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There is a saying: "He who understands the times is a wise man."
Although Hector had never heard this saying, he understood the principle behind it.
In the A.R.G.U.S. archives, Omni-Man was recorded as an existence capable of killing even the Son of Satan. Hector didn't think he compared to the Son of Satan, let alone his great-great-grandson.
Now, there were only two paths before him.
Either continue to talk big, point at Darian's nose, and call him an idiot—which wouldn't accomplish anything, but would at least allow him to die with some dignity.
Or, admit defeat on the spot. It would be embarrassing, but at least he would save his life.
Between face and life, Hector decisively chose the latter.
Hal Jordan followed Darian down through the large hole in the ceiling and happened to hear this.
He said with a strange expression, "With everything you've done, can you still be considered a partner of justice?"
Hector retorted righteously, "What have I done? These people brought me here to dissect an alien corpse. I was doing my job honestly, but I was accidentally infected by an alien virus during the process, which is why I've turned into this ghost of a creature."
"After such a major workplace accident, not only did they not compensate me for my losses, but they also handcuffed me to an experimental table to study me like a lab rat. What is wrong with me acting in self-defense?"
Hal Jordan blinked.
Hearing it put that way, it actually made some sense.
Hector got more energized as he spoke, pointing at Amanda Waller, and said, "And this black lady here, she even wanted to implant a nano-bomb in my body to make me work for her. Someone like this is clearly a villain; I am fighting for justice."
That was also true.
Putting Hector and Amanda Waller together, it was hard to say who looked more like a villain.
Darian nodded, "Hearing it like that, you really are a little partner of justice."
Amanda Waller immediately panicked, fearing that Darian would side with Hector, and hurriedly interjected, "Don't listen to his nonsense! A few days ago at the Ferris Company party, he used his abilities to deliberately destroy the helicopter his father, Senator Hammond, was riding in, almost causing it to crash."
Hector snorted coldly, his eyes full of resentment, "He doesn't deserve to be my father. After so many years of mental suppression and torture, I've become like this all because of him."
Hammond stood up at this moment, heartbroken, "Everything I did was for your own good."
Hector roared, "Only when you disappear from this World completely will it truly be for my own good!"
Darian watched this touching scene of fatherly love and filial piety, then waved his hand, "Go back and solve your family matters yourselves. Big-head freak, considering you haven't committed any major crimes yet, I'll give you a chance. As long as you can defeat this guy next to me, I'll let you leave."
Hal Jordan looked bewildered, "Why does he have to fight me?"
Darian said seriously, "You have too little combat experience. A great war could arrive at any time, and you need to take this opportunity to gain experience and level up, lest you end up as cannon fodder."
The more Hal Jordan heard, the more confused he became, "What great war?"
Darian didn't explain further, turning to Hector and saying, "Just defeat him, and you can leave."
Hector's face brightened, "Really?"
He couldn't beat Omni-Man, but surely he could handle this green-clad idiot in front of him?
Darian nodded, "Really."
"It's a deal!"
Hector, fearing that Darian would go back on his word, immediately locked his gaze onto Hal Jordan.
Because Hal Jordan was wearing a mask, he didn't recognize that the green-clad guy in front of him was his romantic rival. He just inexplicably disliked him, feeling that something was missing from Hal Jordan, and he really wanted to provide it.
For example, a green hat.
But it was different for Hal Jordan.
He had long recognized Hector from that familiar hairline and didn't want to fight his childhood friend.
"Hey, I think we can sit down and have a proper talk. There's really no need…"
Before he could finish his sentence, an invisible telekinetic force suddenly struck. Hal Jordan was sent flying, smashing into the massive observation window above, and then fell to the ground along with the shards of glass.
Hal Jordan pushed himself up from the ground, shook the glass shards out of his hair, and winced in pain.
"Fine, I guess you don't like to chat."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand. The Green Lantern ring shone brightly, manifesting a giant green hand in front of him, which he slammed directly toward Hector.
The boat of friendship capsized just like that.
Hal Jordan and Hector immediately began to fight. Green energy and invisible telekinetic force flew everywhere in the room, looking quite intimidating.
However, both of them were newbies who had only received their powers a few days ago, and their control over their abilities was far too crude.
The two rookies pecked at each other frantically, back and forth. They looked very busy, but no one knew what they were actually doing, to the point where Darian felt exhausted just watching them.
Clearly, one was manifestation of imagination and the other was telekinesis—both impressive abilities—but in their hands, it turned into the visual equivalent of street thugs brawling.
