David decided to temporarily set aside the question of why a Mother Box would contact Apokolips while Clark was alive and present.
"Apokolips has likely been contacted already, and an army of Parademons led by Apokolips's high-ranking officials could descend at any moment. It's more important to figure out how to fight back."
He took the Mother Box from Themyscira and prepared to head to Atlantis.
"Can I come with you? If extraterrestrial enemies invade this world, I want to be on the front lines, contributing my strength to protect it."
Diana asked to accompany him off the island.
David thought for a moment and agreed.
In the original storyline, only Steppenwolf appeared. If it were just Steppenwolf, he was confident he could handle it alone. However, things might not unfold as they did originally, especially since some elements had already changed.
"What if it's not just Steppenwolf, but Granny Goodness, Desaad, Kanto, Kalibak... or even Darkseid himself!"
The names of those fierce and powerful Apokolips higher-ups flashed through his mind.
In that case, he wouldn't be able to handle it alone. Diana, as the daughter of Zeus, possessed immense potential that could still be tapped into. If unleashed, she would be a powerful asset.
Afterward, David took Diana to Atlantis and retrieved the second Mother Box from there. He first sent it to the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, hoping Jor-El could use technology to prevent the Mother Box from contacting Apokolips.
"The technology contained within this box surpasses that of Krypton. I can see that, like the World Engine, it can modify planetary environments. In addition to that... it has abilities like creating force fields, detecting life, absorbing and emitting explosions. It also seems to possess some form of spatial teleportation technology."
Inside the Fortress of Solitude, Jor-El's eyes were filled with shock as he looked at the two boxes placed before him and the various parameters displayed on the holographic projection, his brow furrowed.
"I'll try my best, David. Don't get your hopes too high."
After David defeated Brainiac and obtained his ship, he also placed it in the uninhabited area of the Arctic, deep enough to freeze steel. Jor-El's technological knowledge had increased significantly through studying the ship.
Although Jor-El was a rare genius in Kryptonian history, compared to Brainiac, an intelligent life form with Level 12 wisdom, he was like a toddler. Some of Apokolips's technology was considered outdated by Brainiac.
Pulling his gaze, tinged with curiosity, back from the advanced spaceship hull, Diana entered the alien vessel, which would have astonished human scientists, behaving no differently than if she were walking down the impoverished and backward streets of Khandaq at the time. It was like how, to a primitive person, it would be difficult to distinguish whether an electric kettle or a holographic projection setup was more technologically astonishing.
"Now, let's go find the third Mother Box."
David nodded at Jor-El's reminder and then sent a message to Clark, briefly explaining the crisis Earth was currently facing.
"I've asked the nearby Clark to head there first."
He wouldn't have taken such initiative for other matters, but this was a crisis involving Earth's safety, and no one could escape it.
"You know where the third Mother Box is?" Diana asked, puzzled. Her last trip outside Themyscira had given her some understanding of the human world. Humans had long since dispersed into countless countries, and any records of Mother Boxes were likely lost to the river of time.
"It's in Gotham City."
David provided the answer accurately and then added, "I hope we're still in time."
Cyborg, Victor Stone, was from Gotham, and his father, Silas Stone, was researching a Mother Box at STAR Labs' Gotham branch. The two Mother Boxes had detected his presence after he came into contact with them and marked them as unsuitable landing sites. The remaining one was the only option left; the Mother Boxes had no other choice.
...
Under the overcast sky, on a skyscraper in Gotham.
"Please, let me go!"
"You should be taking me to the police, not here!"
A burly robber was on the verge of tears, pleading with the city's Dark Knight, Batman. He remembered how, not too long ago, he and some of his low-life friends would boast over drinks about how if they ever encountered Batman, they'd pop his Bat-cycle tires and beat him so badly he couldn't take care of himself. At the very least, they'd never beg that freak for mercy. That's what he had thought. If Batman hadn't found him committing a crime in a dark alley, and was now dangling him by a rope from the edge of a skyscraper dozens of stories high, letting him sway in the cold wind like a piece of fatty meat used as bait for something, he would have been much tougher.
Whoosh!
The cold wind whistled past his ears like the sharp cries of a monster. Below was a dizzying height, and the traffic on the road moved back and forth, the cars looking as small as matchboxes. His heart pounded wildly, threatening to leap out of his throat.
