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Chapter 432: "You Will Regret This!!!"
"Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, you are much younger than I imagined," Jor-El said.
"Regret it? Regret sending your son to Earth? Even sending him to the Agalas Sanctuary would have been better than coming to Earth, I imagine. It's just that place doesn't have a yellow sun."
Tony casually wiped the dust off a harvester, then plopped down onto it.
Jor-El's hands were calmly folded together. Right now, he was nothing more than a "consciousness" synthesized by an artificial intelligence.
Jor-El said, "I precisely calculated Earth's rate of development and used a supercomputer to simulate billions of possible futures for Earth, including calculations that leaped beyond dimensions and probabilities to directly compute timelines and quantum trajectories. But I never expected that you, someone originally unknown, would be the one to succeed the Sorcerer Supreme."
"That's because you never expected the Ancient One to fall so early, and you certainly didn't expect her to act so out of character, choosing a restless guy like me to take her place," Tony said lightly.
Jor-El looked at Tony in silence. His eyes were as real as a living person's, yet they were frighteningly placid.
"Jor-El, I don't care how many contingencies you've left behind, nor do I care what they are. I must get my hands on the Codex of Life."
"If you are willing to give up, I will hand over a vast amount of Krypton's secret data to you," Jor-El said.
Tony scoffed. The Allspark surged forth, and in an instant, he seized control of everything in this small spaceship, including the intelligent avatar Jor-El had left behind.
"So these are your contingencies? H'el and Brainiac? How cunning, Jor-El. You had already calculated that Krypton would be destroyed. You silently planned for everything long ago."
Tony sneered, "The people of Earth will thank you, because you sent Earth a son of Justice, adding a reliable hero to the planet. It's just... not so wonderful for your Krypton."
Jor-El, the most intelligent man on Krypton, had learned of Krypton's impending destruction from Brainiac long ago.
And Brainiac was the most powerful and intelligent lifeform in Krypton's history—similar to Ultron, except it amicably served as Krypton's AI and didn't do anything to destroy the planet.
However, this intelligent lifeform was the first to detect the signs of Krypton's instability. It precisely calculated the data on Krypton's core, its magma, magnetic field, earthquakes, and all other disasters, concluding that Krypton only had a few months left to live.
But it chose not to warn the Kryptonians. Instead, it concealed the information and began secretly transferring vast amounts of Krypton's confidential data. This was because its programming dictated that "valuable data is more important than the lives of Kryptonians."
If it were a choice between an individual Kryptonian and precious data, one would of course choose the latter. Such programming was understandable, as Kryptonians were essentially artificially manufactured and conditioned products. If a certain profession was short on personnel, they would simply create more Kryptonians for that role, with no need to worry about losses.
But when Krypton was on the verge of destruction, Brainiac still adhered to the highest-priority program instilled by its creators: preserve and transfer valuable data.
The Kryptonians were truly courting death, creating an obstinate and self-serving intelligent lifeform like Brainiac.
By the time the chief scientist, Jor-El, discovered something was wrong, forced the details out of Brainiac, and learned the truth, he had already begun to scheme.
The plan was this: to make his son a god and let the rigid, inflexible, and numb Krypton head toward its destruction.
"Krypton's most valuable data isn't in this small spaceship, nor is it on Earth. It is out in the universe." Due to Tony's intrusion, Jor-El's electronic form flickered indistinctly for a moment before stabilizing and speaking.
Tony circled the harvester, casually patting its metal plates. "Jor-El, you are a selfless man, but also a selfish one. For the sake of your son, you were willing to abandon all of Krypton. Yet also for your son, not only did you willingly go to your death, but you also turned your followers into your chess pieces."
"If you agree to the deal, then you will receive the complete collection of Krypton's precious data in the future. If you refuse, you won't get a single piece of it," Jor-El said expressionlessly.
"I have no interest in that stuff. I only care about the Codex of Life," Tony sneered.
"You will not succeed. I will watch you walk toward your Death from another world." Jor-El's expression turned incredibly grim, and his voice became slightly sinister. "You will definitely regret this!"
Tony gave him an indifferent glance, then completely destroyed Jor-El's intelligent consciousness.
Jor-El had completely vanished from Earth.
Tony gave the small spaceship one last glance. In terms of design, it was identical to the one Krypto had arrived on Earth in.
By now, the sunlight had completely faded. Night had fallen, the temperature dropped, and a gentle breeze rustled through the swaying trees.
Tony knew that the data he had obtained was incomplete, as if someone had deliberately cut off the most crucial parts ahead of time.
