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Chapter 264: Mind-Body Unity
As soon as he realized he was about to face Apokolips, Orin Vale had already begun his research and preparations.
This included studying Apokolips's technology, the New Gods, the divine power known as "The Source," and developing countermeasure strategies for some of Apokolips's renowned powerhouses and their special abilities.
In this process, an unavoidable figure was, naturally, the God of Apokolips, Darkseid.
As a villain who ranked high in the history of American comics, Uncle Da's prestige was undeniably high. However, this wasn't always the case. Uncle Da first appeared during the Bronze Age, and his power level back then was basically on par with Superman's. The Superman of that era was slightly weaker than his Silver Age counterpart but still quite close, capable of faster-than-light flight, moving planets with his bare hands, and extinguishing the sun with his breath. The Darkseid of that time was perhaps a notch stronger than Superman, but Superman could often score a counter-kill with a power burst.
But in *Countdown to Final Crisis*, a spin-off of DC Comics's landmark event, Darkseid's background was fully established for the first time. The versions of Darkseid who had appeared before Superman and the Justice League were all multiversal avatars and projections. His true body resided in a place called the "Fourth World," a space belonging to the gods. His true body was a multiversal-level powerhouse. To use the original words from that publication, "his mere descent could cause a universe to collapse."
From then on, Uncle Da began to rack up achievements across the Multiverse to boost his prestige. For example, he annihilated over two thousand of the three thousand six hundred Green Lanterns, directly causing the Guardians, the Little Blue Men, to never speak his name again for the rest of their lives. He wiped out the entire race of the Monitors, the higher-dimensional beings responsible for managing the Multiverse. He single-handedly destroyed the DC Universe's Heaven.
During the Final Crisis event, Darkseid mastered the Anti-Life Equation and was on the verge of successfully merging the entire Multiverse into one, breaking through the upper limits of the multiversal level. Unfortunately, even after becoming that powerful, he still couldn't overcome a group of overpowered individuals from Earth. Just one step away from ascension, his efforts fell short at the last moment, and he was defeated at the hands of the Justice League.
It was also after that event that Uncle Da was officially confined to a wheelchair, beginning his path as a disabled person whose power level was nerfed by the DC Comics editorial department into a nosedive, as if it were being shaved off like noodles. The lore states that his divinity shattered after the Final Crisis, his once-invincible godhood broken and scattered across the endless Multiverse.
The Light-Quantum Brain helped Orin Vale clearly remember all this information; even details he had forgotten before transmigrating to the Land of Light were now crystal clear. And this was his greatest asset in referencing and assessing his enemy's abilities.
The good news was that the Uncle Da before him was definitely not the true body. The fact that this reality hadn't collapsed as he flexed his power was the best proof.
But precisely because of this "avatars everywhere" setting, Orin Vale couldn't determine the strength of the one before him. Since they were avatars, they naturally varied in strength. All he knew was that its upper limit was definitely lower than the true body's, and its lower limit was stronger than a standard Superman. That range was just freaking broad.
What worried Orin Vale the most was Darkseid's signature finishing move, the Omega Beams.
Without any reference points, without any data to analyze, he had no way of knowing its specific intensity or its annihilation attributes. This meant he couldn't begin to research a countermeasure strategy, much less know if his own strength was sufficient to withstand it.
So he came up with a fail-safe solution.
"Hold your hand... and that's it?"
Superman looked at Orin Vale with a puzzled expression as he took his outstretched hand.
"Yes."
Orin Vale looked directly into his eyes and said earnestly.
"You come from a family of Hope, Clark. I know that's what the emblem on your chest means. And what I haven't told you is that I, too, come from a place that symbolizes hope.
You, of all people, should be able to understand the reason we fight, the things we protect, and the goals we pursue."
"I..."
Superman closed his eyes, his expression turning somewhat subtle.
"Yes, I can understand... My God, this is incredible. It's like some kind of resonance. I can feel you, a powerful, warm energy fluctuation, as if it's... I don't know how to describe it... synchronizing with me?"
"That's it," Orin Vale said. "We face an unprecedentedly powerful opponent, but we will win. Because, as my people often say—"
"—Lend me your power!"
A sun-like heat, the radiance of the light of hope, surged like a torrential river through their two bodies of energy.
Orin Vale could feel the strength coming from Superman. On a physical level, Superman possessed terrifying solar energy comparable to a star; on a spiritual level, he possessed the light of hope, one of the most steadfast and vast in the universe.
That conviction triggered a reaction from the Emotional Spectrum. It was as if the reservoir of the spectrum had suddenly thrown open its gates, and boundless blue light energy poured into Orin Vale. That majestic light of hope was then freely converted into solar radiation by the Ultraman body's abilities, further stimulating and enhancing the unlocking and level-up of the Kryptonian body's potential.
For a fleeting moment, Orin Vale felt like their combination was a perpetual motion machine generating infinite power!
A mind-body unity with Superman, choosing Superman as the Human Host while in Ultraman form—a union of two metaphysical, overpowered species with no upper limits, both driven by hope and conviction.
