Chapter 489: Codename Emerald (Part 1)

In the core hub of the Green Lantern headquarters where lights flickered, Hal sat quietly in front of the screen, looking at that information.

Just now, his ring reminded him that he could download the information he needed into his ring and use Green Lantern energy at any time to transmit them to his brain.

But Hal didn't press the confirm button.

From birth to adulthood, Hal always felt that he was a good person. Although he was not the kind of saint who considered others at any time and didn't care about his own feelings at all, sometimes he would act on impulse, go his own way, quarrel with his parents, and have awkwardness with friends. However, the belief of helping the weak and saving people from fire and water had always been engraved in his bones.

From childhood to adulthood, many people had received his help. He had saved children who fell into the water, stopped robbers on the street, and helped beggars wandering on the street when he was not rich himself. He was not a saint who saved the world, just an ordinary good person with a conscience.

Therefore, when facing many important choices, he would also feel hesitant and lost.

In his view, Earth was his hometown, where everything he loved was, and he should pay all efforts to protect Earth.

During the period when he just became a Green Lantern, because of the excitement of gaining super powers, he was hot-headed, so he transmitted a lot of information to the Green Lantern network. When he came back to his senses, he also discovered the abnormality in this, so he began to feel a bit guilty.

Therefore, when Shiler approached him, hoping that he could cooperate with the plan to obtain some energy from the Green Lanterns, he agreed.

As a Green Lantern, he knew better than Shiler that Green Lantern energy was not a non-renewable energy source. Even if Shiler drained half of the energy of the Green Lantern headquarters, as long as the time was long enough, the energy would slowly rise back.

And now, standing in front of these confidential information in the core hub, Hal understood that what Shiler wanted was far more than just energy.

He wanted the entire Green Lantern Corps.

Until now, Hal had sorted out the context of everything.

At the very beginning, Shiler asked Hal to go to the Green Lantern Corps to ask for help, and as much as possible to bring back a squad, just to let these Green Lanterns see the danger of Cat Getan and be trapped here.

When trapped in the quagmire and the energy was about to be exhausted, they would definitely choose to call for help.

In this way, most of the combat power in the headquarters would be mobilized to Cat Getan. After they descended, Shiler would use some other methods to shoot them all down, and then let all the Green Lanterns, including the commander of the Green Lantern Corps, be in danger of being wiped out.

And at this time, Hal stood out, turned the tide, and saved everyone from fire and water.

This was equivalent to Shiler bringing in countless powerful supporting roles, but in the end, it was only to set off the protagonist Hal, giving him a huge credit.

Fantasize

This credit would not only directly skip Hal's novice stage as a Green Lantern and make him an official lantern hero, but also make him rise rapidly in the Green Lantern Corps, directly skipping the long process of accumulating military exploits, being sent out for further studies, etc., and stepping into the core in one step.

Thinking of this, Hal sighed in his heart. He thought of the words Alfred said in the Mayor's Manor.

"When we need to let a spy reach a high position, we generally do three things."

"First, destroy the stability of this region, so that most of the high-level people in it are busy calming down the chaos."

"Second, let other agents create some trouble, and these troubles can only be solved by that spy, providing him with the opportunity to move up."

"Third, take advantage of the chaos to kill one or several important people among the high-level, so that positions appear vacant, making room for him."

"Finally, we no longer need to use tough means to let them accept the spy's promotion, but everything goes naturally."

"If this time is not successful, then we will wait for the next opportunity with peace of mind. In a huge organization with complex personnel relations, there will always be such an opportunity, allowing us to make the right person walk to the right position."

Hal suddenly discovered that what made him feel absurd was that Alfred had already told him the answer before all these events started.

Everything Shiler did had traces to follow, or rather, in their field, these were theorems like mathematical formulas, which had been practiced, improved, summarized, and condensed into essence by countless people.

Hal didn't know whether the Green Lanterns also had such means, but there was no doubt that Shiler's plan had succeeded.

And the only variable left was his choice.

Hal sat in front of the table, looking at the cold light of the screen reflected on the smooth table surface. Data flowed and light spots flickered on it, like a lake surface reflecting starlight.

He knew that the reason Shiler didn't tell him all this in advance was to give him the opportunity to choose.

Hal didn't understand why Shiler wanted to do this, why he wanted to tie the results of such huge manpower and material resources to his own thought.

Could he really make such an important decision? Could he really be entrusted with heavy responsibility to choose the future of Earth?

Batman had the same question.

In the manor, he still sat on the sofa with his back straight, refusing to let his back touch the back of the sofa, and asked:

"Actually, you could completely do all this yourself. You also possess a Green Lantern ring, you are also a member of the lantern corps, your acting skills and abilities are all better than that person named Hal, and more importantly, you will definitely choose Earth."

