Chapter 280: Lantern, Lantern, Lantern, Lantern, Lantern, Lantern (Part 2)

The moment Schiller's voice fell, everyone was enveloped in gray mist. The first to disappear was Gordon. After a moment of disorientation, he found himself in a magical place. Beneath his feet was a floor interwoven with black and gold, while above him were endless floors.

Standing before him were two Schillers—one was the Schiller he knew, and the other was a green-haired Schiller. Beside these two stood another green-haired person wearing clown makeup.

"You intend to let him go first?" Joker Jack circled Gordon twice, smacked his lips, and said, "Fine, this kind of person looks like the antithesis of Batman. No matter what, he remains steadfast in his ridiculous kindness and ho..."

Schiller ignored Jack and explained to the somewhat bewildered Gordon, "Currently, the combined consciousness power of all of us is not enough to completely eradicate this monster."

"Firstly, because that egg that laughs with its mouth wide open may have very special attributes; if the status level isn't high enough, it's very difficult to thoroughly destroy it. Secondly, Parallax, as one of the sources of the Yellow Lantern Ring's power, is itself very difficult to destroy."

"Then what do you intend to do?" Gordon looked at Schiller, then glanced around at the surrounding environment and said, "It looks like you already have an idea?"

"That's right. This high tower you see is actually my Mind Palace. Just a moment ago, I modified it to become an 'amplifier'."

"Amplifier? Used to amplify what?" Gordon asked, puzzled.

"Emotion." Schiller gave a clear answer. He said, "There are various emotional spectra in the universe. When a certain emotion reaches its peak, it attracts a mysterious power—that is the Lantern Ring."

"I will use this high tower to amplify your emotions infinitely and then send them into the universe, actively attracting the Lantern Rings. This way, you can fight using the power of the Lantern Rings."

"Alright, but why me?"

"Each different Lantern Ring represents different emotions, and only those who possess that specific emotional trait can attract the arrival of a Lantern Ring."

"Although my Mind Palace can greatly amplify a certain emotion, it is still easier to succeed if one naturally possesses a strong emotion."

"And you, Detective Gordon, please focus your attention now and recall those scenes in your heart filled with light and hope..."

Although Gordon was still somewhat doubtful, he did as he was told. Scene after scene began to emerge in his mind.

He worked day after day in this desperate city, returning home exhausted under the pitch-black night, being driven away, insulted, and even hunted.

He recalled the scene where he was once hunted. On that rainy night, he fled for his life; pain and the smell of blood surged up together. He tried every possible way to shake off the killer, jumped from a window, and landed in a pile of trash, the cold rain pattering against his face.

Yet, infinite firmness and resolution surged in his heart. Even if this city only had one person left who truly wanted to save it, it would definitely be him; it would definitely be Gordon.

The intense emotion filled with hope surged straight into the universe along the Mind Tower. Soon, a hazy voice sounded in Gordon's ear, as if separated by a layer of thick wall, muffled and unclear.

"In fearful day, in raging night,

With strong hearts full, our souls ignite,

When all seems lost in the War of Light,

Look to the stars—

For hope burns bright!"

"Sentient being locked. From Earth, James Gordon. You possess the ability to instill firm hope in others. Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps!"

《Sun and Moon Wind and Glory》

Schiller turned his head to look at the wall of the Mind Palace, as if looking past the wall and the dream into reality.

In reality, a ring emitting blue light was quietly floating above the sleeping Gordon's head.

The Blue Lantern Ring representing hope was attracted by the amplified hope emotion, but as soon as it arrived, it was somewhat confused.

It could feel that its future host's consciousness was immersed in a dream, but if the host didn't wake up, how could they accept the Lantern Ring?

If the host didn't actively accept the power of the Lantern Ring, the ring couldn't recognize its master. Just like in the original comics, Batman refused to wear a Lantern Ring, and the ring couldn't do anything about him.

But you have to say, since it had already come, could it just go back like this? The ring emitting blue light hesitated for a moment, then intended to get closer to the host's consciousness.

However, the ring was a physical object; it couldn't merge into Gordon's body. Thus, the blue light gradually extracted itself from the ring and drilled into Gordon's forehead, while the powerless ring fell to the ground with a "clatter."

Only the Blue Lantern's energy entered Gordon's body, while the ring itself did not, because it had been drained of power and went into standby mode after running out of juice.

When the crisp "clatter" sounded, in the consciousness space, a blue Lantern Ring appeared before Gordon. Gordon examined the ring and said, "Is this the Lantern Ring you spoke of? Do I need to wear it?"

"Of course, Detective Gordon, but do not be dominated by this power."

"Rest assured, I understand. I have never liked relying excessively on external objects." After saying this, Gordon reached out his hand, and the blue light flew onto his finger.

When Gordon went out from the Tower of Babel, he had completely changed. His whole body was flashing with blue light. Hal stared at him, dumbfounded, and said, "Is that the power of a Lantern Ring? A Blue Lantern Ring??? How do you have the power of a Blue Lantern Ring???"

Before he could finish his confusion, Victor disappeared from the space. Clearly, he had also entered the Tower of Babel.

"This is a bit troublesome, because perhaps the Violet Lantern Ring representing 'love' only accepts females..." Schiller said to Victor.

"What is this determined by? A person's soul? Then if my heart is female..."

"Say no more. Just consider yourself a transgender person; it definitely won't dare not to come!"

