The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4443 Dark Prelude (Twenty-Eight)
After Christmas, the weather turned cold again, as if the previous warm spell had been an illusion. It snowed the night before last, and when the sun came out in the morning, the snow melted into water, only to freeze back into ice after the temperature plummeted. Dozens of car accidents occurred in the city center of the metropolis that morning, with four or five insurance company vehicles alone arriving.

Clark sat in the Oval Office, watching the trailers work downstairs. He was somewhat lost in thought, pondering the mastermind behind it all.

He already knew about Diana's arm injury. Since the symptoms were almost identical to Hal's, it must be another attack by Death. He wanted to turn everyone into puppets of death, to invade the multiverse under his control.

You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. That's how the masterminds are; they're always up to something, plotting here and there, sometimes scheming, sometimes launching sneak attacks. Sooner or later, they'll all be infected by that terrifying power of death. Clark couldn't imagine himself becoming a corpse, then being manipulated to attack his counterpart. He would never allow that to happen.

So he was pondering how to thwart the conspiracy of the mastermind behind it all. This was certainly no easy task, but in just a few days as president, all the homeless in the metropolis had been taken in, and no one would die that winter. Clearly, human effort can make all the difference.

Clark believed that to defeat Death, they must first find a force that could counter it. This power of death was truly terrifying; it could turn a person into a corpse in an instant, and even a demigod like Diana was powerless against it. If a way to counter it couldn't be found, they would surely be defeated one by one.

Just as Clark was pondering this, Hal suddenly sent a message. Clark glanced down at it, frowned, then dialed Bruce and said, "Has anything unusual happened at my farm lately?"

“Nothing unusual? Nothing unusual,” Bruce said. “If someone is spying on that place, I’ll tell you.”

"Hal said my father might have been resurrected. I'm a little worried about that too; it doesn't make sense that their relatives were resurrected but mine weren't."

"If he really comes back to life, what do you plan to do?"

“Of course, we’d put him under surveillance. That’s not my father.” Clark made his disgust very clear. “If Death were to invite him back to life, my real father would refuse without hesitation.”

"What if he's in hell?"

“Then he’ll be even less likely to agree; he’ll think it must be the devil’s temptation,” Clark said firmly. He knew that being resurrected was something unacceptable to the public, and his return would certainly bring trouble to his loved ones. Besides, everything has a price; there’s never a free lunch. It was precisely this philosophy that allowed the Kent family farm to survive.

“Okay, but I didn’t see him come back to life. It’s possible he went somewhere else. However, his grave is in town, so if he were to come back to life, it would be easy to find. In the current situation, he would be reported.”

“Tell me as soon as you have any news,” Clark said. “Right now I need to go talk to Hal and Diana about the Death Force.”

After hanging up the phone, Clark went to the fast food restaurant where Hal and Diana were. He immediately saw the two of them sneaking fries in the kitchen. He knocked on the counter and said, "Large cheeseburger combo, extra ketchup, please."

Both of them turned their heads at the same time, and when they saw it was Clark, they both rolled their eyes almost imperceptibly. Hal came over to order, while Diana prepared the burgers in the kitchen.

"Just one layer of cheese, Mr. President?"

"Yes, and don't add pepper."

"Okay, please wait a moment. Diana, please make me a chicken thigh burger, whole wheat tortilla, skinless chicken thigh, not spicy, no sauce, no salt or pepper, and add a lethal amount of vegetables. Thank you!"

"What's going on?" Clark exclaimed. "No sauce, and the chicken thigh cutlet has to be skinless? What kind of way is this?"

“I always strictly control my sodium intake,” Hal said. “Chicken skin is too high in fat, so I never eat it. Actually, my favorite is chicken breast, but fast food restaurants don’t have it.”

“You’re insane,” Clark said. “No one who’s strictly fit is mentally sound.”

Diana quickly prepared everything and placed it on the table next to them. This fast-food restaurant had a poor location, so it rarely had customers; currently, there wasn't a single person in the restaurant. They sat down at the customer seats and began to enjoy their meal.

Hal took a bite of his hamburger, raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Diana asked him, "What's wrong? Doesn't it suit your taste?"

"No, you made it too perfect, second only to the whole wheat sandwiches I make myself."

“Steve loved this too,” Diana said. “Pilots have to control their diet. He was training a lot back then, so he had to ensure he got enough calories while keeping his food clean. I often made him sandwiches.”

