nownovels Chapter 256 The Founding of the Green Lantern Corps
Chapter 256 The Founding of the Green Lantern Corps
Chapter 256 The Founding of the Green Lantern Corps
"My fault! My fault!"
Joey spent ages explaining to her with a forced smile, like coaxing a child, before finally persuading the starving Ganata to return the camera to Tony.
He had figured out why Tony had said the world was in grave danger.
The most direct threat on the other end doesn't come from Ultron or anything else, but from a hungry god.
"Thank God you finally got in touch with us," Tony said, feeling completely drained after two months without Joey.
Not only did he have to keep a close eye on the teleportation device and plan for the Green Lantern Ring to be replicated, but he also had to constantly reassure the starving Super Celestial, assuring her that Superman would definitely return, lest she, having not eaten for a long time, really couldn't resist devouring the Earth:
"This is the thirteenth time today that this woman has threatened to devour the entire Earth."
Fortunately, she has finally found her long-term meal ticket superhero: "Stand there and don't move, I'm ready, I'll pull you back now."
Using the repeater deployed in the zombie universe as a relay, it would only take about half an hour to redirect Superman to his own universe.
"No, I can't go back yet."
Joey refused the suggestion to return immediately; he hadn't forgotten his current predicament:
"Kryptonians are breaking through dimensional barriers and chasing me. If they enter our universe, the consequences will be equally unimaginable."
Joey was thinking about whether he could find a desolate universe to deal with the Kryptonian pursuers who were close behind.
Tony wasn't nervous at all when he heard this; on the contrary, he was overjoyed, as if he had found a long-lost target after developing a new weapon of mass destruction.
Iron Man, who secretly scans Joey every day, naturally knows the Kryptonians' true strength, but even so, he is confident enough to solve the problem Joey mentioned:
"Ha, there's no need for that, just let them come!"
He twisted the camera drone, turning it towards a wall of the underground base behind him, where a sealed energy network contained an entire wall of nitrogen stones.
"You have no idea how much our strength has expanded in the past few months."
"Tony, don't be reckless. Kryptonite alone won't solve the Kryptonian problem."
I wonder if Batman and Iron Man instilled some strange ideas in people, how could anyone think that having Kryptonite would be enough to subdue an organized and disciplined Kryptonian army?
Putting everything else aside, even someone like Kara, who trained at the military academy for less than two and a half years, would have to use some brains if Joey wanted to ambush her with kryptonite.
Not every Kryptonian is a saint like Clark Kent, who not only enjoys blindly taking hits with his face without any regard for right or wrong, but also pretends to exchange a few blows with you before actually hitting you to determine how much force is needed to avoid killing you.
If Tony were to encounter Kryptonians who show no mercy, even if he were wearing the Amorod suit, he would surely be killed in the light of day if surrounded and beaten up.
"That's why I said you didn't know," Tony paused, leaving some suspense, as if waiting for Joey to ask.
"...?"
But Joey wasn't fooled at all; he thought, "Say what you want, or don't say what you don't want."
"You're so boring! You completely ruined the anticipation of opening a present!"
Tony, who has a strong desire to show off, certainly couldn't resist the opportunity to flaunt his talent. The camera panned again, and Joey saw the lamp that had been teleported over earlier.
However, the furnace was surrounded by a number of mechanical devices whose manufacturer was easily recognizable. This was Tony's surprise for Joey:
"Look, a fully automated, intelligent Green Lantern manufacturing machine!"
"You've broken through the manufacturing process of the green light ring?"
Now, the huge weight that had been pressing on Joey's heart could finally be lifted a little bit.
"Technically speaking, no." Tony's denial extinguished Joey's excitement.
"I've just figured out the structure of the lamp ring, but I still don't know where to get the materials needed to make it."
"Hmm?!" Joey decided to first put the heavy weight in her heart back in its place.
"But in terms of application, it can be considered a success."
Tony, who had kept everyone in suspense, then added another sentence, further fueling Joey's anticipation:
"We have as many Green Lanterns as we have Spider-Men. Do you want to know how that works?"
Completely numb from the pulling and tugging, Joey had no choice but to concede: "You won, Tony, tell me!"
"Ha!" Tony grinned mysteriously, then pointed the camera back at his grumpy face, looking like he wasn't going to wait any longer.
"You didn't ask earlier, but now it's too late! Unless you beg me again."
"Fine, don't tell me then," Joey, unable to contain his curiosity, genuinely wanted to know how Tony had circumvented the material requirements.
However, he wouldn't stoop so low as to beg Tony again.
This was because Joey had already noticed an unsettling shadow behind the unsuspecting Tony:
"Bruce, tell me why!"
"It's a projection."
Batman appeared from behind Tony, answering Joey's questions while startling the unsuspecting Iron Man, who screamed, "God! Why do you never make a sound when you walk?"
