Chapter 4373: Justice League: Assemble (Twenty-Eight)

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The apartment door was knocked on. The black-haired woman working at her desk looked up in surprise, glanced at her watch—it was outside visiting hours, and the apartment security would never let in unscheduled visitors. So who could it be?

She put down her pen, opened the door, and found a row of black-clad people standing outside. The leader flashed her an ID and said, "Hello, Ms. Carol Ferris. There's a terrorist attack underway, and we need your cooperation in the investigation. Are you available?"

The woman called Carol narrowed her eyes. She was about to say something when the black-clad agents rushed straight into the apartment. She took a deep breath, realizing these people meant no good.

"What do you want from me?"

"I said, there's a terrorist attack..."

"Which one?"

"The Capitol Building was moved back from Metropolis to the District of Columbia. The perpetrator is a terrorist glowing with green light all over."

"You mean moving the Capitol Building back to its original location counts as a terrorist attack?"

"Yes, if it wasn't done with the consent of all members of Congress."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Your boyfriend, Hal Jordan, whom you're currently dating, is this mysterious terrorist. I need you to call him back now."

"Impossible. Get out of my house right now."

"It seems you still don't understand the situation, ma'am. This isn't a negotiation." The agent walked over, looked at Carol, and said, "Don't think you can use your usual tactics on police against us. You should know—we don't officially exist. You can't sue anyone."

Carol was trembling with anger. But as a pilot and astronaut, she tended to grow calmer in emergencies. Her mind began racing. As Hal Jordan's girlfriend, she knew his temperament very well.

Earlier, during a test flight, Hal had insisted on his own idea, causing a jet to crash, costing him his job and leaving him facing huge compensation. Most people would have given up, but Hal didn't collapse. Instead of turning to drugs or alcohol to numb himself, he kept pushing hard, trying to avoid compensation and even return to duty. This proved he was optimistic and resilient.

But his flaw was equally clear: if he weren't so impulsive and reckless, and could follow orders, this accident wouldn't have happened. Carol knew Hal had a short temper—when emotions flared, his first reaction was explosive, easily sending someone flying. If you confronted him head-on then, you'd definitely end up in a huge argument.

And this mysterious agent said Hal had gained superpowers and moved the Capitol Building back to Washington. The greater the power, the greater the capacity for chaos. Especially now that he knew he was under threat, he would be furious beyond measure and would make these people regret it.

Carol naturally also knew about the recent uproar over the revote. She could roughly guess why these people were so furious in defining Hal as a terrorist—it was simply because moving the Capitol Back had ruined their plans.

"Since you're not benevolent, don't blame me for not being righteous." Carol thought coldly, "If you dare barge into my home like this, threaten me, and assume I can't retaliate, then you're going to get a taste of your own medicine."

She put on a speechless expression and said, "Come on, didn't you investigate before coming? I already kicked him out. He's been fired by the airline and is facing huge compensation. I don't want such an embarrassing boyfriend."

"You want me to call him? Fine—if you can stand it, I'll yell at him for another half hour. Don't think you've lured him here; once I finish chewing out this useless coward, he might just fly out of the country in anger."

Carol pretended to be angry, sat on the sofa, arms crossed, glaring at the agent. But the agent didn't buy it, sat opposite her, and said, "I just need you to call him over—by any means, even if it's making him angry enough to come find you. Ma'am, you'd better hurry, or..."

Before he finished, Carol whipped out a stun gun from under the sofa, lunged at the agent, and pressed it to his chest. With a crackle, he convulsed. The remaining agents reacted, reaching for their guns, but she rolled over the sofa back, dodged the first volley of gunfire, then grabbed a vase from the display shelf and hurled it. Taking advantage of their dodge, she darted past the shelf and sprinted down the hallway.

She ran through the hallway to the stairs, descended floor by floor, turned a corner, and pressed the button by the restroom door—the hidden door appeared. Carol rushed in, and before it closed, she gave the pursuing agents a contemptuous look.

