"Then please hurry." Green Lantern said with a frown, "The battle on our side is intense. It took two days and nights to take down this sector, and the paperwork alone is enough to crush me..."
"Hey, buddy, is your brain short-circuiting?" The Flash ran over and said, "Batman is right here. Why not give him all the paperwork? He's guaranteed to be better than any of your smart terminals."
Green Lantern just wanted to find an excuse to decline. Because he knew Batman was unlikely to agree. At the onset of the war, Batman used that terrifying pressure to force him to the front lines to earn merit, then back to the Green Lantern Headquarters to vie for power and profit, and gradually climb up in the Lantern Corps, utilizing his war hero status to reach his current position.
At that time, Green Lantern was still very reliant on Batman. Whenever he didn't understand something, he would come to him. Batman's response was always, "Hal, this is something you need to do yourself."
Now he almost understood everything, including why Batman made him do it this way. Or rather, the war was not the sole reason for his haggard state. The realization of how much responsibility he should bear, and the shame of not having managed to shoulder it in time, were what kept Hal Jordan sleepless at night.
Although there are now many tasks he can't handle, he has no desire to shove anything to Batman anymore. If it weren't for being genuinely overwhelmed, he would even like to take on more work to alleviate the guilt in his heart.
Just when Green Lantern was about to hurriedly say no, Batman nodded and said, "Recently, my focus will be on the cosmic war. Any urgent or unfinished work you have, give it to me without any delay."
Green Lantern's words were stuck in his throat. He felt a bit shocked and wronged, but in the end, he said nothing.
Fortunately, most members of the Justice League were gathered here, and with everyone chiming in, the atmosphere didn't fall into an awkward silence.
"Did you say you want to talk about the other world? Have you made any discoveries?" Wonder Woman asked first, "Of course, it's okay if you haven't; I'm not pressuring you. After all, it's just an attempt at magic, which even I can hardly understand..."
"Indeed, there have been some gains." Primary Universe Batman nodded and said, "Let me be brief—we need a windfall."
"Isn't that a bit too brief?" The Flash couldn't help but say, "You should first talk about your on-campus experiences, then talk about the differences in other universes, describe the different magic theories and then draw similar conclusions."
"Batman, I know during war our time is precious, but you can't just skip over the causes and effects, right?" Superman said, "We're not in that much of a hurry, you can tell us slowly."
"Not necessary." Primary Universe Batman shook his head and said, "This isn't the result in the causes and effects; it's the premise within them. Without energy that doesn't require a price, talking about magic theory is useless."
Even though Wonder Woman said she didn't understand magic, he was closest to it among all. He quickly realized what Batman was getting at: "Grab a gun, then use the money to grab more, and then use the money to buy more guns?"
Primary Universe Batman lightly nodded.
"Rob? Isn't that wrong?" The Flash seemed to imagine some terrifying scenes, "We are the Justice League, we can't do such things."
"We can." Primary Universe Batman looked at him and said, "Anyway, we're not robbing humans. If I don't care about face, I'll just take it."
Everyone fell silent. Batman had spoken plainly; how could they refute it?
"Originally, my target was Mount Olympus," Primary Universe Batman said. Wonder Woman widened her eyes, but Primary Universe Batman quickly made a stopping gesture and said, "However, I recall you mentioning that some unstable things are sealed on Mount Olympus. If we rashly remove them and those things get loose, we simply don't have time to capture them."
"Then I considered the Divine Speed." Primary Universe Batman looked at The Flash. The Flash shuddered slightly and stuttered, "But, but the Divine Speed can't be used for magic, right?"
"I tested it and found it indeed can't." Primary Universe Batman shook his head and said, "I was planning to make you a nice running wheel."
The Flash kept his neck retracted and stayed silent. He found the current Batman very terrifying, even more so than when he reprimanded them with a gloomy face. Listen to him—"I was planning to make you a nice running wheel," it's not surprising to hear words like this from Joker one day.
"There's also Krypton." Primary Universe Batman looked at Superman.
Superman couldn't help but point at himself: "Me?"
Then he seriously thought about it for a moment and said: "If you can truly extract the energy from me, it's not impossible. But it seems a bit difficult. Plus, most of my power comes from the Sun; why not directly extract from the Sun?"
"Just you alone isn't enough, so I've given up on that too." Primary Universe Batman said, "Now there's only one solution left."
"What?" Everyone looked at him simultaneously.
"In the current universe, one of the two warring sides must become our sustenance." Primary Universe Batman lightly tapped the table, but to others, it sounded like a thunderbolt.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Aquaman mused with a furrowed brow, "Darkseid is indeed too strong, even if we give our all to help the Lantern Corps, at most we'll just drive him back home. Apocalypse Star is an independent domain and Darkseid is a god there. We probably can't completely eliminate him."
"So we don't eliminate him." Primary Universe Batman said, looking around.
