Clark's response was faster than Diana's. The moment the black dot appeared, he sidestepped, deftly and smoothly evading the sneak attack, squinting his eyes at Savage Wolf and said, "I thought you were powerful, turns out it's just so-so!"
Before the words were finished, the red and blue figure directly grabbed the blue-gray figure like a cannonball shooting out of Earth. The deafening sound of breaking the sound barrier still lingered in their ears, having already surpassed the third cosmic speed. Before arriving at Mars, he had already reached near-light speed. And when Clark, holding Savage Wolf, crashed into the Sun, the speed of light-induced space-time stagnation caused the solar particles to leap in an elegant and graceful dance.
Savage Wolf didn't even have time to scream, his entire being was melted by the intense heat and immense pressure of the Sun's core, leaving not even ashes. As Clark flew out of the Sun, his clothes were barely dirty, and when he returned to Earth, the flames on his cape had already extinguished.
Clark patted his hands: "Done."
The crowd was stunned for a moment, then erupted into deafening cheers. Clark shrugged, looking indifferent but still raising the corners of his mouth.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the ocean surface suddenly rippled. Arthur was the first to sense something was wrong, looking down into the depths of the sea. Clark also felt a slight tremor beneath his feet.
Then, in everyone's shocked gaze, a gigantic city emerged on the sea surface. Arthur was stunned, for it was Atlantis.
And beneath Atlantis, in the pitch-black seawater, a towering figure was holding the city up. His entire body was a dead quiet blue-black, with rich darkness surging in his eyes. Arthur's gaze pierced through the water, and the moment he saw his face, he called out his name: "...Atlanna!"
Clark looked at him, and Arthur said gravely: "No wonder, I searched the entire cemetery and couldn't find his remains. Turns out he had revived long ago."
Suddenly, the golden trident in Arthur's hand began to tremble. Arthur's expression changed: "He's fighting with me over control of the ocean!"
Clark was about to dash into the water when Arthur quickly stopped him and said, "Don't go in. Right now, this ocean is his domain. Your mobility will be affected, and you might also be corroded."
Clark paused. But he still tentatively went to the water's edge and touched the seawater. Just as his hand went in, he felt the water wrapping around his limb like resentful souls, bringing an icy chill to the bone.
In fact, there was no need for him to test it, as it could already be seen from the outside. The originally frost-free port had now formed a thick layer of ice. The once-clear seawater had turned into a turbid black. The power of death was spreading in the water, and Arthur's complexion was becoming increasingly pale.
"He's crazy," Arthur said, "He wants to turn the ocean into a realm of death. My power isn't enough to counter him."
Clark's face also darkened. He tried to move into the water, but his mobility in the water was greatly reduced. The power of death seeped into his skin continuously like a bone-attached spur. Clark didn't dare to take any chances and quickly flew out.
He shook his head and said: "No way. I'm not suited for underwater combat, and the water is too strange. What on earth did he do?"
"He probably revived long ago," Arthur said, "He must have done something to change the underwater environment, quickly spreading the power of death. We can't go underwater."
Soon, Atlanna's figure floated up to the water's surface. Everyone noticed that he was even more eroded by the power of death than Savage Wolf. Half of his body was a skeletal frame, while the other half was severely decayed, exuding thick black aura from his whole person.
The blackness of the sea surface spread hundreds of kilometers. Clark, who had flown into the sky, saw the Atlantic being engulfed by black.
Damn the behind-the-scenes manipulator, these actions on land were just a blind eye technique, the real killer move was hidden underwater.
But have to admit, it's quite effective. Earth's oceans are too vast, affecting the water cycle of the entire planet. Humans can hardly survive without the ocean. Once the ocean is polluted, Earth is doomed.
"Stop him." Clark said, "We absolutely cannot let him pollute the ocean, quickly, stop him!"
Everyone again rushed toward the figure on the sea surface. But Atlanna seemingly didn't want to fight, just showed up for a moment and then dived back into the sea. Hal used Green Lantern energy to cover his whole body and rushed into the sea. Despite not being eroded, Atlanna's figure was no longer visible; he didn't know where Atlanna was hiding.
The ocean now resembled a massive realm of death. Everyone's perception abilities were compressed to the limit here, even Clark couldn't sense beyond three meters below the sea surface. In such circumstances, underwater combat was too risky.
After some hesitation, Clark said: "Don't go down, retreat. Go back to find Batman."
Though worried, they had no better option and could only retreat. After they left, however, a figure stealthily approached the sea, gazing at the ocean, lost in thought.
Back at the Justice League base, Batman had been waiting for some time. He opened the projection screen and said: "I won't show the professional data. In about 12 hours, the power of death will pollute the global oceans. Over 60% of tropical regions' rainfall will be affected. After 24 hours, the global water cycle will be polluted."
Upon hearing this timeframe, everyone felt somewhat hopeless. Diana said, "12 hours? Why is it so quick?!"
