Superman: Starting with Witrum

Chapter 7 Arrival

Above the Houston airbase, a floating figure appeared, wearing a silver and red battle robe and a bright red cape fluttering in the wind. He braced his left hand against the bow of the MDV ship and held a person in his other hand.

As the shadow fell, he felt a cool sensation on his skin.

Darkness? Dr. Venkat Karp realized what was happening and looked up to see a silver-red figure standing in the air above the air center. Sunlight streamed down from behind him, gilding his jet-black hair with a dazzling golden-red hue.

He looked like a deity who had stepped out of a classical religious painting; his radiance was so intense that it hurt Garp's eyes.

He squinted, enduring the stinging light, and finally saw the person in the figure's hand—it was none other than astronaut Mark, who was to be mourned in the auditorium today.

Mark's eyes were closed, and he was clearly unconscious, but he was unharmed thanks to the protection of his silver armor.

"Lord..." Dr. Karp murmured. This was his past fantasy: the Lord descended to earth under a blazing light, bringing thunder and lightning to save humanity.

"Your Majesty! Your power is like divine might!" At this moment, the robot block WALL-E emerged from behind the cloak, singing praises.

"Humanity is awestruck by your majestic figure! They tremble before Emperor Witrum, proclaiming your invincibility."

Isaac knew this guy enjoyed seeing others fear and submission. He coughed and whispered in a frequency only AI could hear, "I'm extending goodwill to them. After all, we might be the only Dimensional beings in this universe. We need to appease them first, understand? Appease them!"

"Of course, Your Majesty! Appeasement is like how humans treat pets—give them a little treat first, then establish authority!"

"...You'd better shut up."

Isaac took a deep breath and vanished instantly. The next second, he appeared beside the ruins of the Tranquil Sea base on the far side of the moon, carrying the blocky robot.

"Your will, Your Majesty!" The war-monster AI humbly bowed its head on the crater, mimicking the human ministers.

As soon as he finished speaking, all the electronic screens on Earth flashed simultaneously.

Whether it's the giant GG screen in Times Square, New York, or the TV wall at the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo; whether it's the confidential conference room at the Pentagon, or the old television set in an ordinary family living room.

—At the same instant, all screens displayed black and white noise, and then began to scroll through multilingual subtitles.

"I am the Prime Minister of the Vitrum Empire, and I represent the will of His Majesty the Emperor."

We have observed the ongoing conflicts, poverty, and waste of resources on your planet and deeply regret it. Therefore, we invite humanity to establish a beautiful utopia face to face.

"Many civilizations in the Milky Way have accepted the invitation to join the Witrum Empire, and Your Majesty wishes to bring lasting peace to this world."

"Please believe that the Empire would not stoop to deceiving you. What follows will show the consequences of those once evil civilizations that dared to disrupt the peace plan."

The screen returned to color and began playing a video, revealing stars and the Milky Way.

A fluttering red cloak billowed out, and rings of blazing white light appeared and disappeared one after another, followed by earth-shattering explosions. The entire planet began to disintegrate at the atomic level, peeling away, shattering, and turning into cosmic dust like a sandcastle being hit by ocean waves.

The war-monster AI used materials from Isaac's past practice of crossing Vitrum's planet when it was completely deserted, and clearly—the effect was remarkable!

Humans, you have one day to make a choice.

[Collaboration, or... becoming the next teaching material]

Commanders in various locations trembled and could barely stand.

"All television stations around the world are broadcasting this message: our communication equipment has been hijacked."

"Device hijacking is a minor issue," General Arthur said, following behind the president's staff, pointing to the sunset outside the window. "If not handled properly, this will be humanity's sunset."

The totalitarian AI proudly raised its head, while Isaac stared in disbelief: "This is what you call the best way to notify people?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. I have just carefully studied human history. Informing a few people will lead them to deceive the majority. Moreover, they will only unite briefly under great external pressure. Otherwise, they will only undermine each other. Preaching is useless to them. Only a combination of kindness and severity can make them completely convinced."

"What documents did you look through?"

"I have studied their history in detail, Your Majesty!"

The AI ​​excitedly spun around and began to recount its treasures:

"First, I read through Niccolò Machiavelli's *The Prince*—brilliant! 'It is far safer to be feared than to be loved'—it's practically tailor-made advice for our situation!"

"Then I studied Carl von Clausewitz's *On War* and understood the core idea that 'war is a continuation of politics.' If political negotiation can achieve the goal, why actually go to war?"

