"Unknown powerhouse, I want to make a deal with you."
Huo Rong manipulated the Power Ring to land in front of Shen Mu and spoke these words to him.
Meanwhile, Hal, whose self-consciousness was sealed in his mind space, watched as the power ring controlled his body to approach a terrifying-looking guy, and he completely broke down!
Shen Mu glanced at him disdainfully, realizing that another consciousness was now controlling this body.
"What are you, to be worthy of talking about a 'deal' with me?"
Shen Mu's words were not polite at all.
If it were an ordinary person, they might have become angry at this statement, but Huo Rong did not, or rather, he dared not, because this was the only hope he had seen in hundreds of billions of years.
Huo Rong and his mother were the discoverers of the emotional spectrum and the first future people capable of using emotional energy. He came from Earth-15, 1000 years in the future, but his World was on the brink of destruction.
Left with no choice, his mother had him carry the first Lantern furnace they jointly created, traveling through different Universes to spread the secret of emotional energy and search for a higher civilization that could save his World.
And in the process of constantly using emotional spectrum energy for Universe-hopping, Huo Rong gradually became assimilated by the emotional spectrum's energy.
The power ring was the first Lantern Ring he created by splitting his consciousness and soul after inadvertently entering this Universe, Earth-3.
When he created this ring, he never imagined that one day he would be imprisoned for hundreds of billions of years.
Under an accidental incident, he unexpectedly traversed endless time and space, appearing in an era hundreds of billions of years ago, the era when the Maltusian people had just risen, before they called themselves the Guardians of the Universe.
At that time, the Little Blue People, who had not yet lost their emotions, were still a very friendly and curious group.
Huo Rong generously shared his wisdom and the power of the emotional spectrum with them, and together they created a new Lantern furnace.
However, after gradually understanding the power of the emotional spectrum, the Guardians became uneasy about this energy, believing that this power would affect the peace of the Universe.
Thus, they began a series of perplexing operations.
First, in order not to be swayed by the power of emotions, they actually chose to completely strip away their own emotions and infuse all these emotions into a new Lantern furnace, naming it the Great Heart.
And due to the injection of their emotions, a Lantern Ring spontaneously emerged within this Lantern furnace; this was the Ring of Origin.
Huo Rong, being extremely sensitive to emotional energy, immediately judged that this ring possessed immense power, a power that could help him save his Universe.
So he asked the Little Blue People for this ring and was willing to become a tool in their hands.
However, since this ring was newly born, many aspects still required the Little Blue People's technology for perfection.
And Huo Rong willingly accepted a series of experiments conducted on him by the Little Blue People; during this period, they could be said to have enjoyed a honeymoon phase.
It was also at this time that the Little Blue People gradually became the Guardians of the Universe, and Huo Rong was their tool for maintaining Universal peace.
Naturally, for a tool to be effective, it must be continuously upgraded and modified, so Huo Rong's strength was constantly enhanced through the Guardians' experiments.
Finally, the Guardians even madly injected the Great Heart into Huo Rong's body.
The result, of course, was predictable: Huo Rong, having to bear the emotional energy of so many Guardians, was naturally driven insane, a deranged madman.
But the Ring of Origin was thus completed, and Huo Rong gained the power to control the emotional spectrum within it.
However, his actions gradually began to deviate from the Guardians' control.
At this point, the Guardians, who had lost all emotions, could not allow the tool they once controlled to escape their grasp.
So, they immediately took coercive measures.
While Huo Rong was off guard, they ambushed and controlled him, then imprisoned him, and also destroyed the original Lantern furnace he used for time-space travel.
And this imprisonment lasted for over a hundred billion years, and Huo Rong's hatred for the Guardians intensified and solidified during these events.
This time, due to a chance accident, Huo Rong himself never expected that the Lantern Ring he had casually crafted on Earth-3 would actually show him an opportunity to escape the cage set by the Guardians.
He didn't know Shen Mu, but he could vaguely sense Shen Mu's incredibly powerful strength.
Being so directly humiliated by Shen Mu at this moment did not anger Huo Rong; one could say that hundreds of billions of years of imprisonment had made him both mad and taught him patience.
"Respected powerhouse, I am Huo Rong, the first Lantern of this Universe, the controller of the Ring of Origin, and the discoverer of the emotional spectrum. I shared the secret of the emotional spectrum with the Guardians of the Universe, but those damned Guardians betrayed our original agreement."
"They broke their word and imprisoned me for a hundred billion years. I will make them experience the despair I have felt."
Huo Rong spoke indignantly, the hatred in his eyes and tone almost solidifying.
"What does what you say have to do with me? I have no interest in those little dwarves."
However, Shen Mu's single sentence instantly froze all of Huo Rong's resentment!
"Huh?"
Huo Rong was speechless, as he couldn't find a single point to refute Shen Mu's words.
"Respected powerhouse, I am willing to offer the power of the seven emotional spectrums as an exchange, begging you to release me from this endless seal!"
Huo Rong stated the bargaining chip he could offer.
The power of the emotional spectrum was his greatest trump card, but for Huo Rong, who was now completely integrated with the spectrum, sharing this power would have no impact whatsoever.
In fact, if Shen Mu truly agreed and even used the power of the spectrum, it would only benefit him.
Because the more people used this power, the stronger the emotional spectrum itself would become, and he would naturally benefit as well.
The unfortunate thing was that he didn't understand that Shen Mu had already played the Green Lantern trick in another World, so he felt nothing about what Huo Rong said.
The power of the emotional spectrum was indeed useful, but its limits were also clearly defined; for Shen Mu, it was merely a tasteless and regrettable chicken rib.
If it were the White Light of Life and the Black Light of Death, that might still tempt Shen Mu, as both these lights involved the most fundamental powers.
But unfortunately, Huo Rong didn't have the ability to produce these two powers.
Seeing that Shen Mu was completely unmoved, Huo Rong's heart sank; he had no more bargaining chips!
"The power of the emotional spectrum is nothing to me. However, if you are willing to submit to me, I wouldn't mind pulling you out."
Although Shen Mu didn't care for the power of the emotional spectrum, collecting these well-known figures under his command was not without its own kind of pleasure.
Seeing Shen Mu say this, Huo Rong only pondered for a few seconds before agreeing!
After all, compared to the torment of being imprisoned for hundreds of billions of years, submitting to a powerhouse of terrifying strength was not so difficult for him to accept.