DC: Rise Of The Kryptonian Tyrant

Only three seconds had passed.

Forty-one shots rang out. Since the M16 rifles held only 30 rounds each, Bardi had reloaded once.

Forty-one bullets tore through the knees of the kneeling soldiers, forcing screams and sobs from their mouths. Some wept uncontrollably.

There was no pity in Bardi's expression. Not even a flicker of emotion.

He swept his cold, indifferent gaze across the soldiers before him. Finally, his eyes shifted briefly toward the half-open door of the warehouse. There, a red figure—Jenny was curled up on the ground.

Bardi's mind worked methodically. He wanted Jenny to be rescued. To make that happen, he needed more wounded soldiers to serve as bait, forcing reinforcements from the ground base to descend to the lower levels to treat their own. Once the rescuers came for the soldiers and scientists, they would see Jenny and save her as well.

Otherwise, these soldiers would have no hope of survival.

Under the terrifying pressure of Bardi's actions, the remaining forty-one soldiers quickly selected ten among themselves to die.

The first chosen was an exceptional soldier. Judging by his cries, his accomplishments and reputation had far outshone the others. He seemed almost too capable to die, perhaps that was exactly why he had been chosen. Out of jealousy or fear, his comrades shoved him forward. He howled, cursed, and railed against them even as he was pushed to his death.

The second was a soldier universally disliked, a man who had been rude and annoying to his comrades. Desperate to survive, he groveled at Bardi's feet, willing to degrade himself. But Bardi did not spare him.

One by one, the soldiers pushed their more talented peers forward, sacrificing the stronger and more notable among them. Each was killed by Bardi without hesitation.

The scene was vile and ugly, exposing the worst of human nature.

When it was over, Bardi tossed his M16 rifle onto the ground in front of the survivors. He looked down at the thirty-one remaining soldiers, his expression cold and imperious.

They were broken. They had betrayed their comrades in a desperate bid to survive, and that betrayal would haunt them as a living nightmare for the rest of their lives.

"For now… you live," Bardi said, his tone icy and detached.

He turned away, his broad, powerful back gradually retreating into the distance.

The rifle lay on the ground before them, but not a single soldier dared to pick it up. Not one had the courage to aim it at Bardi's back. Their guilt and pain overwhelmed them, and soon their cries grew louder, filled with desperation and despair.

Bardi approached Major Atherton's body. The man had been shot to death, his blood pooling across the floor. Fortunately, one of his hands remained mostly intact, with clear palm prints.

Grabbing the corpse by its wrist, Bardi dragged it along the bloodstained ground, carving a grisly path as he moved. He hauled the body to the elevator and pressed Atherton's hand against the scanner embedded in the door.

"Beep… Major Atherton, access granted."

The electronic confirmation echoed faintly.

Bardi let the body drop to the floor as the elevator doors opened. He stepped inside, calm and steady, even as the bloodstains leading up to the elevator painted a gruesome picture of death.

The elevator was massive, built to carry heavy loads. As it began to ascend from the fourth floor to the first, its weight and stability revealed its design, reinforced steel plates and a frame that likely weighed close to twenty tons.

When the doors opened on the first floor, the soldiers and staff waiting on the other side froze. Their eyes widened in shock as they saw Bardi step out, a towering figure drenched in the aura of death, as if he had emerged from a mountain of corpses. Behind him, the trail of blood and lifeless bodies told the story of the massacre on the lower floor.

The nearest soldier reacted quickly, raising his rifle. The click of the safety disengaging was sharp and clear, his finger already on the trigger.

But before he could fire, Bardi moved.

With lightning speed, Bardi's hand slipped into the trigger guard of the rifle, crushing the mechanism and the soldier's finger with a single motion. The weapon crumpled under the pressure, its parts and unfired bullets spilling onto the floor with a metallic clatter.

"Ahhh!!" the soldier screamed, his face pale as pain shot through his arm.