"Why are you so sure?" Shiler asked back.

"Because if it weren't so, you wouldn't have planned all this."

Batman's answer was the perfect correct answer. Shiler spent so much effort, made such a big circle, and pushed Hal to the top, just because he hoped that someone could control the Green Lantern Corps and let the Green Lantern Corps stand on Earth's side.

But Batman's question also made a lot of sense. Shiler could completely do all this himself. He could plan such a big event himself, let himself be the protagonist, appear brilliantly when all the Green Lanterns were beaten to pieces, become a hero who saved them from fire and water, and then accept everyone's pursuit and step into the power core of the Green Lantern Corps.

Batman also had no doubt that Shiler would do better. Although Shiler often said that he was just an ordinary person, and when facing Hal, he would also say that Hal was the person with the strongest willpower in the world and he was far inferior to Hal.

But the way he did things determined that he didn't need such strong force. On the contrary, those schemes of intrigue and calculating were more important.

Batman felt that if Shiler successfully entered the leadership core of the Green Lantern Corps, then soon, Oa would become Earth's branch.

"Batman, I think I told you before, you are a bit too efficient and too goal-oriented, so much so that sometimes you will ignore the incidental benefits."

Shiler put down the wine glass and then explained: "Indeed, if I do it myself, the efficiency will be much higher. I don't even need to direct this play, just follow the normal process, go to Oa to report, train, and then soon, I can climb to the high level of the Green Lantern Corps."

"But if that were the case, I would still be me. For me, this is just a task, neither having the effect of tempering nor being very boring. I am already on Earth's side, and this matter won't make me have any changes."

"But Hal is different. Although he is still very green, his potential is unlimited. More importantly, he has not been brainwashed by the so-called peace and justice beliefs of the Green Lanterns

"Since we can take this opportunity to forge a die-hard loyalist who stands on Earth's side, why not?"

Constantine, on the other side of the sofa, asked again: "The problem is, how can you be so sure that Hal will choose Earth? Even if he is an Earthling, Green Lantern's power is so strong and comes without a price; what if he is tempted?"

"If I'm not mistaken, he should be at the Green Lantern Corps headquarters right now, perhaps having found some classified information. But he believed in the Corps' rhetoric so much before, how could he suddenly change his stance?"

Schiller smiled, pulled the bottle over to pour himself a drink, and watching the golden liquid flow slowly into the glass, he said in a calm tone: "Don't tell me you think you were born perfect."

"Of course I..." Constantine was just about to admit it when he saw Batman squinting at him, and the words were swallowed back down.

To cover his embarrassment, Constantine coughed twice and then said: "Fine, even if we weren't born perfect, what are you trying to say?"

"I mean, we can give him some time. When he realizes what the essence of the problem really is, he will stand with his fellow countrymen more firmly than anyone else."

"The essence of the problem..." Batman dragged out the tail of his sentence slightly, which was unusual, clearly because he had thought of something. He said: "I remember you told a story last time, that shortly after the birth of the universe, a race known as the Guardians of the Universe appeared..."

"That's right. I remember, and I should have told you that they are an intelligent race, although there are many times when they aren't that intelligent."

Batman seemed to understand something and said: "Any intelligent creature cannot be absolutely selfless."

"To a certain extent, the smarter one is, the more selfish one is. This statement is correct because smart people can more clearly analyze the gains and losses of a matter, and then achieve the greatest results with the minimum cost."

"However, upholding justice, maintaining peace, and helping the weak are things that require high investment but yield almost no results."

"Many people call the heroes who are willing to do these things 'fools' because their behavior does indeed look very foolish."

"Giving up one's own money, energy, and time, wasting them on those weaklings who should have nothing to do with them—this simply does not meet the requirements of venture capital theory."

"Because this is not an investment in the first place." Batman added: "If you want a return, don't be a hero."

This remark made Constantine look sideways. He paused, shrugged, and said as if talking to himself: "Fine, you are all heroes, only I am a scumbag... I am just a scumbag, I just want a return."

"Of course..." Schiller changed the subject: "Although this spirit is worth admiring, a completely bitter journey is not worth advocating. Rewards can motivate heroes to exert more powerful strength, so my job is to talk about something practical behind this great spirit..."

"I've digressed." Schiller took a sip of wine and then said: "I don't need to do anything to guide Hal to reject the other side, because that group of people has never represented justice, nor are they fair at all."

"True justice does not exist in the universe, only power. And since everyone is a power, I hope we are stronger."

And in the Green Lantern Corps headquarters, Hal ultimately did not press the confirmation button. He just stood up, stared at everything on Oa through the window, then turned and left the central hub.