Volume 5: The Young Wolf Seeks Home Chapter 7 Although everyone calls him Hal Jordan, we are not familiar with each other. You can see that we don’t even work in the same unit.
A low-key luxury car was waiting in the underground parking lot of the Next Life Bar. The expressionless driver looked straight ahead, waiting for the order to set off.
Next to him was a loaded pistol.
The guy in the passenger seat seemed to be listening to music, but in fact he was checking the surveillance footage of several nearby blocks on the small tablet in his hand, and a rifle with a folding stock was placed next to his legs.
You have to have this thing when driving in Gotham because you never know what's going to happen at the next intersection.
If you are lucky, it’s just a dog rushing into the street. If you are unlucky, a group of armed men want to rob your car. In that case, only if you have a gun can you calmly "reason" with the men.
The elevator not far away opened.
Thomas Wayne was walking out of the elevator with his loyal butler. The old man took off his hat and handed it to Butler Oswald behind him. He opened the car door and asked with a smile:
"Where's Hal?"
The Penguin Butler behind him whispered:
"The young man said that he couldn't get used to being in the organization. He wanted to work with Luther's team, so he will stay here today."
"Well, let him be."
The old man did not force it. He sat in the back seat and said to his butler:
"You don't have to go with me this time. Stay in Gotham to help maintain the bar and integrate the resources and information of the Black Zone. If I don't come back in seven days, you will obey Martha's instructions in the future."
"Master, you just met the young master."
Penguin Butler whispered:
"Perhaps there is no need to rush. Mr. Mason is not rushing you. Besides, that is Ms. Talia's territory. Perhaps we should keep a low profile."
"He certainly doesn't rush me, but one day later I act means one day less time to prepare."
Half of the old man's face was hidden in the darkness of the carriage.
He looked out the window at the housekeeper and said:
"The assassins who lost Ray Xiaogu needed a Batman to lead them. Talia couldn't control the ancient organization, so Mason found me.
If I don’t go, then this heavy responsibility will fall on someone else’s shoulders.”
This sentence made Butler Oswald completely give up the idea of persuading Thomas.
He knew that the old man had made up his mind, so he could only watch the car disappear at the exit of the underground parking lot. He also knew that at the same time, Ms. Talia al Ghul must have boarded a plane back to the European headquarters.
The next Demon Chief will be decided between these two people.
"Beep Beep"
Before the Penguin Butler could finish his prayer for his old master, the phone in his pocket rang. The short and loyal butler took out his phone and took a look at it, then answered the call with a strange look and put it to his ear.
" Oswald , tell me the truth!"
Damian's voice rang out on the phone, along with the sound of a motorcycle breaking through the wind at high speed. The next generation heir of the Wayne family asked sternly:
"Did Thomas go to fight my mother? For the damned position of leader? I just noticed that grandpa's sword is missing!
One of them must have taken it!"
"Master Damian, this is a matter between adults. You should not get involved."
The Penguin Butler advised:
"The old master has promised that no one will be killed in this duel. It's just a stop."
"He would definitely say that. My mother is no match for him! He would think it's too much for him to hit her with one hand!"
Damian screamed:
"Find a plane to wait for me at Gotham Airport as quickly as possible. I have to get back! Damn it, that sword was given to me by Mason, and the Assassin's League is the legacy left to me by my grandfather!
Neither my grandfather from another world nor my mother has the right to snatch it from me!"
"Uh, excuse me, young master."
Oswald said hesitantly:
"This confrontation was chosen by the elders of several factions. Although you have direct bloodline, you cannot interfere with the elders' decision. In fact, even your mother cannot do this."
"That bunch of old fools are playing tricks on me. Even when my grandfather was around, they didn't dare to act like a troublemaker!"
Rice was almost roaring.
He shouted:
"I order you to find a plane immediately. I will be there in ten minutes. Don't worry about my safety. I am not stupid enough to go alone."
After saying that, Dami hung up the phone.
