I became light in American comics

A young man and an old man with a white beard stood on either side of her, arms crossed, watching her.

Astra opened her mouth, blinked, and looked at the two people beside her with a hint of wariness.

The scene was a bit embarrassing.

Shen You glanced at the old wizard beside him and asked, "By the way, is it normal for her to scream so loudly?"

“Well, I guess so.” The old wizard stroked his long beard. “The ‘lasso of lies’ on her body corresponds to the Amazon’s ‘lasso of truth’; it’s a magical artifact woven from lies.”

The bound being will see lies meticulously woven for it by the ropes, an illusion from which it cannot escape. But none of us know exactly what she saw, so perhaps it was something... indescribable.

"I see." Shen You nodded.

The Kryptonian woman glared at the two men. In her rage, she immediately tried to slam her hand on the table and crush the two who dared to offend her and were pointing fingers at her into concrete with incredible speed—well, partly because she was also tempted to kill them to silence them.

Then I realized I couldn't do it.

She was firmly strapped to the seat beneath her, bound tightly with a rope of lies. While not as famous or powerful as the Lasso of Truth that Diana possessed, it was still an enchanted artifact from the Greek pantheon, and opening it wouldn't be easy.

Moreover, after trying to gather her strength, Astra quickly discovered that she couldn't muster any strength at all.

Even when trying to use my thermal vision, I could only feel my eye sockets were a little red and hot, but nothing could come out.

It was as if these two people had somehow drained her dry.

Astra narrowed her eyes, glaring at the two men with resentment: "What have you done to me?"

"Uh, it's nothing. I just used the Red Sun brand juicer to drain your energy so you wouldn't do anything reckless. This will make things easier for both of us," Shen You said, arms crossed. "Then we have a couple of questions to ask."

"Ha, use your dirtiest and most despicable tricks, you evil Light Star people," Astra said coldly, "but don't expect me to utter a single word."

I am a proud Kryptonian warrior. We never surrender, never compromise, and never bow to evil. Do whatever you want.

"We've heard even stranger names before, from the Light Star People forum."

At least it sounds better than Giant Mountain Super Power.

"Don't put it so harshly," Shen You said seriously. "It sounds like you're the one who invaded someone else's planet, while we're the good guys."

nice guy?

Astra squinted and looked down at the classic "tortoise shell bondage" ropes binding her.

Then he raised his head and squinted at the two people in front of him.

Their expressions seemed to say, "Are you sure?"

"Uh"

Shen You turned to look at the old wizard.

It seems to mean that he tied her up, and it's none of my business.

The old wizard turned to look beside him, only to find himself alone. He couldn't seem to get away with the blame. So he stroked his beard and said calmly, "I merely cast a binding spell. The method of binding was up to the lassoer himself."

Chapter 66 The Figurine Maniac

"Go ahead and use your worst tricks," Astra said haughtily, "I won't say a word no matter what you do."

The tortoise shell bondage might evoke unpleasant associations, and the torture that came to mind when she said this was likely related to words like "female general," "prisoner," and "humiliation."

To avoid further misunderstanding, Shen You immediately got straight to the point: "Name?"

"Astra."

"identity?"

"Former Kryptonian general, later imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for 'anti-Kryptonian crimes,' sentenced to life imprisonment. What did you do to me!?"

A hint of fear began to appear on Atlas's resolute face.

She was a glorious Kryptonian warrior, undaunted by torture and death, but her body was one thing, and having her mind manipulated was another.

She had clearly resolved not to say anything, confident that her willpower was strong enough to withstand any torture. But while her mind was focused on that, her body wouldn't obey. The moment the other person asked a question, the answer slipped out; she simply couldn't control herself.

It felt like my body didn't belong to me.

What's even more terrifying is that if the other party can make you speak at will based on their own preferences, does that mean they can do even more?

"It's just a little mantra. It's not worth mentioning."

He said it was nothing to mention, but the old wizard unconsciously struck his signature "what is a wizard anyway?" pose, leaning back in a tactical pose.

As we all know, Kryptonians have negative magic resistance. They can withstand damaging magic thanks to their high durability, but they are not so good at dealing with unpredictable and difficult-to-defend utility magic.

Not to mention that the Kryptonian general is currently in a state of being drained dry, and his superpowers have all been deactivated.

"So now," Shen You asked, "what are you doing on Earth?"

"Ha, if you think I'd tell you, I...I...I came to Earth to find someone!"

She gritted her teeth in humiliation. She didn't want to, but her body was completely out of control, and the words slipped out uncontrollably.

"Who are you looking for?"

“Krypton’s daughter, my niece.” She gritted her teeth, summoning all her willpower to fight the spell. “Her name is Kara-Zo-El.”

Atlas was panting heavily.

"Just for this?" Shen You asked. "No other reason?"

Shen You remembered it. Atlas in the TV series was no pushover either. She and her husband Norn designed a system called the "Great Purge," which could make an entire planet's inhabitants obey their commands with just the push of a button.