This was also why Orin Vale hadn't attempted this so easily before, as the consequences were unpredictable.
Both Ultraman and Superman were metaphysical, abstract beings, and things of a metaphysical nature were difficult to quantify with data or science. Therefore, he wasn't entirely sure what kind of result this would produce or whether he could control the energy that would erupt.
But he knew one thing.
This could absolutely resist the Omega's corrosion.
Superman was protected by the creative power of The Source, which was the most direct and reliable weapon Orin Vale could find to block the Omega Effect.
Of course, in the eyes of others, they only saw two figures overlap and then erupt with an astonishing brilliance. Superman's body was swallowed by the light... no, it was more like it had disintegrated. But it wasn't annihilation; it seemed closer to transforming into another state of being.
Countless particles danced and combined, their form swelling rapidly within the brilliance, undergoing gigantification to become a Giant of Light that touched the sky and stood upon the earth!
A gale, accompanied by swirling light particles, howled and erupted, and an immense pressure dominated the battlefield. An intense golden light covered the giant's body, making it difficult to even see its features clearly.
This was a sign of an Ultraman at full energy, something that typically appeared when the hotspot signals were dense and the internet speed was sufficient.
Commonly known as Shining Mode.
Even his teammates were stunned.
"Kal and Mr. Orin... they've... they've become one?" Kara's jaw dropped in astonishment.
"Power Ring, report his energy index!" Hal said.
There was no response.
"Power Ring?" Hal asked, puzzled.
The Green Lantern Power Ring finally reported sullenly: "Far exceeds the calculable upper limit..."
The long silence in between seemed to say, *I'm just a simple Green Lantern Ring, why are you asking me such an unreasonably difficult question?*
Darkseid looked up at this luminous body, frowning slightly. Then, he clenched both fists, and his figure suddenly began to swell.
In one breath, he used gigantification to match his opponent's size!
After all, as an avatar of a multiversal deity, Uncle Da also possessed the ability of gigantification. In the comics, he had once grown to a comparable size when fighting the famous Anti-Monitor.
Uncle Da snorted.
It was as if to say, *So what if you're big?*
*As if no one else knows how to get bigger. Sheer size is just for show; what matters is being ferocious enough, and having solid technique.*
The God of Apokolips shouted, stepped forward, and was the first to throw a punch!
The massive fist carried a startling shockwave. The God's heavy punch, imbued with the rage of destruction, struck the Giant of Light's face head-on without any resistance!
Then the God...
was knocked over by his own punch.
(end of chapter)
As soon as he realized he was about to face Apokolips, Orin Vale had already begun his research and preparations.
This included studying Apokolips's technology, the New Gods, the divine power known as "The Source," and developing countermeasure strategies for some of Apokolips's renowned powerhouses and their special abilities.
In this process, an unavoidable figure was, naturally, the God of Apokolips, Darkseid.
As a villain who ranked high in the history of American comics, Uncle Da's prestige was undeniably high. However, this wasn't always the case. Uncle Da first appeared during the Bronze Age, and his power level back then was basically on par with Superman's. The Superman of that era was slightly weaker than his Silver Age counterpart but still quite close, capable of faster-than-light flight, moving planets with his bare hands, and extinguishing the sun with his breath. The Darkseid of that time was perhaps a notch stronger than Superman, but Superman could often score a counter-kill with a power burst.
But in *Countdown to Final Crisis*, a spin-off of DC Comics's landmark event, Darkseid's background was fully established for the first time. The versions of Darkseid who had appeared before Superman and the Justice League were all multiversal avatars and projections. His true body resided in a place called the "Fourth World," a space belonging to the gods. His true body was a multiversal-level powerhouse. To use the original words from that publication, "his mere descent could cause a universe to collapse."
From then on, Uncle Da began to rack up achievements across the Multiverse to boost his prestige. For example, he annihilated over two thousand of the three thousand six hundred Green Lanterns, directly causing the Guardians, the Little Blue Men, to never speak his name again for the rest of their lives. He wiped out the entire race of the Monitors, the higher-dimensional beings responsible for managing the Multiverse. He single-handedly destroyed the DC Universe's Heaven.
During the Final Crisis event, Darkseid mastered the Anti-Life Equation and was on the verge of successfully merging the entire Multiverse into one, breaking through the upper limits of the multiversal level. Unfortunately, even after becoming that powerful, he still couldn't overcome a group of overpowered individuals from Earth. Just one step away from ascension, his efforts fell short at the last moment, and he was defeated at the hands of the Justice League.
It was also after that event that Uncle Da was officially confined to a wheelchair, beginning his path as a disabled person whose power level was nerfed by the DC Comics editorial department into a nosedive, as if it were being shaved off like noodles. The lore states that his divinity shattered after the Final Crisis, his once-invincible godhood broken and scattered across the endless Multiverse.
The Light-Quantum Brain helped Orin Vale clearly remember all this information; even details he had forgotten before transmigrating to the Land of Light were now crystal clear. And this was his greatest asset in referencing and assessing his enemy's abilities.
