"…So this is Marvel," I murmured.
Morning came.
Sunlight filtered through the lattice windows and brushed against my skin. The reaction was immediate. I felt it deep in my cells—yellow-star radiation being absorbed, refined, converted into raw strength with perfect efficiency. No strain. No resistance. Just acceptance.
I stood up.
The bronze mirror in the inner hall reflected a calm, unfamiliar face. Black hair. Sharp eyes. Eighteen years old as of today. This body was Zhang Wei's, but it obeyed me completely.
The memories settled in place.
The Zhang Family. Chinatown. A declining Eastern cultivation lineage hiding behind import–export companies and antique shops. Once, they had brushed against legends. Now, they barely clung to relevance.
This body had reached adulthood only hours ago. No karmic weight. No broken foundation.
Perfect.
I spent the first day doing nothing extraordinary.
I walked through the city, letting my senses stretch just enough to observe without being noticed. I heard conversations from blocks away, heartbeats through walls, electricity humming through buried cables. My vision pierced steel, concrete, and flesh alike—layered with spiritual perception I hadn't even consciously activated.
This world was powerful.
And horribly inefficient.
Heroes relied on tools. Gods relied on bloodlines. Sorcerers relied on external contracts. Almost no one optimized themselves fully.
At exactly midnight, the system chimed.
[DING!]
[Daily Sign-In Available.]
I stopped in the courtyard and looked up at the sky.
"Confirm."
Reality folded inward.
[Second Sign-In Reward confirmed.]
[Reward: GOD OF WISDOM RAPHAEL.]
[Source: Saint Shooterverse.]
The moment Raphael integrated, I understood what true intelligence felt like.
Not speed.
Not memory.
Order.
Information aligned itself. Thoughts branched infinitely without chaos. Every sensation, every data point, every possibility was analyzed simultaneously and categorized with flawless precision.
Raphael spoke—not with sound, but with certainty.
[Analysis complete.]
[Host possesses complete Kryptonian physiology.]
[Optimization recommended.]
My sensory suite stabilized instantly.
X-ray vision sharpened, now capable of distinguishing material composition at a molecular level. Super hearing filtered noise automatically, isolating intent. Super smell categorized chemical traces without overwhelming me. Flight refined itself—not through force, but through absolute control of momentum and gravitational vectors.
My brain… changed.
Kryptonian biology had already made it powerful. Raphael turned it into something else entirely—a divine-grade processing core.
[Result: Superman Template operating at theoretical perfection.]
I exhaled slowly.
"So this is what completeness feels like."
Raphael continued.
[Secondary recommendation: Integration of Eastern cultivation systems into Kryptonian biology.]
I allowed it.
Qi flowed through my body, but instead of clashing with solar energy, it synchronized with it. Meridians reforged themselves into stellar conduits. A dantian formed naturally, stabilized by cellular durability that rendered cultivation backlash meaningless.
I wasn't cultivating to survive.
I was cultivating to refine something already godlike.
I felt it then—subtle, distant reactions.
At Kamar-Taj, someone paused and looked in my direction. On a S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite, anomaly algorithms flagged something they couldn't classify. Somewhere underground, a mutant with precognitive abilities woke up in a cold sweat, the future suddenly unclear.
The third day arrived.
Midnight struck.
[DING!]
[Daily Sign-In Available.]
"Confirm."
The system's tone shifted.
[Third Sign-In Reward confirmed.]
[Reward: LIFE CODEX — KRYPTONIAN SUPERMAN VARIANT.]
Raphael engaged immediately.
[Life Codex analyzed.]
[Result: Conceptual blueprint of Kryptonian existence.]
The Life Codex didn't give me power.
It gave me authority over evolution.
I felt potential unfold within me—genetic pathways branching infinitely, adaptability rising beyond reactive limits. I could guide my own development over time. Correct flaws. Enhance strengths. Rewrite weaknesses.
Including one very famous vulnerability.
[Baseline Kryptonian weakness detected: Kryptonite dependency.]
[Recommendation: Gradual removal via directed evolution.]
I smiled.
"Approved."
The universe reacted.
This time, it couldn't pretend not to notice.
S.H.I.E.L.D. began watching. Kamar-Taj observed from the astral plane. Mutant networks felt pressure without understanding its source.
I had entered the board.
Not as a hero.
Not as a villain.
Not as a god.
But as something far more dangerous.
A being who could understand everything—
—and decide, at leisure, what to do with that understanding.