"The mystery of Krypton's destruction..." Tony narrowed his eyes, watching the sun set completely. "Jor-El thought he could use this information to bait me into protecting his son, making me wait for the mystery to be unveiled..."
He shook his head gently. To be honest, he really had no interest in this stuff...
Looking at the information Jor-El had stored: analysis of the cause of Krypton's destruction... one hundred thousand theories on the truth behind the scenes... the shadow of a god... Krypton's ancient lifeforms...
What the hell did any of this vague stuff have to do with him?!
Whether it was the work of some faction in the universe, or Krypton's chief god Rao, or Zod and Jor-El shoving a star-destroying bomb into Krypton's core during their civil war.
None of it had anything to do with him. That included the other things—the origin of Krypton, the origin of the gene, the origin of gods... All these secrets that Jor-El had deliberately revealed yet left truncated, all these contingencies he had meticulously planned, considering countless dire outcomes, all to protect his son—Tony didn't care about any of it.
He only cared about the Genesis Chamber and the Codex of Life. He only cared about what benefits they could bring him. As for Krypton... that relic of the past could just vanish forever into the cosmic dust.
Perhaps Clark, possessing the Codex of Life, might one day re-establish a New Krypton. But with Tony involved, that vision was doomed to fail.
If a Krypton were ever to exist, it would be as a satellite of Cybertron.
The inhabitants of that satellite wouldn't be pure Kryptonians, but modified Kryptonian Transformers—a type of Transformer that grows stronger by basking in the sun.
"What a pity. Jor-El, such a genius scientist, actually sat back and watched his homeworld walk toward its death."
Honestly, after analyzing all the information in the spaceship, Tony was astonished by the arrangements Jor-El had laid out. The multitude of programs contained tens of millions of possibilities, each with countermeasures in place, just waiting for an intelligent consciousness to execute them according to the set procedures.
But unfortunately for him, Jor-El ran into the one possibility he least wanted to see: someone with overwhelming power and influence, who had already secured the spoils of war—his son—and who also couldn't care less about the many secrets he had preserved.
The worst-case, lowest-probability outcome could only trigger the most unpredictable response.
"No matter who comes, no one can stop me..."
Tony murmured, glanced at the still-sleeping Martha, and slowly walked out of the small house.
"It's time to go back and check... and time to leave..."
(end of chapter)
"Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, you are much younger than I imagined," Jor-El said.
"Regret it? Regret sending your son to Earth? Even sending him to the Agalas Sanctuary would have been better than coming to Earth, I imagine. It's just that place doesn't have a yellow sun."
Tony casually wiped the dust off a harvester, then plopped down onto it.
Jor-El's hands were calmly folded together. Right now, he was nothing more than a "consciousness" synthesized by an artificial intelligence.
Jor-El said, "I precisely calculated Earth's rate of development and used a supercomputer to simulate billions of possible futures for Earth, including calculations that leaped beyond dimensions and probabilities to directly compute timelines and quantum trajectories. But I never expected that you, someone originally unknown, would be the one to succeed the Sorcerer Supreme."
"That's because you never expected the Ancient One to fall so early, and you certainly didn't expect her to act so out of character, choosing a restless guy like me to take her place," Tony said lightly.
Jor-El looked at Tony in silence. His eyes were as real as a living person's, yet they were frighteningly placid.
"Jor-El, I don't care how many contingencies you've left behind, nor do I care what they are. I must get my hands on the Codex of Life."
"If you are willing to give up, I will hand over a vast amount of Krypton's secret data to you," Jor-El said.
Tony scoffed. The Allspark surged forth, and in an instant, he seized control of everything in this small spaceship, including the intelligent avatar Jor-El had left behind.
"So these are your contingencies? H'el and Brainiac? How cunning, Jor-El. You had already calculated that Krypton would be destroyed. You silently planned for everything long ago."
Tony sneered, "The people of Earth will thank you, because you sent Earth a son of Justice, adding a reliable hero to the planet. It's just... not so wonderful for your Krypton."
Jor-El, the most intelligent man on Krypton, had learned of Krypton's impending destruction from Brainiac long ago.
And Brainiac was the most powerful and intelligent lifeform in Krypton's history—similar to Ultron, except it amicably served as Krypton's AI and didn't do anything to destroy the planet.
However, this intelligent lifeform was the first to detect the signs of Krypton's instability. It precisely calculated the data on Krypton's core, its magma, magnetic field, earthquakes, and all other disasters, concluding that Krypton only had a few months left to live.
