-----
-----
The vast, boundless universe had just welcomed a god in human form.
Crossing space with nothing but his body—this kind of thing should've been impossible, at least by human understanding.
"Huh? Hulk can actually survive in space in this form?"
Peter looked at the Hulk dangling in his grip. After reaching outer space, Hulk had clearly weakened a lot, but he still hadn't passed out completely.
Even more surprising, the spot where Peter had ripped off Hulk's arm was twitching and squirming—regenerating.
"Man, this guy's got insane healing powers."
Realizing that even the vacuum of space wasn't enough to completely shut the Hulk down, Peter slowly turned his eyes toward the Moon—some 380,000 kilometers away from Earth.
Then, with zero hesitation, he hurled Hulk straight toward the Moon.
He didn't stop there. In a flash, Peter accelerated and caught up to the airborne Hulk almost instantly.
Then—BAM!—he punched Hulk hard, slamming into him mid-flight.
The Hulk, already moving at supersonic speed just from the initial throw, was now rocketing through space dozens of times faster.
Peter shot forward again, hitting Hulk with another bone-shattering punch. Ever since awakening his full strength, Peter's power had increased tens of thousands of times.
And just like that, punch after punch, Peter literally blasted Hulk from Earth's orbit all the way to the Moon.
It was a distance that usually took human probes days to cover.
Peter? He made it in about twenty minutes.
By this point, Hulk's speed had gone off the charts.
Peter finally stopped chasing him. Floating calmly in space, hundreds of kilometers from the Moon's surface, he watched silently as Hulk rocketed down toward it.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, they'd finally finished calibrating the satellite feed aimed at the Moon.
Even with multiple top-tier military satellites working together, the footage was still kinda blurry.
All they could see was a tiny black dot above the bright silver Moon—way too small to make out any details.
But after enhancing the image, they could finally tell: that little black dot above the Moon was their so-called "hero"—Superman.
"What's our hero doing up there?"
Everyone watching the satellite feed was confused.
But in the very next second, they got their answer—in the most jaw-dropping way possible.
The Moon's surface, which had been calm and quiet, suddenly exploded in a massive blast. Dust and debris shot upward, forming a towering mushroom cloud tens of kilometers high.
A terrifying shockwave rippled out at a visible speed, sweeping up an enormous lunar dust storm in its path.
Within just a few seconds, the shockwave had completely consumed the visible side of the Moon, and it was still spreading toward the far side.
The explosion was so powerful that even from Earth, you could just barely see the shockwave expanding across the Moon's surface with the naked eye.
"What… what the hell just happened?"
The Vice President, who had just been removed from office and was still fuming with resentment, collapsed in his seat.
Eyes wide, mouth hanging open, he stared at the Moon in absolute disbelief.
It took nearly ten minutes for the dust storm on the Moon to finally settle down.
And when it did, everyone watching was utterly speechless.
Right there on the Moon's surface—a gigantic crater, easily close to a thousand kilometers wide.
"No way. This can't be real."
The entire room was stunned by the impossible sight.
The Vice President—the same guy who'd just suggested nuking Superman—looked like he was going completely mad, muttering over and over:
"No… no way. This isn't real… it can't be real…"
The meeting room stayed dead silent for almost three full minutes.
"Have we estimated the power of that explosion yet?"
Even the high-ranking official asking the question couldn't keep the tremble out of his voice.
"Hisss..."
General Ross had just received a preliminary analysis of the blast, and even he gasped when he read it.
"Mr. President," he said slowly, "based on our early calculations, that explosion on the Moon created a crater about 800 to 900 kilometers in diameter—that's nearly a quarter of the Moon's total diameter."
"Of course, that's partly because of the Moon's loose surface composition, which makes it easier to create massive craters like that."
"If the same explosion happened on Earth, the crater would probably be ten times smaller."
"Phew… well, that's something."
The President let out a long breath, clearly relieved.
But then General Ross kept talking—and the relief vanished instantly.
"Based on further estimates, the blast's power was equivalent to several hundred million tons of TNT—several times more powerful than the Tsar Bomba Russia detonated in the 20th century."
"If that level of force had been unleashed in the middle of New York City... the entire city would've been wiped off the face of the Earth."
Ross paused, taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself after reading such a terrifying report.
This—this was what a true god among men looked like.
"The entire city of New York... gone?"
The President repeated the words under his breath, his expression frozen in disbelief.
Then suddenly, his face hardened—and he stood up straight.
"From this moment on, no organization or intelligence agency is allowed to investigate Superman's information without authorization."
"Also, organize post-disaster relief as quickly as possible. Minimize the damage that monster did to New York and start rebuilding ASAP."
"Hmm… in that case, let's set up a new department dedicated to disaster response from now on. We'll call it the Department of Damage Control, or just 'DC' for short."
"Finally, starting immediately after this meeting, both the military and government will send personnel to monitor every media outlet and newspaper in the country."
"I don't want to see a single report tomorrow that disrespects the hero of all mankind..."
Meanwhile, above the Moon, Peter calmly looked down at the devastation he had caused.
Now that things had finally quieted down, he suddenly burst into motion, rocketing toward the massive crater on the lunar surface.
Landing in the center, he stared at Hulk—unconscious and beaten so badly that there wasn't a patch of skin left untouched by the brutal impact.
A faint smile finally appeared on Peter's face.
Just then, a system notification popped up in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host. You've successfully completed the mission: 'Subdue the Rampaging Hulk.' Reward: Kryptonian Technology – Doomsday Creation Blueprint has been issued.]
As the reward chime echoed in his head, Peter looked down at the seriously injured Hulk in the crater and couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
"....."