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Chapter 782 The Dumbest Method
The Black Lanterns encountered a major setback for the first time, a fact unknown to anyone except the Editorial Department and Superboy-Prime.
Only the Editorial Department and Nekron understood the reason, but neither broadcasted it.
Nekron, far away in the Main Universe, watched the situation transmitted back from the Prime Universe. He remained silent for a long time before forcing himself to shift his focus back to the present.
“In all the years I've been absent, something so unknown has actually appeared…”
Nekron lifted his skin-and-bones skeletal head, a terrifying white light glowing in his eyes.
The Scarred Guardian watched him with a blank expression. "What is it? Logically, no one within the Multiverse should be your opponent."
“No, there is… I originally thought I only had one obstacle, my nemesis, but I never expected a second…”
“What?” the Scarred Guardian pressed.
“It is precisely because I don't know what that thing is that I am… surprised.”
Nekron looked at the Scarred Guardian, his voice icy and carrying a heart-stopping chill.
Nekron racked his brains but could not figure out what that thing was, much less understand why it gave him a fatal sense of threat.
For a fleeting moment, Nekron felt that he might… die! As the supreme deity of Death, he actually felt that he could die! His intuition told him that if he had continued to entangle with it just now, he would have fallen into an eternal slumber—the kind where both his consciousness and spirit would completely dissipate, never to awaken again.
This sense of threat… far surpassed what the White Light of Creation had made him feel back then.
In the battle against the White Light of Creation, although Nekron was at a disadvantage, he was still able to severely wound his opponent before entering his long slumber. Not to mention the soon-to-be-revived Life Entity, which was a degenerated form of the White Light of Creation.
But the thing he saw in the Editorial Department gave Nekron an unprecedented sense of threat, yet someone as powerful as Nekron couldn't even comprehend what it was…
Even someone as cold as Nekron couldn't help but feel a rare ripple in his heart.
The Scarred Guardian turned his head away again, his expression indifferent. "It's your imagination. No one in the Multiverse is your opponent."
But the moment he turned away, the Scarred Guardian's expression shifted, and something flickered in his eyes.
...
There was no longer any safe haven in the Main Universe.
Even on Cybertron, where Tony stood guard, Black Lanterns would occasionally appear. However, the planet possessed powerful defensive forces and a massive number of Lantern Rings, ensuring the Black Lanterns were always destroyed at the first opportunity.
But no one knew just how many Black Lantern rings were hidden on Cybertron, nor when they would swarm out all at once, turning into a planet-destroying bomb.
At this moment, tens of billions of Black Lanterns were laying siege to the periphery of the pocket universe, attacking madly in wave after wave, trying to break open the entrance to the Cybertron system located in the Main Universe and completely destroy Cybertron.
The numerous legions from Cybertron were engaged in a fierce battle with the Black Lantern army.
If a world as powerful as Cybertron was forced into an endless war of attrition, one could only imagine the state of other regions in the Main Universe. And since even the powerful Main Universe, with the One-Above-All giving it an unfair advantage, was plunged into such chaos, it was easy to imagine the fate of the other universes invaded by the Black Lanterns.
Meanwhile, on Earth.
The Earthlings, now equipped with Lantern Rings of every color, were resisting desperately, struggling for a chance at survival, but people were constantly being killed by the Black Lanterns and converted into one of them.
Black Hand hid in the darkness, coldly orchestrating the Black Lanterns' invasion of Earth. Having personally seen Nekron right before his own suicide, he firmly believed that Death was by his side and that he had nothing to fear.
In fact, no one on the entire planet could find him. The superheroes and supervillains were fighting a miserable, bloody battle against the Black Lantern Corps, growing numb from the endless slaughter.
There were too many of them. The number of Black Lanterns was simply too great. It was no exaggeration to say that the dead outnumbered the living by several times, dozens of times, or even hundreds of times. How many people had died in the five billion years since Earth's birth? It was simply impossible to count.
Even more terrifying, the Level Seven being, The Final Arbiter Lord, was currently rampaging across Earth. Horrifying volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis occurred frequently, and a large number of civilians died in these natural disasters.
Ever since the last invasion from Apokolips, when Steppenwolf's clone split the Australian continent in two with a single axe strike, the scars The Final Arbiter Lord was inflicting upon Earth were in no way less severe than Steppenwolf's.
Black Bolt, who had rushed over from the Moon, was fighting a bitter battle with The Final Arbiter Lord, but he was constantly at a disadvantage.
Black Bolt was at the bottom tier of Level Seven, while The Final Arbiter Lord hailed from the strongest combat power unit within the Celestials. The two were not on the same level.
“Where is Red Lantern Hulk!! We need support!!”