While speeding from Wayne Manor to Gotham Airport, the skilled and daring little guy dialed another number while operating the motorcycle.
He said to that side:
"Second barrel! Are you busy? Come with me to Europe, right now."
"No."
Ertong, who was wiping his sword alone in a box full of lights and feasting, gave a reply as concise as ever, which made Damian so angry that he gritted his teeth.
But he could only patiently persuade:
"You are also a master assassin trained by Lei Xiaogu. Now the second Demon Chief is about to be born, and you must watch the ceremony! Remember to bring guns, the more the better."
"If you want to persuade me to join you in preventing the confrontation in front of the Pool of Lazarus, then you can give up now."
Ertong said in a cold tone:
"That's the rule set by your dead grandfather. No matter if it's Talia or the old man, if they want to control that organization, they must pass a cruel trial."
"Don't be silly. The elders of the various factions who have already shown signs of rebellion will not allow a second demon leader to appear. They fear my grandfather, so they will naturally fear his successor."
Damian said coldly:
“I’m sure that no matter whether it’s Thomas or my mother, they will be ambushed by them when they pass through the layers of trials set by the masters and reach the final area.
Two barrels, I'm not trying to stop that showdown!
I want to make sure it's fair.
I don't think Mason would want to see his plan being disrupted by a group of treacherous villains? How could he have the time to play tricks on them?
This is for the benefit of Team K.
Pack your things now and come to Europe with me.
I know how to sneak into the secret room of the Lazarus Pool under the castle. We will ambush there in advance, and I will kill anyone who dares to cause trouble!"
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and then Ertong said:
"I underestimated you, Damian. It seems that you and Mason have grown a lot after going out together. You have both learned to use your brains when encountering problems. Okay, I will go and ask Mason for permission to operate.
But this time you have to follow my instructions, understand?"
——
"The stars in this world are brighter than those in my world."
On the top balcony of the Afterlife Bar, in the shadow of the dark edge of the air conditioner, Hal Jordan, wearing a pilot jacket, was lying on the railing.
He enjoyed the night breeze while feeling slightly tipsy, while gazing at the stars above his head.
Although the gloomy weather in Gotham City makes "stargazing" here a complete torture to one's eyes, for Hal, who has now arrived in another world but has not been assigned a specific task, this moment of leisure is not bad.
This handsome young man had just drunk a lot of wine in the bar, and his pockets were filled with several scented notes with phone numbers written on them.
But he had no intention of going out for fun tonight.
He just wanted to be alone in peace and quiet, and think about his second life which seemed quite confusing at the moment.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't get around the green ring that he was holding in his hand at this moment. Thomas Wayne and Mason Cooper brought him here because of this ring that flew into his hands before the world was destroyed.
And he also heard the story of Green Lantern and the entire Justice League in this world.
This world's heroes use their powers to make the world a better place, not destroy it like those bastards back home.
This alone is enough to make Hal full of admiration and kindness for the heroes of this world.
"Maybe I can become a Green Lantern, but the prerequisite is that you have to give me some reaction!"
Hal looked at the dim green lantern ring in his hand with a headache.
Ever since he got this thing, it has been in this half-dead state.
The young ace pilot didn't know what went wrong, but he had no way of finding a living Green Lantern to ask for the trick to activating the lantern ring.
"Stars, I am willing to use my life's luck with women to make a wish, hoping that a Green Lantern will appear before me right now."
Hal picked up the bottle and took a sip, half-jokingly making a wish to the stars in the sky, and just as he swallowed the wine, a green light whooshed down from the sky.
It was suspended right in front of Hal Jordan.
The guy in front of him, who was wearing a Green Lantern Corps uniform, suspended in a ball of green light, and wearing a domino eye mask, waved to him in a friendly manner, and the young man almost spit out the wine in his mouth.
No way?
Are wishes made to the stars in this world so effective?
Then I change my wish to hope for world peace, okay? Wait, I just used something incredible to exchange for this opportunity... Shit!
Green Lantern Hal Jordan hovers in the shadows on the top floor of the Afterlife bar.