At first, the others didn't react, but soon their eyes widened. Superman said, "You don't mean to eliminate the Lantern Corps, do you?! That's absolutely out of the question, Batman! Although they do indeed have a lot of energy, and there are some areas where they're lacking, their existence serves as a deterrent. It prevents budding civilizations from being casually wiped out by higher-level civilizations. Besides, Hal is still in the Green Lantern Corps! You can't eliminate him along with them!"
Everyone looked at the holographic projection of Green Lantern. But to their surprise, Green Lantern, who seemed to be the target of Batman, did not react with the usual intense anger or rebuke Batman. His expression was very complicated.
"If you want it, come and get it." Green Lantern finally said, "At least I can guarantee I won't resist."
The atmosphere in the room finally fell silent. Superman clenched his fist as if to say something, and Wonder Woman hesitated to speak.
But at this time, Primary Universe Batman shook his head: "Hal, I helped you reach a higher position, not to eliminate you at this time. Or rather, you and the Green Lantern Corps combined are not enough, and the addition of the Yellow Lantern Corps is still not enough."
The Green Lantern in the holographic projection seemed shocked by Batman's ambition. But soon he thought of something. His arm muscles began to tense gradually, and his lips trembled slightly.
Primary Universe Batman, however, gradually leaned his body forward. Despite being separated by great distance with only a holographic projection in front of him, Green Lantern barely mustered all his courage to avoid retreating.
"Hal, I want you to strive for the power and position you deserve because only by standing high enough can you truly understand what is genuinely beneficial for universal peace and what is truly a burden. Tell me, do you now know?"
Green Lantern's Adam's apple began to slide up and down crazily. The Flash couldn't bear it, he nudged Primary Universe Batman. But Primary Universe Batman did not look away. The pressure grew over time, like a pot of water being heated to a boil by flames.
Finally, he closed his eyes and said in a somewhat trembling voice, "Universe, Guardians..."
"Who?" Primary Universe Batman pursued.
"The discoverer of the Emotional Spectrum and creator of the Lantern Corps—Guardians of the Universe."
"Who?"
"Guardians of the Universe..."
"Who?"
"Guardians of the Universe!!!" Green Lantern roared loudly, his eyes red, "Commanding this war while not caring a bit for the lives of the Lanterns nor giving a damn about any living creatures in any Sector—the damn Guardians of the Universe!!"
Then Green Lantern realized his loss of composure. He took a few deep breaths, his body swayed, and he propped his hands on the table, looking away saying, "The casualties caused by his erroneous commands are more than all sacrifices in the previous wars. Death is inevitable in war, but the most unacceptable death is that which could have been avoided."
He hammered the table forcefully with his clenched right fist, "Just during the war two days ago, the newly formed Supreme Lantern Corps conveyed a wrong order to hold, causing exactly 23 Green Lantern Knights to die in the Demon-like Army due to delayed retreat timing! And this was just because they were expressing dissatisfaction with me not reporting back to headquarters on time!"
"I remember Adri, he came from the 16th Sector and was the only superpower user from his planet. He was always proud of his identity. Also Hatty, from the 78th Sector, who had just reported a month ago. Polya, the planet's Guardian from Sector 36, he could have chosen not to participate in the battle..."
"Now they're all dead, every one of them." Green Lantern tightly gripped his fists, "But I know it's not my fault. Even if I bowed to them back at headquarters, they wouldn't spare me or my subordinates. They're just parasites on the Emotional Spectrum! Anyone could do better than them!"
"I'm sad because if I had realized this earlier, even those initial formalities and compromises wouldn't have happened. I might have had the chance to save them..."
Green Lantern covered his mouth, his body suddenly swung to the side, out of the projection. The others in the conference room shouted in unison, "Hal!"
Superman hurried to fly out, and The Flash dashed out directly. After a short while, The Flash returned, looking extremely dejected, saying, "Hal is fine, he just didn't want to see me. He... he sounded so sad..."
Wonder Woman also struck the table and said, "During the 98th Sector's retreat previously, I felt something was off. But I thought it might be internal miscoordination within the Lantern Corps, who knew there would be a sabotaging traitor! Among the Amazons, bastards who deliberately cause the deaths of their comrades would be skinned and roasted over a fire!"
Green Arrow sighed and said, "I'm not making excuses for them. But after all, it was they who discovered the Emotional Spectrum and built the Lantern Furnace, the Lantern Corps is deeply controlled by them. What can we do?"
"Wait a moment," Cyborg suddenly said, "Normally there's nothing we can do. But isn't Darkseid still around? Did you guys forget two months ago when Demon-like almost drove a blade into the Lantern Corps' belly? That Desaad personally led the team and nearly reached the Fourth Sector. Darkseid hasn't even personally led the campaign yet."
The others exchanged glances. Superman couldn't help but say, "Are we really going to cooperate with Darkseid?"
Then he turned to look at Primary Universe Batman, seemingly hoping for a negative answer. But Primary Universe Batman nodded and said, "Not only are we going to cooperate with Darkseid, but we also have to ensure he willingly collaborates with us."