Chapter 485: The Talent of Arkham! (Part 2)

Above the suburbs near Gotham, Clark floated among the clouds, gazing around in confusion.

He looked down at the barren hills beneath him, then glanced left and right, seeing the faint glow of distant skyscrapers, unsure which way to fly to reach Gotham.

Just as he hesitated whether to land and ask for directions, suddenly, amid the falling snow, a faint green light appeared in the distance.

The green light drew nearer; Clark squinted and realized it was a cluster of green dots, like fireflies, flying toward him in formation.

As they came closer, Clark saw they were a group of people emitting green light.

Only when the Green Lanterns reached Clark's face did they notice a man hovering in midair; Clark sized them up, baffled, but Carol frowned and said: "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Uh, I'm Clark. Who are you?"

"Clark? You're a human?"

"Of course." Clark was startled by their question. "So you're not from Earth?"

Upon hearing this, the Green Lanterns instantly tensed, adopting combat stances; Carol said: "You're lying—humans can't fly!"

"How do you know humans can't fly?"

"Our rings contain the Galactic Encyclopedia, recently updated with the human entry: humans cannot overcome Earth's gravity by their own bodies, let alone fly freely. Who are you? What's your purpose on Earth?"

His confident tone left Clark speechless; he frowned and said: "I am a human—I was born and raised on a farm in Kansas. You, on the other hand—humans can't fly, but do they glow green?"

"We are the Green Lantern Corps," Carol said, growing impatient. "Who are you? Why are you on Earth? Are you connected to Sinestro?"

This barrage of questions angered Clark—he was a native of Earth, yet these clearly alien beings had stopped him for interrogation, like a burglar questioning the homeowner.

But Carol was equally frustrated—they had just suffered a defeat, drained physically and mentally, yet bound by their duty to uphold cosmic peace, he had to investigate any potential threat. And now, on their retreat path, a strange flying human blocked their way—this was anything but normal.

Both sides were on edge; after a few words, Carol finally snapped: "If you won't answer me, get out of the way—we have no time for your nonsense."

"No! You aliens—none of you know what you're planning. Leave Earth. This isn't your place!"

Carol took a deep breath—he had never been defied by any planet's native before. Clearly, Clark felt no awe toward their strange appearance or powers.

Yet as the deputy commander of the Green Lantern Corps, Carol had good discipline; throughout his service, he had always been diligent, adhering strictly to protocol, never acting on impulse. So he still intended to communicate with Clark.

But the moment he opened his mouth, a green beam grazed his arm and shot toward Clark; Clark darted sideways, dodging the beam.

A young Green Lantern broke from the group, angrily retracting his hand; Carol was about to rebuke him when a crimson ray filled with destruction struck him and sent him flying.

Seeing Clark's eyes glowing red, Carol knew this could not be resolved peacefully; he shouted: "Form up! Prepare to attack!"

Several Green Lanterns surged toward Clark; red and green beams crisscrossed the sky above Gotham's suburbs like a grand fireworks display, waking many residents who rushed to the highest floors near their homes to watch.

Most civilians didn't know what had happened inside Arkham Asylum, so they watched with delight; but the mob bosses who had just left Arkham Sanatorium, returning to their homes, recognized the eerie green light.

Phones in the Twelve Families' estates rang incessantly; everyone asked: "What's going on?!"

"Hello? Spencer? Am I seeing things? Why are fireworks going off in the west suburbs? That green light—it looks familiar?!"

"Damn it! It's them again! I said they disappeared—turns out they flew out to the suburbs. And what's that red light?!"

"One green ghost just ran off, now a red one's here—my God, we haven't repaired our church in too long—this place is cursed!"

"This Celebrity Wants to Retire"

"Stop whining! Grab your guns and take them out!"

"Didn't we try that before? Regular guns don't work—they fly, their green light blocks bullets, and the Don even launched a missile at the hospital—it did nothing."

"Who's got something bigger? Get it up there and blow them off their feet!"

At that moment, phones in the Twelve Families' estates rang one after another; it was Alberto's voice on the line.

"Everyone, dispatch trucks to the East District freezer to collect new weapons. Note: the freeze guns are still in limited production, experimental phase—strictly follow usage guidelines…"

The mob bosses didn't hear the rest—they only registered the words "new weapons."

The roar of truck engines echoed again over Gotham; streetlights flickered on, warehouses glowed bright, and Gotham at night became brighter, like a pearl dropped along the East Coast.

At this point, the battle between the Green Lanterns and Clark reached its peak—the Green Lanterns suddenly realized this self-proclaimed human was absurdly strong.