He looked at the young man in front of him, who had a very similar body shape to him, but a completely different face and a look of regret as if he had lost something precious, and finally looked at the dim green lantern ring in his hand.
It should be this thing that suddenly appeared in Gotham, triggering the Green Lantern's ring in this world, forcing Hal to abandon his girlfriend and rush all the way from Coast City.
"Hey man, where did you get that ring?"
Green Lantern frowned and asked:
"I don't remember there being a second Green Lantern in this sector of the universe. Have you registered on Oa? Are you a wild Lantern like me?
May I have your name?"
This series of questions left Hal Jordan somewhat at a loss for words.
He looked at the floating Lantern in front of him and knew that this was his own time and space alternation in this world.
The two men even had almost the same hairstyle. Fortunately, he came here to relax tonight and was asked by the old man to drink a disgusting polyjuice potion, otherwise the secret would be revealed as soon as the two met.
Seeing that the man in front of him didn't speak, Green Lantern Hal Jordan prepared to take some "coercive measures".
This was a very serious matter concerning the possible lost ring, and he had to make sure that the unlit ring in this guy's hand was obtained in a legitimate way.
"Hey, hey, don't get excited! Don't do anything!"
Seeing his other self clench his fists and use the green energy of will to conjure up a cage, pilot Hal immediately threw away the bottle and waved his hands to explain:
“I said! It was just the first time I saw a living Lantern, so I was a little surprised. This ring was not stolen by me, it flew in front of me on its own.
I was flying my cool flying machine down the East Coast at Mach 7, and I remember saying, I’m not afraid of anything for the world, and then it happened.
I swear I'm not lying."
"Huh? A pilot? And a cruising speed of Mach 7?"
Hal scoffed at the lie.
He had already determined that the guy in front of him might have drunk too much, so he said jokingly:
"Why didn't you say you were driving an alien spacecraft?"
"Indeed! It was modified from the alien cockpit that crashed in Metropolis. Its only purpose was to destroy the doomsday weapon used by the Atlanteans to destroy the world.
To be more precise, it is a mutually destructive attack mode."
Pilot Hal explained seriously:
"If necessary, I can even recite its flight parameters to prove that I am not lying, so, put down the shining ring in your hand, okay?
I don't want to pick a fight with anybody here.
Also, do you know how to activate this thing?"
He held the dim light ring in his palm and said to Green Lantern Hal:
"Teach me."
"Your ring...is different from ours!"
When Green Lantern heard the guy in front of him talking more and more outrageous, he didn't want to waste any more time with him, but when he was about to arrest him, he suddenly found that the lantern ring in this guy's hand was only roughly similar to his own.
There are many differences between the two in details.
It's like it was carved from the same mold, but there's definitely something wrong with it.
This discovery surprised Green Lantern very much.
He released the energy of will in his hand and stretched out his hand to try to pick up the ring in front of him and observe it carefully.
But before he touched the ring, he felt that part of his own lamp ring's energy mysteriously disappeared and was transferred to the energy-depleted ring in front of him.
Then, as the two Hals stared in astonishment, the dim lantern ring suddenly shone brightly. It floated up from the pilot Hal's hand, circled around him, and then hovered in front of Hal.
"Intelligent life has been locked! Fearless from a dead world, you have a strong will that remains unyielding despite destruction, welcome to join the Green Lantern Corps."
A cold voice came from the ring, causing Hal's heart to skip a beat.
Oh, it turns out that the reason why I didn't respond before was because I ran out of battery! Fuck, does such an advanced thing need to be charged?
"this……"
Hal, the Lantern, who was originally full of doubts about the pilot Hal, saw the lantern ring being activated and immediately realized that the guy in front of him who was talking nonsense was really the one chosen by the lantern ring.
This discovery immediately dispelled his suspicion of the person in front of him.
Nothing else.
As a top-notch intelligent weapon in the universe, the Lantern Ring determines whether a life is qualified to become a Lantern at the level of will. Under this judgment, any disguise is meaningless.
