Chapter 3486: Research on Cats and Dogs (Part 45)

Once everyone had packed up and was ready to leave, Oliver seemed to just remember that they still had two pairs of Batman and Superman hanging around.

So, he gestured for everyone to wait. He stood there thinking for a moment, but couldn't seem to come up with anything, so he said, "Sorry, I forgot we still have our helpful friends from another world. Everyone, help me think about what they can do."

"Keep an eye on Bruce!" several people said in unison.

Oliver waved his hand again, signaling everyone to stay calm, and then said, "We already have Clark and Diana..."

"Then keep an eye on all three of them at the same time," Hal interrupted.

"I don't think that requires four people," Oliver said, still trying to mediate. "How about this: two people participate in ground defense, and two participate in off-world defense. That works out perfectly."

"Then we'll be responsible for off-world defense," Batman said first. "We are very interested in the magical defense network. It would be even better if we could visit and learn from it."

Oliver didn't refuse; he nodded and said, "Alright, Hal, they'll go with you."

Hal clearly looked like he had gotten the better end of the deal, because this pair of Batman and Superman looked much more normal, unlike the other two who were still in a cold war—they looked like big trouble.

Lex, who was responsible for ground defense, had no choice but to look at Oliver helplessly and say to the Injustice Batman, "You two come with me. If you don't cause any trouble, I'll be thankful."

Everyone left the conference room to attend to their duties. Harley and Arthur went to study maritime defense; Pamela went to the lab to continue advancing the Kryptonite-spiked cactus research; Lex took the Injustice Batman and Injustice Superman to the Luthor Corp building to complete ground monitoring work there.

As for the group responsible for off-world defense, Hal was now leading Kara, the remaining pair of Batman and Superman, as well as Constantine and Zatanna, to a room on the upper floor of the Luthor Manor.

There was a portal here, clearly not set up recently; it must have been there for some time.

"We were supposed to fly directly, but considering there are a few here who can't fly, we'd better take the portal."

"Where are we going?" Batman asked.

"There are two places: one is Mercury, close to the sun, and the other is the Kuiper Belt on the outskirts. We need to take Kara to identify the fuel traces first, then return to the Mercury base to monitor any unusual activity in the entire solar system."

Batman nodded and then asked, "What about the magical defense network? Are you monitoring this network on Earth or outside of Earth?"

"Both," Zatanna said. "Usually, we watch the defense network at the Cat Getan Academy of Magic, but if adjustments or maintenance are needed, the Green Lanterns usually handle it outside of Earth."

"I visited the Cat Getan Academy of Magic before; it is indeed a very magical place," Batman nodded and said. "It's hard to imagine how much effort you spent building it."

"But it's all worth it," Zatanna said. "We are working hard to get rid of the influence those Great Existences have brought upon humanity. Perhaps one day, magicians will also be able to obtain freedom."

Before passing through the portal, Hal first used Green Lantern energy to create a shield, enclosing everyone within it.

After passing through the portal, they appeared directly in space. This was the Kuiper Belt on the outskirts of the solar system, which could be considered a relatively dense area for celestial bodies.

Hal led them to fly for a while until they reached the nearest trace. Kara flew out of the shield first, looking left and right at the burned asteroid fragments, and after a long while, she nodded and said:

"That's right, it's a Kryptonian ship. And I probably know who came."

"Who?"

"Have you heard of the Phantom Zone?" Kara wasn't asking; she quickly answered her own question. "It is an endless void, and also the place where Kryptonians exile criminals."

"Theoretically speaking, there is nothing there, and the criminals inside have absolutely no possibility of escaping. But there is one exception, and that is General Zod."

"Back then, he was sent into the Phantom Zone along with his ship, but he modified his ship there. It looks like he must have escaped using this ship."

"How do you know?" Hal asked.

Kara looked a bit helpless. She said, "From a timeline perspective, I was born earlier than Kal-El, that is, Clark, but now I am younger than him because I also stayed in the Phantom Zone for a period of time. Time is frozen there; my body didn't develop until I left there and came to Earth, at which point I started growing. By that time, Clark was already over 20 years old."

"Then how did you leave the Phantom Zone?"

"I wasn't imprisoned there; when Krypton was destroyed, my parents, in order to save my life, found a way to send me in. Naturally, they gave me the means to leave, which was also through a ship with special fuel. So I am very familiar with this kind of fuel trace."

Hal nodded and said, "Are your Kryptonian ships very powerful?"

"They were certainly very powerful at their peak, but the one General Zod is flying is not our main battleship; otherwise, it wouldn't have been thrown into the Phantom Zone like trash."

