The members of the Suicide Squad watched in dumbfounded amazement.
You must know that King Shark was the strongest combatant among them, with thick skin and boundless strength. Yet, in Darian's hands, King Shark couldn't even last a few rounds and was directly lulled to sleep by a set of military boxing routines.
What the hell is there even to fight with?
Is it still too late to surrender now?
At this moment, Amanda Waller finally recovered from the irritation of the tear gas.
Her eye sockets were red, and she shouted in a hoarse voice: "Stop everyone! He is Omni-Man!"
"Om... Omni-Man?"
The members of the Suicide Squad were instantly stunned.
They had naturally heard of this name.
From the first day the Suicide Squad was formed, Amanda Waller had repeatedly emphasized one thing to them: under no circumstances should they contact Omni-Man.
If they encountered Omni-Man during the mission, they could directly flee or even abandon the mission, and no responsibility would be held against them afterward.
Such words coming out of Amanda Waller's mouth were simply sheer fantasy.
After all, Amanda Waller usually didn't treat them like humans at all. To be able to make this dark-skinned slave owner give up holding them accountable for mission failures, and even allow them to desert in the face of battle, just how terrifying of an entity must one be to enjoy such treatment?
When someone asked for the reason, Amanda Waller didn't explain much, only saying that after the previous Suicide Squad encountered Omni-Man, all members retired from the Suicide Squad.
Hearing these words, everyone present sucked in a breath of cold air on the spot.
There was no such thing as retirement in doing this kind of work for them; without even needing to think, they knew they must have been completely wiped out.
Ever since then, they had marked Omni-Man in the depths of their hearts as an absolutely unprovokable target.
But the situation was urgent just now, and they only had their minds set on rescuing Amanda Waller. Coupled with the smoke from the tear gas disrupting their line of sight, they simply didn't have time to identify the other party's identity.
Savant swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said to Amanda Waller: "Why didn't you say so earlier."
If they had said it earlier, even if they were given ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to make a move.
They were the Suicide Squad, true, but they didn't actually want to commit suicide.
Amanda Waller's face turned dark: "Did you give me the chance to speak?"
Originally, she had arranged in advance for the new Suicide Squad to lurk nearby precisely to guard against Hector's resistance. Once any unexpected situation occurred, the new Suicide Squad could rush in at the first moment to protect her evacuation.
Who knew that plans couldn't keep up with changes, and she didn't expect Darian to suddenly descend upon this place.
When the new Suicide Squad rushed in, they thought Darian was a threatening target and started attacking without a second word.
Looking at the members of the new Suicide Squad, Darian said cheerfully: "The previous Suicide Squad didn't even dare to make a move against me; you lot have a lot more guts than them."
The members of the new Suicide Squad were on the verge of tears.
The previous Suicide Squad retired without even making a move, so wouldn't the fate of them who actually made a move be even more miserable?
Darian didn't talk nonsense, casually tossing out several clusters of soft white light that respectively merged into the bodies of the new Suicide Squad members, not even missing the King Shark lying prostrate beside his feet.
He spoke up: "The nano-bombs in your bodies have already been controlled by me. From now on, you are no longer members of the new Suicide Squad. This name is not very auspicious, so I'll change your name to Suicide Infantry Number Two."
What difference does this name have from the Suicide Squad?
Savant's brain turned the fastest, and he cautiously asked: "Do you mean there is also Suicide Infantry Number One?"
Darian nodded: "That's right, they are your predecessors, the previous Suicide Squad."
Everyone suddenly understood.
So the previous Suicide Squad didn't retire, but jumped ship.
"Omni-Man, this isn't according to the rules."
Watching the new Suicide Squad that she had painstakingly formed fall into Darian's hands once again, Amanda Waller immediately grew anxious.
Darian glanced at her: "Every time you make trouble and make me clean up... clean up the mess, I'm just asking you for a few people now. What, are you unhappy?"
Amanda Waller was choked up and unable to speak.
Darian wasn't as easy to talk to as other superhero, and it was indeed her side that was in the wrong first. She could only swallow this bitter pill silently.
Darian added: "Rest assured, I won't take all the people away. I'll leave that idiot hero for you."
Amanda Waller: "What use do I have for that idiot."
It had to be said that Amanda Waller's eye for picking people was indeed quite good.
Aside from the idiot hero who was obviously used to make up numbers, the other members of the new Suicide Squad could all be considered talents.
Savant possessed powerful computing capabilities, worthy of being called a humanoid processor. As long as he wasn't dragged down by pig-headed teammates, he should be a fairly outstanding support role.
