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Chapter 392: You're Watching, Aren't You?
"Trojan Horse," Orin Vale said calmly.
The New Gods were bewildered. Although as invaders, they couldn't be expected to be fully versed in Earth's culture, some had heard a few of its legends. For instance, they vaguely knew the Trojan Horse referred to the story where Troy's defenders brought a wooden horse left by the Greeks into their city, only for the hidden Greek soldiers to emerge, open the gates, and conquer the city.
But even so, it was difficult to connect that story to the current situation. If there was anything the enemy could have used as a Trojan Horse, it could only be...
The New Gods: "!"
A final ripple appeared in space, and a green light shot out. A Green Lantern, wreathed in green flames, flew out slowly. His entire body was oscillating, blurred into an afterimage within the green light. He was now gradually slowing down and returning to his normal appearance.
"Green Lantern?" a New God exclaimed in shock. "Impossible. After we dragged him in, we adjusted his frequency to place him between the frequencies of reality and the Ghost Base!"
They had just successfully ambushed the Green Lantern, dragging him to a different frequency. This trapped him in a state similar to the "Phase Shift" ability used by Martian Manhunter and The Flash. Anyone in that phase, without the corresponding ability to switch phases, would be trapped there forever, unable to touch anything in reality or attack the New Gods hidden within the Ghost Base.
Until the next moment, when they saw a change occur on the Green Lantern's body.
Within those green flames, a golden radiance suddenly surged. Light particles separated from his body, and the instant they did, the Green Lantern completely stopped oscillating and returned to his normal form.
The light particles that had separated from him then coalesced at his side, transforming into a red-and-silver body with a blue-glowing crystal on its chest.
The New Gods: "!?"
"I also know how to use resonant phase-shifting," Orin Vale said calmly. "I saw through your methods during the first attack. The only obstacle was that I didn't know what oscillation frequency you were hiding in."
"I tried to scan using conventional methods, but I deduced you had set up a shield using some form of Apokolips technology. In such a short amount of time, identifying the abnormal frequency superimposed on this space would have been a little difficult, even for me."
"Fortunately, besides oscillation, I've also done a little research into 'duplication' and 'possession' abilities..."
The New Gods now understood perfectly what had just happened.
It was this Green Lantern. This Green Lantern was his Trojan Horse!
The moment Orin Vale realized the enemy's tactic, he had separated a part of himself in photon form and attached it to the Green Lantern. So when the New Gods dragged the Green Lantern in, that part of Orin Vale's clone went in with him, and through it, found the frequency where they were hiding.
And what he had just done was use that clone to launch a surprise attack from the Green Lantern with lightning speed. It was so fast that none of the New Gods could react before they were kicked out of their Ghost Base and back to the normal frequency of Earth-2.
Not only that, but when the clone transformed into the form of Ultraman, the New Gods finally knew who their enemy was.
"It's you!" a New God said, stunned. "That guy from Gotham!"
"It's me." The separated light particles flew back to his main body as Orin Vale spoke with a smile.
Just as he spoke, a New God erupted from behind him, his fingers like blades as he clawed swiftly toward Orin Vale's back. It seemed he was trying to launch a sneak attack during the moment of distraction as Orin Vale recalled his clone.
But Orin Vale didn't even turn his head. His arm swung back like a spring in a counter-punch. The back of his fist struck the New God square in the face. His punch was so fast it was formless, and he had even predicted the attacker's trajectory, making it look as if the New God had deliberately slammed his head into the fist.
A transparent shockwave exploded on the New God's face, and blood sprayed out. The New God let out a miserable grunt and was sent flying backward along his path of attack, his body spinning before slamming into the wall panel behind him. The wall caved in, and the New God's head lolled to the side, stuck within the indentation, his life signs unknown.
One down in an instant. Orin Vale shook his fist, his gaze sweeping over the others.
As if asking, *who's next?*
The remaining seven New Gods surrounded Orin Vale and the Green Lantern, but no one dared to make a rash move.
Seven against two, an absolute advantage in numbers.
One of the New Gods swallowed.
Defeat was certain.
The Four-Eyed New God was stunned. He hadn't personally gone to the front lines; after all, he was just a scout. His job was to observe from the rear.
But the situation had developed completely beyond his imagination.
This invader was practically using cheats. He had so easily seen through their base's greatest "oscillation" disguise, carelessly dragging out eight New Gods at once. The New Gods' invincible setup had been casually cracked by him in the blink of an eye.
When he saw that the invader's true form was none other than the Giant of Light who had appeared in Gotham, the Four-Eyed New God couldn't help but tremble with fear.
Back in Gotham, he had witnessed this guy's light-ray ability; he was practically a weapon of mass destruction capable of wiping out an entire interstellar fleet on his own. Not only that, but he also possessed such terrifying power and speed in close-quarters combat within such a small space, clearly overwhelming them, the New Gods.
