Chapter 282 – The Spectrum Corps Assembles
That day, many civilizations detected a massive energy fluctuation.
Using beyond-visual-range astronomical instruments, they suddenly saw the Yellow Lantern Corps and the Green Lantern Corps chasing after a lone figure—one that shimmered with a touch of orange.
Larfleeze had been hit by a vehicle in a hit-and-run. Naturally, he wasn't going to let it go easily. He wanted payback—and his Orange Lantern ring back.
Beep-beep-beep-beep…
Annoying noise and dazzling lights—it was the cream of the crop among ghost flames.
Allen lounged leisurely and said, "Bateman finally rides a ghost bike. Your cousin's out on the road—little neighbor girl, time to stay out of the way!"
That three-colored blur remained persistently ahead of both corps. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't catch up.
Sinestro, furious, realized the crux of the issue. "He's using the power of three Lantern rings. There's no way we can match that speed."
"Do we keep chasing or not?" Abin Sur asked helplessly.
It was obvious—Allen was deliberately slowing down to toy with them.
"We can't catch him. Forget it," Sinestro said, a plan forming in his mind. He'd try teleporting the guy back instead.
The two Corps leaders raised their hands, signaling their members to halt pursuit.
Larfleeze stopped too, confused. "Why aren't we chasing anymore?"
At that, Sinestro and Abin Sur shot him a disdainful glance.
Truth be told, neither wanted to have anything to do with him. His greed was boundless, and he loved stabbing allies in the back.
Seeing no one was chasing anymore, Allen stopped his ghost bike and poked his head around, calling out, "What's wrong, old timers? Your kidneys giving out already? Can't last long, huh? Bet you've been 'treating' yourselves a little too often at night!"
Sinestro and Abin Sur exchanged glances—one look was all it took for mutual understanding.
"Retreat!"
In the next moment, the Yellow and Green Lantern Corps turned around and left without another glance at Allen.
"Hey, come back!"
Allen shouted urgently, "I'll slow down a bit so you can catch up!"
Watching the two Corps retreat, Larfleeze thought this was his chance.
He intercepted Allen's path, releasing several Orange Lantern wraiths toward him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Larfleeze had underestimated the power of the three-colored ghost bike.
The Orange Lantern wraiths were instantly obliterated, and Larfleeze got run over again.
When he got up, there were tire tracks pressed into the fur on his face.
Watching Allen speed off after the other Corps, rage consumed him. He roared, "I'm going to torture you to death!"
Beep-beep-beep-beep…
"Come on, boss, don't be like that—come back and chase me!"
Allen called out to the Yellow Lantern Corps. "You're adults—don't throw tantrums like kids!"
"Get lost!"
Sinestro snapped. "Stop bothering me."
"Did you not get enough love growing up? Why so emotionally unstable?"
Allen added soothingly, "Okay, okay, I'll take the loss here. I'll pretend to be your dad and give you some fatherly affection—something you've clearly been missing."
"Kill him."
Sinestro couldn't hold back his fury any longer and immediately gave the order to hunt Allen down.
In an instant, the Yellow Lantern Corps turned and surged toward the obnoxious Allen.
"Yesss! You're chasing me again!"
Allen made a stylish drift, twisted the throttle, and sped up.
Meanwhile, the also-enraged Larfleeze turned into a streaking orange meteor, hell-bent on flattening the hit-and-run driver twice over.
"Hey there, pup," Allen muttered. "You look kinda familiar."
Of course you do—you ran me over twice.
I've still got tire tracks on my face.
But Larfleeze suddenly faltered. A slight pain flared in his body.
Unbeknownst to him, Allen had quietly cast a spell.
Unfortunately, Lantern powers are a type of magic themselves, which meant strong resistance to other magic. It wasn't like targeting a zero-resistance enemy with full-body gout—those would be writhing in pain instantly.
With just a brief pause, Allen drove right over him again.
Larfleeze lay floating in space, utterly defeated, tire marks now scraping the fur right off his face.
No more chasing.
He was done.
All he wanted now was a quiet corner of the universe to lie down in peace.
Beep-beep-beep…
Allen honked away like an energetic speed demon, occasionally turning back to shout, "C'mon boss, try a little harder—you're almost there! You gotta believe in yourself. You're the best!"
"We're not chasing him anymore," Sinestro snapped, waving for the Yellow Lanterns to halt.