"I estimate it should be about the same as the one I flew," Kara speculated, touching her chin. "They are all small ships with sleep pods, equipped with small engines and laser weapons. Compared to human technology, they are quite advanced, but they don't rank high in the universe."

As the current de facto ruler of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal had certainly seen his fair share of big storms. There were no Three Great Empires in this side of the DC universe, but there were many highly developed advanced civilizations like the Guardians of the Universe.

In fact, the top technological level of the advanced civilizations here was much stronger than that on the Marvel side—everything from hand-crafting cosmic origins to mathematical-rate weapons and dimensional folding weapons existed.

Fortunately, they were few in number and scattered, and most of them, like the Guardians, still had some sense of shame, so no large-scale wars had broken out in interstellar space.

However, Hal still shook his head and said, "More advanced than Earth? Not necessarily."

Hal led them back to the portal, used Green Lantern energy to modify the portal's parameters, and took them to the space above Mercury.

The full set of Mercury base equipment originally obtained from the Marvel side was actually no longer the initial version from there, but rather a complete entity that had been repeatedly modified and upgraded by Stark; its scale and technological level were incomparable to the original.

At that time, the Mercury base had basically hollowed out the entire planet Mercury, transforming it into a steel mechanical fortress, or one could even say, an artificial planet.

After the Mercury base here was built, the technology from the Luthor Group and Wayne Tech was added, and it then became the Green Lantern Corps' headquarters for the solar system. It underwent large-scale adaptive modifications and maintenance using Green Lantern energy, and now it has completely changed its appearance.

Looking at it from mid-air, one could no longer see any signs of natural creation; it looked entirely like a planet sculpted from steel structures. Moreover, due to the involvement of Green Lantern energy, many glass structures were able to be used, and there were windows and hollowed-out walls everywhere, allowing one to see the complex and exquisite structures within at a glance.

The moment they landed, everyone's eyes widened.

A metal planet was slowly rotating in front of a massive star, with indescribably exquisite structures interlocking and nesting with one another. Stark's unparalleled talent in mechanical engineering brought to this planet a mechanical aesthetic that did not belong to this universe—magnificent yet detailed, massive yet precise, like a glittering diamond ring that humanity might use to express romantic love to the sun.

Batman swallowed gently. He instinctively realized that the universe he was currently in held more secrets than he had imagined, but even just the seemingly unimportant differences he had learned about were enough, once their effects were brought into play, to construct a beautiful and profoundly mysterious new world.

"Alright, let's go in." Hal led them as they flew toward the interior of the Mercury base.

Currently, the Mercury base has already recruited two batches of trainees, but the second batch has just graduated, and most of them have returned to Earth, while some have already thrown themselves into the defense work of Metropolis.

During holidays, this place is used as a station for the Green Lantern Corps. Those who work here are all Hal's direct subordinates; although there are few Earthlings, most have also lost their home planets and are focused on working with Hal.

After entering the base, the variety of equipment was even more dazzling. It wasn't that Kara and Superman hadn't seen equipment with higher technological levels than this, but the high-tech equipment of alien races is customized according to the characteristics of their own species; for humans to look at, they might not understand it at all, nor could they appreciate any aesthetic beauty.

But these things before them carried a kind of "human-style" high-tech aesthetic they had never seen before. The various components of the equipment and the roughly discernible operating methods clearly showed they were designed by humans, manufactured by humans, and used by humans, rather than being a crude application of alien technology.

Batman, who could discern more of the nuances, began to think: Normally, if there were such a scientist on Earth, he couldn't possibly not know about it. But if it wasn't developed by a scientist on Earth, then how did this thing manage to be so full of "human flavor"?

Batman raised his own question, and Hal just gave a mysterious smile. He said, "I can only tell you that the Battleworld is more magical than you imagine. Make good use of the trading system, and you will open the door to a new world."

"Did you trade for this thing in the Battleworld?"

Actually, no. Hal said to himself, it was just a line used to promote the Battleworld.

But he still nodded and said, "Yes, it was traded from an Iron Man in a certain universe. If you want some too, you can go browse the forum; there are all sorts of strange and bizarre things."

Seeing Batman's suddenly unfocused gaze, he must have gone to browse the forum, and then, like discovering a new continent, was shocked by the various comments on the forum. Seeing him like this, Superman couldn't help but open the Battleworld interface as well.

Watching his expression, Hal curled his lips: "Both of you are addicted to the Battleworld, so you shouldn't have time to bother me anymore, right?"

That's right, Hal didn't treat this pair of Batman and Superman from another world as helpers at all, but rather felt they were very redundant. If one were to ask why, it was probably because someone had significantly lowered the evaluation of Batman and Superman among the people of this universe.

?? Diablo 3 is coming back! Hahahaha!

? (End of chapter)