DC: Rise of the Kryptonian Tyrant

Emperor Building.

Negative Ninth Floor – Kryptonite Energy Mechanical Engine Room.

This facility harnesses kryptonite as an energy source to power interstellar spacecraft. Naturally, there is kryptonite stored here.

Captain Larkin stood outside the door. His bearded, rugged face bore the wildness of a beast, exuding a kind of weathered grit. He resembled Wolverine in appearance, but in his eyes, there was a contradiction—like a wolf possessing thoughtful restraint.

Beside him stood Team Jamie, a young man with ambition burning in his chest, ready to risk his life to earn merit.

At the moment, the two stood at the entrance, wearing special black windbreakers designed to resist kryptonite radiation. They stood tall, silent, majestic.

In simple terms—they were on guard duty.

After the incident at the space base, the two had been rescued by Bardi, earning significant merit. Seeing that Captain Larkin was competent and Jamie loyal and hardworking, Bardi temporarily reassigned them to defend against the incoming superpowered assault. If successful, it would be credited toward their future promotions.

"…We've been promoted to guards."

But Jamie looked gloomy, his promotion making him more dispirited than proud. He sighed deeply. After risking his life escaping the space base and sending intel back to Earth, he had expected a far greater reward.

Instead, being assigned as a mere guard—downgraded from scout to security detail—felt like a slap in the face. It left him bitter and disappointed.

"This is just the beginning."

Captain Larkin tugged on his windbreaker. The material was soft, lined with kryptonite shielding. Honestly, he thought the outcome wasn't bad at all.

Because deep down, all he wanted was a peaceful, uneventful life.

The idea of a quiet, ordinary job—working nine to five as a guard—was a dream come true for him.

But, unfortunately, his natural brilliance had already caught His Majesty's eye. Now, he would have to rise to the occasion, shoulder the burden of governing the Earth, and bear the burden of charm and intellect well beyond his years.

Such a heavy fate.

He glanced at Jamie with quiet envy. What a blessing to be so average.

But alas, he himself was just too outstanding.

With great power comes great responsibility.

A faintly smug melancholy crossed Captain Larkin's bearded face, and he straightened his back with pride.

Jamie blinked. His melancholy briefly vanished, replaced by curiosity.

"Captain… do you know something?"

Captain Larkin nodded gravely, his beast-like features sharpened by a flash of wisdom. He deliberately lowered his voice to a gravelly tone, projecting the aura of a man whose insight was ocean-deep.

He wanted Jamie to remain in awe of him—forever admiring, worshiping, and revering.

"Team Jamie, you're too inattentive. As scouts, our surveillance capabilities are far beyond the average. We can access surface personnel records, analyze internal system shifts, and detect anomalies. All it takes is careful observation. Like right now, standing here, we can tell…"

Captain Larkin's eyes narrowed slightly, then opened wide. He inhaled deeply and spoke in a solemn voice.

Silence fell.

The cold air in the corridor stirred slightly.

The fluorescent lights glowed, reflecting off the polished metal walls.

The corridor was long, quiet. Few people had passed through today.

An unexplained tension hung in the air.

Jamie felt the tension. His eyes sharpened instinctively. He held his breath and waited.

"His Majesty… is not in the building."

Captain Larkin's voice was low, serious—an ordinary observation delivered with weight, as if it were some great secret.

In truth, he had picked up on subtle clues—His Majesty's presence was absent. But stating it outright didn't sound as impactful, so he dramatized it instead.

Unfortunately, Jamie didn't quite appreciate the theatrical setup.

He paused, his face twitching. Then he looked at Captain Larkin with a strange expression.

"Captain… are you trying to sound profound?"

Jamie casually exposed his superior's attempt at dramatics.

Everyone in the Emperor Building knew His Majesty wasn't inside. They had all seen him leave. It wasn't exactly a secret.

Jamie wasn't blind or deaf. Why act like it was hidden knowledge?

Captain Larkin was indignant. "Do I look like someone who fakes depth?"

This idiot doesn't even think, and now he's calling me a pretender?

Larkin regretted saving Jamie back at the space base. If he'd let him die there, he could have avoided moments like this.

Especially now, seeing Jamie's dumbfounded look that clearly said: Yes. You do.

"…His Majesty said: Invite them in. Deal with them inside."

Captain Larkin, hiding his irritation, quoted Bardi's words.

That did it.

Jamie's expression changed. The weight of those words hit him, and suddenly, Larkin didn't seem so theatrical anymore. A phrase like that—full of calculated foresight—could only have come from His Majesty.

Hearing it made Jamie's mind spin.

"So… His Majesty went out on purpose, giving the rebels a chance to enter the Emperor Building…"

Jamie's eyes widened, mouth open in stunned awe.

Captain Larkin nodded smugly, twirling his beard like a wise sage, basking in the praise that should've been his.

Jamie turned to glance nervously at the room behind them. Slowly, he began to understand what Larkin had meant all along.

"…His Majesty… really is a genius."

To let one's own headquarters be infiltrated just to draw out the enemy—what a once-and-for-all strategy.

Jamie's admiration for Bardi reached new heights.

Captain Larkin's face froze. He looked helplessly at Jamie, who was once again lost in admiration—not for him, but for His Majesty.

All this brilliance, and no credit? He was one of only a handful who could deduce such truths.

In fact, there were probably only two or three people in the entire Emperor Building who had figured it out.

And he, the dazzling and intelligent Captain Larkin, was one of them.

But still—no recognition.

It was so unfair.

Suddenly—

Di-di…

Both of their communicators beeped.

Captain Larkin and Jamie raised their wrists, exchanged glances, then turned to silently guard the door.

Minutes passed.

A bespectacled elderly researcher stepped quietly down the steel corridor toward them.

As he attempted to enter the kryptonite energy engine room, Team Jamie suddenly moved.

With the speed and force of a wild beast, he lunged. His hand clamped down like a tiger's jaw, snapping the old man's cervical vertebrae before he could react.

The corpse began to deform.

In Jamie's hands, it morphed into a white-skinned woman.

...

Emperor Building – Quiet Side Entrance.

Lex Luthor squinted, cigar between his lips, deep in thought. He no longer looked at the building.

From around the corner, a large truck drove up and stopped beside him.

Deathstroke jumped down from the driver's seat and opened the back of the truck.

Alongside him, a massive gorilla stepped down.

"Long time no see, Luthor."

(To be continued.)

***

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