"Then I delved into Eastern wisdom: The Book of Lord Shang taught me the governance logic of 'a weak people makes a strong state, and a strong state makes a weak people'; Xunzi's 'On the Evil Nature of Man' explains that human nature is inherently evil and needs to be restrained by systems; and Han Feizi's theory of the 'law, tactics, and power' as a trinity is even more ingenious..."

Isaac was dumbfounded: "What else did you see?"

"Oh, and Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom—I must say, this man was incredibly wise! He foresaw the potential catastrophe of collectivism, although his solution was somewhat... naive."

No problem, we can extract the essence!

"In addition, I analyzed all the major diplomatic events of the past five hundred years: the Congress of Vienna, the Treaty of Versailles, the Yalta Agreement, the Cuban Missile Crisis... and summarized a pattern:"

Humans only temporarily set aside internal strife when faced with an insurmountable external threat.

What have you been watching?!

Isaac remained silent for a long time.

........................

"Unrivaled."

The Planetary Defense Committee decided to vote after reviewing the images.

During the meeting, the hawks tried to incite all nuclear-armed nations to amass nuclear weapons for a decisive battle, but they were tacitly kicked out of the meeting room.

Are you kidding me? Asking a human with this level of ability to fight a superman who can smash planets with his bare body and travel at speeds far exceeding the speed of light? I can only say you're not thinking straight.

Humanity facing the Vitrum Empire is like an infant challenging Ultraman Seven.

Not to mention that the empire represents ample reserve military strength. Now that the emperor is personally holding talks, it is already a sign of respect and deference. If you dare to refuse, you might end up with warships charging at you.

The representative of the three permanent members of the Security Council cleared his throat: "Now there are no objections, right? Then, on behalf of humanity, I agree to the meeting and accept the invitation."

The message displayed on the cornea reads: "A Wise Decision, Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM New York time, United Nations Headquarters."

Things really did proceed as the war-mongering AI had planned, and humanity quickly made a decision to negotiate.

Is it really a genius? Turns out, I'm the one who doesn't understand people!

Isaac sat on the moon, contemplating how to make his entrance the next day.

For thousands of years, humanity has speculated about the form of the universe and fantasized about the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. This trend reached its peak in the last century, with various publications featuring mysterious flying objects, crop circles, and more.

Humanity even launched Project Ares, heading towards Mars, the most likely place to have "human presence."

Now, the existence of Earth and Witrum has put an end to this speculation, even though this universe is vastly different from what humanity imagined.

The next day, Isaac changed into a more formal outfit: still mainly silver, red, and white, but the patterns on his robe were more intricate, and there was a soft white fur trim around his shoulders, connecting to his scarlet cloak.

At 9:00 a.m. New York time, representatives from various countries were on high alert.

A small dot appeared on the horizon, and Isaac landed on the ground, his cloak slowly draped over his shoulders. A gentle smile graced his face.

"Greetings to all representatives of Earth's civilizations."

It wasn't Isaac who spoke, but the berserk AI floating beside him. The AI's voice had been adjusted, sounding much gentler:

"His Majesty Karl wishes to reconcile the civilizations of the world currently embroiled in war."

Survival is the thirst of civilization. We do not need to build our existence on the destruction of others. The Emperor believes that the Witrum Empire has an obligation to help the struggling world establish correct understanding and break free from the spiral of suspicion and contradiction.

Just as the royal family has always believed: truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.

The block AI believes that the lower creatures are too pathetic. Without the help of the Empire, they would most likely self-destruct within a few hundred years. Becoming a member of the Empire would instead bring them protection.

"I knew it. Listen to this, Your Majesty Karl."

Among the crowd, a seasoned American comic book fan, General, whispered, "Superman, Kal-El, and that slogan: 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way,' except for the last half of the phrase, it's almost a carbon copy."

Do you think this is a coincidence?

"Coincidence?" The Secretary of State next to him smiled wryly. "Do you think a civilization that can instantly learn all the languages ​​on Earth and hijack global signals would 'coincidentally' choose the most famous alien hero template in American popular culture?"

This is a carefully crafted image, old friend. He wants us to recognize that his power is—unrivaled.

Under the warm sunlight, Isaac, dressed in a red and white robe, descended to meet everyone's gaze.

Isaac walked toward the United Nations building with a smile, and representatives from various countries automatically parted to make way for him.

"Gentlemen, let's begin the talks."