But Clark should have ended them quickly—he was just restrained because it was night, sunlight insufficient, and he feared the commotion would disturb the nearby city, so his movements were cautious.

Just as he considered unleashing greater power to crush them at once—*whoosh*—a blue beam appeared in his vision; *pop*—a Green Lantern, frozen solid, plummeted straight down.

Clark looked down and saw the ice shatter on impact, but the Green Lantern wasn't hurt—he rose again into the air.

Instantly, *whoosh whoosh whoosh*—countless blue beams shot toward the green targets.

Many Green Lanterns mistook them for ordinary bullets, didn't dodge, and relied on their green energy to absorb the impact—but the moment contact occurred, they froze solid and fell.

Deputy Carol was hit too, but as he fell halfway, he used his ring's ability to phase through obstacles and escaped the ice.

Other Green Lanterns followed suit—once hit, they immediately phased out of the ice.

At first, they dismissed this new human weapon as trivial—but soon, they realized humanity's cunning.

Clark had a biofield, so he could prevent bullets from ever touching him; his biofield extended several meters, halting bullets before contact. But Green Lanterns couldn't.

Green energy's protective radius was limited—only within that radius could bullets be blocked. But the freezing range was larger—so even a glancing hit would freeze them.

Once frozen, they had to use their phasing ability to escape the ice—but that ability consumed energy. The freeze gun's barrage repeatedly trapped them, forcing them to repeatedly drain energy to break free.

Some might think they could simply fly away—but don't forget, Clark loomed nearby, watching.

Clark flew faster than them and could fire lethal beams from his eyes; once the Green Lantern shield touched that beam, its energy drained steadily—they had no air superiority, and their maneuvering space was extremely narrow.

Back and forth, their rings' energy neared depletion; there was no opening to teleport away and recharge. Carol gasped: "Hurry! Call for backup! Connect to headquarters—I need reinforcements!"

In the Green Lantern Corps headquarters, Commander Tyron listened grimly to the commotion; he immediately ordered a nearby Green Lantern: "Deploy the Third and Fourth Squads, Fifth—"

"Report, Commander: the Fourth and Fifth Squads were already dispatched to patrol surrounding sectors."

"What about the Sixth?"

"They joined the pursuit of Sinestro and remain in Sector 1020—haven't returned yet…"

Tyron's face darkened—he knew the situation. Since Sinestro's defection, the Green Lanterns' prestige had suffered greatly; Sinestro's sabotage across sectors forced Tyron to pull most personnel out for stabilization.

Originally, twelve squads were enough to guard headquarters—but now, nearly all squads were sent on courier or patrol missions, leaving only a few rookie squads, clearly insufficient in combat power.

Tyron slammed the table: "Besides routine security, mobilize every combat-capable personnel—form a team. I'll lead it. We're going to Earth—to find out what's happening."

"But… headquarters security—"

"Headquarters sits at the center of all sectors. Dozens of squads patrol the surrounding areas—who could possibly assault here? Even Oa has full defenses—no outsider can enter."

The Green Lantern paused, nodded, agreed with the Commander, saluted, and went to prepare.

Moments after Tyron led nearly all Green Lanterns away, a flash of light appeared in the teleportation chamber—Shiler's figure materialized on the platform, holding Pikachu in his arms.

Shiler glanced around, then spotted the massive spiral building outside the window; he activated his Green Lantern teleportation and appeared directly atop the spiral structure, descended the stairs, and walked unimpeded into the Energy Hall.

He passed security personnel—Shiler, glowing green, walked past expressionless, nodding to anyone he met. No one knew his purpose; the security Green Lanterns assumed he was an engineer inspecting the energy system.

In the Energy Hall, Shiler calmly closed the door and studied the giant lantern furnace at the center. He muttered: "Where's the entrance?"

"Up there—definitely up there," Pikachu, in Shiler's arms, pointed a tiny paw at the glowing green opening on the ceiling. "Don't you remember? Last time we entered through the top of that yellow furnace—these toilets all look the same."

Shiler looked up and saw Pikachu was right—the furnace's top did have an opening.

Shiler flew up, peered inside, then… tossed Pikachu in.

Afterward, he clapped his hands, satisfied:

"Now, the Yellow Lanterns are the Green Lantern Corps' weakness again."

At that moment, Elsa, watching fireworks from her bedroom window, saw countless green lights descending from the sky; she pointed out the window: "Wah wah wah?"

Shiler, teleported back, bent down and picked up Elsa:

"What's that? That's a whole bunch of teething sticks!"