The night in New York was both brilliant and dangerous.
As Kara walked out of the Fisk Tower, she had just finished spending the five hundred thousand dollars she intercepted from Jimmy, leaving only a few thousand dollars in her pocket that she had scavenged from the leader of the Red Hood gang.
She didn’t plan on “requisitioning” funds from gangs anymore—ever since she heard about “Mutants” and “S.H.I.E.L.D.” from Kingpin, she realized this World was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.
Even though Kara possessed physical strength capable of lifting a meteor, mysterious magic could still hurt her.
Then there were those unheard-of “Mutants,” “S.H.I.E.L.D.,” and that Green Giant in the news…
Keeping a low profile was the wise move before she fully understood the hidden side of this World.
Constantly robbing gangs of their money would sooner or later draw unnecessary attention.
Kara’s current abilities seemed extremely similar to the Kryptonians in that niche comic book, “Superman.” This comic series wasn’t even popular among children.
Although it had been adapted into a movie by Hollywood, only one was made, and the reception was mediocre, making it just another popcorn flick.
The original author of the manga passed away after completing the series.
When Kara first came from her home country to study in the United States, she had only happened upon this comic and movie out of sheer boredom.
Now, her superpowers were almost identical to Superman’s cousin in the comics—except in the real World, she didn’t have such a powerful younger cousin.
Since she could no longer rob criminals, she had to find a place to stay through normal means.
Lost in thought, Kara unknowingly walked to the base of Stark Tower.
The parents of a wealthy former classmate of hers used to work here, supposedly as executives in some department of Stark Industries.
Back then, Kara often attended parties at the high-end apartments near Stark Tower where her classmate’s executive parents lived.
Kara remembered a few newly completed apartment buildings nearby that were up for rent.
She counted the cash in her pocket; there was about seven thousand dollars left.
In this prime real estate area where Stark Industries was located, this amount would probably only be enough to rent a decent place for a little over two months.
Kara turned into one of the apartment buildings and, after paying the manager three thousand dollars in advance, was taken to a room on the top floor.
The room was quite nice, with a touch of sophistication in its simplicity.
Kara then went to the mall to buy some furniture for daily living, finally having a temporary place to settle down.
Kara’s decision to stay here temporarily was also based on its unique location—the center of New York.
With her Super Hearing, Kara might be able to capture hidden information about “Mutants” and “magic” from the vast crowd, allowing her to figure out exactly where she stood among these extraordinary beings, lest she accidentally provoke some magic big shot one day and get swatted to death.
This World might not necessarily have the Kryptonite that restrains Superman in the comics, but magic…
she had seen its power with her own eyes.
Even a street-level gang magician could cause her harm—though the injury was minor and her super recovery ability could heal it instantly—but what if it were a more powerful magician?
Furthermore, Kara remembered that in that niche comic, Superman had almost no resistance to mind-control magic, and villains often used mental magic to easily control him.
She worried that if she encountered such enemies, she might only be able to rely on Super Speed to deal with them, or even be controlled if she wasn’t careful—after all, mental magic often shows no signs when it is cast.
In the night sky of Manhattan, the stars twinkled.
She wondered what kind of scenery lay beyond those stars, or what kind of dangers were hidden there…
In an office inside Stark Tower, Obadiah Stane, a veteran executive of the industry, was on the phone with the leader of the “Ten Rings Gang,” a terrorist organization in the Middle East— “After you kill Tony Stark, I will give you what you want.” “Mr.
Stane, please rest assured, we will make sure Stark doesn’t walk out of the Afghan desert.
However, for the missiles we originally agreed upon, we want double.” “Fuck!
What do you need so many missiles for?” “You don’t need to worry about that, Mr.
Stane.
Just mind your own business.
If your government finds out about the deal between us, I’m afraid it will be very bad for you.” “You dare threaten me?
You desert scum…” After taking a shower, Kara lay on the bed, looking at Stark Tower outside the floor-to-ceiling window, listening to their conversation with great interest.
It seemed that in some people’s eyes, the glamorous playboy Mr.
Stark was already a dead man.
Meanwhile, the man himself, Tony Stark, was still busy with two white girls in his Malibu beachfront Villa, as captured by Kara’s Super Hearing, completely unaware that his fate had already been decided by others.
Kara thought for a moment and felt that this might be a good opportunity.
If she could save Stark, then she might be able to use the Stark connection to learn more about various superhumans.
After all, in news reports, Stark Industries had close ties with the Military.