"Almost there."
Batman's voice was cold and deep.
"What do you want me to do!" the robber screamed, full of incomprehension. "Just say something!"
It was unlikely that Batman would torture him for no reason. He frantically tried to recall if he knew any clues to any major cases.
"Do what you're doing now."
Batman, clad in his black suit, looked up at the sky.
"Fear!"
A sharp roar came from the clouds, churning like a sea of suffering. A humanoid monster with dragonfly-like wings, clad in high-tech armor, swooped down, heading straight for the robber exuding fear.
"They really are looking for fear."
Batman yanked hard, and the monster missed. Instinctively, like prey on a hook, it lunged forward, only to be bound by a pair of bat-made grappling hooks that wrapped around its hands. It spotted Batman and, filled with ferocity, flew towards the creature attacking it.
Bruce Wayne dodged its powerful collision, brushing past it, grabbed its leg, and slammed it hard onto the ground. His gauntlets, augmented by exoskeleton strength, smashed into the monster's shriveled, ugly head.
An attack capable of denting a concrete wall only stunned it.
He frowned and stood up. His wristband coldly emitted a large net made of high-density alloy, covering the monster and capturing it.
The monster struggled several times but couldn't break free. It let out irritable, insect-like screeches. The orange light on its chest, symbolizing danger, flared brightly. After a few seconds, its entire body exploded, turning into ashes.
"No reason, excited by fear, only knows how to attack, an extreme biological weapon."
Lowering the hand he'd raised to shield his face, Batman frowned. It was worse than he'd thought.
"It has a self-destruct program inside, not allowing capture or research. So savage!"
As he pondered who was behind the dozens of attacks and murders in Gotham City today, noisy and piercing screams, like a swarm of bees, came from above the clouds. Dozens of Parademons from Apokolips charged at him.
Batman's expression changed. After their brief contact, he already understood the terror of these biological weapons.
A few were difficult to deal with, let alone dozens. Giving him no chance to breathe, he drew his bat-grapple, preparing for a flanking maneuver.
Suddenly, a green light lit up above the clouds.
A fighter jet, seemingly carved from emeralds, broke through the clouds and dived down. Its anti-aircraft machine guns opened fire on the terrifying Parademons. Under the powerful firepower amplified by the Lantern Ring's might, dozens of Parademons were annihilated by the fighter jet, which used superb aerial skills to weave through them several times.
Batman frowned. It wasn't the two people he'd expected.
Those two wouldn't be so flashy, and such powerful alien energy weapons were always secondary tools in their hands.
"Batman?"
The energy plane dissipated, and a figure in a green energy bodysuit, wearing an eye mask, slowly descended. The ring on his hand shone like a dazzling lantern, illuminating Batman's figure.
Hal Jordan looked at the figure before him, his tone slightly flippant, as if he'd captured a monster from a childhood horror story, feigning surprise.
"I always thought you were a Gotham urban legend. You actually exist?"
"Damn it, you're shining too brightly!
Turn off the light before they find us!"
Batman raised his hand to block the light, squinting, and shouted.
"Who's 'they'?"
Just as Hal Jordan finished asking, the clouds in the sky lit up with orange light. A dense army of Parademons, numbering no less than several hundred at a glance, roared and swarmed forward. Unlike the previous one, they were all carrying laser weapons emitting an orange, dangerous glow.
"Kill one, and more come.
It's a fight to the death!"
Batman's expression was grim.
He had now encountered a small army of these high-tech biological weapons, seemingly born for slaughter.
This was definitely not from Earth.
Damn it, couldn't Earth have a few peaceful days?
"Oh, you mean them?
Don't worry, I have my own army too."
Hal Jordan spoke boastfully, like a mischievous boy who had just received a favorite toy.
The Lantern Ring on his hand conjured a modern army equipped with riot shields, which immediately opened fire on the approaching monsters in the sky.
Hovering behind the shield wall, Hal Jordan looked at Batman, whose expression remained somber and grave, and spoke with his arms crossed.
"Don't worry.
Although I saw one of them cause trouble in Coast City earlier and shoot through a police car, these energy shields can withstand anything on Earth except nuclear bombs!"
"Are Superman and the Transcendent's fists the same?"