Bloodsport's persona was similar to Deadshot's: a dysfunctional family since childhood, professionally trained, extremely accurate marksmanship, and strong adaptability.
Peacemaker was also good: a dysfunctional family since childhood, professionally trained, extremely accurate marksmanship, and strong adaptability.
Deadshot: "Don't you guys have your own origin stories?"
King Shark went without saying: a descendant of the Shark God, flowing with the bloodline of the Old Gods in his body, with almost no opponents in a direct head-on clash.
Ratcatcher 2, whose ability was controlling rats, might even be able to summon a plague of mad rats. Setting aside her power for the moment, the mental damage was directly maxed out.
Such a team was no worse than the previous Suicide Squad, making them just right to help him grind daily tasks together.
Not a single member of the new Suicide Squad was a fool.
Seeing Amanda Waller's deflated expression, they knew Darian was telling the truth—the nano-bombs inside their bodies really had been controlled by Darian.
"We will brave fire and water for you, Omni-Man."
Everyone immediately abandoned Amanda Waller, turning around to pledge their loyalty to Darian, their new boss.
Whether in the old or new Suicide Squad, things like moral integrity did not exist among the members; betrayal was as simple as breathing.
Darian waved his hand: "Go back and wait for notification. If there's anything, I'll find you."
"Alright, no problem."
Hearing that Darian didn't intend to restrict their freedom, they all beamed with joy, turned around, and left the research institute without even sparing Amanda Waller a glance.
Even King Shark, who was lying on the ground seemingly unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes and scrambled away on all fours in a flash.
Before running out, he even casually propped the heavy door that had been knocked to the ground back up and installed it again.
How surprisingly polite of him.
On the other side, the battle between Hal and Hector had also reached its conclusion.
At the very beginning, relying on the 'darkening makes you ten times stronger' buff, Hector practically rubbed Hal against the ground. His handsome face was swollen like a pig's head, and at a glance, it bore quite a bit of the charm of Wade's disfigured face.
But as they fought on, Hal's protagonist halo finally lit up, causing him to burst forth on the spot. Chanting the initiation declaration of the Green Lantern, green light spewed from his entire body, forcefully breaking through Hector's telekinesis. With a single punch of friendship-breaking-face, he knocked Hector down to the ground.
Hector: "I don't know either. He came charging at me while reciting poetry."
Just at this moment, a bizarre yellow light suddenly burst forth from within Hector's body.
His eyes turned a pure yellow, and when he spoke, it was actually in a voice that didn't belong to him at all.
Hector looked coldly at Hal: "I recognize your ring; that belongs to the Green Lantern who once imprisoned me. Your fate will be the same as his. Once I devour your World, I will have enough power to defeat the Green Lantern Corps and destroy the Guardians of the Universe."
As his voice fell, the yellow energy abruptly dissipated, and Hector collapsed limply onto the ground, falling into a state of coma.
Hal wore a look of utter bewilderment: "What is this situation?"
Darian stepped forward and explained: "If I'm not mistaken, that should be Parallax, the embodiment of fear, the number one enemy of the Green Lantern Corps, and also the source of Hector's power."
"The previous owner of the ring on your hand, Abin Sur, once personally sealed it away back then, so it harbors a grudge and has decided to wipe you out."
"???"
Hal widened his eyes: "That was done by Abin Sur, not me! What does that have to do with me?"
Darian spread his hands: "Who told Abin Sur to already be dead? It couldn't find a target for revenge, so it had no choice but to transfer its hatred onto your head."
Hal almost failed to catch his breath: "Isn't this bullying an honest man!?"
Amanda Waller chimed in to ask: "Omni-Man, is this Parallax very strong?"
Darian nodded: "Very strong. Even if the entire Green Lantern Corps were to mobilize, the end result would only be a total wipeout."
Amanda Waller's expression was grave.
Even the Green Lantern Corps, this cosmic Police alliance, couldn't deal with Parallax. The level of threat was probably a grade higher than those Kryptonians.
Hal seemed to have thought of something and asked: "Since the Green Lantern Corps can't beat it, what about a single Green Lantern?"
Darian pondered for two seconds: "There is a certain probability of winning."
Amanda Waller: "???"
The Green Lantern Corps can't beat it, but a single Green Lantern can?
What kind of bizarre logic is this?
Hal gritted his teeth, his gaze resolute: "No matter what, I must stop it. If it truly descends upon Earth, the entire Earth will fall into danger."
He still had a strong sense of responsibility, knowing that Parallax was implicated because of him, and no matter what, he couldn't just stand by and watch.