The shabbiness of the special effects was even worse than the nauseatingly green CG uniform on Hal Jordan.
Darian couldn't bear to watch after a few moments, shifting his gaze away from the battlefield to the experimental table on the other side of the laboratory.
On the table lay the corpse of a purple-skinned alien with a clear surgical incision on its chest, having been cut open and studied repeatedly.
Darian clicked his tongue twice, "As expected of America. When it comes to courting death, you guys are the best; as long as it doesn't kill you, you'll keep pushing your luck."
"Omni-Man, do you know the identity of this alien?"
Amanda Waller heard the implication in Darian's words, and a bad premonition suddenly rose in her heart.
Darian chuckled, "Of course I do. He is the previous Green Lantern, named Abin Sur, a core member of the Green Lantern Corps, and is also hailed as the greatest Green Lantern. The current Green Lantern is his successor."
Hearing this, Amanda Waller realized that the origin of this alien remains was likely far more troublesome than she had anticipated.
She quickly asked, "What is the Green Lantern Corps?"
Darian explained, "That is a group of space Police. They recruit elites from various civilizations in the Universe and master the source technology of cosmic energy. They are one of the most powerful forces in the known Universe."
"They guard the justice and order of the entire Universe. There are no fewer than 7,200 official members, distributed across 3,600 sectors. Every official member is a cosmic-level powerhouse possessing immense abilities."
"And Abin Sur is someone they regard as a legendary icon. Yet, you guys dragged their icon's remains back to slice and study. If the Green Lantern Corps finds out about this, what do you think their reaction will be?"
Amanda Waller's face stiffened.
Just listening to Darian's introduction was enough to show how much weight this Green Lantern Corps carried.
Not to mention anything else, just the title of 'space Police' sounded much more impressive than their self-proclaimed title of 'World Police'; it wasn't something they could even compare to.
If handled improperly, this matter could escalate into an interstellar conflict at any time.
Amanda Waller's voice was uncharacteristically shaky, "This matter… we were not aware of his identity."
Darian curled his lip, "The Green Lantern Corps doesn't care whether you knew or not. You'd better pray that this body isn't missing a single part and that you can stitch it back together completely. Otherwise, who knows, one day the Green Lantern Corps might come to Earth for a team-building exercise and paint the entire America green."
Amanda Waller imagined that scene, and cold sweat couldn't help but break out on her forehead.
Just as she wanted to say something.
Bang!
The laboratory door was violently smashed open from the outside by a huge force. The heavy door slammed hard against the wall, making a deafening noise.
Immediately following, three or four tear gas grenades flew in through the doorway, rolled on the ground a few times, and simultaneously sprayed thick white smoke from their tails.
The pungent odor spread instantly, swallowing more than half the space in the blink of an eye.
"Oh no!"
Amanda Waller's pupils constricted, as if realizing something, and she opened her mouth to shout.
But the thick, irritating gas had already poured into her nose and mouth, choking her so that tears and snot streamed out, and she couldn't speak at all.
Darian stood in place without any reaction.
With his current physique, this level of irritation was no different from a gust of wind.
Several figures appeared in the smoke. One of them locked onto Darian's position first, raised the firearm in their hand without hesitation, and pulled the trigger at Darian.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of bullets tore through the smoke, hitting Darian's head precisely.
However, before the bullets could touch Darian's body, they were blocked by a layer of white light.
At the same time, two floating arms suddenly reached out from the smoke, grabbed Amanda Waller, and dragged her away from Darian's side.
Several grenades were thrown in immediately after, exploding with a boom. The fire and shockwave instantly engulfed Darian's position.
A long-haired man said to Amanda Waller, "Waller, we are here to rescue you."
This person's codename was Savant. He was a high-security prisoner with a sentence lasting hundreds of years and possessed the ability of predictive analysis.
However, he suffered from a special mental illness; his perception of the passage of time was imbalanced, and he didn't know how long actual time had passed.
Sometimes a few minutes felt like a few months, and sometimes a few months felt like only an hour or two.
Actually, this kind of mental illness is very common.
Many men also often mistake a few minutes for half an hour, an hour, or even longer.
Savant was one of the members of the Suicide Squad formed by Amanda Waller.
Besides him, this team also included Bloodsport, Peacemaker, King Shark, TDK, and Ratcatcher 2, all of whom Amanda Waller had scrounged together from prisons in various cities.
"Quick… run…"
Amanda Waller was extremely uncomfortable from the choking, and her speech was intermittent.
She meant for the Suicide Squad to run away quickly and not follow in the footsteps of the previous Suicide Squad.