If any organization possessed, or was even a member of a superhuman organization itself, then the Military, the CIA, and the “S.H.I.E.L.D.” mentioned by Kingpin were very likely among them.
However, there were still two days before the agreed-upon time for the action between Obadiah and the “Ten Rings Gang.” Tomorrow, Kara could still attend that magic gathering of “Grandma Enya”—which was also an important way to get in touch with the superhuman World.
To delve deep into the World of superhumans, combat would likely be unavoidable.
During today’s fight with the Red Hood leader, Kara realized something else: the issue of clothing.
In the real World, ordinary clothes would basically be ruined if they were even grazed by a magical or physical attack.
Kara didn’t want to fall into the embarrassing situation of being naked after every battle.
In the comics, Superman always wore clothes made of materials from Krypton to avoid being naked.
If only Kara had a Fortress of Solitude like Superman—the technology in that Kryptonian spaceship could definitely create a custom suit for her.
However, in Kara’s memory, when she turned into her current form, there was no such thing as an alien spaceship in the place where she was.
Let alone an alien spaceship, even her original body, which had been battered by the blizzard, had disappeared after Kara woke up.
At that time, there was nothing but the boundless snowfield and the awakened Kara.
Even the clothes on her body were taken from an unattended clothing warehouse on her way flying back to New York.
“Fortress of Solitude…” Kara muttered to herself.
Having spent a long day, Kara was a bit tired and quickly fell asleep after lying on the bed.
What one thinks of by day, one dreams of by night.
When the Kryptonian Kara merged into this Universe bubble, within the fragmented DC Universe shard compressed into her body, a silver-glowing interstellar spaceship seemed to be faintly responding to its Master’s call.
In her dream, Kara’s consciousness seemed to cross a strange spatial barrier and arrive inside a spaceship.
Soft silver light was everywhere, and a silver female-shaped AI robot came to Kara’s conscious form.
A gentle and calm voice came from the AI— “Master, welcome back to the Fortress of Solitude.” Kara had just recovered from the shock of crossing the spatial barrier.
It seemed that she did indeed possess a “Fortress of Solitude,” but for some unknown reason, this spaceship was actually hidden in a strange space within her body.
This point was vastly different from the relevant plot of Superman in the comics.
There were too many things beyond Kara’s understanding; she needed to slowly unravel the mysteries.
This included not only the World she was currently in, but even the mysteries surrounding herself, which she needed to try to solve bit by bit.
Kara pondered for a moment and spoke slowly— “What is your name?” The AI robot replied calmly, “Master, I am the shipboard AI of the Fortress of Solitude, designated 001.” “001?” Kara repeated in a low voice, then ordered, “Then 001, report on the ship’s status.” “Understood, Master.
The hull of the ‘Fortress of Solitude’ is 79% damaged; only the Core Chamber and the Equipment Chamber remain intact.
One hundred and twenty systems, including energy, power, weapons, and defense, are offline or damaged.
The hull lacks energy supplies and cannot perform self-repairs,” 001 replied.
Kara shook her head.
What exactly had this ship gone through to be so severely damaged?
It was probably only one step away from total disintegration.
“Report on the specific status of the Core Chamber and the Equipment Chamber,” Kara continued to order.
“Core Chamber systems: Life support and hibernation equipment are normal, database equipment is normal, ship Master control equipment is normal, and various secondary equipment such as the shipboard AI and star charts are normal.
Equipment Chamber systems: Storage equipment and other secondary equipment are normal, and the equipment components stored inside are intact,” 001 continued to reply.
Kara stroked the cold wall of the hibernation pod; it seemed her current body had been separated from here.
Next, she opened the database, which stored millions of years of Kryptonian civilization’s history and technological data.
It seemed Krypton had launched the Fortress of Solitude as the final spark of their civilization.
“Open the Equipment Chamber, 001,” Kara said.
“Yes, Master,” 001 replied.
The massive Equipment Chamber door slowly slid open, revealing various types of equipment crafted by Krypton for elite warriors, categorized into four types: light, standard, heavy, and super-heavy.
The light and standard equipment were the most numerous, but Kara felt she could easily shatter them with a single punch.
The heavy equipment had almost transcended the scope of normal equipment and could be called mecha, but Kara was still dissatisfied—this was something she could destroy in just a short while.
Only the three sets of super-heavy equipment were more to Kara’s liking.
The first set was a giant mecha focused on attack power, its massive main cannon shimmering with a chilling coldness.
The second set was a black full-body armor focused on balance, equipped with various firearms, swords, and blades.
