Manga World: Extracting Superman's Power

"Did you know Mr. Kent?" Lois asked.

"No, never met him," Azuma Shoyo replied, shaking his head as he gazed at the tombstone in front of them.

"I'm here for his son," he added.

"Then we're after the same thing," Lois said. "Have you found him?"

"No, but he's found us," Azuma replied, turning to look behind him.

There, unnoticed until now, stood a tall, muscular man. He wore a baseball cap and looked weathered, as if he'd just come from a long journey.

"Clark Kent!"

Azuma's eyes burned with intensity, his stare reminiscent of a prisoner locked away for decades suddenly spotting a bikini-clad beauty upon release.

That fiery gaze made Clark frown uncomfortably.

"I knew you'd find me!" Lois said, turning to face Clark, her eyes gleaming with a thirst for the unknown.

"You shouldn't have come," Clark said, looking at the two of them.

"But I'm here now, and you showing up means you're willing to talk about yourself, right?" Lois stepped forward excitedly. "Where are you from?"

No human could possess abilities like his. And that spaceship she'd seen beneath the ice? It was unmistakably from an alien civilization!

So, without a doubt, this Clark Kent standing before her was an extraterrestrial!

For a journalist like Lois, nothing could be more thrilling than interviewing a visitor from beyond the stars.

"Who are you?" Clark asked, ignoring Lois's question for the moment. He turned to Azuma, unsettled by the boy's intense stare.

"Azuma Shoyo. Nice to meet you!" Azuma stepped forward, extending his hand.

Clark hesitated briefly before shaking it.

"Clark Kent. You already know that," he said.

Ding!

[Would you like to extract a character trait from the target, "Clark Kent"?]

[Detected that the target "Clark Kent" possesses multiple character traits. Please select one to extract!]

Whoosh!

A list unfurled before Azuma's eyes.

—

[Son of Krypton]

[Extracting this trait grants the Kryptonian bloodline!]

[Champion of Justice]

[Extracting this trait grants the Justice Aura, increasing favor with lawful good characters but provoking hostility from chaotic evil ones.]

[Son of Jonathan]

[Extracting this trait grants significant favor from "Clark Kent" and "Martha Kent"!]

[Man of Steel]

[Extracting this trait grants the full power of "Clark Kent" (including the Kryptonian bloodline)!]

—

The moment he made contact with Clark, the system within Azuma activated.

When he'd entered this Man of Steel world, he'd automatically received one chance to extract a trait. He'd held onto it all this time, saving it for the perfect target.

And that target was Clark!

However, he could only extract one of Clark's traits—not all four.

The good news? Traits 1 and 4 overlapped—4 included 1. Traits 2 and 3 were optional for Azuma; the second one even had a downside he'd rather avoid. He wouldn't pick it even if he could.

Without a doubt, Azuma wanted Clark's fourth trait: [Man of Steel]!

It represented Clark's status as this world's destined protagonist and was the strongest of his four traits!

"The system's pretty generous, letting me gain Clark's full power right off the bat," Azuma thought, barely containing his glee.

He'd assumed he'd have to slowly build up strength under the sun, worrying about how to complete his final achievement. But seeing [Man of Steel], that goal suddenly didn't seem so out of reach.

"System, extract the [Man of Steel] trait!"

Unless he was a fool, there was no way he'd settle for the first three.

Ding!

[Trait extraction successful!]

That fast?

Instant extraction?

Azuma was stunned. He'd expected a drawn-out process—maybe 1% per minute, or even 0.1%—something typical like that.

But the system hit him with an instant pull.

Well, damn!

Talk about efficient!

Whoosh!

A character panel popped up in front of him:

—

[Name: Azuma Shoyo]

[Gender: Male]

[Lifespan: 17/400 (years)]

[Strength: 800,000 tons]

[Defense: Can withstand a 10-megaton nuclear blast]

[Speed: Mach 200]

[Bloodline: Kryptonian]

[Superpowers: Solar Energy Absorption, Heat Vision, Bio-Force Field, Super Breath, Super Vision, Super Hearing, Super Intelligence…]

[Extracted Trait: Man of Steel]

[Extraction Chances Remaining: 0]

—

"800,000 tons of strength! Mach 200 speed! Defense that can tank a 10-megaton nuke at ground zero!"

Azuma's eyes gleamed brighter with every stat he read, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

What's the definition of overpowered?

This was overpowered!!

And this was just the strength of a 33-year-old Clark.

In the Justice League, he'd grow even stronger!

Yet even with this immense power, Clark had struggled against Doomsday in Batman v Superman, getting completely overwhelmed.

Which just went to show…

How terrifying Doomsday's strength truly was!

"If I could extract Doomsday's trait…" Azuma couldn't help but wonder.