Chapter 2417: Mental Assault (35)_1

Harley, Aisha, and Barry landed from the Divine Speed once more, and all they could see were monsters throughout the city.

"Oh my God," Harley exclaimed, "What the hell happened???"

"Right, is this Gotham? Why are there so many monsters invading Gotham???"

"I'm not puzzled by that," Harley said impatiently, "I'm puzzled by how the hell all these monsters are green."

Barry immediately turned and glared at her. Harley said, "Don't act as if Gotham being full of monsters is anything new. Now, there are two mysteries. First, why these monsters are green, and second, why that group of people in the middle are also green."

As Harley pointed towards a corner of the city, Barry noticed that there were indeed a group of people, and as Harley had said, these people, like the monsters, were all green.

"Could it be the All Things Green?" Barry had only seen one green monster before. He said, "What about Pamela? How could she just watch the All Things Green invade Gotham?"

"Of course she wouldn't. That means this isn't the All Things Green," Harley said. "The All Things Green is the will of plants. When it appeared before, everything that manifested from its power were plants. But now, inside Gotham City..."

Barry and Aisha took a closer look and noticed there really weren't any plants in the city, not even vines. These monsters were basically all sorts of terrifying animals, with large bodies, thick limbs, and gaping mouths.

"Wait." Aisha suddenly spoke, "Something's not right."

Her vertical pupils shimmered with a golden light, and with a whoosh, a layer of faint greenish-gray light that was covering everyone's vision dissipated.

"It's Green Lantern energy," Aisha said. "This city is filled with Green Lantern energy, and these monsters are constructed by the Lantern rings. However, this Green Lantern energy is a bit strange, hard to explain."

Both of them turned to look at her, and after Aisha closed her eyes to feel more carefully, she said, "It's completely different from the will-filled Green Lantern glow I felt from Hal. It's been contaminated with too many impurities."

"This is a clue," Harley said. "This is also why I didn't think it was the Lantern rings' glow at first. This energy is almost blackened to a dark green. Doesn't the Lantern Corps care about this?"

"I'm afraid the group of people down there is the Lantern Corps," Aisha's gaze fixed on the group of green people.

To call them people wasn't quite accurate. Inside, indeed there were humanoids of various shapes and sizes, but unlike ordinary humans, there were also many non-human beings, like conical bodies with a bunch of tentacles underneath, blue bowling balls with big brains floating in the air, and things that looked like a downcast shark and green bean sprouts.

At this moment, this group was surrounded by layers of monsters, continuously dealing with fierce attacks from all directions, but it was apparent that they were outmatched and overwhelmed, seemingly not far from being cut down.

"We need to go down and help them," Barry said, showing some urgency.

"Hold on," Harley stopped Barry, saying, "Since it's Green Lantern energy that created these monsters, and Green Lantern energy relies on the rings that must be controlled by someone, it means there must be a rogue Green Lantern in the city. Before he shows himself, we can't reveal ourselves rashly."

Barry nodded. In matters of tactics, he still trusted Harley, and he could tell from the monsters' forms that the Green Lantern must have become incredibly corrupt. If they exposed themselves too soon, he would surely decide to strike them down mercilessly.

If that happened, they would be in the open while the enemy was hidden, and the situation would become quite disadvantageous. Whereas if they held their ground now and waited for the opponent to reveal himself, the situation would completely reverse.

"He definitely won't be able to resist," Harley said. "I've heard Hal mention before that nearly every Green Lantern has a complicated relationship with the Lantern Corps. They serve the Corps but don't completely obey them, with some even holding beliefs completely contrary to that of the Corps, thinking that the will of the Emotional Spectrum should be free, not used as a tool by anyone."

Barry then looked towards Aisha; he didn't know her exact origins, but he knew this girl had intricate connections with the Lantern Corps and the Emotional Spectrum.

"The Emotional Spectrum and the Lantern Corps aren't directly related," Aisha said. "There can be a Spectrum without the Corps, but there can't be a Corps without the Spectrum."

"So who organized the Lantern Corps?" Barry asked.

Aisha shook her head, saying, "My memory about this isn't very clear. Most of it is vague and chaotic. The energy gathered by the Lantern Corps is very delicious. Maybe this time I'll get to have a feast."

"Their situation is getting worse," Barry said with a frown, his tone grave, "They seem completely outmatched by this group of monsters. It's hard to imagine how corrupted the Green Lantern must be to manifest so many monsters."

"He has appeared," Harley said. "Look at that figure standing on the Giant Dragon over there."

Barry and Aisha followed her gaze to the distant sky, where a pair of huge flitting wings crossed the air, disintegrating the Lantern Corps' aerial defense line almost instantly.

Atop the dragon's head was a figure, looking exceptionally strong and burly. But it wasn't until the dragon soared over Aisha and the others' heads that Harley let out a surprised and uncertain "Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" Barry asked.

Harley's mouth opened as if she couldn't believe it, but she still said, "Look at his face."