It sounded absurd, but in the Four-Eyed New God's view, he might even be more terrifying than the Superman who had been granted divine power by Apokolips!
Through the mental projection, he watched the battle over there... no, it couldn't even be called a battle. It was a completely one-sided beating. Seven New Gods attacked side-by-side, but before that eerie being, they were nothing more than punching bags.
Even that Green Lantern could barely get involved; he was just following behind and cleaning up.
But they had been fighting on Earth for so long, and there had never been anyone like this! How could such an overpowered individual just appear out of nowhere?
Could it be... because he had just jinxed it too much?
At this thought, the Four-Eyed New God couldn't resist the urge to slap himself.
It was all his fault for constantly jinxing everything. First, he jinxed his own woman to death, and then he jinxed his entire team and sent them to their doom. If he hadn't been hiding in their home base, squeezing out every last drop of his jinxing power to perform his ritual, this overpowered being might not have even shown up...
But it was too late for regrets.
Watching his teammates get scattered and utterly beaten on the screen, the rage the Four-Eyed New God felt just minutes ago about avenging his wife had completely vanished. It was as if he had suddenly achieved enlightenment and seen past it all.
Thinking about it carefully, his relationship with that Long-Tongue wasn't based on any sincere emotion. They just had a sordid yet purely opportunistic relationship. On Apokolips, wasn't everyone just living for themselves?
Wife? Don't know her. Really, don't know her at all.
It's not that revenge is impossible, but it's just not necessary.
Thinking this, the Four-Eyed New God let out a long sigh, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart.
Revenge didn't matter anymore; the base wasn't as important as his own life. The Geneva Fire Pit had already fallen. He was just a scout, there was nothing he could do. The best course of action now was to run...
However, just as he was about to retract the mental projection and make a run for it...
He suddenly saw on the screen that Orin Vale, who had just finished dealing with his teammates, paused strangely.
Then slowly, bit by bit, he raised his head.
He looked in the direction that should have been empty, but was directly facing the mental projection's point of view.
It was as if they were face to face, as if he had crossed the barrier of space to meet the gaze of the Four-Eyed New God, who was using his ability to peek at the screen.
That gaze seemed to say...
*You're... watching, aren't you?*
The Four-Eyed New God: "!!!"
(end of chapter)
"Trojan Horse," Orin Vale said calmly.
The New Gods were bewildered. Although as invaders, they couldn't be expected to be fully versed in Earth's culture, some had heard a few of its legends. For instance, they vaguely knew the Trojan Horse referred to the story where Troy's defenders brought a wooden horse left by the Greeks into their city, only for the hidden Greek soldiers to emerge, open the gates, and conquer the city.
But even so, it was difficult to connect that story to the current situation. If there was anything the enemy could have used as a Trojan Horse, it could only be...
The New Gods: "!"
A final ripple appeared in space, and a green light shot out. A Green Lantern, wreathed in green flames, flew out slowly. His entire body was oscillating, blurred into an afterimage within the green light. He was now gradually slowing down and returning to his normal appearance.
"Green Lantern?" a New God exclaimed in shock. "Impossible. After we dragged him in, we adjusted his frequency to place him between the frequencies of reality and the Ghost Base!"
They had just successfully ambushed the Green Lantern, dragging him to a different frequency. This trapped him in a state similar to the "Phase Shift" ability used by Martian Manhunter and The Flash. Anyone in that phase, without the corresponding ability to switch phases, would be trapped there forever, unable to touch anything in reality or attack the New Gods hidden within the Ghost Base.
Until the next moment, when they saw a change occur on the Green Lantern's body.
Within those green flames, a golden radiance suddenly surged. Light particles separated from his body, and the instant they did, the Green Lantern completely stopped oscillating and returned to his normal form.
The light particles that had separated from him then coalesced at his side, transforming into a red-and-silver body with a blue-glowing crystal on its chest.
The New Gods: "!?"
"I also know how to use resonant phase-shifting," Orin Vale said calmly. "I saw through your methods during the first attack. The only obstacle was that I didn't know what oscillation frequency you were hiding in."
"I tried to scan using conventional methods, but I deduced you had set up a shield using some form of Apokolips technology. In such a short amount of time, identifying the abnormal frequency superimposed on this space would have been a little difficult, even for me."
"Fortunately, besides oscillation, I've also done a little research into 'duplication' and 'possession' abilities..."
The New Gods now understood perfectly what had just happened.
It was this Green Lantern. This Green Lantern was his Trojan Horse!