"huh?"
This concise and clear answer, which was like a riddle, left Joey completely puzzled—what was this all about?
"The green light ring can project specific objects using willpower."
Batman answered Joey's question, who was full of doubts: "So why can't we use the Green Lantern Ring to project the Green Lantern Ring?"
"ah??!!"
Joey not only understood, but was also greatly shocked:
"Are you guys doing recursion here?!"
The so-called "recursion" is a concept in computer science that refers to a function calling itself.
"Very good, you've got the point perfectly."
Seeing that Batman had already revealed the truth, Tony decided to stop hiding it.
"The idea was originally proposed by Batman; I just improved it a little bit technically."
Even Joey was awestruck by Batboy's astonishing wisdom; simply put, it was an endless series of nesting dolls:
"So the ultimate solution for expanding the Green Lantern Corps is to materialize Green Lantern Rings using Green Lantern Rings, then materialize Green Lantern Rings using the materialized Green Lantern Rings, and then—."
"You really have wild ideas, Bruce!"
If Joey were a Green Lantern, he could declare right now that Bruce Wayne is the most imaginative Green Lantern fitter in the entire universe.
"Iron Man also helped a lot in the process. He solved the power supply problem for the materialized Green Lantern Rings, changing their power supply from the materializer to the furnace."
Although the two engaged in a round of meaningless mutual flattery, what they have accomplished is indeed earth-shattering.
And the powerful brick that flew.
Using a Green Lantern Ring to materialize a new Green Lantern Ring was originally a last resort, and it wasn't anything unusual for the battle-hardened Batman.
At least three of the people he knew before could do that.
But such an infinite nesting doll is another challenge. Batman just mentioned it casually during a brainstorming session, but unexpectedly, a madman like Tony Stark actually grasped this fleeting inspiration and stably implemented it.
Upon hearing the news, Joey's face immediately broke into a long-lost natural smile.
This time, it wasn't a perfunctory fake smile, nor a polite but genuine one; it was a smile of heartfelt joy.
It was as if he had always been walking in the dark, with the weight of the entire universe pressing down on his shoulders, making Joey afraid to even breathe and completely unable to move.
Now that the Green Lantern Corps is in its early stages, Joey has finally found a foothold, a moment to clear his head, catch his breath, and stretch his muscles:
"Then teleport me back quickly, Tony!"
With thousands of Green Lantern Spider-Men, let alone a small group of Kryptonian pursuers from other worlds, Joey now even has a strange confidence that he can go head-to-head with Jor-El's army.
"Understood. Keep 'Friday' with you. The relay coordinates between the three universes are constantly changing. Once Jarvis finishes his calculations, you can come back."
After finalizing the programming team for "Superman Returns," Tony immediately felt relieved and jumped out of his armor, leaving the scene to the ever-restless Batman.
As for himself?
"Jarvis, cancel all appointments for the next three days, arrange a helicopter, I'm going to—Hollywood!"
After shaking his head and showing his disapproval of Tony's actions, Batman sat down at the center console and took over the equipment.
Looking at the time on the screen, Batman suddenly felt a pang of regret. He should have spent that time doing his regular work in Hell's Kitchen, New York City.
"It will take about 42 minutes. Jarvis's processing speed is still slower than Cyborg's." Jarvis politely interrupted Batman's comment, "Although a bit injured," he added, "thank you for your suggestion, sir."
"I'm sorry." Batman was just anxious because he remembered that Superman was still stranded in other universes; he didn't mean to make fun of Jarvis.
Jarvis was merely a near-A1 that Tony had created himself. Comparing him to Apokolips-based technology like Cyborg was indeed an insult.
The robot, who was observing the whole thing, didn't understand a thing about what Joey and his group were talking about.
"So you're leaving?"
All he knew was that Superman was leaving:
Will you come back, Superman?
It's not that I'm reluctant to part with Joey, unlike Mark, who has absolutely no connection with Superman.
He simply realized from his intuition and experience that what the other person was talking about was a much larger world.
He was curious about that kind of world.
"You'd better hope I don't come back."
When a place needs a superhero, their lives are definitely not going to be peaceful.
Since there was still time, and following the principle that one should have nothing better to do, Joey was quite willing to chat with the robot Rudy, as long as he didn't try to show off his super brain's computing power.
This is better than spending the next 42 minutes staring blankly at Bruce in Batman form, isn't it?
With a whoosh, Joey heard a sound like a missile piercing the air. Looking up, before even activating his super senses, he saw the Invincible Young Hero smash a large hole in the mountainside used for concealment outside the guard base and crash into the interior.
Mark was covered in blood and bruises, his hands clutching his head in pain, his face contorted with agony.
He shouted to the crowd:
"Help me, Cecil is trying to kill me!"