Hal gave her a thumbs up. The group chatted while eating fast food. Hal looked at Clark and asked, "Did you go back to your family farm?"

“No. But Bruce told me that my father never went back. I don’t think he would lie to me about this.”

Hal nodded and said, "There's really no need. Maybe they didn't target you because you're not a member of the Justice League?"

“How could that be? He’s the president now, the Justice League’s direct superior, the hope of all mankind. If we can get him on our side, the plan will be half successful,” Diana said, shaking her head.

“That means they’re planning something big,” Hal continued, “the kind of thing that will defeat you in one fell swoop.”

“I won’t let them succeed,” Clark said, taking a bite of his hamburger. “I came to you today to investigate what power can counteract this death force.”

“An interesting topic,” Hal said after thinking for a moment. “Logically, death corresponds to rebirth. So we need to find a life force to counter death. But considering that all the Batmen in the universe are searching for it and haven’t found it yet, we’re unlikely to find it either.”

“I don’t think we need to completely restrain ourselves,” Diana said. “We just need to be on par with this death power and have some counter-effect. Anyway, my divine power is no good; it’s far inferior to that death power, otherwise my arm wouldn’t be like this.”

Clark reached out and grabbed her injured wrist. The arm was getting worse; red lividity covered the upper arm, the muscles were losing activity, and some were atrophying.

He then turned to look at Hal. Hal wasn't in such a bad state; although some lividity could be faintly seen on his neck, his skin and muscle activity were still quite good.

"Why is that?" Clark asked, puzzled. "You were injured earlier than Diana, and your whole body was damaged, but your symptoms are milder than hers."

Hal had finished eating by then. He wiped his mouth vigorously with a napkin and said, "Sinestro told me that the green light power is the power of making things happen. With enough imagination, anything is possible. As long as I don't think it's a big deal, it really won't be a big deal."

Clark's eyes widened slightly, then he said, "That powerful? Isn't this the power that counters the power of death?"

"In fact, I was quite surprised that the Green Lantern power couldn't completely heal me. Because it's a very high-level power. Although it can't heal instantly, as long as I keep believing that I'm fine, no illness can bother me. But it still can't completely expel this power. It's clear that it's at least on par with the Green Lantern power."

“But only you can use it, right?” Clark asked.

“I can use the Green Light power on you, but that would require me to be by your side constantly, watching you every moment, and it would take far more power than protecting myself. Right now, my power is only enough to keep an eye on one person. Because Diana is injured, staying by her side is the best option.”

Clark nodded. He knew Hal's choice was right. Diana was the second to be injured, and her injuries would be very valuable. It proved that divine power could not contend with the power of death.

Clark held Diana's wrist tightly, holding his breath and concentrating intently. Magical power began to flow from his body into Diana's. To Diana's astonishment, the muscles in her arm began to gradually return to their original state.

But after a short while, Clark stopped and said, "It seems to have reached some kind of limit; it's no longer having any effect."

Diana looked down at her arm. The recovery was actually quite significant; it was almost as good as Hal's, except for the lividity, but it didn't affect the skin or muscles. Diana moved her arm and shoulder, finding no problems.

“It seems that magical energy has some mitigating effect, which puts my mind at ease,” Clark said. “Even if he attacks me, I have some defensive capabilities.”

“That’s right,” Hal said. “I was completely unprepared and he took advantage of my weakness. You’re different. If you stay alert, they definitely can’t catch you off guard. Clark, you have to be careful. If you fall, it will be a disaster for both Earth and the Justice League.”

Clark nodded seriously, then said, "Besides me, the rest of the Justice League needs to be careful. What are they doing right now?"

“Arthur is still exploring the Tomb of Atlantis, Victor is helping Bruce with his work, Barry is running errands for them, and Ron is, of course, busy playing the Martian and collecting information all over Mars.”

Clark thought for a moment and, based on his own understanding, ranked the Justice League members. He considered Barry and Ron the most important, because they could both help the Justice League communicate in real time, one using telepathy and the other simply running.

In war, communication is paramount. A loss of communication could be catastrophic for the entire front. He thought for a moment and said, "Do you think the Speed ​​Force can withstand the Force of Death?"

Diana and Hal looked at each other in bewilderment. Diana thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I still don't know what the Speed ​​Force is."

“Me too,” Hal said. “This stuff is too advanced; I doubt anyone but Bruce could understand it. But that’s precisely why Bruce would protect Barry.”

Clark nodded, then thought for a moment and asked, "And what about Ron? Does he have any means of protecting himself?"