Chapter 57: Brother’s Promise

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Brother’s Promise

"This morning, Carol came to see me. She practically pounded my door down to wake me up," Maria said.

"She always did that," Daniel replied.

Ever since they were kids, Carol had never learned how to knock gently.

"Normally we have to get up early anyway. Carol was usually the one struggling to get out of bed, but today she was the one dragging me awake before sunrise."

Maria paused for a moment, her eyes growing distant as she recalled the events of that morning.

"When we left, the sky was only just beginning to brighten. I still remember the exact time. It was five thirty in the morning."

"Carol and I were both pilots, but being women meant the military wouldn’t let us fly combat aircraft. Opportunities like test flying one of Dr. Lawson’s planes were incredibly rare for us."

She stopped again.

"Carol suggested we race to the test site. Whoever got there first would get to be the pilot."

A faint smile appeared on Maria’s face.

"She cheated, of course. Took a shortcut and beat me there."

Daniel couldn’t help but snort.

"Sounds like Carol."

"When we met up with Dr. Lawson, she seemed nervous. More nervous than I’d ever seen her."

Maria’s expression gradually became serious.

"She said she needed to go save some people. Originally, she wanted to pilot the aircraft herself."

Daniel nodded.

"Go on."

"But Carol said that if lives were on the line, she’d fly the aircraft instead."

Daniel sighed.

"She always had a hero complex."

A faint smile appeared despite the worry weighing on him.

"When we were growing up, she kept telling me she wanted to become someone like Captain America."

"Exactly."

Maria nodded immediately.

"If we didn’t dream about being heroes, why would we have put ourselves through all the discrimination just to become pilots?"

"Carol and I spent years waiting for a moment like that."

The more she spoke, the more emotional she became. Then her voice suddenly trembled.

"They say Carol is dead."

"I don’t believe it."

"I can’t."

Tears welled in her eyes.

"I know she’s out there somewhere."

"She has to be."

"She has to be still alive."

Maria hurriedly wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Carol is alive."

Daniel looked at her and nodded.

"I believe that too."

A brief silence followed. Then Daniel stood up, after hearing the full story, he had made his decision. He was going to find Carol.

As long as she was still somewhere on Earth, he believed he could find her. If necessary, he’d search inch by inch.

Every city.

Every mountain.

Every forest.

Every ocean.

Above ground.

Underground.

Under the sea.

He would search every corner of the planet until he found her.

’And if she isn’t on Earth...’

Daniel clenched his fists.

’Then I’ll go into space.’

’I’ll fly under the sun every day until I break through the speed of light.’

’Then I’ll search the entire universe if I have to.’

A fierce determination settled in his heart. At his current speed, interstellar travel was still unrealistic. Even if he spent decades flying through space, he might never reach a single inhabited world.

But once he surpassed light speed, things would be different. With enough speed to cross wormholes, the universe would suddenly become much smaller.

’And there are other options too.’

’The Space Stone.’

’The Bifrost.’

’Anything that might help me find her.’

Daniel silently laid out one plan after another. Deep down, he could vaguely feel it. The moment he broke through the barrier of light speed, his strength would undergo a massive transformation.

It would be the equivalent of reaching adulthood. Right now, he was still essentially an adolescent Superman. His powers were growing rapidly simply by absorbing sunlight.

But once he reached that next stage, sunlight alone would probably no longer be enough to sustain his growth.

Truthfully, Daniel wasn’t even certain whether he was truly Kryptonian, his abilities looked almost identical to Superman’s.

Yet somehow... there were subtle differences he couldn’t quite explain.

No matter.

None of that mattered right now.

’I’ll search Space and Earth if I have to.’

’I’ll walk through the realms of the living and the dead.’

’Unless I can no longer fly...’

’Unless I die...’

’I will find Carol.’

Daniel swore the oath silently within his heart. Memories surfaced one after another. The countless days they had spent together.

The arguments, the teasing, the moments when Carol annoyed him to no end.

At the time, he had taken all of it for granted. Now, faced with the possibility of losing her, he realized how precious those moments truly were.

In this life, family had become the greatest attachment in his heart.

Without them... Daniel wasn’t sure what kind of person he would become.

