[Vol. 3] Chapter 2: Physics Exists

Finn frowned. “You said Earth-6 is a hundred thousand light-years from Earth-1. How did you get here? Is there an interstellar airline?”

“A blue-skinned, bald, naked man teleported me here.” Walter Kovacs gave a bitter laugh. “I wish he’d killed me instead.”

“What’s Earth-6 like? Are there superheroes there too?”

“No superheroes. Just a few weak vigilantes. The people on Earth-6 are making sure they can destroy one another. For all I know, they’ve already finished the job.”

Walter finished speaking, then lifted the lid of his Coke and tipped the last drop into his mouth. “They’re all cowards. No one has the guts to stand by what’s right.”

Finn walked out of the KFC with him and stood on the streets of Metropolis beneath the bright sunlight.

In the distance stood a towering skyscraper. A huge model of Earth sat on its roof, encircled by a string of LED letters:

*The Daily Planet.*

Looking at the building with the globe on top, Finn remembered that this was the headquarters of the *Daily Planet*. Clark Kent—better known as Superman—worked here. Superman’s future wife, Lois Lane, worked here too.

Normally, Clark Kent wore a pair of nonprescription glasses and played the part of an unassuming reporter. Whenever a crisis called for Superman, Clark would rip open his suit to reveal the skintight blue-and-red uniform underneath, take off his glasses, mess up his hair, and fly off to save the day.

Suddenly, Finn heard the sharp sound of breaking glass.

He glanced up and saw a floor-to-ceiling window shatter on the top floor of the *Daily Planet* building. A woman’s figure tumbled through it and began plummeting toward the street.

The *Daily Planet* building had 105 floors. The woman screamed as she fell, and she still had a long way to go.

In the office building across the street, sharply dressed finance professionals were discussing business and the stock market when they saw the woman falling from the top of the building. Panic instantly swept through them.

“Someone’s falling!”

“She’s dead!”

“Call the police! Someone jumped!”

“Superman’s here!” someone suddenly shouted in delight.

“Superman!”

Finn saw him too: a red-and-blue figure shooting up from below at an angle, racing toward the falling woman.

But Finn could track fast-moving objects far better than an ordinary person. Taking a closer look, he realized that this wasn’t Superman.

The man was wearing a red-and-blue uniform, but the cape on his back was patterned like the American flag.

It was Homelander!

“Don’t be afraid! Superman’s here!”

“Superman will save her!”

The crowd watched the flying figure intently, utterly convinced that “Superman” would rescue the falling woman.

This was Finn’s first time seeing the real Homelander, and he stared at him without blinking.

Then he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Given that the woman’s initial velocity was zero and her acceleration was 9.8 meters per second squared, she had already been falling for four seconds. Based on her trajectory, she would collide with Homelander five seconds after beginning her fall.

At that moment, her downward velocity would be 49 meters per second.

Homelander was flying diagonally upward from below at Mach 10—that was, 3,403 meters per second—with his trajectory forming a sixty-degree angle with the vertical.

Therefore, his upward vertical velocity component was:

3,403 × cos 60° = 1,701.5 meters per second.

The vertical closing speed between Homelander and the woman was thus:

1,701.5 + 49 = 1,750.5 meters per second.

(For reference, a high-speed train generally travels at around 55.56 meters per second.)

Homelander stretched out both arms, trying to catch the falling woman.

Given that the woman was an ordinary human being of flesh and blood, the question was:

What would happen next?

Homelander reached out with his sturdy arms, wearing a gentle, encouraging smile.

Then his arms sliced the woman into three pieces.

“Holy shit!”

“What the fuck?!”

“Oh my God!”

The crowd stared in horror.

The bloody nightmare had unfolded right before their eyes. The falling woman was dead.

The three pieces of her body struck the ground with a wet *splat*, splattering into three piles of tomato sauce.

Seeing that something had gone wrong, Homelander immediately accelerated and shot away from the scene.

He had arrived and left so quickly that hardly anyone realized he was Homelander rather than Superman.

A moment later, another red-and-blue figure flew over.

This time, it was the real Superman.

Superman recognized the mangled remains of the fallen woman instantly.

She was his coworker—and the woman he loved, Lois Lane.

He stared at what remained of Lois Lane—three unrecognizable heaps on the ground—his face turning pale as paper.

“Lois! No! Lois!”

Superman dropped to his knees, both hands gripping his hair. His eyes were bloodshot as he threw back his head and cried out in anguish.

At this point, Clark Kent was still secretly in love with Lois Lane and had yet to confess his feelings. Lois knew how he felt and had been sending him discreet, flirtatious glances for some time.

If Superman hadn’t been so busy saving the world, he would have confessed to Lois long ago, finally bringing their unspoken feelings into the open.

But he had never imagined things would end like this...

Superman was overwhelmed by regret and agony.

He was an invincible hero. He possessed super strength, super speed, super breath, heat vision, X-ray vision...

But so what?

He could save the world, yet he couldn’t save the woman he loved most!

Pedestrians began gathering around, staring at Superman kneeling beside the three heaps of tomato sauce.

The timid ones turned away, unable to look any longer. The bolder ones raised their phones and began recording Superman’s anguish.

Reporters with a nose for a story soon arrived as well. Like flies drawn to the smell of blood, they swarmed over, set up their cameras, and began broadcasting live.

On the internet, where information spread at lightning speed, the topic “Superman Kills!” began exploding across social media, accompanied by photos and videos of the scene.

In front of a hastily assembled camera, a field reporter confidently addressed the livestream audience.

“As you can see, when the victim fell, Superman not only failed to catch her—he cut her into three pieces! I’m not sure whether this constitutes involuntary manslaughter. But if Superman has committed a crime, who could possibly judge him?

“I’d like to interview Superman, but his mental state is extremely unstable right now. He may have known the victim. He keeps desperately shouting one name: ‘Lois Lane.’

“Judging by his reaction, he seems to be filled with remorse. However, I can’t say for certain whether this is simply an act...”

Suddenly, someone entered the frame and shoved the rambling reporter aside.

“Get the hell out of my way!”

Finn pushed through the crowd and walked toward Superman, who was still kneeling on the ground.

“Are you insane? You’re going to interview Superman? He could beat you to death!” the reporter shouted in panic.

She hurried back to the center of the frame and addressed the livestream audience.

“As you can see, a mysterious young man is attempting to approach Superman. This could be the beginning of another tragedy...”

Finn looked at the kneeling Superman and the three gruesome piles of tomato sauce.

Then he shouted:

“Superman, I can bring her back to life!”