I get stronger by sunbathing, just like Superman.

He put his phone in his pocket, walked to the edge of the rooftop, slowly squatted down, and concentrated his mind to mobilize the energy within every cell of his body! Under his guidance, these energy particles interacted to generate an invisible force field that influenced the outside world and Lei Ming's body...

The concrete ground beneath his feet was under immense pressure, and cracks began to appear. Lei Ming knew the time had come; if he didn't jump, the top floor of the building would likely collapse.

Immediately afterward, he exerted force with both legs... shooting into the sky like a sharp sword! A spiderweb-like crack appeared in the ground beneath his feet the instant he left.

The jump from the rooftop sent Lei Ming soaring nearly a hundred meters into the air! Taking advantage of the upward momentum, he mimicked Superman's pose, clenching his fists in front of him, listening to the whooshing wind in his ears, and imagining the feeling of flying…

Just as the lift from the jump was about to be exhausted and he began to fall, Lei Ming suddenly exerted his strength! His entire body flew dozens of meters upwards at an angle!

"I did it! I can fly now!"

Sensing that he was not falling and was instead getting further and further away from the ground, Lei Ming couldn't help but shout out excitedly.

But before he could even celebrate, a gust of wind swept past him, causing him to lose his balance instantly and plummet downwards! In just a few seconds, he fell hundreds of meters!

As he got closer and closer to the tall building below, Lei Ming, who was in mid-air, quickly composed himself, steadied his body, and raised his fists to exert force once again!

boom!

Just before he was about to crash into the building, a white, misty ring erupted behind him—a sonic boom cloud caused by the instantaneous acceleration to the speed of sound!

A series of loud bangs echoed in the sky... Pedestrians on the ground looked up, only to see a long contrail...

In fact, Lei Ming's bio-field already possessed the ability to break free from Earth's gravity and fly at high speed. He was just one step away from the right opportunity. In the future, as he mastered the skill, distance would no longer be a limitation for him.

At an altitude of more than two thousand meters above the ground, Lei Ming couldn't help but show a pleasant expression. This was the first time in his life that he had flown in the sky by his own power. The thrill of breaking through the wind was even hundreds of times more exhilarating than when he first swam at high speed in the sea!

His clothes had been torn to shreds by the gale the moment he broke the sound barrier. Fortunately, he managed to protect his pants and the phone in his pocket with his bio-force field. He still needed the White Queen to guide him, as it was very difficult for him to discern directions in the sky.

His current flight speed is stable at about 1,000 kilometers per hour, which is also the most suitable speed for him. If he exceeds this speed, it will be difficult for him to maintain flight while ensuring that he doesn't end up naked...

...

At sea, Electrolux was sitting on a protruding rock feeding small fish to dolphins when he suddenly looked up in a certain direction in the sky... A dark shadow, moving so fast that he could barely see it, was rushing straight toward him!

At this rate of fall, if he were to hit himself, even with his incredibly strong and resilient body, he would likely be reduced to a pile of minced meat. Terrified, he quickly turned and plunged into the sea…

Boom!

The next second, the dark figure crashed directly into the rock he had just been standing on, shattering it like a detonated missile, and continued its momentum into the sea…

But soon, a figure rose from the churning sea, hovering several meters above the surface. He was shirtless, and his not-so-muscular physique possessed sculpted, well-proportioned muscles. The seawater on his body shimmered in the sunlight…

Electrolux surfaced when he could see his face clearly.

"Lei!? How come it's you again?"

Lei Ming wiped the seawater off his face and said, "Sorry, I've only just learned to fly and I'm not very good at landing yet. I'll explain that to you later. Right now... I need you to do me a favor!"

Chapter Eighteen: War Wizard

Yellowstone National Park, where the massive palace continues to rise from underground, has turned the surrounding area into a wasteland where no living thing survives.

Several police helicopters circled overhead, observing the palace's condition and reporting back to headquarters, while also dispersing civilian helicopters sent by news media.

On the ground, a large number of military soldiers, armored vehicles, and tanks were stationed several kilometers away from the palace, ready to await orders from above and respond to any emergencies.

The top leaders of the United States are holding an emergency meeting to discuss the matter. Although no one knows why a palace has appeared in the national park, they have come up with an emergency plan in a short time. The first step is to evacuate people from the surrounding towns, because the national park is home to the world's largest supervolcano. Although it is far from the palace, if it is affected and erupts, the disaster would be unimaginable.

Suddenly, a small dot of light appeared on the military's radar display, moving at an extremely fast speed toward the palace.

"Sir! An unidentified flying object is approaching the palace! Its speed is almost at the speed of sound!"

Inside the command vehicle on the ground, a reconnaissance soldier was reporting the unusual phenomena appearing on the radar to his superiors.

The commander on site, Colonel Calvin, immediately strode over, his face full of anger, and shouted:

"What's going on? I didn't order the fighter jets to be scrambled! Who gave the order?"

He subconsciously assumed it was an airplane, since only fighter jets can fly at near-sonic speeds or even exceed the speed of sound, but he had never given any orders.

But the soldier's answer only made him more confused...

"No...sir, it's not an airplane. Radar shows the unidentified object is less than five meters in diameter..."

"Could it be a miniature drone? Or a missile?"

The colonel and his soldiers were utterly puzzled, and immediately reported the situation to their superiors…

The unidentified flying object in the sky was none other than Lei Ming. Traveling at a speed of over a thousand kilometers per hour, it took him only about twenty minutes to travel from San Francisco to Wyoming. Moreover, he wasn't alone; he was also carrying Electrolux.

Although the latter cannot fly, its underwater movement speed can approach the speed of sound, and its physical strength can naturally withstand flight at speeds of over a thousand kilometers per hour.