Would he still bother restraining his power?

Would he still care about not abusing it?

Probably not.

He would have become a full blown supervillain a long time ago.

Once he truly went dark, who could stop him?

If he was being honest, he had occasionally entertained some rather dangerous thoughts.

Finding an isolated corner of the world.

Building his own kingdom.

Declaring himself a god.

As long as he didn’t make too much trouble, Ancient One and Odin might not even bother interfering.

At least, that was what he had once thought. And honestly... the idea had been surprisingly tempting.

Back then, Daniel had assumed his abilities were roughly on the same level as Superman from the movies.

Because of that, he’d been somewhat wary of the Ancient One.

Now?

His strength had already surpassed the movie version of Superman by a huge margin.

If he could someday destroy a planet with a single punch, could the Ancient One really stop him?

...

"Let’s go."

Daniel looked at Maria.

"We’ll check the crash site ourselves."

"Now?" Maria asked.

She immediately nodded.

"Alright. But we’ll need transportation. Give me a minute. I’ll see if I can borrow, or steal a plane from the base."

"No need."

Daniel shook his head.

"I’ve got a better way."

"Let’s head outside first."

"Okay."

Maria stood up.

"Just stay behind me and try not to look nervous."

She lowered her voice.

"People aren’t supposed to be wandering around here. If you’re spotted, they might arrest you."

Daniel didn’t say anything. He simply followed her out of the room. As they walked through the underground level, Maria gradually noticed something strange.

The place was deserted.

"That’s weird..."

She frowned.

"Where did everybody go?"

By the time they reached the exit, they still hadn’t seen a single person. Even the guards outside were gone. The entire base felt eerily empty.

Maria found it incredibly suspicious, but she didn’t have the time or energy to investigate.

Finding Carol was more important.

What she didn’t know was that there had originally been plenty of people outside. The base commander had even been directing operations personally. Then the surveillance cameras showed Daniel heading toward the exit.

The commander immediately turned to the people around him and announced.

"I need to use the restroom."

After that, he vanished.

Nobody knew where he’d gone.

At this point, he had absolutely no interest in getting involved with Daniel anymore. He had already decided to request a transfer.

Daniel was someone else’s problem now. His report had been submitted, so his responsibilities ended there.

Once the commander slipped away, another dozen or so personnel quietly disappeared as well.

Nobody needed to say anything.

Everyone understood.

The display Daniel had put on in the sky earlier had left psychological scars. No one wanted to be anywhere near him.

That was why Daniel and Maria hadn’t encountered a single soul on their way out.

"How are we getting there?" Maria asked.

She had looked around several times and hadn’t seen a single vehicle. For the first time, she regretted listening to Daniel instead of stealing a plane.

"We’re flying."

Daniel answered casually.

"Flying?"

Before Maria could process what he meant, Daniel grabbed her arm.

The next instant.

They shot into the sky.

To avoid overwhelming her, Daniel deliberately kept his speed low. Even so, the journey only took a little over half an hour.

During the flight, Maria repeatedly opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask something. The roaring wind kept cutting her off.

Otherwise, she would have asked the same question much earlier.

’How the hell can you fly?’

The moment they landed, she finally prepared to ask. But before the words could leave her mouth, Daniel suddenly looked upward. His eyes narrowed.

"Wait here."

"I need to deal with something."

His voice had barely reached Maria’s ears before he vanished. He was gone, as though he’d never been there.

In an instant, Daniel appeared beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Moments earlier, he had felt a strange sensation, the unmistakable feeling of being watched.

When he looked up, he discovered a satellite aimed directly at him. Floating in the vacuum of space, Daniel stared at the camera.

"Don’t provoke me."

His expression was cold.

"I’m already in a terrible mood."

"Let’s pretend this never happened."

There was no air in space, so no sound came through. But Daniel knew someone on the other side of that camera could read lips.

After delivering the warning, he reached out and grabbed the satellite. The structure crumpled instantly in his hand like a soda can.

Within seconds, it had been compressed into a twisted lump of scrap metal. Then Daniel casually hurled it toward the Sun.

After all, it was important to protect the environment. There was already far too much space junk.