after a few exchanges with Kevin and looking back.
His expression beneath his mask darkened slightly. He raised his left hand, activated the communication device on it, and commanded the giant warship stationed in Earth's orbit:
"Activate the Genesis Engine, now!!"
Giant monsters, formidable Atlanteans, and resilient humans.
These indeed posed obstacles for Zod.
But it didn't matter; as long as the Genesis Engine was activated and the Earth's environment was terraformed, everyone on Earth would die!
The advantage was on his, Zod's, side!