Unable to bear his incessant chatter, Batman replied coldly.
Hal Jordan paused, then chuckled.
"So you do know the Transcendent and Superman, just like the news says.
Did you fight alongside them against alien invaders?"
"To be honest, Earth falls within the cosmic sector I'm responsible for. That was originally my job, but you took care of it for me."
The Lantern Ring's power was indeed not something ordinary Parademons could resist. Under the modern troops condensed by willpower, hundreds of demons suffered heavy casualties from the roaring rifle fire. Hal Jordan spoke eloquently.
"Any extraterrestrial presence that enters other planets without permission and may pose a threat falls within my area of responsibility.
This applies to Superman and the Transcendent."
"The veteran Lantern who gave me the ring also specifically told me to keep a close eye on them, especially the Transcendent. If he makes any moves that threaten Earth, report it to Legion Headquarters immediately."
"You?" Seeing that the hundreds of monsters were unlikely to break through the defenses and harm anyone else, Batman relaxed slightly and turned his head.
"What's with that look?"
Seeing Batman's eyes full of doubt behind his mask, like seeing a husky claiming it could give a T-Rex an over-the-shoulder throw, Hal Jordan got a little agitated.
"They are very powerful, I admit.
But repelling invading aliens isn't much.
Lanterns from almost all 3,600 sectors of the universe have done similar things!"
He raised the ring in his hand, speaking with the excitement of someone emphasizing something they have little of.
"Do you know what this is?
This is the most powerful weapon in the universe!"
"I saw it. Those alien monsters have already been wiped out while I was speaking, like swatting a bunch of bugs."
Hundreds of Parademons were shot and their bodies turned to ash, falling from the sky. Hal Jordan tilted his chin up.
"Let alone the Transcendent.
My Lantern instructor, Kilowog, told me that as long as I have enough willpower, I could even use this ring to hit stars around like billiard balls! Do you think the Transcendent has that kind of ability?"
"They have snooker in space too?"
After glancing at the ashes twice and judging that this was not a place to linger, fearing that the bio-weapons produced by high-tech might have tracking capabilities, Batman glanced at him again and turned to head back to the Batcave to get the Fenrir Armor.
"Just know it means something like that.
And another thing, Kilowog would never lie to me.
He has a pig's head with no hair, and he looks like a grumpy, not-too-bright sort of guy."
Hal Jordan recalled the difficult training he endured on Oa after being chosen, and curled his lips, complaining fiercely.
"Do you believe what you're saying?
It doesn't matter if you're lying to me, just don't lie to yourself."
With a strong and agile body, swinging through the city with his grapple, Hal Jordan followed closely. Batman reminded him coldly with a meaningful tone.
Based on his observations, Superman was one thing, but the Transcendent was not someone who would show mercy after becoming an adversary.
Luthor's 'disappearance' had caused considerable controversy. If it hadn't been for Brainiac's invasion, and the world being saved by Superman and the Transcendent, attracting all the attention, the wave of public outcry against the Transcendent would have already formed.
"What do you mean, 'lying'?"
Hal Jordan's voice faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he retorted with his neck stiffened.
He wasn't stupid either. As a newcomer to the Legion, he had not only quickly taken up his post as a full Lantern but had also immediately gained the right to request an audience with the Guardians of the Universe, solely to report any unusual activity by the Transcendent.
They had also specifically instructed him that since he was not yet proficient with the Lantern Ring and it concerned the Transcendent, he should report anything first and not act rashly.
From every angle, the Legion seemed to be quite apprehensive of the Transcendent.
"It's like I'm a human camera set up on Earth by the Guardians specifically for the Transcendent."
Pah, pah, pah!
Hal Jordan spat several times in his mind, chasing away the thought. How could he belittle himself like that? He puffed out his chest and declared.
"I've asked many Lanterns, and they've confirmed Kilowog's statement.
The power of the Lantern Ring is almost limitless.
Once I master the Lantern Ring, if the Transcendent makes any world-endangering moves, I will use this most powerful weapon in the universe to take him down immediately!"
"Oh, really?"
At that moment, a voice that seemed devoid of any emotional fluctuation echoed from above.
"How do you plan to take me down then?"
Hal Jordan's body stiffened, and he stiffly turned his head to look.
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