Bardi's expression didn't change. With a single swift strike, he chopped at the soldier's neck, breaking his cervical vertebra. The man's head twisted unnaturally to the side as he collapsed, lifeless.

Bardi then grabbed the soldier's hand, pressing it against the scanner to unlock the elevator controls. Calmly, he selected the option for the fourth floor.

The elevator doors began to close. The soft hum of the mechanisms sounded eerily like the growl of a beast sealing itself within the dark.

…

"Colonel, Bardi has taken the elevator. He's descending to the negative fourth floor," a soldier reported.

Slade's sharp eyes flicked toward the surveillance monitor, narrowing as he studied the feed.

There, in the elevator, stood Bardi—his posture rigid, head held high. He stood tall and straight like an unyielding pillar, his presence exuding unshakable confidence, as though nothing in the world could frighten him.

Slade's expression darkened as his mind churned with questions.

Bardi's behavior made no sense. What was he planning?

Taking the elevator down to the fourth floor was undeniably a bad idea. It gave Slade too many opportunities to target him, and Bardi must have been fully aware of this.

But why had Bardi chosen to do it anyway?

The more Slade thought about it, the more confused he became. His frustration only grew as he replayed Bardi's actions in his mind.

He was furious—furious at himself for allowing Bardi to reach a level above the fourth floor, letting him feel the sunlight on his skin.

'Colonel Slade, you're far too soft. Every thought you have is in my hands. You lack the resolve to see things through, to fully guard against me, to keep me imprisoned on the fourth floor.'

Bardi's mocking words echoed in his mind, suffocating him further.

Bardi hadn't even made a move against him yet, but Slade could feel an invisible hand tightening around his neck, choking the air from his lungs.

"Colonel Slade!"

The major standing beside him called out, snapping him back to reality.

Slade realized he had been lost in his own thoughts, his imagination crafting scenarios that only fed his anxiety. The pressure Bardi's presence created was immense. One wrong move, and it wouldn't just be Slade who would pay the price, Bardi could easily annihilate everyone on the negative fourth floor.

Slade's sharp eyes hardened as he regained control of his composure. He barked out a series of rapid orders:

"Shut down the elevator. Release the poison gas, deploy the steel interlayers, and sever the elevator shaft at the second floor."

"Notify the ground base to send rescue teams to the lower levels for the soldiers and scientists. At the same time, seal off all access to the floors above."

"All personnel on the negative fourth floor are to evacuate using the stairs. Trap him there."

The soldiers moved swiftly, following Slade's orders with precision. But before they could execute the plan fully, something unexpected happened.

"Colonel, the elevator didn't reach the designated zone for the poison gas. Bardi has opened the elevator ceiling and entered the shaft. He's disappeared from the surveillance feed."

"No trace on the second floor surveillance."

"Negative third-floor surveillance shows no sign of him."

"Negative fourth-floor surveillance—still no sign of him."

"The system control center has detected abnormal activity. The elevator has been forcibly stopped."

As the soldier delivered his report, a loud bang echoed through the base, as if something massive was being destroyed in the distance.

It was Bardi.

Slade's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. His bloodshot eyes burned with frustration as the realization hit him: Bardi was destroying the elevator.

"Colonel! Bardi has reappeared at the elevator entrance on the negative third floor!"

The soldier's voice was laced with nervous tension. The surveillance team had witnessed Bardi using sheer brute force to tear through the steel at the elevator entrance, leaving the soldier speechless with dry-mouthed fear.

Slade inhaled sharply as the pieces fell into place. Now he understood Bardi's plan.

There were only two access points in the entire underground base: the elevator and the stairs.

By destroying the elevator, Bardi was cutting off the most efficient escape route. He would then use the stairs to move to the negative fourth floor, effectively trapping everyone there.

With the elevator gone, there would be no way to leave the negative fourth floor.

Every person down there would be cornered prey in his net.

Slade exhaled deeply, his breath ragged as he fought to suppress his rising anger. His eyes gleamed with a fierce determination.

"Prepare for combat."