This was one of the most humiliating moments of his life.
They couldn't catch him. And when they didn't chase, he'd come back to taunt them. It made Sinestro want to explode on the spot and take Allen down with him.
"Jeez… We were all having so much fun, and here you go sulking again."
Allen stopped far ahead, honking to coax them into chasing again. But the Yellow Lantern Corps had learned their lesson and weren't budging.
Suddenly, green lights began to shimmer into view.
Turns out the Green Lantern Corps hadn't actually left—they'd gone into hiding to set up an ambush.
Now, Green Lanterns surrounded Allen from all directions. The resonance of their energy formed a massive net to trap him.
"So it was a trap."
Allen was a bit slow to realize he was in trouble.
Abin Sur issued a warning. "Surrender immediately, or we will use force."
Slurp…
Allen licked his lips and grinned darkly. "Ohoho… I don't go down that easy."
Next second, the ghost bike roared forward, aiming to break out in one direction.
The Green Lantern stationed at that point felt sheer dread.
Why me?! Why can't you crash into someone else? I'm just following orders—I don't wanna die!
Seeing this, the other Green Lanterns frantically channeled energy into that section of the net to reinforce it.
But the crash never came.
Before everyone's stunned eyes, Allen passed through a portal and vanished.
He even waved goodbye. "See ya! Ghost Flame Rider, charging into battle!"
This time, no one could catch him.
The three-colored ghost bike went into faster-than-light mode in an instant. A single Lantern ring couldn't match that kind of speed.
Sinestro and Abin Sur exchanged helpless looks.
"We can't allow a wildcard like this to exist," one of them said.
A being with multiple Lantern rings was a serious threat to all Lantern Corps.
And if Allen ran amok across the galaxy, they'd be the ones who had to answer for it.
Though Lantern Corps held high status, there were many civilizations across the cosmos that would not tolerate such chaos.
"What do you suggest?" Abin Sur asked. For now, he was putting aside personal grudges. Allen was a serious problem that had to be dealt with immediately.
Given how he toyed with both Corps, he could just as easily provoke the Three Great Empires next.
"I'll try to forcibly recall him using a summon. If that fails, we'll have to call in the other Corps," Sinestro suggested.
"Worth a try."
Abin Sur was willing to go along with it—partly because Sinestro was his brother-in-law.
Back when they were both in the Green Lantern Corps, Abin Sur's sister had been with Sinestro, and they'd even had a child together.
When Sinestro defected, the Guardians briefly forbade relationships between Lanterns. But that rule was later lifted for being too inhumane.
Elsewhere in the cosmos, Allen was roaming aimlessly.
After another speed burst, he wasn't even sure where he was anymore.
The universe was vast beyond comprehension.
Even though the Green Lantern Corps patrolled 3,600 sectors, they couldn't possibly cover the entire universe.
Suddenly, Allen felt a suction behind him.
A rhombus-shaped portal opened—an attempt to forcibly recall him to the planet Korugar.
But Allen maintained his speed and easily escaped its pull.
In truth, Lanterns typically didn't resist force summons—unless they really didn't want to return. Then it was easy to slip free.
After wandering a while, Allen found a relatively primitive planet to rest on.
Without a star chart, interstellar travel was near impossible.
Planet Korugar.
The summoning portal failed to bring Allen back—clearly a dead end.
The two Corps, fully armed and waiting, had to withdraw their energy projections and wait for further orders.
"Looks like we have no choice but to ask for help," Abin Sur sighed.
"You'll have to reach out," Sinestro said.
The Yellow Lantern Corps, under Sinestro, rarely associated with other Corps.
The Blue, Indigo, and Violet Corps had no interest in working with them either.
The Red Lantern Corps was little more than rage-fueled killing machines. Even meeting without a fight was already showing restraint.
"No problem."
Abin Sur pulled out a blue crystal and infused it with energy to send a signal.
Moments later, space twisted into a corridor.
A female alien wielding a staff walked gracefully out.
"Greetings, First Leader of the Blue Lanterns."
"It's been a while, Lady Hope."
Abin Sur greeted her politely—the two had a mentor-friend bond.
In fact, the Blue Lantern Corps originated from a tribe Abin Sur once led.
Because the Green Lantern Corps captured so many criminals—but couldn't execute them—they were running out of prison space.
