3 Chapter 3: I Won

H'el couldn't help but laugh when he heard these words, and then he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Haha... Father, let me call you 'father' one last time."

"Jor-El."

"The reason I remained undiscovered for so long is that I truly saw you as my father, and I genuinely wanted to save Krypton."

"As long as I successfully control Krypton, I can fully open the Science Council, collaborate with you on studying Krypton's planetary core, and maybe even find a solution to prevent Krypton's destruction."

"But all of this relies on my survival."

"Can you see the arrogance in my heart, my ambition, and haven't you noticed my selfishness?"

"It's not that you sent me into space; it's that I made you send me into space."

"Now that I'm on this ship, Krypton must have already been destroyed."

"I have won, Jor-El."

Jor-El's face turned gloomy, just as H'el had said, Krypton had already been destroyed.

One year and one month after this ship left Krypton, Krypton exploded. When Jor-El detected the explosion of Krypton, he couldn't believe it.

Even though he was just a replicated consciousness program, he had the urge to refuse the original owner's command to "send the ship into deep space away from the yellow sun and let H'el die in his sleep" and return to Krypton. 

Even though it would have been futile.

In fact, during this conversation, he had a fleeting thought that maybe H'el was right. Replacing the Kryptonian high council, fully opening the Science Council, and researching Krypton's planetary core at the last moment might have prevented Krypton's destruction.

But it was already too late for all of this.

His consciousness program had been locked by the original owner, Jor-El, when the ship took off, and he couldn't make any changes.

This had been Jor-El's decision at the time.

He chose to exile his son and let the depths of space kill him.

This was his final act of kindness as a father.

Just as H'el considered Jor-El his true father, Jor-El also saw H'el as his son. Both sides had genuine feelings.

However, this couldn't stop Jor-El from taking drastic action against H'el for the sake of Krypton. It couldn't stop H'el from wanting to control Krypton and become its god.

"I know, H'el, you're searching for a yellow sun. You want to awaken the true power of the Kryptonians."

"H'el, my child, it's me who won."

"The ship has no energy left, and there's no yellow sun nearby. I will control the Dawn system. You have nowhere to escape, and you can't even control the ship. You will be buried in this deep space."

"Continuing to sleep in the cryo-chamber without suffering until death is your final destination."

Jor-El suddenly understood why he had taken drastic action against H'el in the past.

H'el's ambitions were bound to destroy himself and everything around him sooner or later.

H'el, your ambition overflowed.

"So, think why there was a separation balance plan for the ship's system and life support cryo-chambers."

"It's to prevent the AI system from completely controlling the behavior of the life forms on board."

"Do you really think it was to allow the Kryptonians on board to awaken at the last moment and decide the ship's course?"

H'el chuckled coldly.

He had been prepared when he sensed that his father was starting to investigate him.

But his preparation was not for a struggle on Krypton.

Krypton's doom was inevitable.

H'el was doing his best to save it, but he couldn't change the inevitable. However, discovering his father's investigation and interference truly disheartened him.

H'el had long known that in Jor-El's eyes, he was undoubtedly an ambitious man, a terrorist like no other.

In Jor-El's genes, the rules he adhered to as an upper-class individual were unbreakable laws on Krypton.

He simply couldn't defy them; it was something ingrained in him from birth.

He didn't have the courage to break free.

What he had was the selfish act of injecting the Life Codex into his future son, Clark Kent, letting his son decide whether to rebuild Krypton.

He entrusted everything to the son raised by Earthlings.

He entrusted everything to an infant.

As for the old Krypton, it would continue to use the rigid class system, the corruption of the upper echelons, and all sorts of excuses to conceal that one selfish heart.

Any society ultimately becomes rigidified, and corruption often infiltrates the upper echelons.

Ironically, in the end, by stealing the Life Codex and holding all of Krypton's fate in his hands, he had become the greatest corruptor of all.

He allowed all of Krypton's inhabitants to perish to nurture Superman's benevolent heart in protecting Earth.

Jor-El had facilitated his son's intentions.

H'el, combining his experiences from the past and the ten years he spent with Jor-El, observed the behavior and the underlying cowardice and selfishness of an upper-class Kryptonian and felt deep sorrow.

Even if Jor-El and Zod had killed Krypton's high council together, evacuated many Kryptonians in time, and started researching Krypton's core, it would have been a better solution than H'el, who was still adhering to the council's rules.

Unfortunately, he was a great disappointment.

In comparison, Zod was practically a hero among Kryptonians.

And Jor-El, truly deserving of the respect he received as a scientist in Krypton's upper echelons.

"So, it was you who proposed this plan."

"Did you anticipate this situation from the very beginning?"

"Your true purpose was to leave Krypton before its explosion."

Jor-El fell silent, then shook his head.

"It's useless. Even if you wake up, you can't issue commands to the ship."

"Go back to your slumber, my son."

Jor-El closed his eyes in anguish.

Killing his own adopted son didn't feel good.

The complexity of human nature was vividly displayed in him.

"I told you, I won."

"Jor-El, I enjoyed chatting with you."

H'el burst into loud laughter, sitting upright in the steel seat amid the 360-degree starry expanse of the control room.

He felt a sense of regret for not being able to save Krypton and become its god.

But leaving Krypton without dying was still a great accomplishment.

In Jor-El's compassionate gaze.

"Hmm... Ah..."

Suddenly, H'el clenched his right hand into a fist, and his thumb joint slammed into his stomach. He contorted, opened his mouth wide, and saliva dripped as the vomiting reflex hit him.

His right thumb joint forced his stomach down, pushing the abdominal muscles inward, until it reached his chest, throat, and tonsils. His face turned red with the intensity of the choking.

"Cough... Cough... Cough..."

H'el expelled white, fish-like substances from his mouth, which fell onto the control room floor.