Before long, a distant voice came:

"For hearts long lost and full of fright,

For those alone in blackest night,

Accept our ring and join our fight,

Love conquers all with violet light!"

"Sentient being locked. From Earth, Victor Fries. You harbor deep love in your heart. Welcome to the Star Sapphires!"

Before long, Victor, radiating purple light, appeared in the consciousness space. He and Gordon exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked at Hal beside them.

Immediately after, Alberto disappeared, and soon, a deep, thick voice filled with anger sounded:

"With blood and rage of crimson red,

Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,

Together with our hellish hate,

We'll burn you all—that is your fate!"

"Sentient being locked. From Earth, Alberto Falcone. Your heart is surging with rolling rage. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps!"

And after Alberto, covered in red light, came out, the one green, one blue, and one purple were no longer surprised.

The last one called in was Cobblepot. He had the illusion of being called to the teacher's office after class. After he went in, Schiller explained the principle of attracting Lantern Rings to him, and then said to him, "I think the Orange Lantern is very suitable for you, because it represents greed."

"Greed? Greed for what?"

"That depends on yourself." Schiller stared at Cobblepot, looking into his eyes, and said, "Don't you want to obtain endless... power?"

Two minutes later, Cobblepot, radiating orange light, walked out. Now, except for Batman, everyone on the field was radiating colorful light.

Looking at the other Lanterns of various colors in front of him, Hal finally understood the meaning of Schiller's question, "Is there only one Lantern on Earth?"

Earth indeed had more than one Lantern...

There were a full five Lanterns here!!!!

"Don't just watch, get to work."

In an instant, the colorful figures rushed toward the Fear Laughing Demon.

The strength of those few blessed by the Lantern Rings became stronger. More importantly, they could use the emotional power of the Lantern Rings to attack the Fear Laughing Demon. This was very important, because in the dream, emotion was still a very powerful force.

And Batman, without the power of a Lantern Ring, did not fall behind at all. On one hand, it was because this was his consciousness space; on the other hand, it was because his willpower was enough to overshadow all emotions.

Suddenly, Batman stopped his movements, his voice echoing in everyone's ears: "Stop."

The others were somewhat confused, but they all stopped their movements, floating in the air. Looking at the monster in the center, Batman narrowed his eyes and said, "That egg is moving. It seems to be hatching..."

"Hatching?"

Several people looked at the giant monster's head. At some point, some ferocious blood vessels appeared on the gray egg, as if it were expanding to the point of exploding. The wide-open mouth smile became increasingly eerie, and even some blood-like traces flowed down from the corners of the mouth. The entire head became increasingly terrifying.

"It has been absorbing those black tides." Batman said in a low voice, "That is a power I cannot control, but now it looks like it can become its nourishment."

"We can't let it hatch!"

Hal said, "The mysterious person who brought me into the dream told me that if it appears, it will destroy the entire Lantern Corps! Even if he was exaggerating, we can't let such a terrifying monster out..."

"I know this better than you."

As he spoke, Batman's figure arrived above the monster. He wanted to touch the egg directly, but was swiped away by Parallax's long tail. Hal: "It may have already controlled Parallax. We must stop it! Hurry!"

Several people who had obtained the power of the Lantern Rings kept besieging the monster, but Parallax, operated by the Laughing Egg, was not only powerful but also very cautious. Every action was to protect its own head.

Without the three-way confrontation, the Laughing Egg and Parallax merged into one. The truly terrifying side of this monster was manifested. Endless fear began to rise in everyone's hearts, wave after wave of black tides washed over, and a large amount of the tide was absorbed by that egg.

A slight "crack" sounded, and several cracks appeared on the top of the Laughing Egg, followed by tree-branch-like patterns spreading out. With the eggshell shattered to this extent, everyone understood that its hatching was irreversible.

A suffocating tension rose in Batman's heart. His intuition warned him to the peak. He could barely move and could only stand there watching the egg crack open, as if time had frozen.

At this very moment, the eggshell shattered, and a pale, thin hand reached out from the egg.

There was no sound, no movement, but everyone heard the most insane laughter from the silence: "Hahahahahahahaha!"

But what followed was not the monster breaking out of the shell, but a familiar yet slightly indifferent voice.

"Stop laughing, it's too ugly."

Suddenly, the colorful radiance floating on everyone trembled, and thick gray mist wrapped around. The various colored radiances were pulled out from everyone's bodies and kneaded into the endless gray mist.

The completely uncoordinated spectra struggled incessantly, fighting fiercely in a mass of gray mist. Collisions, explosions, friction, shattering, fusion...

Finally, in the gray mist floating in mid-air, after various colors were mixed together, it was neither black nor white, but a chaotic gray.

In the endless silence, suddenly, the gray mist began to condense into shape, gradually forming a circular lantern furnace.

A loud dragon roar sounded, and a giant dragon's head poked out from the mist, followed by a neck and wings covered in scales. An incomparably huge giant dragon made of gray mist flew out from the gray lantern furnace emitting energy.

A deep, distant voice came from the horizon:

"Gray is the soup, vast is the mist,

Where does reality go, where do dreams drift?

Pillar of thought, hall of the mind,

Thousand stars shine together, ten thousand splendors born!"

"Sentient being locked. From..."

"Forget it, the following words are too long. In short—"

"Batman, catch."

－－－－－－Author's Note－－－－－－

This book is also known as "The Days of Synthesizing Big Watermelons in the Marvel Universe" ===== CHAPTER 281 =====