Understand that Earth's oceans are vast. If it spreads to global oceans within 12 hours, even a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour isn't enough. The spreading speed is probably similar to high-speed rail.
"They were prepared." Batman's voice remained calm, "The ocean is Earth's greatest blessing and its biggest weakness. We've known that for a long time. In fact, while you were focused on Savage Wolf, there were already disturbances in the sea."
"You noticed?"
"Yes, but there's no way to stop it. Or rather, there's no need to stop it."
"Why?" Arthur asked in confusion, looking at him, "Even if you can't go into the sea, you could have told me earlier, maybe I could have..."
"As long as Earth's oceans exist, he will surely find a way to interfere. Without Atlantis, there will be others. Because this is the quickest way."
Arthur fell silent as well, because he knew that even as Aquaman, he couldn't constantly monitor the Seven Seas. The Atlanteans were numerous, and if just one were resurrected and caused trouble in some corner, he wouldn't even notice.
Just like Batman said, the ocean is Earth's weakness. If someone wants to meddle with Earth, they will undoubtedly use the ocean as a breakthrough. There's no defense against a thousand days of thieves.
"So what do we do?" Barry asked, "If you can't do anything, surely you won't just let him do this, right?"
Everyone looked at Batman, clearly agreeing with Barry's opinion. Batman seemed to have anticipated this and was very calm. He must have a plan.
Batman remained silent but pressed a remote control. The image on the projection screen changed. Everyone widened their eyes because what appeared on the screen were those three nails driven into Earth.
Everyone looked at Clark. Clark blinked, completely confused. He turned to Batman and said, "What is this?"
"These are nails," Batman replied.
"I know these are nails. I'm asking what their scientific name is."
Batman uttered a string of strange words, and Clark responded, "…Huh?"
"Isn't this Kryptonian language?" Ron asked, "You don't understand it either?"
Clark was full of questions. Batman said several more sentences, seemingly explaining the term from earlier, but Clark still couldn't understand it. Then he shook his head and said, "I'm illiterate in Kryptonian. Why don't you just say it in English?"
English wasn't much better either, with another heap of unintelligible technical terms. Finally, Batman sighed and said, "To put it simply, it's an ecological restructuring system, used to change Earth's environment. That's its original purpose."
Everyone understood the last sentence. Diana suddenly realized and said, "Yeah, I remember this thing is something you got from the Krypton Main Ship. What were they originally planning to do with this? Transform Earth into an environment suitable for Kryptonians?"
"That's correct." Batman nodded, saying, "Even within Kryptonian technology, this is a very advanced instrument. Without this set of instruments, Zod wouldn't have come to Earth. The Environmental Reconstruction Instrument, along with the Life Treasure Book, is essential for reviving Kryptonian civilization."
"Why do I feel like he's more Kryptonian than you?" Barry whispered to Clark.
"I feel the same way." Clark whispered back, "I don't know any of this. What are the Environmental Reconstruction Instrument and Life Treasure Book?"
"So you were prepared all along," Ron said, "I knew you wouldn't have shot this thing down just to tell a lie. Can it reshape the Earth's ocean environment?"
"Of course it can, unless there's an invasion of the Power of Death. But if we need to counteract the Power of Death, the effect won't be as significant. It can only slow down the speed of its spread. Plus, it requires Hal's assistance."
Batman looked at Hal and then said, "This thing is just a medium. It can diffuse certain powers into water bodies. Right now, the best option is Green Lantern energy."
"I am willing to, but there might not be that much energy." Hal said with some concern, "I'm just a rookie. Even after defeating Parallax, I'm still only at Level 1. My energy allocation isn't large, and I'm afraid I can't sustain such consumption."
"Who cares about that now!" Arthur was clearly anxious. He raised his golden trident and said, "I'll go to Headquarters with you. If anyone dares not give you energy, I'll pin them to the ground!"
Diana also said, "We can't worry about that now. The Green Lantern Corps claims to be the Cosmic Police, yet they haven't gone after the behind-the-scenes manipulator, have they? We're fulfilling their duties now, defending the cosmos' safety; they have the obligation to provide us logistical support."
"Yeah, let's go directly to Green Lantern Headquarters," Barry said, "Talk to them properly; they'll definitely support us."
Batman gave Hal a look, and Hal understood immediately, making a difficult expression. He said, "Green Lanterns have it tough too. The allocation quotas at Green Lantern Headquarters are limited..."
"So who holds all the Green Lantern energy?"
"The Guardians of the Universe," Hal said, "They're the ones who formed the Lantern Corps and distributed the rings. The Total Furnace is with them. The Green Lantern Headquarters is just a branch base."
Clark stood up and said, "I agree with Diana's view: since we are fulfilling the responsibility of safeguarding cosmic security, they should provide us with energy. Let's go have a talk with the Guardians of the Universe. I'm sure they will support us."