Clark roared as he and the others joined forces, using the light of their Lantern Rings to sweep away the Black Lanterns, while warily keeping an eye on The Final Arbiter Lord's movements.
Black Bolt had lured The Final Arbiter Lord to Antarctica and was now struggling to drag the two-thousand-foot-tall behemoth into space, his body covered in blood.
Scarecrow Crane sneered as he sent several Black Lanterns flying. "There are no reinforcements for Earth now. You can't expect Tony to send people every time. Here's a free piece of news for you: Cybertron is under siege by tens of billions of Black Lanterns, and the number of enemies is skyrocketing every second. It's only a matter of time before it reaches hundreds of billions or trillions. As for Black Lanterns stronger than this big guy on Earth, there are no less than double digits of them."
Actually, the sheer number of tens or hundreds of billions was secondary. The tricky part was that numerous Level Seven Black Lanterns were also mixed in among them, ready to deliver a devastating blow at any moment.
Throughout the entire Multiverse, the most intense battlefield was the Cybertron system in the Main Universe. Many of the Level Seven Black Lanterns had been drawn there by Tony, which was undoubtedly influenced by Nekron's deliberate control. Tying down Tony, the One-Above-All, with a group of relatively worthless Level Seven Black Lanterns was a very cost-effective move.
And for some unknown reason, Tony had yet to make a move. He seemed to be waiting for something.
Iron Man flew into the sky, the Green Lantern Ring on his hand flaring with willpower. He said in a deep voice, "Guys, we can only rely on ourselves now. I've tried to analyze this emotional energy, but I haven't made any progress yet… So, we can only use the dumbest method. We'll create a barrier to seal off Earth with our own manpower."
According to Tony's original idea, he would figure out the operating principles of emotional energy in a very short time. Then, by harnessing the emotional output of Earth's several billion living people, he would create powerful safe zones.
To be more precise, every living person would be a small safe zone. Everyone's emotions would be linked together through a central system, just like a virtual reality network, creating a world of emotional energy.
But unfortunately, Tony underestimated the mystery of the Emotional Spectrum. With the knowledge he possessed, it was simply impossible to create a virtual world of emotion.
They could only use the dumbest method. All Lantern Ring wielders would join forces to create a seven-colored emotional protection net to envelop Earth. Then, they would organize numerous powerful squads to continuously eliminate the Black Lanterns on the planet, or at the very least, throw them off of it.
(end of chapter)
The Black Lanterns encountered a major setback for the first time, a fact unknown to anyone except the Editorial Department and Superboy-Prime.
Only the Editorial Department and Nekron understood the reason, but neither broadcasted it.
Nekron, far away in the Main Universe, watched the situation transmitted back from the Prime Universe. He remained silent for a long time before forcing himself to shift his focus back to the present.
“In all the years I've been absent, something so unknown has actually appeared…”
Nekron lifted his skin-and-bones skeletal head, a terrifying white light glowing in his eyes.
The Scarred Guardian watched him with a blank expression. "What is it? Logically, no one within the Multiverse should be your opponent."
“No, there is… I originally thought I only had one obstacle, my nemesis, but I never expected a second…”
“What?” the Scarred Guardian pressed.
“It is precisely because I don't know what that thing is that I am… surprised.”
Nekron looked at the Scarred Guardian, his voice icy and carrying a heart-stopping chill.
Nekron racked his brains but could not figure out what that thing was, much less understand why it gave him a fatal sense of threat.
For a fleeting moment, Nekron felt that he might… die! As the supreme deity of Death, he actually felt that he could die! His intuition told him that if he had continued to entangle with it just now, he would have fallen into an eternal slumber—the kind where both his consciousness and spirit would completely dissipate, never to awaken again.
This sense of threat… far surpassed what the White Light of Creation had made him feel back then.
In the battle against the White Light of Creation, although Nekron was at a disadvantage, he was still able to severely wound his opponent before entering his long slumber. Not to mention the soon-to-be-revived Life Entity, which was a degenerated form of the White Light of Creation.
But the thing he saw in the Editorial Department gave Nekron an unprecedented sense of threat, yet someone as powerful as Nekron couldn't even comprehend what it was…
Even someone as cold as Nekron couldn't help but feel a rare ripple in his heart.
The Scarred Guardian turned his head away again, his expression indifferent. "It's your imagination. No one in the Multiverse is your opponent."
But the moment he turned away, the Scarred Guardian's expression shifted, and something flickered in his eyes.
...
There was no longer any safe haven in the Main Universe.
Even on Cybertron, where Tony stood guard, Black Lanterns would occasionally appear. However, the planet possessed powerful defensive forces and a massive number of Lantern Rings, ensuring the Black Lanterns were always destroyed at the first opportunity.