The good news was that the Uncle Da before him was definitely not the true body. The fact that this reality hadn't collapsed as he flexed his power was the best proof.
But precisely because of this "avatars everywhere" setting, Orin Vale couldn't determine the strength of the one before him. Since they were avatars, they naturally varied in strength. All he knew was that its upper limit was definitely lower than the true body's, and its lower limit was stronger than a standard Superman. That range was just freaking broad.
What worried Orin Vale the most was Darkseid's signature finishing move, the Omega Beams.
Without any reference points, without any data to analyze, he had no way of knowing its specific intensity or its annihilation attributes. This meant he couldn't begin to research a countermeasure strategy, much less know if his own strength was sufficient to withstand it.
So he came up with a fail-safe solution.
"Hold your hand... and that's it?"
Superman looked at Orin Vale with a puzzled expression as he took his outstretched hand.
"Yes."
Orin Vale looked directly into his eyes and said earnestly.
"You come from a family of Hope, Clark. I know that's what the emblem on your chest means. And what I haven't told you is that I, too, come from a place that symbolizes hope.
You, of all people, should be able to understand the reason we fight, the things we protect, and the goals we pursue."
"I..."
Superman closed his eyes, his expression turning somewhat subtle.
"Yes, I can understand... My God, this is incredible. It's like some kind of resonance. I can feel you, a powerful, warm energy fluctuation, as if it's... I don't know how to describe it... synchronizing with me?"
"That's it," Orin Vale said. "We face an unprecedentedly powerful opponent, but we will win. Because, as my people often say—"
"—Lend me your power!"
A sun-like heat, the radiance of the light of hope, surged like a torrential river through their two bodies of energy.
Orin Vale could feel the strength coming from Superman. On a physical level, Superman possessed terrifying solar energy comparable to a star; on a spiritual level, he possessed the light of hope, one of the most steadfast and vast in the universe.
That conviction triggered a reaction from the Emotional Spectrum. It was as if the reservoir of the spectrum had suddenly thrown open its gates, and boundless blue light energy poured into Orin Vale. That majestic light of hope was then freely converted into solar radiation by the Ultraman body's abilities, further stimulating and enhancing the unlocking and level-up of the Kryptonian body's potential.
For a fleeting moment, Orin Vale felt like their combination was a perpetual motion machine generating infinite power!
A mind-body unity with Superman, choosing Superman as the Human Host while in Ultraman form—a union of two metaphysical, overpowered species with no upper limits, both driven by hope and conviction.
This was also why Orin Vale hadn't attempted this so easily before, as the consequences were unpredictable.
Both Ultraman and Superman were metaphysical, abstract beings, and things of a metaphysical nature were difficult to quantify with data or science. Therefore, he wasn't entirely sure what kind of result this would produce or whether he could control the energy that would erupt.
But he knew one thing.
This could absolutely resist the Omega's corrosion.
Superman was protected by the creative power of The Source, which was the most direct and reliable weapon Orin Vale could find to block the Omega Effect.
Of course, in the eyes of others, they only saw two figures overlap and then erupt with an astonishing brilliance. Superman's body was swallowed by the light... no, it was more like it had disintegrated. But it wasn't annihilation; it seemed closer to transforming into another state of being.
Countless particles danced and combined, their form swelling rapidly within the brilliance, undergoing gigantification to become a Giant of Light that touched the sky and stood upon the earth!
A gale, accompanied by swirling light particles, howled and erupted, and an immense pressure dominated the battlefield. An intense golden light covered the giant's body, making it difficult to even see its features clearly.
This was a sign of an Ultraman at full energy, something that typically appeared when the hotspot signals were dense and the internet speed was sufficient.
Commonly known as Shining Mode.
Even his teammates were stunned.
"Kal and Mr. Orin... they've... they've become one?" Kara's jaw dropped in astonishment.
"Power Ring, report his energy index!" Hal said.
There was no response.
"Power Ring?" Hal asked, puzzled.
The Green Lantern Power Ring finally reported sullenly: "Far exceeds the calculable upper limit..."
The long silence in between seemed to say, *I'm just a simple Green Lantern Ring, why are you asking me such an unreasonably difficult question?*
Darkseid looked up at this luminous body, frowning slightly. Then, he clenched both fists, and his figure suddenly began to swell.
In one breath, he used gigantification to match his opponent's size!
After all, as an avatar of a multiversal deity, Uncle Da also possessed the ability of gigantification. In the comics, he had once grown to a comparable size when fighting the famous Anti-Monitor.
Uncle Da snorted.
It was as if to say, *So what if you're big?*
*As if no one else knows how to get bigger. Sheer size is just for show; what matters is being ferocious enough, and having solid technique.*
The God of Apokolips shouted, stepped forward, and was the first to throw a punch!
The massive fist carried a startling shockwave. The God's heavy punch, imbued with the rage of destruction, struck the Giant of Light's face head-on without any resistance!
Then the God...
was knocked over by his own punch.
(end of chapter)
