Victor left the United States and returned to his homeland, Latveria. On the other side, representatives sent by Luthor began contacting several shareholders of Von Doom Industries and formally expressed LexCorp's intention to acquire the company.
Faced with an offer that came with nearly a ten percent premium—and knowing they had little choice—most of the shareholders, who had already been considering selling their shares, barely hesitated. Very quickly, they signed the agreement. From that point on, everything that once belonged to Doom Industries was now part of LexCorp.
* * *
Without realizing it, Reed had gone from being an employee of Doom Industries to an employee of LexCorp.
The irony was, he didn't even know it yet.
Instead, he was sitting in a bar, trying to drown his frustration in alcohol. His best friend Ben sat beside him, doing his best to talk him down.
"Reed, Doom Industries was bought out by LexCorp. Why are you still here? Mr. Luthor's willing to fund the research, but you have to put in the work too, right?"
For someone like Reed, a scientist so focused he was almost obsessed, coming to a bar like this was nearly unthinkable. But this time, no matter how hard he tried, the frustration on his face wouldn't go away.
"Hey, are you worried about Victor? You don't have to be. He didn't sell his shares. He just went back to his own country. I'm sure his future will be much better than yours or mine."
"I'm not worried about him, Ben."
Reed shook his head, rejecting the idea.
He did consider Victor a friend, but he wasn't so blind that he couldn't read the situation. If Ben hadn't told him just now, he wouldn't have even known that the Doom Industries now belonged to LexCorp.
"I'm just upset that Luthor looks down on me like that. And that he would even make such a demand of me."
Reed had agreed to the condition in anger, to find 'Green Lantern' and convince him to join the space experiment. But now, after thinking it through, he realized just how unrealistic that demand really was.
If it had been someone like Aquaman or Wonder Woman, both of whom had also appeared in the news recently, he might have had a shot. It would just take a flying machine or a submarine. He hadn't studied those technologies, but with LexCorp's resources, designing them wouldn't be too difficult.
But 'Green Lantern' was a different story. Everyone knew he was supposed to be the superhero closest to America. Yet he rarely stayed on Earth. Just like the Martian Manhunter years ago, he chose to distance himself to avoid causing panic.
Which meant, if Reed wanted to find him, he'd have to go into space. But if he were capable of doing that already, why would he need LexCorp's help?
It was a dead end.
"Yeah, a hero like that... it's not like we can just go and find him," Ben muttered with a sigh.
At first, he'd only stuck around because he wanted to support his friend. But after being by his friend's side for so long, the experiment had become his dream too. He wanted to see the man succeed.
"Besides, he chose to leave Earth to protect us."
"'Protect'? Protect..."
The quiet mumbling caught Reed's attention. He put down his glass and began repeating the word to himself.
"What is it?" Ben looked at him with confusion on his face and continued, "I mean, I wasn't wrong. If Green Lantern stays here too long and there's no way to counterbalance his power, it'll affect the entire global situation."
Especially since Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter were different. They had their own kingdoms and forces behind them.
As for the United States, it was still doing okay. Reid wasn't part of the government, but at least he was American. And he had powerful abilities of his own.
However, other countries had already fallen into a deep anxiety about superhumans. If 'Green Lantern' remained on Earth, that would only grow and eventually explode like a ticking bomb.
"No, I don't care about global politics," Reed said. "Your words just reminded me, Green Lantern is a hero, right? He fought in the Civil War as an ordinary person. He fought to free the slaves! So if we're in danger... he wouldn't just sit back and watch, would he?"
"Wait! Reed, what are you thinking? You better not do anything reckless!"
Ben knew how stubborn his friend could get once he locked onto an idea. He was seriously worried the man might go and stage a crime just to draw out 'Green Lantern.'
"I haven't lost my mind, Ben. I just figured out how to find him."
Without another word, Reed tossed some money on the bar and pulled Ben out the door, heading straight back to his apartment.
Over the years, he had poured every bit of his savings into that place and had successfully transformed it into a fully equipped lab.
As soon as they arrived, he immediately threw himself into work. In less than two hours, by the time night had fully settled in, he had created a strange-looking speaker device.
"Reed... can you just explain what this thing is? You know me. I'm just a pilot. I don't get any of this high-tech stuff."
Seeing Reed's excited expression, Ben just went along and gave him the perfect chance to show off.
"Ben, this is a sound conversion device I just threw together. It can take our spoken words and convert them into a special ultrasonic signal that'll reach space. I checked the data on Green Lantern. With his physiology, he should be able to pick up the information hidden in the ultrasonic waves. As long as I yell for help through this speaker, he should be able to hear it. Of course, it only works within the range from Earth to the Moon. If it goes further than that, the signal might shift beyond what he can understand."
"That's actually a great idea."
Ben clapped his hands together. It really wasn't a bad plan. Sure, it involved a bit of trickery, but if they explained things properly, 'Green Lantern' would probably understand. Whether or not they could convince him to help with the space experiment would depend on how that conversation went.
Now that they had a way to reach their target, Reed had no reason to wait. He and Ben went up to the rooftop, choosing the open space to avoid any signal interference. They planned to activate the device and send out a distress call to get 'Green Lantern's' attention.
But just as they finished recording the message and were about to turn on the speaker, a sharp, blaring siren rang out from the street in front of their apartment.
A military-escorted truck carrying LexCorp's latest developed Yin-Yang Serum had been hit by another vehicle—a large cargo truck. The soldiers guarding the convoy were suddenly ambushed and killed by a group of armed terrorists. The dangerous serum had fallen into criminal hands.
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