145. The Immutable Soul. (Patreon)

“Power without purpose corrodes. Purpose without power decays. But the will that endures both becomes eternal.”

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The Watchtower hung in Earth’s shadow—an artificial satellite, veined with power conduits and light. Inside, the Justice League convened in its central chamber, the floor alive with blue holograms of orbiting defense platforms.

Lex Luthor stood among gods and legends, his posture calm but respectful. He wore no armor, no badge—only a tailored suit and a translucent data crystal in his hand.

“I’m here,” He began, “to discuss the deployment of the orbital shield lattice. The framework King provided could prevent any extra-solar Boomtube incursions and excursions. Permanently.”

Wonder Woman’s eyes narrowed slightly. “His strength is undeniable but what about his scientific acumen? He does not strike as the scientific scholar type.”

“I’ve learned to trust results and the results are accurate.” Lex said simply.

Superman, arms folded, watched him with a measured gaze. “And where exactly did he get this data, Lex? Because nothing on Earth or off it matches this kind of architecture.”

Before Luthor could answer, the light dimmed.

A pulse rolled through the chamber like a heartbeat. From the air itself, fractal lines unfolded into a humanoid silhouette—King, manifesting in a shimmer of liquid shadow and light.

“I can answer that.” He said. His voice carried neither arrogance nor reverence only certainty.

“King.” Batman greeted.

King inclined his head. “The data is not from any civilization—present or past. It’s drawn from the Akashic Records—the memory of existence itself.”

Flash blinked. “The what now? You saying you Google the universe?”

King’s lips curved faintly. “Not quite. When I awakened my powers through relentless training, something… unusual happened. My spirit became immovable anchored beyond even the flow of the Ether, what you call magic.”

Zatara straightened, his expression a mix of curiosity and disbelief. “I was there and we—”

“—confirmed it.” King finished gently. “When he examined me, he discovered that my soul wasn’t part of the current. It was the anchor the current flowed around. In essence, it became the Primogenitor Point of all magic.”

A hush fell over the League.

Even Superman looked… uncertain.

“So you’re saying,” He began slowly, “your soul is… what? A universal constant?”

King’s eyes glimmered faintly gold. “Not constant. Immutable. The Ether cannot move me but I can move through it. That’s how I traverse existence by swimming against the current of creation itself.”

J’onn J’onzz’s voice came, calm but tinged with awe. “That would explain why your energy signature cannot be detected by psychic or dimensional scans.”

“Correct.” King raised a hand, and a faint blue projection appeared above his palm—the rotating blueprint of an orbital Zeta Transit network.

“This is what I retrieved from the Records. A modification to your Zeta Tube network. Instead of two fixed points forming a wormhole, this design uses a satellite network to achieve something akin to teleportation to any corner of the world using Zeta radiation and it can be integrated into the network of Boomblockers.

In layman’s terms—it was a zeta tube that exists everywhere at once.

The room stirred. Batman leaned in to analyze the schematics. Red Tornado’s eyes flickered as his systems tried to simulate the design.

“Incredible…” Red Tornado murmured. “You’d need quantum tethering to all dimensional strata to stabilize that!”

King simply replied, “That’s precisely what it does.”

To dispel their doubts the League called in Adam Strange—the League’s lead scientist and Zeta Network architect. The moment he entered and saw the designs floating on King's palm he was already at work. His laptop projected a dense wall of code as he parsed King’s data, which King transferred to the JL servers.

“Hold on…” He whispered. “The math checks out. The resonance feedback, the spatial anchor harmonics. Hell, even the safety redundancies are light-years beyond what I’ve built.”

He looked up, wide-eyed. “This is fifty years ahead of us. At least. Star Labs couldn’t even dream of this yet.”

King’s expression softened slightly. “Dreaming isn’t the problem, Doctor. Remembering how to is.”

Superman exhaled, slowly. “And you’re giving this to us freely?”

“Yes.” King said. “Because humanity’s next war won’t be fought with fists or ideals. It will be for space itself. And if Earth isn’t ready, it won’t survive the first blow.”

Luthor’s gaze was steady. “Then we’d better make sure we are.”

The hologram shifted—Earth surrounded by a halo of protective satellites, gleaming like a crown.

As the meeting adjourned, Wonder Woman lingered by King. “And this knowledge you draw from… the Akashic Records—does it ever lie?”

King’s reply was quiet. “Truth never lies, Diana. It simply waits until we’re ready to understand it.”

He stepped backward into the ether, his form dissolving into light.

And when he was gone, the Watchtower felt impossibly vast—like the stars themselves were listening.