They were arrested on Krypton for this purpose and imprisoned in the Phantom Zone's super prison known as "Rodsburg." Even after arriving on Earth, they didn't give up, attempting to restart the "Great Purge" program and complete the unfinished work they had done years before.

This unethical system, which could turn everyone in the world into dolls with a single click, was naturally something that Shen You, as a citizen of the Land of Light, found repulsive. He wanted the Space Garrison to know that they would never allow such a thing to exist.

But to my surprise, Astra shook her head resolutely.

"Gone."

"Are you sure you haven't?"

"Of course not." She glared fiercely at Shen You.

Shen You raised an eyebrow and glanced at the old wizard.

Are you sure that spell will work?

The old wizard rolled his eyes in displeasure: "Who do you think you're talking to?! You're questioning the guardians of the Rock of Eternity, and mortal magic."

"Wait, I was just saying. Of course I believe your incantation," Shen You hurriedly interrupted the chanting.

He also felt that Astra didn't seem to be lying, but the discrepancies with the original work still made him somewhat skeptical.

The little broken sphere in the DC universe is comparable to their Ultraman universe; both are chaotic centers of a cosmic universe plagued by disasters.

There's a group of people like this right now. They've been relentlessly draining the resources of their home planet for so long that they accidentally destroyed it, turning themselves into a bunch of well-known interstellar orphans. Then, the director of the orphanage discovered this group of unlucky old folks living on Earth in the neighboring solar system and eagerly led the entire orphanage in preparing for a relocation.

In other words, this is DC. Otherwise, if it were in their own universe, Shen You would have assumed that this was describing a family of loyal Baltan warriors.

It's understandable that the Kryptonians want Earth. After all, their home planet is gone, and the solar system, being in a neighboring sector, is relatively close to their ancestral home. More importantly, they all possess superhuman abilities from sunbathing, making it perfectly natural for them to rule over the native inhabitants and dominate Earth. Even General Zod in the movie had the same idea.

"Are you sure you don't have any plans for invasion, occupation, or establishing colonies?"

“Earth? Of course not.” Astra scoffed.

Under the influence of the mantra, she naturally spoke the truth, but the spell also weakened her will. Shen You noticed that her eyes were clearly avoiding his gaze as she spoke.

"What are you hiding?" Shen You frowned.

"Heh, alright, I might as well tell you."

Atlas chuckled and looked up to meet his eyes.

It seems she's come to terms with it and given up fighting against the mantra. That's the way things are with many things; if you can't resist it, you have to learn to enjoy it.

"Because of Brainiac."

"Hmm?" Shen You narrowed his eyes.

“An invincible destroyer, a catastrophe for any civilization,” Atlas said coldly. “An ultimate artificial intelligence, possessing cutting-edge technology that even Krypton cannot imagine.”

Shen You certainly knew Brainiac.

A classic DC villain, one of Superman and the Justice League's most fearsome adversaries.

The origin of this thing is that classic, old-fashioned story of AI going berserk. It's about a group of scientists on a planet called "Comet Nucleus" who not only created the first level 12 intelligence in the history of the universe, but also artificially created emotions such as jealousy, greed, and hatred.

Then their house exploded.

Brainiac, who evolved infinitely, destroyed his home planet and, in his long growth, gradually evolved into a figurine fanatic, collecting almost anything—animals, plants, miniature cities, and more. He had a whole spaceship full of figurines, including countless cities of destroyed civilizations, among them Krypton's former capital, Kandor.

“Krypton was attacked by him; an entire city vanished right before our eyes,” Astra said, his face ashen. “He was an opponent beyond your imagination; his technology had almost reached the realm of gods. I still can’t forget the feeling of powerlessness I felt when facing that thing.”

"So you mean," Shen You frowned, "that he came to Earth?"

"Not yet, but I believe it's coming soon. So you ask me why I have no designs on Earth, you light-star person? Well then, please tell me."

Atlas leaned back in his chair and said calmly.

Why would I be interested in a dying planet?

Chapter 67

After some interrogation, Shen You roughly understood the situation.

According to Astra, they detected certain unique signal frequencies on Earth two weeks ago. These signals possessed encryption technology that was extremely difficult to crack even for Kryptonian technology, and only one person in Krypton's database had ever used similar technology.

Brainiac.

The prisoners in Rozburg had indeed considered taking Earth, and Astra and her husband Norn also thought that conquering the planet and transforming it into a new Krypton was a good option.

However, after detecting this fleeting signal fluctuation, they made a new decision without hesitation.

Sorry to bother you, I can't beat you, goodbye.

The Kryptonians' fear of Brainiac is deeply ingrained in their minds. The Kryptonian civilization, in its heyday, was powerless against this enemy, and now, with only a handful of survivors, it has no chance of confronting him.

Even so, Krypton was, after all, a super-civilization that had fought against Brainiac, and although the outcome was a crushing defeat, it still learned valuable lessons from that defeat.

Generals like Astra, who personally experienced that battle, were at least familiar with some of Brainiac's usual tricks and technological methods. They might even have developed some new anti-Brainiac technology after that battle.

After discussing with the old wizard, Shen You decided to temporarily build a Red Sun Detention Center underground and imprison Astra there.