"Where is this place exactly?" Kara shook her head, looked in all directions, and touched the walls, observing the marks left by her fingers on the surface.
They continued their descent, unsure how long they had been traveling, but the temperature kept rising to the point even the Kryptonians found it unbearable.
Kara could clearly sense that this was more than just an energy transport mine. They had passed through three or four experimental levels, and such equipment for energy extraction didn't need so many scientists.
"My biological father once worked here," Clark said, "as a geoscience and Earth Core energy research scientist."
"That's not surprising, Uncle Joe was always an expert in that field," Kara gently shook her head, "but I've never heard of this place."
"This is a secret project, known only to the El family," Clark said, "it's a legacy left by the previous generation of Kryptonians."
"You mean the Kryptonians?"
"Yes, the El family from the previous era prepared thoroughly. They foresaw all possible scenarios that might occur on this planet, so they prepared this."
The two stopped in front of a passageway at the deepest point. Kara saw roaring flames at the other end of the passage and felt the surging energy.
The two flew in together.
What appeared before Kara was the core of a star he spoke of—a colossal fusion reactor, resembling an independent planet, lying beneath their feet.
But this blazing and surging fireball was not independent. On its surface, an intricate, massive mechanical mask covered nearly the entire Earth Core, shimmering with a metallic luster.
"Earth has a theory called the Dyson Sphere theory," Clark began, "the main concept is to harness solar energy by constructing a mechanical shield area over the Sun, which is then used for production and development."
"For the Human race, it's still a speculative theory, but the El family has accomplished it."
Kara stared dazedly at the scene below. Until now, within her vision, each small mechanical object was like a black dot; if one appeared beside her, it might be as tall as dozens of floors.
This was unimaginable technological prowess. Compared to it, the pulsating stellar heart within the planet was merely a primitive yet magnificent spectacle.
"Incredible," Kara remarked.
The two continued down along the outer platform. Kara couldn't help but ask, "You mentioned that the Dyson Sphere is for extracting energy to facilitate further construction. So what did the El family build the Dyson Sphere for using Earth Core energy?"
Clark didn't answer, but Kara soon found out.
They followed the platform to the bottom, where countless energy pipelines converged in one direction. Flying towards it, an even more magnificent machine appeared before them.
Kara was stunned and whispered,
"This is..."
"The Planet Engine."
Oliver hung up the phone and turned to Lex beside him, saying, "Helen's ready over there. Let's get started."
Lex nodded. He stepped out the door, picked up his phone, dialed a number, and said, "Miss Zatara, prepare to activate the comprehensive defensive mode of the Magical Defense Network. Ensure that the gravitational waves from the upcoming battle don't affect Earth."
"Alright, I understand. God bless Earth."
Then he turned to Oliver and said, "Comprehensive defensive mode will activate in three minutes, and governments around the world are on high alert. Next, it's up to Helen and Clark."
Helen had reached where Mercury originally was. Here, what used to be an extremely dazzling large fireball was now just emitting a weak glow.
A small dark shadow was constantly battering the black Shield. Each impact sent energy ripples across the Shield. Fortunately, the Shield held firm, and the opponent wasn't able to cause any damage to the star.
But this situation wouldn't last long. They couldn't waste any more time.
Helen let out a roar, and the gigantic figure of Doomsday appeared once again beside the Sun. She extended her claws, raised her head, and charged straight at Hai'er.
The giant maw full of Fangs lunged at the small figure but was deftly dodged. The terrifying vertical pupils subtly shifted and captured Hai'er's silhouette.
Fizz—
A laser hit Helen on the neck, instantly charring the Scales. The sliced soft flesh spewed blood wildly, and Helen let out a painful cry.
"Damn it, this is a lot tougher than Superman!"
Helen cursed, but the wound began healing rapidly, and the new Scales gleamed with a metallic sheen. When the laser hit again, most of it scattered, and the small portion that did hit couldn't penetrate the Scales' defense.
Helen threw another punch.
Hai'er made no attempt to dodge, crossing his arms horizontally and crashing into the punch. Despite the huge size difference between the two fists, it was Helen who painfully withdrew her hand.
"Hiss..."
Accompanied by Helen's sharp intake of breath, the scales on her arm exploded layer by layer. Her entire arm was a bloody mess, with the deepest part of the wound even exposing ghastly white bones.
The wound began to heal at an astonishing speed. However, this time, Hai'er took a deep breath, and a Frozen Breath exhaled, as if stirring up a massive ice storm in the cosmos.
Half of Helen's body was frozen. She struggled to shake off the effects of the frost, but it was extremely difficult; it took all her strength to barely pull her elbow back a bit.