The three of them looked at the figure above the dragon. He wore the familiar Green Lantern uniform with green hue, but he did not wear a mask, and he had black hair and blue eyes.

To say that Hal Jordan of this universe happens to have this hair color and eye color is not inconceivable, but here stands Aisha, a living contrast, and the person atop the giant dragon looks not entirely dissimilar to Aisha, only resembling her about eighty percent.

"Bruce Wayne???" they exclaimed in unison.

"This is trouble," Barry gasped, "Is it Batman Green Lantern or Green Lantern Batman? A Batman who can use the Green Lantern's power, how are we supposed to deal with him?"

"On the contrary," Harley revealed with a smile, "Whether it's Green Lantern Batman or Batman Green Lantern, he's much easier to deal with than just Batman or Green Lantern."

"Why?" Barry asked.

"What do you think is the hardest part about dealing with Batman? Okay, I know you guys never thought about facing Batman, but I have. I can't say he's uncontrollable, but there's always a risk, so I often think about it."

Harley said, "The most difficult part of dealing with Batman is that he is too cautious—not only does he carefully observe the situation and understand others, he also very cautiously controls himself. He never uses any power beyond his control."

"You might think the gadgets he makes are already quite exaggerated, but I can assure you, these are the most conservative versions of what he can make. They hold no risk for him; otherwise, he wouldn't use them."

"Such an opponent is the most troublesome because it's almost impossible to expect him to make a mistake. Most games, frankly, are about creating opportunities for the opponent to err, which makes Batman almost unbeatable."

"But now, even if this Batman hasn't completely lost his mind, he's not far off," said Harley, shaking her head. "A sane Batman would never want to use the power of a Lantern ring; they understand the nature of this power."

"What is it?" Barry asked.

"Once you put on the Green Lantern Ring, are you still you or are you the Green Lantern?" Harley countered with a question.

"Uh, why ask that?" Barry didn't quite understand and said, "I gained Divine Speed, but I'm still me."

"That's because people like you don't think about this question. But Batman is the exact opposite of you; this problem is very important for people like Batman, for people like me."

"Of course, I'm not saying Green Lantern energy will directly control others or brainwash them, but you must understand something. When you gain some powerful force and become accustomed to using it, your way of thinking and your standards of conduct will inevitably change."

"After all, why bother going through all the trouble of planning if you can easily change reality? In the long run, will you really continue to plan? After you start making plans again, can you consider all aspects?"

"Power reshapes a person, making them completely different from their former selves, but it's not a fair trade, especially not with the Lantern ring."

"Because if you rely on the power that the Lantern ring gives you and are shaped to lose caution and wisdom, the energy of the Lantern ring is not under your control—it first belongs to the Emotional Spectrum, then to the Lantern Corps, and they can take back that power at any time."

"Once the power becomes ineffective, he has nothing to rely on any longer. Not only will he no longer be the Green Lantern, but he will also no longer be the Batman because the wisdom he once prided himself on was devoured by the habit of not using his brain for years."

Harley sighed lightly and said, "That is to say, the sooner this Batman Green Lantern became the Green Lantern, the easier he is to deal with because, if he originally had the superb intelligence of the other Batmen, it would have been mostly depleted due to years of reliance on Green Lantern energy."

"Really?" Barry was doubtful.

"When have you ever seen Batman make such a high-profile appearance?" Harley countered.

Barry had no reply; at least the Batman he knew, aside from performing certain acts, almost hoped to never appear at all, leaving people to think that the plan had nothing to do with him.

And if he had to appear, he would definitely find a suitable position for himself, disguising himself if possible, and if not, he would surely stand behind a Legion of teammates. In Bruce's words, every step forward he took was a disrespect to his opponent's ability to launch a surprise attack.

Barry also felt that while standing on the head of a giant dragon and swinging around was cool, strategically speaking, what difference was there from a live target?

If things went as expected, he would let the dragon stop over the heads of the Green Lantern Corps, mock the group below extensively, then tell them they were certain to die before killing them.

"Would Batman really mock his opponents?" Barry expressed disbelief, saying, "Any Batman I know would rather treat his opponents like God."

Then, as expected, the giant dragon flew swiftly over the heads of the Green Lantern Corps, made an extremely agile turn, and, flapping its wings, landed.

"Stop, Wayne!" a Purple-skinned Giant leading the group shouted, "You can't use Green Lantern energy for such evil deeds. It would ruin the entire cosmos; please, stop now."

"Evil?" Green Lantern Batman snorted, "Where were you when truly evil deeds were happening in this universe?"

"Should people like me, who've endured irreparable tragedies, just sit back and abide by the rules you've made? I'm afraid compared to you, the Green Lantern energy you so proudly claim as justice would favor me more."

"That's not possible," a sharp female voice objected.

"Is that so?" Green Lantern Batman sneered. As he raised his hand, swish, all the lights went out.