But it chose not to warn the Kryptonians. Instead, it concealed the information and began secretly transferring vast amounts of Krypton's confidential data. This was because its programming dictated that "valuable data is more important than the lives of Kryptonians."
If it were a choice between an individual Kryptonian and precious data, one would of course choose the latter. Such programming was understandable, as Kryptonians were essentially artificially manufactured and conditioned products. If a certain profession was short on personnel, they would simply create more Kryptonians for that role, with no need to worry about losses.
But when Krypton was on the verge of destruction, Brainiac still adhered to the highest-priority program instilled by its creators: preserve and transfer valuable data.
The Kryptonians were truly courting death, creating an obstinate and self-serving intelligent lifeform like Brainiac.
By the time the chief scientist, Jor-El, discovered something was wrong, forced the details out of Brainiac, and learned the truth, he had already begun to scheme.
The plan was this: to make his son a god and let the rigid, inflexible, and numb Krypton head toward its destruction.
"Krypton's most valuable data isn't in this small spaceship, nor is it on Earth. It is out in the universe." Due to Tony's intrusion, Jor-El's electronic form flickered indistinctly for a moment before stabilizing and speaking.
Tony circled the harvester, casually patting its metal plates. "Jor-El, you are a selfless man, but also a selfish one. For the sake of your son, you were willing to abandon all of Krypton. Yet also for your son, not only did you willingly go to your death, but you also turned your followers into your chess pieces."
"If you agree to the deal, then you will receive the complete collection of Krypton's precious data in the future. If you refuse, you won't get a single piece of it," Jor-El said expressionlessly.
"I have no interest in that stuff. I only care about the Codex of Life," Tony sneered.
"You will not succeed. I will watch you walk toward your Death from another world." Jor-El's expression turned incredibly grim, and his voice became slightly sinister. "You will definitely regret this!"
Tony gave him an indifferent glance, then completely destroyed Jor-El's intelligent consciousness.
Jor-El had completely vanished from Earth.
Tony gave the small spaceship one last glance. In terms of design, it was identical to the one Krypto had arrived on Earth in.
By now, the sunlight had completely faded. Night had fallen, the temperature dropped, and a gentle breeze rustled through the swaying trees.
Tony knew that the data he had obtained was incomplete, as if someone had deliberately cut off the most crucial parts ahead of time.
"The mystery of Krypton's destruction..." Tony narrowed his eyes, watching the sun set completely. "Jor-El thought he could use this information to bait me into protecting his son, making me wait for the mystery to be unveiled..."
He shook his head gently. To be honest, he really had no interest in this stuff...
Looking at the information Jor-El had stored: analysis of the cause of Krypton's destruction... one hundred thousand theories on the truth behind the scenes... the shadow of a god... Krypton's ancient lifeforms...
What the hell did any of this vague stuff have to do with him?!
Whether it was the work of some faction in the universe, or Krypton's chief god Rao, or Zod and Jor-El shoving a star-destroying bomb into Krypton's core during their civil war.
None of it had anything to do with him. That included the other things—the origin of Krypton, the origin of the gene, the origin of gods... All these secrets that Jor-El had deliberately revealed yet left truncated, all these contingencies he had meticulously planned, considering countless dire outcomes, all to protect his son—Tony didn't care about any of it.
He only cared about the Genesis Chamber and the Codex of Life. He only cared about what benefits they could bring him. As for Krypton... that relic of the past could just vanish forever into the cosmic dust.
Perhaps Clark, possessing the Codex of Life, might one day re-establish a New Krypton. But with Tony involved, that vision was doomed to fail.
If a Krypton were ever to exist, it would be as a satellite of Cybertron.
The inhabitants of that satellite wouldn't be pure Kryptonians, but modified Kryptonian Transformers—a type of Transformer that grows stronger by basking in the sun.
"What a pity. Jor-El, such a genius scientist, actually sat back and watched his homeworld walk toward its death."
Honestly, after analyzing all the information in the spaceship, Tony was astonished by the arrangements Jor-El had laid out. The multitude of programs contained tens of millions of possibilities, each with countermeasures in place, just waiting for an intelligent consciousness to execute them according to the set procedures.
But unfortunately for him, Jor-El ran into the one possibility he least wanted to see: someone with overwhelming power and influence, who had already secured the spoils of war—his son—and who also couldn't care less about the many secrets he had preserved.
The worst-case, lowest-probability outcome could only trigger the most unpredictable response.
"No matter who comes, no one can stop me..."
Tony murmured, glanced at the still-sleeping Martha, and slowly walked out of the small house.
"It's time to go back and check... and time to leave..."
(end of chapter)
