Chapter 132: Flesh and Blood Furnace
Superman's mind immediately flashed back to the Battle of New York.
A white-masked figure standing atop Stark Tower.
One hand gripping Loki by the throat.
The other punching through the Tesseract's energy barrier.
At the time, Clark had assumed the encounter was some isolated anomaly.
Now that same individual was tearing open the outer armor of a Kryptonian World Engine with his bare hands.
Even Superman struggled to process what he was seeing.
He wanted to intervene.
Wanted to help destroy the machine.
Unfortunately, the remaining Kryptonian soldiers gave him no opportunity.
The moment he shifted position, both warriors attacked again.
Forcing him back into combat.
The opening Lynn created was large enough for a person to enter.
Beyond it lay the World Engine's core chamber.
The moment the breach formed, a torrent of blue-white energy erupted outward.
The All-Seeing Eye immediately began calculations.
Temperature: Exceeds 10,000°C
Radiation Level: Extreme
Estimated Carbon-Based Organism Survival Time: Less Than 0.1 Seconds
Lynn stared into the opening.
Ghostly blue light poured from within.
The energy signature matched perfectly.
Every requirement listed by the system.
Every catalytic condition necessary for complete Kryptonian integration.
The World Engine wasn't merely a planetary terraforming device.
It was a machine designed to recreate aspects of Krypton's environmental conditions.
And right now—
It was exactly what he needed.
Lynn removed a cryogenic storage container from within his equipment.
Inside rested the vial of blood taken from Fiora.
The golden liquid glowed faintly.
Pure military-caste Kryptonian genetics.
The final missing piece.
Lynn inhaled once.
Then jumped.
Directly into the World Engine.
The core chamber was not meant for living beings.
Even by Kryptonian standards.
Blue light saturated everything.
High-energy particle radiation filled the air.
Every surface radiated destructive power.
The moment Lynn entered, smoke rose from his white mask.
His alloy-fiber combat robe heated instantly.
Fortunately, the material survived.
So did he.
The Immortal Divine Body activated at maximum capacity.
The protective energy membrane transformed incoming thermal energy into usable power.
Simultaneously, Perfect Extremis began repairing microscopic radiation damage faster than it could accumulate.
The environment was hostile.
Extremely hostile.
But survivable.
For him.
Lynn surveyed the chamber.
At its center floated the World Engine's power source.
A compact blue energy core.
Roughly the size of a human fist.
Every vibration released another gravitational pulse.
Every oscillation helped reshape Earth into a future Krypton.
The machine responsible for Metropolis' destruction.
The obvious target.
Lynn ignored it completely.
Destroying the engine wasn't his priority.
Not yet.
He opened the storage container.
Fiora's blood remained stable.
The golden liquid shimmered beneath the chamber's blue light.
Almost beautiful.
Lynn located his carotid artery effortlessly.
The All-Seeing Eye highlighted the exact position.
Needle.
Injection.
Completion.
The blood entered his circulatory system.
And everything changed.
Lightning seemed to explode through his body.
Every nerve ignited.
Every cell awakened.
The incomplete Kryptonian template already present inside him reacted violently.
Military-caste Kryptonian genes collided with the fragmented template inherited from Superman.
The result was immediate.
Genetic recombination.
DNA chains unraveled.
Repaired.
Reconstructed.
Rewritten.
The process occurred at a speed visible even to Lynn's enhanced perception.
Simultaneously, the World Engine's radiation acted as a catalyst.
Its energy signature closely resembled the environmental conditions Kryptonian biology had originally evolved to endure.
The fusion accelerated dramatically.
Hundreds of times faster than normal.
Lynn's body began glowing.
Golden-white light emerged from beneath his skin.
Each cell resembled a miniature star.
Every atom participated in the transformation.
The experience was unpleasant.
Extremely unpleasant.
Genetic reconstruction meant destruction.
Followed by creation.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Bones fractured.
Then healed.
Muscles tore apart.
Then regenerated.
Organs shifted.
Collapsed.
Reformed.
Repeated endlessly.
The Immortal Divine Body struggled to maintain stability.
Its regeneration continuously repaired damage.
Only for new damage to appear immediately afterward.
An endless cycle.
Destruction.
Restoration.
Destruction.
Restoration.
Ordinary beings would have lost consciousness.
Many would have died.
Lynn did neither.
Iron Will remained absolute.
His mind stayed perfectly clear.
Cold.
Focused.
Analytical.
He already understood the outcome.
The Immortal Divine Body's core principle had never changed.
As long as consciousness remained intact, physical destruction was irrelevant.
So he endured.
One minute.
Two minutes.
The All-Seeing Eye continuously tracked progress.
Kryptonian Integration Rate
50%
55%
63%
71%
82%
Meanwhile, something deeper began changing.
The Immortal Divine Body itself.
The ability had originally formed through the integration of multiple extraordinary biological systems.
Asgardian vitality.
Kryptonian physiology.
Gamma-adaptive growth.
And numerous supporting traits.
Together they created something far greater than its individual components.
Yet imperfections remained.
The fusion had never been completely seamless.
Now it was evolving.
The completion of the Kryptonian warrior template provided missing structural information.
New genetic data flooded every layer of the Immortal Divine Body.
Old limitations shattered.
Underlying architecture reorganized.
Like replacing an operating system while the machine remained active.
The entire framework upgraded itself.
91%
The World Engine reacted.
Its blue core flickered.
Energy output began dropping.
Not because the machine was being destroyed.
Because Lynn was consuming it.
Absorbing it.
The final stage of Kryptonian integration required enormous amounts of energy.
The World Engine provided exactly that.
Its gravitational pulses weakened noticeably.
Below.
Across Metropolis.
People noticed.
Heroes noticed.
Everyone noticed.
The crushing gravity began fading.
Captain America slowly rose from one knee.
Iron Man's damaged armor stopped groaning beneath the pressure.
Even the rubble felt lighter.
Far above, Superman looked upward.
The World Engine's blue glow had dimmed significantly.
The core itself appeared smaller.
The impossible truth became obvious.
Something inside the machine was draining its power.
Inside the chamber, system notifications appeared continuously.
[Ding!]
[High-Dimensional Energy Catalysis Successful!]
[Kryptonian Gene Chain Completed!]
[Kryptonian Physiology: 50% → 100%]
[Perfect Kryptonian Warrior Template Acquired!]
[Core Evolution Triggered...]
[Immortal Divine Body (SSS-Rank, Initial Form) Upgrading...]
The blue core flickered violently.
Thirty seconds later, nearly half its energy reserves had vanished.
All of it flowed into Lynn.
The World Engine's power became fuel.
The Immortal Divine Body consumed everything.
Converted everything.
Evolved through everything.
Lynn floated within the chamber.
Arms extended.
Golden-white light radiated from every pore.
Every cell.
Every molecule.
Every layer of his existence.
The transformation was unmistakable.
The Immortal Divine Body was no longer merely a collection of extraordinary biological traits fused together through the system.
It was becoming something new.
Something unified.
Something complete.
And the final catalyst had been the genes of a Kryptonian warrior.
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