Chapter 128: Zod's Arrival
Lynn observed the fragment of shattered surgical steel floating before him.
Then he reached deeper.
Not merely controlling the metal.
Manipulating it.
At the molecular level.
The distance between atoms shifted.
Metallic bonds restructured.
The stainless-steel fragment softened under his will like liquid.
It elongated.
Flattened.
Curled.
Folded.
Layer upon layer.
Within seconds, the fragment transformed into an exquisitely detailed metal rose.
Every petal possessed microscopic precision.
Every edge was sharp enough to cut through flesh.
The entire process required less than two seconds.
This was not something Magneto typically demonstrated in the comics.
Magneto's greatest strength lay in overwhelming control over magnetic fields and large-scale electromagnetic phenomena.
Lynn's method was different.
The All-Seeing Eye provided microscopic structural information.
His triple-superintelligence framework handled real-time calculations.
The Immortal Divine Body supplied flawless execution.
Combined with SS-Rank electromagnetic manipulation, the result achieved a degree of precision that bordered on material engineering.
The rose slowly rotated above his palm.
Then Lynn closed his hand.
The flower collapsed into metallic dust.
Good.
Very good.
Electromagnetism truly deserved its reputation as one of the fundamental forces of reality.
Lynn exited the operating room.
The Brotherhood of Mutants departed shortly afterward.
Magneto left with restored power.
Polaris left alive.
The terrified mutants left considerably quieter than they had arrived.
At the doorway, Magneto briefly glanced back.
His expression remained complicated.
Respect.
Wariness.
Confusion.
None of it was voiced.
Lynn didn't particularly care.
The invoice would arrive within three days.
That was sufficient.
The following month was peaceful.
Suspiciously peaceful.
No dying superheroes appeared.
No alien invasions occurred.
No global catastrophes threatened civilization.
Even Nick Fury contacted him less frequently.
Lynn suspected Fury had finally accepted that repeated messages would continue being ignored.
During that month, he accomplished several projects.
First, he spent nearly two weeks cataloging the rare-metal shipments and X-Gene databases delivered by Magneto.
Second, he upgraded his portal device.
Using the dimensional theory learned from Kamar-Taj and the Sling Ring schematics obtained from the Ancient One, he redesigned the entire system.
Portal deployment time dropped from three seconds to half a second.
Targeting precision improved dramatically.
The new model could accurately connect to an area approximately the size of a table.
Third, he seriously considered hiring a receptionist.
Treating ordinary patients every day had become increasingly inconvenient.
Fourth, Tony Stark continued showing up uninvited.
Frequently.
"Couldn't you buy better tea?"
Tony Stark lounged across the clinic sofa.
His expression radiated disappointment.
"This tastes like dishwater."
Lynn didn't even look up.
He continued reviewing spectral-analysis data from an alien alloy sample.
"If you don't like it, stop drinking it."
Tony ignored the suggestion.
"As a matter of curiosity..."
He gestured toward the floor.
"What exactly is happening in your basement lately?"
"None of your business."
Tony sighed dramatically.
"I had Jarvis analyze the energy readings under this building."
Lynn remained silent.
Tony pointed toward himself.
"Do you know what my AI concluded?"
"No."
Tony adopted a robotic voice.
"'Warning. Data anomaly detected. Recommend maintaining distance.'"
He threw both hands into the air.
"My artificial intelligence is literally telling me to stay away from you."
Lynn finally looked up.
"Then listen to it."
Tony looked offended.
Before he could continue arguing, Lynn's phone rang.
The caller ID displayed a familiar name.
Steve Rogers.
Lynn answered.
"Doctor Lynn."
Steve's voice came through immediately.
"How have you been?"
"Fine."
A brief pause.
"If you're not injured, I'm hanging up."
Tony nearly choked on his tea.
Steve sounded momentarily caught off guard.
"Actually..."
"I wanted to invite you to dinner."
"You saved my life and I never properly thanked you."
"Another time."
Lynn ended the call.
Tony stared.
Then slowly lowered his cup.
"Is this how you treat everyone?"
"People who don't pay."
Tony pointed at himself.
"I paid."
"You purchased an Arc Reactor patent exchange."
"Exactly."
Lynn nodded.
"Which is why you're allowed to drink dishwater here."
Tony opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
Because somehow that logic made sense.
More than a month passed.
Then everything changed.
Lynn was in the basement.
Researching vibranium integration and Arc Reactor energy architecture.
The All-Seeing Eye continued operating passively.
Constantly.
Like a planetary-scale sensory network.
Then it detected something.
Something enormous.
Lynn stopped.
The signal originated from extreme altitude.
Near the edge of Earth's atmosphere.
An object was descending.
Massive.
Far beyond anything resembling an ordinary spacecraft.
The All-Seeing Eye immediately gathered data.
Length: Over three kilometers.
Width: More than one kilometer.
A flying city.
It entered the atmosphere under controlled deceleration.
Not crashing.
Arriving.
Purposefully.
Lynn immediately headed upstairs.
He stepped into the backyard and looked toward the sky.
To ordinary people, New York remained unchanged.
Blue skies.
White clouds.
Normal.
The All-Seeing Eye revealed a different reality.
Far away, above Metropolis, atmospheric conditions were changing dramatically.
Then every communication device on Earth activated simultaneously.
Phones.
Televisions.
Computers.
Military networks.
Everything.
Lynn's phone flickered.
An image appeared.
A man.
Middle-aged.
Cold.
Severe.
His expression seemed carved from stone.
Black Kryptonian armor covered his body.
The design was unmistakable.
Ancient.
Military.
Kryptonian.
Then he spoke.
Every language on Earth translated simultaneously.
English.
Chinese.
Arabic.
Russian.
French.
Hundreds more.
The message was universal.
"My name is Zod."
"I am a General of the Kryptonian Military Guild."
The figure was none other than General Zod.
"A citizen of Krypton is hiding on your world."
"His name is Kal-El."
The name required no explanation.
Superman.
"Deliver him to me."
"You have twenty-four hours."
His eyes hardened.
"Otherwise, Earth will become the new Krypton."
"Your species has no value."
The transmission ended.
The screen returned to normal.
Silence followed.
Lynn stared at the phone for several seconds.
Then a faint smile appeared.
Not because the situation was amusing.
Because it was interesting.
Very interesting.
Unlike Superman, Zod was not a Kryptonian raised on Earth.
Not a farm boy from Kansas.
Not a reluctant hero.
Zod was exactly what Krypton had engineered him to be.
A soldier.
A professional warrior.
A product of Krypton's ancient military caste.
The genes flowing through his body represented generations of deliberate Kryptonian optimization.
Combat.
Strategy.
Conquest.
War.
Every cell had been bred for it.
And now—
General Zod had arrived.
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