Chapter 129: Gravity Collapse
Lynn lowered his gaze to his hands.
His Kryptonian adaptation remained incomplete.
Current completion rate:
50%.
Although the Immortal Divine Body had already optimized every available Kryptonian trait to its maximum current efficiency, a fundamental bottleneck remained.
Genetic completeness.
He needed additional Kryptonian genetic material.
And not just any Kryptonian.
Superman was powerful, but his biological development differed significantly from Krypton's military caste.
Clark Kent had grown up beneath Earth's yellow sun, with decades of passive solar absorption shaping his evolution. His genetic expression favored energy accumulation, resilience, and restraint.
Kryptonian soldiers were different.
They had been engineered for warfare.
Generations of military optimization had produced superior combat efficiency, heightened adaptability, and more aggressive physiological responses.
If Lynn could obtain genetic samples from a veteran Kryptonian commander—
His thoughts ended there.
He slipped his phone into his pocket.
Then headed directly into the clinic basement.
Twenty-four hours.
Preparation time.
The twenty-four hours never arrived.
Only six hours passed before General Zod made his move.
Both World Engines activated simultaneously.
One descended into the heart of Metropolis.
The second deployed in the Indian Ocean.
Together they formed a planetary axis.
A machine pair designed to terraform Earth into a new Krypton.
The effects were immediate.
Catastrophic.
The World Engines emitted gravitational pulses powerful enough to alter local gravitational constants on a massive scale.
Entire districts of Metropolis became hell.
Every few seconds, another wave spread outward.
Buildings collapsed beneath their own weight.
Steel frameworks twisted.
Vehicles flattened into scrap.
Entire city blocks crumbled.
And people—
Lynn deliberately stopped that line of thought.
The numbers would be unpleasant.
Three phone calls arrived within twenty minutes.
The first came from Nick Fury.
"Lynn."
Fury skipped introductions.
"Metropolis is being destroyed by an unknown gravity weapon."
"I know."
Lynn continued organizing equipment.
"I've already seen it."
"The Justice League and Avengers are deploying."
Fury's voice sounded strained.
"The gravity field is stronger than expected."
"How strong?"
"Thor has been buried underground."
Lynn paused.
"Flash broke both legs."
Another pause.
"And Tony's armor was crushed three hundred meters from the core."
That finally drew Lynn's attention.
Even advanced Iron Man armor surviving hundreds of atmospheres of pressure was impressive.
If it had failed completely—
The gravity output was absurd.
"What about Superman?"
"Three Kryptonians are engaging him simultaneously."
Fury exhaled slowly.
"He isn't winning."
Lynn remained silent.
"Those soldiers are trained warriors."
"They fight far better than he does."
"I told you before."
Lynn's tone remained calm.
"I'm not joining the battle."
"I'm not asking you to."
Fury's voice immediately rose.
"I need a field hospital."
"The casualty count is exploding."
"The heroes are taking heavy losses."
Without you—"
"Wartime consultation fees are ten times normal."
Fury nearly growled.
"We already did that once."
"That was a different invasion."
Lynn closed a storage case.
"This enemy is a Kryptonian military force."
"Risk levels are substantially higher."
Three seconds passed.
"Twenty times."
Fury sounded exhausted.
"What do you want?"
"No cash."
Lynn's answer came immediately.
"After the war."
"If Zod dies."
"I get the body."
Silence.
Long silence.
Then:
"...Are you insane?"
"Deal or no deal?"
Another pause.
Finally:
"Deal."
The line disconnected.
The second call arrived from Bruce Wayne.
"You know what's happening."
Not a question.
A statement.
"Yes."
"I'm coordinating evacuations."
Bruce's voice carried unusual urgency.
"But I can't reach the center."
"The gravity field is too intense."
"I know."
A brief pause.
Then:
"Can you get in?"
Lynn considered the question.
"Yes."
"Then go."
Bruce rarely sounded emotional.
Now he did.
"People are dying in there."
"A lot of people."
Lynn remained silent for a moment.
Then replied:
"I'll go."
"But I'll do it my way."
The call ended.
The third call came from Tony.
"Lin."
Tony sounded terrible.
Not physically.
Psychologically.
"My Mark 42 got crushed."
"Three hundred meters from the gravity core."
"I'm operating remotely from a backup suit."
For perhaps the first time since they met, Tony sounded genuinely uncertain.
The kind of uncertainty that emerged when engineering encountered something beyond engineering.
"Steve is still inside."
Tony continued.
"He followed Superman."
"Communications are gone."
Lynn immediately asked:
"Medical pod?"
"Malibu backup facility."
Tony blinked.
"Remote deployment requires—"
"No."
Lynn interrupted.
"Give me satellite access."
"I'll retrieve it myself."
Tony stared.
"From New York?"
"To California?"
The line disconnected.
Golden sparks erupted around Lynn's wrist.
His upgraded dimensional device activated.
A portal formed.
Stable.
Precise.
Half-second deployment.
The gateway opened directly into a secure Stark Industries facility in Malibu.
Lynn stepped through.
Three minutes later, he returned carrying the familiar cross-shaped medical pod.
A second portal formed immediately.
Destination:
Metropolis.
The moment the gateway opened, devastation became visible.
There was no skyline.
The skyline no longer existed.
The city center had become a wasteland.
The World Engine hovered above the ruins like an enormous spear driven into the planet.
Visible gravity waves rippled outward continuously.
Every pulse crushed another section of the city.
Buildings collapsed.
Roadways fractured.
Entire districts sank lower.
Lynn adjusted the coordinates.
A relatively stable area approximately eight hundred meters from the World Engine.
Then pushed the medical pod through.
The instant his boots touched Metropolis, gravity changed.
The All-Seeing Eye calculated immediately.
Local Gravity: 4.1× Earth Standard
For ordinary humans, standing would be impossible.
Many would die from their own body weight.
Lynn continued walking.
Unaffected.
The Immortal Divine Body generated enough energy every second to render the increased gravity nearly irrelevant.
To him, the force felt little different from a strong wind.
He pushed the medical pod across shattered streets and collapsed foundations.
After roughly one hundred meters, he found a relatively stable platform.
The pod deployed automatically.
Support pillars extended.
Hydraulic anchors locked into the rubble.
A fully operational battlefield hospital emerged.
Lynn entered.
Inspected the systems.
Verified emergency supplies.
Confirmed life-support functionality.
Everything was ready.
Then he stepped back outside.
The World Engine rotated overhead.
Eight hundred meters above.
Massive.
Relentless.
Every gravitational pulse forced the surrounding ruins deeper into the earth.
In the distance came the sounds of battle.
Explosions.
Collapsing steel.
Shockwaves.
Kryptonians fighting.
Heroes struggling to survive.
Lynn stood atop the ruins and watched the sky.
The battlefield had finally arrived at his doorstep.
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