Knowing this couldn't continue, Helen didn't choose to dodge Hai'er's incoming punch but adjusted her body angle instead.
Hai'er's punch landed on Helen's left cheek, directly knocking her off. Using this force, Helen heavily slammed into the Sun Shield.
The Sun continued to burst with surging heat. Leveraging the thousands of degrees of high temperature, Helen quickly shook off the frost's effects, her arm starting to heal again, taking advantage of the Sun's heat to continuously raise her body temperature, until it matched the surface of the Sun.
By this time, Doomsday had already transformed into a giant beast of flames. Beneath the newly grown scales, it seemed as if lava was flowing, and the cold vertical pupils had turned into a fiery scarlet color.
Helen roared again, stretching out her claws toward Hai'er once more. Hai'er flickered to the side, and a glint of intelligence flashed in Helen's eyes.
She predicted Hai'er's landing point and spewed a mouthful of fire onto his trajectory. If one were to take this solar storm-like flame breath head-on, they might not die but would definitely be skinned.
The flame breath swept past, turning the aftermath of the ice storm into a storm of fire. Bright streams of particles first gathered together, then blasted outward, causing Earth's sky to brighten momentarily.
But Hai'er, upon landing, showed a teasing expression. He was completely unharmed and even quickly moved to another side.
Helen was stunned for a moment, then realized that the other party was truly teleporting. In other words, he was not running over at extremely high speeds but teleporting short distances directly from one point to another.
Helen bared her teeth; this guy was even more troublesome than she imagined.
Even the Flash, with Divine Speed, had an action trajectory. If one was strong enough, they could even pull the Flash out of Divine Speed.
But if it's direct space teleportation, it means he's invincible during the process of teleportation. How do you fight that?
Especially now still relying on the Sun. Helen could gain energy from the Star, and so could Hai'er, but his energy acquisition efficiency might be higher than hers.
With this in mind, Helen no longer maintained her original enormous body type. Amidst loud crunches between her bones and muscles, she began an urgent evolution.
Although the change seemed significant, it was only a matter of seconds. The frenzied Hai'er took the opportunity to attack her, but Helen easily evaded them all.
Evolution completed. Helen's body size shrank to just about five meters, and with the reduction in volume came a great density increase. Helen lunged forward, even perturbing the gravity around the Sun.
The two figures collided fiercely once again. On Hai'er, a Telekinesis Barrier suddenly lit up.
After separating, although she couldn't inflict any damage on Hai'er, Helen knew this method was effective. Now relying solely on body strength, Hai'er was unlikely to withstand an attack from her.
Helen gathered strength again. Just as she was about to launch another attack, she felt as though her head was struck heavily.
With a "buzz," her vision went black, and her movements stalled for an instant.
Taking advantage of this, Hai'er closed the distance swiftly, releasing a burst of accumulated power.
First "bang," a punch slammed Helen into the Shield, followed by a series of punches. The scales on Doomsday's exterior couldn't withstand this intense impact and shattered, leaving the entire chest area a bloody mess.
Helen gritted her teeth, flipped over, took a deep breath, and the Reactor in her chest lit up. But Hai'er seemed to anticipate her action, dodging the breath with another swift motion.
She could break his defenses, but couldn't land a hit on him. Helen's inner fury felt like a fire smoldering.
The wounds on her chest healed rapidly as her bones and muscles surged again, sprouting countless spikes. Her entire upper body suddenly expanded, and a dazzling light started brewing in her eyes.
Zi-la——
A laser shot out from Doomsday's eyes. An attack many times faster than breath finally hit Hai'er, but it couldn't penetrate his Telekinesis Barrier.
Helen, having shrunk, was instead seized by his telekinesis and smashed into the Shield again.
Hai'er seemed to be using Helen as a stone to hammer against the Sun Shield, continuously smashing her onto it.
Though Doomsday could evolve infinitely, it required a truce for a large-scale adjustment. The evolution possible during battle was always limited, leaving him completely on the losing side, barely able to retaliate.
In this dilemma, he heard Oliver's roar in his earpiece:
"Helen! Prepare!!!"
Helen sharply turned her head. A red and blue light appeared suddenly in front of her, followed by a brief loss of all light and darkness.
After a low-volume but intensely trembling sound in the ear, a colossal object suddenly appeared in the previously empty Mercury orbit.
Countless towering structures soared into the sky, still revealing the prosperity of many years ago. The engines, just having completed a warp jump, hadn't fully cooled down yet, and the entire planet's surface flickered with a bright red firelight——
It was Krypton.