But Savant clearly misunderstood her meaning. He nodded heavily, his tone full of confidence, "Don't worry, we will definitely take you away safely."
Amanda Waller was anxious and choking, her eyes red, shaking her head desperately.
"No… that person is…"
Savant waved his hand, interrupting her, "No need to say anything. No matter who that person inside is, they won't be a match for us."
Amanda Waller: "…"
You're not a Savant, you're an idiot!
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but a figure had already walked out from the smoke raised by the explosion.
Darian looked at this group of strange-looking Suicide Squad members, his gaze finally falling on Savant, his expression becoming somewhat subtle.
"Yondu, is that you?"
He discovered that the character model overlap between Marvel and DC was truly significant; familiar faces could be seen everywhere.
Seeing Darian unharmed in the explosion, everyone was shocked, immediately realizing that this person in front of them was not easy to deal with.
Nuclear-peace... Peacemaker rushed forward first, shouting, "Activate sonic cannon!"
As the words fell, a powerful sonic wave was released from his helmet, blasting toward Darian.
Darian was pushed back four or five meters by the impact, then suddenly exerted force, his feet leaving two deep gouges in the ground as he forcibly withstood the sonic impact and stabilized his stance.
The next moment, he saw two arms flying toward him, moving very slowly—the kind even a child could react to.
Darian: (Two.)
Arm-off boy, codename TDK.
Just as the name implies, his superpower is to let his arms detach from his body and act independently.
But because the mass decreases significantly after detaching from the body, the strength of the arms also decreases, to the point where they can't even lift a firearm and can only attack with bare hands.
Darian really couldn't figure out what the use of this ability was.
Is it so you don't have to get out of bed to turn off the light when sleeping? Or is it more convenient when scratching your back?
Darian reached out and grabbed the flying arms. Professor Yang's Ring erupted with a strong electric current, and the distant TDK immediately screamed and fell to the ground.
Ratcatcher 2 shrank in the corner; her ability was completely useless here.
She looked at Darian's figure in the smoke and said somewhat fearfully, "This person looks like he's not easy to deal with."
Savant smiled confidently, "Don't be afraid, we have King Shark."
"Roar!"
A low roar exploded from behind and to the side.
King Shark charged over with heavy footsteps, the floor beneath its feet trembling along with it.
It extended its two thick arms, grabbed Darian's shoulders, and opened its bloodthirsty mouth full of sharp teeth, preparing to bite down.
Darian raised his hands to block King Shark's hands, interlacing his fingers and locking them together.
King Shark instantly tensed its muscles, using all its strength to try to press Darian down.
But no matter how much force it exerted, Darian's arms remained motionless; on the contrary, its own arms were being pried outward bit by bit.
King Shark's originally fierce eyes gradually turned into confused, beady eyes.
In the past, when facing any opponent, it relied on absolute numerical superiority to crush them. This was the first time it had been crushed by numbers in return.
How could this human be stronger than itself?
Before King Shark could figure out this problem, Darian had already pried its hands completely to the sides of its body, made a fist with his right hand, and smashed it into King Shark's eye.
"Awoo—!"
King Shark let out a howl of pain, clutching its eye and staggering back two steps.
The pain ignited its ferocity. It shook its head, roared, and swung its thick arm to sweep horizontally toward Darian.
Darian raised his arm to block the strike, his right fist following through to slam into the side of King Shark's head, followed immediately by his left fist, which hit its chest heavily.
The two muffled thuds almost blended into one. King Shark was beaten, howling repeatedly, its footsteps starting to falter.
King Shark instinctively wanted to counterattack, waving its arms and smashing wildly.
But their combat levels were not in the same league at all.
Darian easily neutralized King Shark's attacks, a coherent set of military boxing moves beating King Shark until it couldn't find its bearings, its massive body starting to sway from side to side.
Darian landed a fierce right uppercut to King Shark's abdomen, the massive force surging straight into its internal organs.
King Shark couldn't help but bend over in pain. Darian followed up with a knee strike, hitting its face hard. King Shark's head jerked backward, seeing stars, and several teeth flew out of its mouth.
Fortunately, it had a shark constitution; if its teeth broke, they could grow back.
Then, Darian grabbed King Shark's arm, using the power of his waist and abdomen to lift the massive body, which was far larger than his own, horizontally over his head.
Boom!!
With a dull, loud thud, King Shark's entire body was slammed hard onto the ground.
King Shark lay in a deep crater, eyes closed tightly, having fallen asleep with a peaceful smile.
The whole room was silent.