The moment Orin Vale realized the enemy's tactic, he had separated a part of himself in photon form and attached it to the Green Lantern. So when the New Gods dragged the Green Lantern in, that part of Orin Vale's clone went in with him, and through it, found the frequency where they were hiding.
And what he had just done was use that clone to launch a surprise attack from the Green Lantern with lightning speed. It was so fast that none of the New Gods could react before they were kicked out of their Ghost Base and back to the normal frequency of Earth-2.
Not only that, but when the clone transformed into the form of Ultraman, the New Gods finally knew who their enemy was.
"It's you!" a New God said, stunned. "That guy from Gotham!"
"It's me." The separated light particles flew back to his main body as Orin Vale spoke with a smile.
Just as he spoke, a New God erupted from behind him, his fingers like blades as he clawed swiftly toward Orin Vale's back. It seemed he was trying to launch a sneak attack during the moment of distraction as Orin Vale recalled his clone.
But Orin Vale didn't even turn his head. His arm swung back like a spring in a counter-punch. The back of his fist struck the New God square in the face. His punch was so fast it was formless, and he had even predicted the attacker's trajectory, making it look as if the New God had deliberately slammed his head into the fist.
A transparent shockwave exploded on the New God's face, and blood sprayed out. The New God let out a miserable grunt and was sent flying backward along his path of attack, his body spinning before slamming into the wall panel behind him. The wall caved in, and the New God's head lolled to the side, stuck within the indentation, his life signs unknown.
One down in an instant. Orin Vale shook his fist, his gaze sweeping over the others.
As if asking, *who's next?*
The remaining seven New Gods surrounded Orin Vale and the Green Lantern, but no one dared to make a rash move.
Seven against two, an absolute advantage in numbers.
One of the New Gods swallowed.
Defeat was certain.
The Four-Eyed New God was stunned. He hadn't personally gone to the front lines; after all, he was just a scout. His job was to observe from the rear.
But the situation had developed completely beyond his imagination.
This invader was practically using cheats. He had so easily seen through their base's greatest "oscillation" disguise, carelessly dragging out eight New Gods at once. The New Gods' invincible setup had been casually cracked by him in the blink of an eye.
When he saw that the invader's true form was none other than the Giant of Light who had appeared in Gotham, the Four-Eyed New God couldn't help but tremble with fear.
Back in Gotham, he had witnessed this guy's light-ray ability; he was practically a weapon of mass destruction capable of wiping out an entire interstellar fleet on his own. Not only that, but he also possessed such terrifying power and speed in close-quarters combat within such a small space, clearly overwhelming them, the New Gods.
It sounded absurd, but in the Four-Eyed New God's view, he might even be more terrifying than the Superman who had been granted divine power by Apokolips!
Through the mental projection, he watched the battle over there... no, it couldn't even be called a battle. It was a completely one-sided beating. Seven New Gods attacked side-by-side, but before that eerie being, they were nothing more than punching bags.
Even that Green Lantern could barely get involved; he was just following behind and cleaning up.
But they had been fighting on Earth for so long, and there had never been anyone like this! How could such an overpowered individual just appear out of nowhere?
Could it be... because he had just jinxed it too much?
At this thought, the Four-Eyed New God couldn't resist the urge to slap himself.
It was all his fault for constantly jinxing everything. First, he jinxed his own woman to death, and then he jinxed his entire team and sent them to their doom. If he hadn't been hiding in their home base, squeezing out every last drop of his jinxing power to perform his ritual, this overpowered being might not have even shown up...
But it was too late for regrets.
Watching his teammates get scattered and utterly beaten on the screen, the rage the Four-Eyed New God felt just minutes ago about avenging his wife had completely vanished. It was as if he had suddenly achieved enlightenment and seen past it all.
Thinking about it carefully, his relationship with that Long-Tongue wasn't based on any sincere emotion. They just had a sordid yet purely opportunistic relationship. On Apokolips, wasn't everyone just living for themselves?
Wife? Don't know her. Really, don't know her at all.
It's not that revenge is impossible, but it's just not necessary.
Thinking this, the Four-Eyed New God let out a long sigh, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart.
Revenge didn't matter anymore; the base wasn't as important as his own life. The Geneva Fire Pit had already fallen. He was just a scout, there was nothing he could do. The best course of action now was to run...
However, just as he was about to retract the mental projection and make a run for it...
He suddenly saw on the screen that Orin Vale, who had just finished dealing with his teammates, paused strangely.
Then slowly, bit by bit, he raised his head.
He looked in the direction that should have been empty, but was directly facing the mental projection's point of view.
It was as if they were face to face, as if he had crossed the barrier of space to meet the gaze of the Four-Eyed New God, who was using his ability to peek at the screen.
That gaze seemed to say...
*You're... watching, aren't you?*
The Four-Eyed New God: "!!!"
(end of chapter)