[NPC Hal Jordan issues a new quest to you]
[Quest: The Best Way to Defeat Fear Is to Face Fear]
[Objective: Defeat Parallax, who is about to descend upon Earth]
[Reward: Dependent on the player's contribution]
Seeing this quest name, Darian couldn't help but want to cry out.
Although the total-wipeout buff of the Green Lantern Corps was a bit creepy, Hal still decided to head to Oa to seek reinforcements from the Green Lantern Corps, and by the way, bring Abin Sur's remains as a visiting gift.
Hearing this, Amanda Waller was so frightened that she hurriedly arranged the most professional medical team to completely stitch Abin Sur's corpse back together at the fastest speed, expressing that they hadn't desecrated the body, but merely wanted to see if Abin Sur still had any chance of being saved.
As for why they had to dig out the heart and lungs during the rescue process...
Uh, what if the alien's physique was relatively special, and digging out the heart and lungs could actually stimulate him to resurrect?
No one could say for sure.
Darian wasn't idle on his side either, immediately returning to the Justice League headquarters to fetch reinforcements.
Very quickly, the members of The Seven all received the news and arrived at the Justice League headquarters one after another, and even Arthur was no exception.
Although he had already become the king of Atlantis, in reality, whether Atlantis had him or not was actually the same.
He knew nothing about managing a country, handing all domestic affairs over to Queen Atlanna and Mera for full management, while diplomatic matters were handled by the veteran minister Vulko and his father-in-law Nereus.
As for himself, his daily task was to sit on the throne striking poses and act as a mascot.
After living like this for only a few days, he was about to be driven crazy by boredom.
Therefore, upon hearing that The Seven had a collective action, Arthur immediately asked for leave to leave Atlantis, and his speed in rushing over was even faster than Clark's.
Looking at Clark, who arrived second to last, Darian curiously asked: "I can understand Barry being the last to arrive, since speedsters arriving late is a cosmic law, but how come you're also so slow?"
Clark sighed with a helpless expression: "I was working overtime at the Daily Planet today, and after finally getting leave from the editor-in-chief, I rushed right over."
Back then, General Zod destroyed the old house on his family's farm. In order to rebuild the house, he used the farm as collateral to take out a loan from the bank.
Now he was paying off the loan every month, and he had to work overtime and take on more tasks to keep up with the repayment schedule, otherwise, the execution threshold would be triggered.
How many superhero were crushed not by supervillains, but by loans—even Superman was no exception.
Of course, this was also because Clark himself was unwilling to let other members help.
Otherwise, Bruce only needed to use a little cash-power; not to mention redeeming the house, even buying the entire bank would be a breeze.
"Alright, since everyone is here, I'll start talking about the main business."
Darian coughed lightly and said with a serious expression: "Our enemy this time is no simple matter. It is the materialized existence of the emotion of fear, capable of causing all living creatures that come into contact with it to give birth to fear, and then absorbing the other party's fear to strengthen itself. It can be called a perpetual motion machine."
"According to my deduction, it should arrive on Earth very soon. By then, it will treat humans as food, continuously devouring fear to strengthen itself, and we must stop it as soon as possible."
Bruce crossed his hands and placed them on the table, saying in a deep voice: "Therefore, willpower is the key. As long as there is no fear whatsoever in one's heart, one can be immune to its influence. This sounds very simple."
Everyone: ...
"It's not simple at all!"
Do you really think everyone is like you?
Anyone who is human will have fear; this is something carved into instinct, and it's simply not something you can control just by saying so.
What's even more fatal is that when they start worrying that they will be taken advantage of by Parallax because of fear, this worry itself is already a kind of fear.
It amounts to saying that the more you want not to be afraid, the easier it is to be afraid instead.
This is a vicious cycle.
Darian added: "Not only that, its energy will infect the minds of others. Hector was affected by Parallax's energy and directly blackened into a villain. We must take protective measures, lest we find ourselves suddenly turning our own people into enemies while fighting."
As soon as these words came out, everyone subconsciously looked at Clark.
Clark: ...
Ever since that time he was controlled by Enchantress, his weakness of low magic resistance was already a well-known fact within The Seven.
Especially Bruce, who was beaten by Clark until he cried out for mommy to save him last time, leaving behind a considerable psychological shadow.
Ever since then, whenever enemies involving magic or mind control were concerned, he dared not let Clark get involved.
No enemy, no matter how strong, was as terrifying as a corrupted Clark.
*******************************
Enjoyed the action? Drop a review, fire off a comment, and send those Power Stones rolling! Your support keeps the updates coming fast—let's keep the momentum going! 🔥