But no one knew just how many Black Lantern rings were hidden on Cybertron, nor when they would swarm out all at once, turning into a planet-destroying bomb.
At this moment, tens of billions of Black Lanterns were laying siege to the periphery of the pocket universe, attacking madly in wave after wave, trying to break open the entrance to the Cybertron system located in the Main Universe and completely destroy Cybertron.
The numerous legions from Cybertron were engaged in a fierce battle with the Black Lantern army.
If a world as powerful as Cybertron was forced into an endless war of attrition, one could only imagine the state of other regions in the Main Universe. And since even the powerful Main Universe, with the One-Above-All giving it an unfair advantage, was plunged into such chaos, it was easy to imagine the fate of the other universes invaded by the Black Lanterns.
Meanwhile, on Earth.
The Earthlings, now equipped with Lantern Rings of every color, were resisting desperately, struggling for a chance at survival, but people were constantly being killed by the Black Lanterns and converted into one of them.
Black Hand hid in the darkness, coldly orchestrating the Black Lanterns' invasion of Earth. Having personally seen Nekron right before his own suicide, he firmly believed that Death was by his side and that he had nothing to fear.
In fact, no one on the entire planet could find him. The superheroes and supervillains were fighting a miserable, bloody battle against the Black Lantern Corps, growing numb from the endless slaughter.
There were too many of them. The number of Black Lanterns was simply too great. It was no exaggeration to say that the dead outnumbered the living by several times, dozens of times, or even hundreds of times. How many people had died in the five billion years since Earth's birth? It was simply impossible to count.
Even more terrifying, the Level Seven being, The Final Arbiter Lord, was currently rampaging across Earth. Horrifying volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis occurred frequently, and a large number of civilians died in these natural disasters.
Ever since the last invasion from Apokolips, when Steppenwolf's clone split the Australian continent in two with a single axe strike, the scars The Final Arbiter Lord was inflicting upon Earth were in no way less severe than Steppenwolf's.
Black Bolt, who had rushed over from the Moon, was fighting a bitter battle with The Final Arbiter Lord, but he was constantly at a disadvantage.
Black Bolt was at the bottom tier of Level Seven, while The Final Arbiter Lord hailed from the strongest combat power unit within the Celestials. The two were not on the same level.
“Where is Red Lantern Hulk!! We need support!!”
Clark roared as he and the others joined forces, using the light of their Lantern Rings to sweep away the Black Lanterns, while warily keeping an eye on The Final Arbiter Lord's movements.
Black Bolt had lured The Final Arbiter Lord to Antarctica and was now struggling to drag the two-thousand-foot-tall behemoth into space, his body covered in blood.
Scarecrow Crane sneered as he sent several Black Lanterns flying. "There are no reinforcements for Earth now. You can't expect Tony to send people every time. Here's a free piece of news for you: Cybertron is under siege by tens of billions of Black Lanterns, and the number of enemies is skyrocketing every second. It's only a matter of time before it reaches hundreds of billions or trillions. As for Black Lanterns stronger than this big guy on Earth, there are no less than double digits of them."
Actually, the sheer number of tens or hundreds of billions was secondary. The tricky part was that numerous Level Seven Black Lanterns were also mixed in among them, ready to deliver a devastating blow at any moment.
Throughout the entire Multiverse, the most intense battlefield was the Cybertron system in the Main Universe. Many of the Level Seven Black Lanterns had been drawn there by Tony, which was undoubtedly influenced by Nekron's deliberate control. Tying down Tony, the One-Above-All, with a group of relatively worthless Level Seven Black Lanterns was a very cost-effective move.
And for some unknown reason, Tony had yet to make a move. He seemed to be waiting for something.
Iron Man flew into the sky, the Green Lantern Ring on his hand flaring with willpower. He said in a deep voice, "Guys, we can only rely on ourselves now. I've tried to analyze this emotional energy, but I haven't made any progress yet… So, we can only use the dumbest method. We'll create a barrier to seal off Earth with our own manpower."
According to Tony's original idea, he would figure out the operating principles of emotional energy in a very short time. Then, by harnessing the emotional output of Earth's several billion living people, he would create powerful safe zones.
To be more precise, every living person would be a small safe zone. Everyone's emotions would be linked together through a central system, just like a virtual reality network, creating a world of emotional energy.
But unfortunately, Tony underestimated the mystery of the Emotional Spectrum. With the knowledge he possessed, it was simply impossible to create a virtual world of emotion.
They could only use the dumbest method. All Lantern Ring wielders would join forces to create a seven-colored emotional protection net to envelop Earth. Then, they would organize numerous powerful squads to continuously eliminate the Black Lanterns on the planet, or at the very least, throw them off of it.
(end of chapter)
