Arctic.
An indistinct expanse of white, cold to the bone.
The night sky was a dark blue, yet the brightness of the night was filled with dazzling displays. At first, there were faint green auroras glowing above the glaciers in the sky—magnificent and enchanting.
Bernie Jones.
A strong Black man, the captain of the survey team sent by Bardi.
At this moment, he gazed up at the towering glacier in the sky, eyes burning with excitement. His heart raced with restlessness. Amidst the freezing snow, his blood surged warmly through his veins. Beneath the thick down jacket that wrapped his body, the warmth seemed to stimulate him, making him even more excited.
Unlike his teammates, who admired Bardi with fervent belief, Bernie not only held strong beliefs, but he was also thrilled about the enhanced body serum he would receive upon completing this mission.
He exhaled a hot breath and, with a pounding heart, urged the team members to prepare their gear more quickly and follow Bardi's orders.
Suddenly.
Boom!!
The snow-covered ground trembled with a deep rumble, and the shaking spread to their feet, making the ice and snow quiver.
"What happened?"
"The glacier is collapsing!"
"No! What is that?!"
"Something's coming out!"
The expedition members cried out in alarm, staring at the glacier in shock.
Now—
In that horizontal direction, the massive glacier stretched as far as the eye could see, like a frozen tsunami. The glacier in front of them was shaking violently.
Large chunks of exposed rock were falling from the mountain, accompanied by sprays of icy mist and snowflakes. Enormous blocks of ice tumbled down continuously.
Bernie Jones and all the expedition members instinctively looked up. Their hearts clenched as they stood frozen in awe.
They saw the massive glacier surging like a tidal wave, crashing down with countless huge ice blocks and boulders.
In the misty cold haze, in the region where the aurora borealis had been veiled, a giant beast suddenly rumbled to life. It raised its head from within the glacier, shattering the ice and sending shards flying.
It was a colossal, dark, horizontal form, with jets of blue energy propelling it from below. Shrouded in icy fog and backlit by the brilliant green aurora, it looked like a sperm whale lying in the sky—a truly breathtaking sight.
This dark, sperm whale-like colossus distorted in everyone's vision. The air around it, together with the green aurora, shimmered with illusory distortion, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished completely before their eyes.
A split second later, a powerful air current struck them like a wave, stirring up a hurricane. Snow exploded outward, splashing toward them with biting cold. The freezing blast struck their faces, forcing everyone in the expedition team to turn around and shield themselves with their arms from the flying snow.
A long while later, the hurricane finally passed. Their down jackets were half-covered in snow, and the team was left shaken.
"What was that?"
"It was enormous..."
"Absolutely shocking!"
"It really looked like a ship, like a giant swimming whale."
"That was... a spaceship...!"
The expedition members were stunned, whispering to each other in disbelief.
Bernie Jones' eyes flashed with astonishment. Anyone who had witnessed such a massive spaceship, lifting the glacier like a blanket and floating in the sky, backlit by the aurora and glowing blue ejectors—anyone would feel deeply shaken by that immense shadow looming in the misty fog.
He couldn't help but think of the target Bardi had tasked them to find.
In the next moment, the communicator lit up. His mission was marked as complete, and he was authorized to evacuate to the North Pole.
Bernie Jones was ecstatic. He forced down all his shock and quickly ordered the still-chattering team members.
"Everyone shut up, pack up, and get on the transporter. Our job here is done!"
...
The Kryptonian reconnaissance spacecraft was ultimately hidden by Bardi and sank into the Atlantic Ocean, connecting to the coastal area of the Metropolis. That region was about to become his new port, along with the entire science and technology park, slated for transformation.
This transformation would take ten years. In that time, he would have millions of consuls who would truly help him govern the Earth.
By the time he finished arranging the spaceship, it was already night.
Back on the fifteenth floor, glass had now been installed across the entire ceiling. The beautiful night sky filled with stars was still visible.
Poison Ivy had already been found by Raven and brought back.
As for Raven, she discovered signs of magical activity. It seemed that after Poison Ivy accidentally killed someone—and combined with her own mutation—she panicked and fled. During this moment, she caught the attention of the League of Assassins, who saw her as a potential tool for assassination.
As a result, Pamela, who had just transformed into Poison Ivy after accidentally killing her mentor, was captured by the League of Assassins. Her sudden burst of plant power had been noticed by Raven.
At the time, Pamela had released too much chlorophyll energy and was weakened, which led to her defeat at Raven's hands.
Raven also sensed a faint trace of Trigon's evil aura from several members of the League of Assassins, which made her wary. Now, she was tracking the League's underground network, determined to uncover the truth.
After hearing Raven speak about pursuing the League of Assassins, Bardi thought for a moment and realized the group held significant strategic value.
The League of Assassins had existed for hundreds of years on Earth. Their influence stretched across the globe, with access to critical intelligence, deep infiltration of key figures, and substantial financial resources. Compared to Bardi's current organization, they were hundreds of thousands of times stronger.
More importantly, the leader of the League of Assassins could be crushed by Bardi with just a finger—effortlessly.
In a flash, Bardi instructed Raven to report any intel about the organization immediately. A force like this would be a complete waste if not under his control.
Raven agreed without issue. Before ending the teleportation call, she left him with a final message.
"Bardi, I picked up a crocodile for you."
A crocodile?
Bardi didn't think much of it. Raven probably wanted to give him a pet. It was her way of showing kindness, so he simply accepted it.
Demons were strange creatures by nature. A crocodile as a gift from Raven was just one of her quirks.
The half-demon, half-human Raven seemed to embody characteristics from both species, with odd traits not seen in the comics, an unusual kind of lifeform.
For example, she liked chocolate, which didn't appear in the comics. She also hated green peppers. Sometimes she enjoyed watching TV. She liked chocolate-covered nuts. In the mornings, she would take off her cloak, stretch her arms, throw a few punches, and exhale toward the sun like a heroine.
Sometimes, she found Earth's cuisine hard to adjust to, so she made her own demonic dishes. Bardi ate them with a strong stomach and air-conditioning in his system and thought they tasted fine. Most regular people would probably die from eating them.
Put simply, she was a girl with some strange quirks.
Compared to the gloomy, silent, and dark Raven from the comics, the Raven by his side felt much more like a regular girl.
So, her giving him a crocodile as a gift wasn't surprising at all.
No big deal. Just build a pond and throw it in there.
(To be continued.)
***
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