That's when Abin Sur had the idea to form the Blue Lantern Corps to reform criminals through compassion.
But as a Green Lantern himself, he couldn't lead it—so he handed that role to Lady Hope.
After explaining the situation, Lady Hope agreed to help.
Only with the Blue Lantern Corps' involvement could the other Corps be summoned quickly.
One of their powers was to teleport across star systems, greatly reducing travel time.
"Who should we contact next?" Lady Hope asked.
"Saint Walker, the leader of the Blue Lantern Corps."
They were an essential party.
Without them, a gathering of the other Corps would likely erupt into chaos.
Blue Lanterns symbolized hope and had support-based powers: calming Red Lantern rage, nullifying Yellow Lantern fear, suppressing Orange Lantern greed, and amplifying the others' abilities.
The portal opened once more.
The three leaders stepped onto a fragrant, peaceful world.
"Welcome, honored guests."
Saint Walker, leader of the Blue Lanterns, was a hairless, white-skinned man. His words radiated calm.
Even Sinestro's murderous aura eased in his presence.
Clearly, it was the power of hope.
Blue Lanterns were all cultivators—meditating in nature, sensing all life. They lived in harmony, like sages from a paradise.
Their Corps had also been founded by two exceptional former Green Lanterns. Having read the Book of Oa, they believed in a prophecy and formed the Blue Lantern Corps to prepare for a future crisis.
"I'll accompany you all," Saint Walker agreed without hesitation after hearing the situation.
Next up: the Violet Lantern Corps.
Wielding the power of love, they were entirely female—a force not to be underestimated.
Their love wasn't limited to romance, but embraced all forms.
For example, on Zamaron, they once saw a 10-foot-tall blue-skinned Violet Lantern confess her love… to a tree.
The four leaders didn't make snide remarks—they kept their thoughts to themselves.
"Welcome, everyone."
The Violet Lantern leader resembled a human woman—mature, elegant, and exuding irresistible charm.
It was clearly the power of the Violet Light at work.
Violet Lanterns could forge violet crystals to imbue others with love, making them hopelessly devoted and obedient.
Most notably, their crystals could resurrect the recently deceased—but only if the deceased's lover used them.
Simply put, single dogs aren't worth pitying.
What a blatantly discriminatory corps.
If Allen had been present, he probably would've spat on the ground before leaving—just to assert the pride of a lone wolf.
"Gillian, we need your help."
"No problem."
Nowadays, the leader of the Violet Lantern Corps, Gillian, was no longer future Green Lantern Hal's fling. She maintained good relations with the corps aligned to order.
Lysat Star, base of the Red Lantern Corps.
This planet was bathed in a crimson light as red as blood. All Red Lanterns were beings fueled by rage.
Endless, unrelenting fury constantly eroded their sanity.
But as their anger grew, so did their power.
"Kill the Green Lantern scum!"
The moment the Red Lanterns saw Abin Sur, they instantly flew into a frenzy of rage.
In the blink of an eye, they lost all sense of reason and charged in a murderous frenzy.
Just then, a beam of blue light radiated across the sky.
The Red Lanterns, who had been in a berserker state, suddenly snapped back to clarity. Their expressions calmed, and peace returned to their eyes.
"Atrocitus, we have a request," said Sinestro.
The Red Lantern leader Atrocitus shot back without hesitation, "Why should I help you?"
"Don't tell me you're afraid," Sinestro goaded him.
"Afraid? What could possibly scare me?!"
Atrocitus flew into a rage. "I want to see who dares!"
Short-tempered and quick to lose control.
Just a few provoking words were all it took to drag Atrocitus into the fold.
"Should we ask Larfleeze?" Sinestro asked.
"Let's not," said Abin Sur, shaking his head. He felt that with the six major corps, it should be enough to handle the situation.
"I think we should bring him in. He can cut off the Orange Lantern Battery's energy supply."
The Orange Lantern could absorb energy from any part of the emotional spectrum—and theoretically, could also reverse-feed energy to other rings.
They took a trip to Okaara to search, but couldn't find the Orange Lantern's proxy anywhere.
Normally, the guy stayed holed up in his lair and rarely left—unless he had his eyes on a target worth hunting.
As for Larfleeze himself, he was currently floating in the starry sky, questioning the meaning of his existence.
After being run over three times in a row, the poor guy had completely shut down.
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