She was the West Coast's top pilot and astronaut. If not for needing to inherit the family business and thus being unable to take on more dangerous test flights, she'd be the outstanding test pilot. These agents were truly idiots—actually thinking she was the type who'd just cry and scream when confronted.

Carol went straight in and soon reached the safe house's main hall. Instead of grabbing the phone, she went to the computer, sat down, and began searching for news related to the Capitol Building.

Soon, she found the relevant reports and the original video. Zooming in carefully, she was 100% certain: the green-glowing monster was indeed her boyfriend, Hal Jordan.

"What the hell..." she muttered, covering her forehead. Then she picked up her phone and called her friend, saying, "Hey, Snapping Turtle, help me look someone up. Hal Jordan... yeah, that's my boyfriend. No, he didn't cheat. But I need all his recent movement data, preferably with video clips... I said he didn't cheat!"

After waiting a while in the safe house, the email arrived with her friend's data. Carol sighed helplessly—Snapping Turtle really went digging for infidelity, pulling up surveillance footage from every obscure corner store, even marking the gender of anyone seen with him.

Scrolling through, Carol found a strange clip: in a dim alley, three men confronted Hal, who waved his hand, emitting a green light that knocked them all down.

She paused, zoomed in, and saw the three were airline employees. Carol realized: Hal's test flight accident was huge—he didn't just wreck the plane, he also failed the safety review. Nearly all related crew members had to take responsibility, which would cause mass unemployment and even compensation claims. No wonder these people came after him.

Then she found another clip with green light—Hal taking off directly, flying at incredible speed. She estimated and realized it was approaching rocket launch initial velocity.

Thus Carol could confirm: Hal's superpower was immensely strong—second only to the famous superhero Superman she'd seen in the news. Even that green light could be highly variable; conventional thermal weapons couldn't hurt him, while he could cut through ordinary people like slicing melons.

"Good." Carol picked up her phone and started dialing. As soon as the call connected, she said in a strained voice, "Hal... you... could you come over? I have something I want to talk to you about..."

Less than two minutes later, Hal landed outside Carol's apartment window. He flung it open and rushed in—just as the agent who couldn't open the safe house door came charging up.

Seeing their attire, Hal knew they meant trouble. His head buzzed, he threw a punch, and a green light shot out, sending everyone flying. So rushed was he that he didn't notice the agent electrocuted on the sofa, and he bolted downstairs.

But after going downstairs, he saw no sign of Carol. Hal panicked. He raced back upstairs, grabbed an agent by the collar, and shouted, "Where's Carol? Where is Carol Ferris?! Where did you take her?! Answer me!!!"

The agent, dazed from the fall, could only moan. Hal furiously flung him to the ground and, with a whoosh, flew out the window. Carol had called him only two minutes ago—they couldn't have gone far.

Hal began searching the streets. At that moment, Carol in the safe house took the hidden elevator down, circled behind the building via a side street, and came out looking panicked. Hal spotted her, flew over, and swept her into his arms.

"Oh, my God!" Hal roared, "I thought you..."

"No, Hal, listen to me." Carol gripped his shoulders and said, "It's the opposition. Because you moved the Capitol Building back to its original position, their revote proposal might not pass. That would make them lose this election, so they've gone berserk and are retaliating against you. They've already labeled you a terrorist—they might send troops and police to hunt you down!"

Hal just stared. He couldn't process what Carol was saying—it was too absurd.

Federal agents had approached him, told him to move the Capitol back, and he agreed—it belonged in Washington, plus they promised to waive his compensation and let him return to duty, so he did it.

And now you're telling me another group disagrees, so they want to label moving the Capitol as terrorism, and even though he's unemployed and facing huge compensation, they still want to hunt him down?!

Hal didn't know what to say. He felt like a circus clown being toyed with by these people, spinning in circles, unsure whether to hate them for their deceit or himself for his naivety.

He finally realized: the Capitol could stay in Metropolis for so long for a reason. With so many superpowered beings on Earth, none of them bothered to move it—only he, foolish as he was, had done it. He was the biggest idiot on Earth!