The third set appeared plain and unadorned; although the description explicitly stated it focused on defense, its appearance was merely a red and blue bodysuit, complete with a short skirt, a cape, and that iconic large “S” symbol on the chest.
Kara asked 001 where exactly the third set of equipment demonstrated being “defense-focused”—not to mention the face was completely exposed, even the legs under the short skirt were bare.
The conclusion was: this suit was made of the highest-strength special material from Krypton and was indeed the one with the strongest defensive power.
It could even withstand the blast from an Interstellar Titan Ship’s main cannon without being damaged, and even the high temperatures on the surface of a star could do nothing to it.
Unfortunately, the reserves of this material on Krypton were too low, so they could only make this one piece for Kara.
Kara was somewhat speechless.
How could they have the nerve to call this leg-exposing design the strongest defense?
Could it be that it was made into a short skirt because there wasn’t enough material?
However, the other suits were too flamboyant—either giant mecha or armor full of alien style; anyone on Earth would think she was an alien visitor.
In the end, Kara still chose the third set.
This outfit not only bore some resemblance to the look in that comic, but it was also much better than the somewhat exaggerated and revealing designs in the comics, giving an overall sense of sleek technology.
Kara put on the outfit and found that it was not only exceptionally well-fitting, but it could also be nanotechnologically shrunk into a bracelet to be worn on the wrist when not in use, which was extremely convenient.
After changing, Kara inadvertently caught sight of a small box nearby containing another special piece of equipment—a pair of glasses.
001 explained that these glasses could change the wearer’s appearance to achieve a lifelike effect, and even various advanced detection instruments would be unable to see through it.
Kara took the glasses as well, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.
It seemed her Kryptonian home had been quite good to her, even preparing a “newbie gift pack.” Kara’s consciousness gradually withdrew from that space and sank into a deep sleep…
A dozen hours later, Kara woke up from her sleep.
Recalling the experience last night, she thought to herself that something was wrong—if that was just a dream, it was far too real.
She tried calling out “Fortress of Solitude” in her heart.
Fortunately, 001’s voice immediately came from within her body.
“It seems it wasn’t a dream,” Kara felt a surge of joy in her heart.
“Then, 001…
no, I’ll give you a new name from now on.
Let’s call you’Silver.’ Silver, can you teleport my battle suit to me?” Kara felt the name 001 wasn’t pleasant enough, so she gave it a new one.
“Yes, Master.
AI designation 001 has confirmed the change to designation’Silver.’ Silver cannot directly teleport the battle suit to the Master.
According to detection, the Fortress of Solitude ship is located in a pocket dimension within the Master’s body; the Master needs to personally enter it to retrieve it,” Silver’s voice came clearly.
After Silver explained the situation, Kara had to try hard to recall the feeling of entering the pocket dimension inside her body last night.
Her consciousness tried once again to break through that spatial barrier and successfully entered that strange internal space.
She picked up the red and blue battle suit, and her consciousness returned to her body—sure enough, the battle suit had appeared in her hand.
Kara nanotechnologically shrunk the battle suit into a bracelet and put it on her wrist.
For tonight’s magic gathering, she needed to prepare a bit, at least by changing into some normal clothes—yesterday’s clothes had been quite damaged during the fight.
When not in combat, there was no need to wear the battle suit all the time.
Fortunately, when she bought the furniture yesterday, she had also bought a few sets of clothes and put them in the closet.
Kara changed into a simple and beautiful white dress and went out after washing up.
New York during the day was still busy and noisy.
Huge advertising screens were broadcasting the news that billionaire Tony Stark would set off for Afghanistan today for a weapons demonstration.
Kara couldn’t help but sigh: it’s good to be rich; you can travel all over the World frequently, and the only trouble is that people are constantly plotting to assassinate you.
Living in modern society, money is indispensable.
She decided to solve the problem of her source of income before the magic gathering started in the evening.
In the comics, Superman was a reporter for the Daily Planet.
Perhaps Kara could also find a newspaper to work for as a reporter—after all, using Super Speed to come and go without a trace was perfect for the profession of a reporter; it was practically like using a cheat code to get lots of big scoops.
There were many well-known newspapers in New York.
Among them, the Daily Bugle was famous for various tabloid news and paparazzi photos.
The editor-in-chief of this newspaper didn’t seem to care who you were; as long as you had a big scoop in your hands, he was willing to hire you as an employee.
Kara liked this point very much.
Using her Super Speed, she “visited” the residences of several popular movie stars in no time and collected a large pile of private photos.
Most of these stars had decadent private lives, enough for any newspaper to report on for several consecutive months.