The height terrified him, as it was his first time in the air, and he clung tightly to Lei Ming's arm, refusing to let go...

When they were still tens of kilometers away from the palace, Lei Ming slowed down appropriately. His super hearing had confirmed that Max and the others were somewhere on the palace's dome, and he didn't want to accidentally crush them all to death...

Inside the palace dome, the wizard sat on his throne, staff in hand, looking down at Max and the others who were cowering in a corner, trembling with fear. He seemed to enjoy the feeling of being feared.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, the wizard looked up at the sky.

The next second, a large hole appeared in the dome, and two figures crashed heavily to the ground! They smashed into the ground, creating a deep crater, and dust filled the air.

Lei Ming released Electrolux's arm, slowly stood up, and his exceptional eyesight pierced through the layers of dust, instantly fixing his gaze on the wizard on the throne…

Electrolux, somewhat unsteady on his feet, stepped aside, thinking he never wanted to experience this again. Then he quickly rushed to Max and the others, indicating that he had come to rescue them…

On the way here, Lei Ming had instructed him to handle any enemies, and that Electrolux's job was simply to protect Max and the others. He wasn't sure he could protect them if a battle was necessary...

On the other side, the wizard on the throne and Lei Ming, who was slowly emerging from the pit, stared at each other, neither making a move immediately. A hint of doubt flickered in his eyes as he looked at Lei Ming, for he sensed a familiar aura emanating from the human opposite him, though he couldn't pinpoint the reason…

"You... are not an ordinary mortal. You possess immense hidden energy within your body! Who are you?"

Before Lei Ming could speak, Max, who had clearly seen Lei Ming's face, shouted excitedly, pointing at Lei Ming and yelling, "I knew it! I knew you had superpowers! I wasn't wrong! Hahaha..."

"Child, didn't your mother teach you... not to interrupt other people's conversations?"

It seemed that Max's interruption displeased the wizard. He tapped the ground lightly with his cane, and three strangely shaped, ferocious-looking stone statues immediately emerged from the ground. Each of them was about three meters tall and strode towards Max and his companions.

Lei Ming glanced back at Ilex, who was protecting the four, and the latter nodded to indicate that he could handle it. Only then did he turn his gaze back to the wizard and speak:

"Don't talk to me yet... I haven't even asked who you are or why you're holding my jewels?"

"Your gem?"

The wizard's tone was tinged with sarcasm, "You mean the sun crystal? You call it a gem? Hahaha..."

Child, since you say this is yours...

"Then let's take it back!"

After saying this, the wizard slowly handed his staff to Lei Ming, as if he really intended to return the gem to him.

Lei Ming didn't hesitate any longer. He immediately bent down and shot towards the wizard like a cannonball. He sensed that this old man was not simple and that it was best to finish the battle quickly!

The next second... a loud bang came from the throne. Thunder smashed the entire platform and the throne to pieces, but Thunder did not think he had won, because in the instant he crashed in, his eyes clearly saw the wizard gently shake his staff and pass right through his body.

“Child…you’re looking for…”

The wizard's mocking voice had just come from behind when Lei Ming's figure exploded with a loud bang and disappeared from the spot in an instant. Then the wizard behind him saw a fist the size of a sandbag grow larger in front of him!

"How could you..."

boom!

This punch sent the wizard flying, smashing a hole in the dome and flying hundreds of meters away!

Lei Ming pressed his advantage, immediately kneeling to follow closely behind, because he had just realized that his fist hadn't touched the wizard's face at all... but had been blocked by a golden barrier. Although both the wizard and the barrier had been sent flying quite a distance, the wizard himself probably hadn't actually been hurt.

Otherwise, given the wizard's old and frail appearance, half-buried in the earth, without any barrier, he could be blown to ashes in a single breath.

As Thunder departed from the dome, Electrolux finally dealt with the three stone statues, but before he could even rest, he heard Max shout, "Watch out behind you!"

Turning around... a whole bunch of strangely shaped stone statues began to emerge from the hundreds of square meters of space beneath the dome, rumbling as they all rushed towards him...

"No way..."

Outside the dome, as the wizard was knocked away by the thunder, the rising palace slowly ceased its activity.

In the distance, a media helicopter flew in despite the military's warnings. A cameraman carrying camera equipment captured the moment the wizard was knocked away, and Thunder, which followed closely behind, also appeared in his shot.

"OMG! These two people came out of the palace?! Who are they? Why can they fly? Are they fighting?"

The shocked female anchor was momentarily speechless...

At this moment… the wizard who had been knocked away slowly rose into the sky, his robes spotless. Just as Lei Ming had expected, he was completely unharmed, and now he was staring at Lei Ming flying towards him with a ferocious expression…

"I really underestimated you! Young man... I've never met anyone like you..."

"So much nonsense!"

Lei Ming had no intention of engaging in a war of words with him, and threw another punch!

"You rude brat!"

The wizard also got angry. Facing Lei Ming's fist, he waved his staff, and a golden magic circle instantly condensed in front of him. The magic circle then split into more than a dozen more layers, each with a diameter of tens of meters!

Lei Ming also mustered all his strength and slammed his fist down! The moment his fist touched the first layer of magical barrier, a sound like shattering glass was heard…

Thunderous punches continued their relentless charge forward! Then came the second level… the third level…

It wasn't until the eighth floor that a hint of panic appeared on the wizard's face, but there was no fear. He waved his staff again, chanting incantations.

Suddenly, incredibly thick chains appeared from all directions, attacking Lei Ming like venomous snakes. He immediately stopped attacking the barrier, grabbing one chain with each hand, but then even more chains wrapped around him.

In less than a breath... his hands, feet, neck, waist, abdomen, and legs were bound into a sphere by countless iron chains, and Lei Ming's figure could not be seen from the outside at all.