If Doom had not boarded the spacecraft, even if something went wrong with the plan this time, his company would not have gone completely bankrupt.
Because the plan failed, Doom ended up in a coma in the hospital. By the time he woke up more than half a month later, the situation within his company had already been decided.
It could be said that this guy suffered immensely due to Reed's miscalculations, metaphorically bleeding out from the consequences.
However, even if someone had warned him that Reed's calculations would be wrong, Doom wouldn't have believed it. After all, he himself was a super-genius, and his confidence in his own abilities naturally extended to believing Reed could never surpass him.
As the spacecraft slowly ascended into the sky, Shin no longer had time to lament Doom's misfortune. Instead, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished.
Inside the spacecraft, Reed was chattering away to Sue.
"By approaching the core of the cosmic storm in deep space, I'll be able to collect vast amounts of data, crack the secrets of human genetics, and use them for the betterment of all mankind—"
Sue's expression was a little stiff. There was still some lingering affection between her and Reed, but he was the definition of a socially oblivious nerd. His high IQ was directly contrasted by his painfully low emotional intelligence.
If he had just a bit more emotional awareness, Doom wouldn't have existed as a romantic threat. Sue wasn't someone who simply chased wealth—Reed's neglect was entirely his own fault. He buried himself in his laboratory every day, showing no regard for her feelings. No woman would put up with that forever.
If it weren't for the upcoming solar storm, these two probably would never have gotten back together.
Suddenly, Sue's eyes widened in shock. She stared past Reed, her mouth falling open.
"Reed, l-look behind you!"
Reed frowned in confusion, seeing the panic in Sue's expression. He hesitated before turning around, only to find nothing there.
When he turned back, he gave her a puzzled look. "What's wrong, Sue?"
Sue clutched her chest, still shaken. "I... I just saw someone standing behind you! He appeared suddenly—then vanished in an instant!"
Reed scratched his head. "Someone else? There are only five of us in this spacecraft. Are you sure you weren't seeing things?"
"No, I wasn't mistaken!" Sue insisted, still pale. "I saw his face clearly. He even smiled at me!"
Hearing this, even Reed felt a chill run down his spine. He scanned their surroundings but found nothing out of place.
What neither of them knew was that Shin had teleported into the spacecraft and had momentarily appeared right behind Reed. Sue had caught a glimpse of him, but before she could react, he had already used his teleportation ability again, disappearing from view.
Even after conducting a thorough search, Sue found nothing. Since Shin was capable of hiding within the Kamui Dimension, she had no way of detecting him. Eventually, the matter was left unresolved.
While the others dismissed Sue's concerns as nerves, she remained convinced that someone else had been aboard the spacecraft.
As they drew closer to the sun, Shin gradually felt an odd sensation stirring within his body—an overwhelming, boiling energy.
His 1/4 Kryptonian bloodline allowed him to absorb solar energy directly, so the closer he got to the sun, the faster he felt his strength rising.
Of course, this was just a perception. At this stage, his power growth had stabilized, and the actual increase was minimal.
Shin chose not to interfere with the unfolding events. Just as in the original timeline, Reed miscalculated the timing of the solar storm, leading to utter chaos when it finally arrived.
Among them, Ben was the unluckiest. At the moment of the storm's arrival, he was floating outside the spacecraft in a spacesuit, fully exposed to the radiation.
This could explain why the Fantastic Four and even Doctor Doom still maintained human appearances, whereas Ben lost his entirely.
As panic erupted among the crew, Shin extended his hand and unleashed a surge of dark mist. Like an endless tide, the black mist spread, filling the entire spacecraft.
The cosmic storm raged violently outside, but the oppressive gravitational force of the Dark-Dark Fruit absorbed the energy in waves, preventing it from engulfing the spacecraft entirely.
Before long, Reed and the others, who had already begun losing consciousness, stared in terror at the swirling abyss of darkness before completely blacking out.
Soon, Shin was the only one still conscious on board.
The dark mist continued to expand, greedily absorbing the energy of the solar storm. By the time the storm finally passed, nearly 70% of the energy had already been devoured by Shin.
Lowering his gaze, Shin examined the condensed core of the solar storm in his hand. The swirling mass of energy resembled a glowing, jade-like sphere.
"This isn't just any ordinary solar storm... This energy feels strangely pure," he murmured.
A regular solar storm, at this level of intensity and radiation, would have killed the entire crew instantly, rendering their bodies radioactive hazards. Anyone retrieving their corpses would've needed protective gear just to approach them.
Yet, not only did all five of them survive, but they underwent drastic mutations. It was obvious—this storm contained something far beyond simple radiation.
Frowning slightly, Shin slowly extracted a fraction of the energy from the solar storm and instantly felt a surge of vitality rush through his body.
His Kryptonian cells responded immediately. It was as if he had spent months basking in the sun's rays in mere moments.
His expression brightened. "My Kryptonian physiology is strengthening…!"
He continued absorbing the energy, carefully regulating his intake. When his cells reached their limit, he finally stopped.
"Incredible," he whispered, clenching his fists. "This is nearly equivalent to twenty years of solar exposure in a single burst!"
And that was only a small fraction of the storm's energy. If he absorbed the entire mass…
"Wouldn't that be the same as basking in the sun for a thousand years?"
If that were true, even with only 1/4 Kryptonian blood, his overall strength could double or even triple.
He clenched the condensed storm core tightly in his hand.
"I wonder… if absorbing more of this will awaken some of Superman's latent abilities?"
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