Chapter 201: Are You Worthy?

"Heh, the little dwarf is once again upholding universal peace today"

Steppenwolf, clad in metallic-colored close-fitting bio-armor, emitted a buzzing sound like a bee sting. He cracked his lips, revealing a mischievous and intriguing expression, as he flew from the surface to the atmosphere, carrying his crimson axe with lava-like cracks on his shoulders, walking towards the green conference table in the atmosphere.

From the Metropolis S.T.A.R. Laboratory on the ground, parademons of various kinds kept emerging, all flying towards the sky with him, awaiting his command.

Steppenwolf was no stranger to the negotiations conducted by the Green Lantern Corps, the cosmic guardians, with invaders and the indigenous peoples of planets, in order to maintain peace in the universe.

The cosmic guardians often acted as mediators, maintaining peace and order within a limited scope.

Several times, Steppenwolf was about to invade a planet, conquer a star system, only to encounter their presence.

Sometimes, Steppenwolf could disrupt such negotiations, casually promising huge benefits and advantages, pulling in a force that was unaware of the details into Apokolips, where they would then suffer endless regret.

After all, the cosmic guardians were allies of peace and order.

Apokolips was truly chaotic and dark, a place where only strength mattered.

After promising to Steppenwolf, they had already been used to slaughter planets, conquer planets, turning the creatures of these planets into parademons, using them to fight for Apokolips, spreading the name of Darkseid, the dark god of the universe.

Many of those ambitious individuals who had been enticed by Steppenwolf's power and casual promises of great benefits and advantages to join the Apokolips had ended up fleeing in misery, seeking justice from the Green Lantern Corps.

But at that time, the cosmic guardians, bound by their agreement with Darkseid, could do nothing but refuse; unable to retaliate against the Apokolips with their own power, they began to resent the cosmic guardians who did not help them.

For Steppenwolf, this was just a little fun in the conquest of the universe.

He didn't expect that once again, by chance, the planet he happened to come to would be a domain already occupied by the Olympian gods.

He didn't know that Earth was the center of the universe; he just thought it was another coincidence. Throughout the ages, such coincidences had occurred many times. It wasn't a big deal for the Olympian gods, who had been rare since the ancient cosmic wars.

Moreover, this planet seemed quite weak. If it weren't for the sake of revenge for his previous failure, He wouldn't have come here to vent, intending to slaughter the planet and turn the heads of the entire planet's creatures into a spectacle.

Now it seems to be another meeting to divide the planet. Under pressure from the Green Lantern Corps and the agreement with Darkseid, Steppenwolf knew he couldn't conquer this planet.

"Kryptonians? It seems the vanguard from last time. This meeting, Apokolips is also joining."

Steppenwolf casually swung his axe, causing a large gap in the surrounding clouds that had formed in response to Zeus's anger, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring. With a friendly (sinister) smile, he looked towards H'el and walked towards the green round table in the atmosphere. He manipulated the surging clouds into a white seat adorned with numerous skulls, ready to sit down.

When he mentioned "last time," he was referring to Superman, the reason for the founding of the Justice League. It was because they joined forces to fight him, accidentally sending him back through the Boom Tube, which was quite embarrassing for him.

In his mind, he had already roughly figured out the sequence of events.

Probably, the hidden Kryptonians appeared in the universe, took an interest in Earth, and intended to occupy this planet. They sent Superman as a vanguard to assess the situation. Then, encountering himself, who happened to come to Earth by chance, they realized that this planet belonged to the gods, and thus, the war began.

However, with the appearance of the cosmic guardians, they must have experienced a stalemate, so they could only sit down and negotiate.

Ganthet and Zeus remained expressionless, both slightly suspicious.

The appearance of the commander of Apokolips, the subordinate of Darkseid, Steppenwolf, on Earth, was not a good omen.

Most importantly, does Darkseid know that Earth is the center of the universe?

Did Steppenwolf coincidentally find Earth for his routine conquest of planets, or did he come to learn about Earth?

Ganthet and Zeus exchanged a hidden glance and both looked towards H'el.

"What are you, to dare to sit down?"

H'el remained calm, his eyes serene, while Steppenwolf appeared like a clown, not even worth his glance.

As soon as he spoke, the white skull seat that the Steppenwolf was about to sit on suddenly dispersed with a 'bang,' leaving him frozen in mid-air.

"A lackey of Darkseid dares to sit on equal footing with us?" Zeus sneered openly.

The participants of this meeting were all powerful figures.

Ganthet represented the bigwigs behind the Green Lantern Corps, the cosmic guardians.

H'el had already proven his ability to dominate the universe with his power, effortlessly defeating five stellar-level powerhouses, he is Emperor of New Krypton.

Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, though only a projection for negotiations, was not someone like a lackey of Darkseid, worthy of sitting with him.

The three sitting at the conference table were all powerful figures: a god-king, an emperor, a guardian of the universe, and now the commander of Apokolips wanted to sit with them?

Darkseid was welcome, but his lackey, Steppenwolf, dared to come here and boldly claim a seat?

Darkseid's reputation was not yet enough to allow a lackey to sit with the others.

Not a single person glanced at Steppenwolf, all sitting calmly and composed. At this moment, Steppenwolf wasn't worth their attention.

"Hahaha... such arrogance inherited from the Kryptonians!" Steppenwolf's eyes widened with a ferocious grin. It had been a long time since someone dared to speak to him like this.

He, roamed the universe, spreading Darkseid's reputation, relying not on Darkseid, but on his own mighty power.

Steppenwolf showed a cruel smirk, his right hand gripping the massive axe, the crimson glow of magma-like cracks flowing, as if he were about to strike.

"Steppenwolf, have you forgotten about the agreement between Apokolips and the Green Lantern Corps?" Ganthet calmly reminded as he noticed the man's intention to attack.

The major powers in the universe had agreements regarding newly discovered planets. Upon discovering the presence of the cosmic guardians and Zeus, Steppenwolf could not act against Earth.

Maintaining a semblance of peace was paramount, let alone directly engaging with the other party.

He knew he had arrived late and that his attempt to disrupt the meeting had failed because they didn't allow him to take a seat!

Steppenwolf chuckled in frustration.

"I haven't forgotten. But this Kryptonian is not part of the agreement."

Steppenwolf seemed to have found a loophole. Pointing his finger at H'el and seeing the silence of the three in the meeting, he cruelly smiled, raising the axe of upheaval and striking towards H'el.

°°°

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