The ring recognized that he was a man of strong will. This was also a call from the Green Lantern Corps, a positive organization, which was enough to show that the person in front of him was a fearless person.
Seeing that the pilot Hal was still standing there stupidly looking at the ring, Lantern Hal couldn't help but whispered a reminder:
"What are you standing there for? Read the words!"
"ah?"
After all, it was the first time for pilot Hal to experience such a situation. For a moment, he was at a loss, just like the embarrassed man lying on his girlfriend's hot body but didn't know what to do next.
He could only look at his other self with a pleading look as if he was questioning a senior.
Lantern shrugged, feeling like he had met a fool.
He stretched out his voice and said:
"Okay, repeat after me."
Then, with a solemn gesture, he raised his hand with the lantern ring to the sky, motioning the other Hal to do the same, and he read:
"The day is bright, the night is dark... "
"Your word is wrong!"
Pilot Hal shook his head violently after hearing the beginning. He said to Lantern Hal:
"It says you pronounced it wrong, it's not this."
"ha?"
This time it was Hal the Lantern's turn to be confused.
How come the green light oath that is valid in all 3,600 sectors of the universe is wrong in your case? Are you trying to be special? Or are you here to find fault?
How could I, a genuine Lantern who has been on the scene for two and a half years, recite the oath incorrectly to you?
Isn't this equivalent to destroying your own rice bowl?
But pilot Hal couldn't hear his complaints.
Because he had already begun to clumsily try to communicate with his strange lantern ring. Under the guidance of a voice, he maintained the posture of the Lantern Oath and whispered:
"Hope is slim, despair is immense; the road to the past is shattered, and the dreamland is lost forever. The darkness spreads, and it cannot block my light; I am alone and brave, and I will never surrender!"
At first, he whispered it silently, but the last few words turned into a roared declaration.
A huge green blade of light surrounded the pilot Hal and formed a battle suit. When the light dissipated, Hal the Lantern stared in amazement, he found that the guy in front of him had put on a set of will armor that was completely different from his tights.
Uh, how do you describe this comparison?
The high emotional intelligence statement is the difference between liberals and militants.
The low emotional intelligence directly shows that in front of the Green Lantern armor in front of him, Hal feels like a perverted stripper in a tights.
We are all members of the Green Lantern Corps, so why are your clothes so cool?
And what's the matter with your oath?
If I hadn't seen you armed with willpower with my own eyes, I would have thought you were a ruthless person from the Red Lantern Corps. Why are you so murderous? Who is trying to persecute you?
"Thank you, Hal, for helping me with this last step. I knew you would help me."
After completing his gorgeous transformation, pilot Hal no longer had any confusion in his eyes.
He knew what it meant when the ring chose him.
It doesn't want to die silently along with the dead world. It wants to light up another light in this dark age. He is a member of the Green Lantern Corps.
But he is not the Lantern of this dimension.
He comes from a dead world and is the last warrior sent by his hometown before its destruction. He is to launch a challenge to a desperate future where victory or death is the outcome.
"Who are you anyway? Don't act like we know each other well!"
Hal the Lantern is going crazy.
Why does this guy in front of me speak like a family member? The problem is that we don’t know each other well. Buddy, can you at least tell me your name?
As if he had guessed what his other self was thinking, Hal Jordan, who had just completed the "induction ceremony", laughed.
He raised his left hand and let the energy of his will wrap around him, transforming into the cool alien fighter plane he had seen before. At the moment of starting at ten times the speed of sound, he reminded his other self in this world:
"If you meet someone you can't beat in the future, just call me. We are all brothers and will definitely help you. Also, you'd better go back and accompany Carol, and don't let Kyle, that bastard, take advantage of you...
This is a lesson learned from experience. Even though we are Green Lanterns, we shouldn't wear a green hat, right?
Come home quickly, I'm going to run a lap in outer space.
Don't chase me.
You can't keep up with me.
After all, I escaped from the apocalypse on my legs..."
