The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4462 Prelude to Darkness (Forty-Seven)
Clark reacted even faster than Diana. The instant the black dot appeared, he sidestepped, deftly and smoothly dodging the sneak attack, and squinted at Steppenwolf, saying, "I thought you were something special, but you're nothing special!"

Before the words were even finished, the red and blue figure grabbed the gray-blue figure and shot out of Earth like a cannonball. The deafening roar of breaking the sound barrier still lingered in their ears as they broke the third cosmic velocity. They had already entered sub-light speed before even reaching Mars. And when Clark, carrying Steppenwolf, crashed headfirst into the sun, the time-space stagnation caused by the speed of light made the solar particles dance an elegant and graceful dance.

Steppenwolf didn't even have time to howl before he was completely melted away by the intense heat and pressure of the sun's core, leaving not even ashes. Clark, on the other hand, only had a slightly dirty hem, and when he returned to Earth, the flames on his cape had been extinguished.

Clark clapped his hands: "Done."

The crowd froze for a moment, then erupted in deafening cheers. Clark shrugged, feigning indifference, but a smile still played on his lips.

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the sea suddenly rippled slightly. Arthur was the first to notice something was wrong and looked down into the depths of the ocean. Clark also felt a slight tremor beneath his feet.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, a colossal city rose from the sea. Arthur was stunned, for it was Atlantis.

Beneath Atlantis, in the inky black waters, a towering figure supported the city. His body was a deathly bluish-black, his eyes swirling with intense darkness. Arthur's gaze pierced through the water, and the instant he saw his face, he called out his name: "...Atlantis!"

Clark looked at him, and Arthur said in a deep voice, "No wonder, I searched the entire cemetery and couldn't find his remains. It turns out he had already been resurrected."

Suddenly, the golden trident in Arthur's hand began to vibrate. Arthur's expression changed: "He's trying to seize control of the ocean from me!"

Clark was about to rush into the water when Arthur quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't go in. This ocean is his territory now. Your mobility will be affected, and you might even be corrupted."

Clark paused. But he still tentatively walked to the beach and touched the seawater. As soon as he put his hand in, he felt the seawater clinging to his limbs like a vengeful ghost, sending chills down his spine.

Even without his testing, it was clear from the outside that the once ice-free port was now covered by a thick layer of ice. The once relatively clear seawater had turned a murky black. The power of death spread through the water, and Arthur's face grew increasingly pale.

“He’s gone mad,” Arthur said. “He wants to turn the ocean into a death zone. I am no match for him.”

Clark's expression darkened. He tried to enter the water, but his mobility was greatly reduced. The deathly force, like a persistent, festering infection, seeped into his skin. Clark dared not be careless and quickly flew out.

He shook his head and said, "No. I'm not good at underwater combat, and this seawater is too strange. What on earth did he do?"

“He may have been resurrected long ago,” Arthur said. “He must have done something to change the underwater environment, which is why the power of death spread so quickly. We can’t go into the sea.”

Soon, Atlan's figure surfaced. The group discovered that he was even more corrupted by the power of death than Steppenwolf. Half of his body was a skeleton, and the other half was severely decayed, his entire being emanating a dense black aura.

The blackness of the sea spread hundreds of kilometers away. Clark, who had already taken to the skies, saw that the Atlantic Ocean was being swallowed by blackness.

Damn mastermind! These actions on land are just a smokescreen; the real killing move is hidden in the water.

But it must be admitted that this is quite effective. The Earth's oceans are so vast, affecting the entire planet's water cycle. Humans can hardly survive without the oceans. Once the oceans are polluted, the Earth is doomed.

"Stop him!" Clark said. "We absolutely cannot let him pollute the ocean, stop him now!"

The group rushed towards the figure on the surface of the sea again. But Atlan seemed to have no intention of fighting them; he only briefly appeared before diving back into the water. Hal enveloped himself in Green Lantern energy and plunged into the sea. Although he wasn't corrupted, he could no longer see Atlan; he had vanished without a trace.

The ocean now resembles a vast death zone. Everyone's senses are compressed to their limits; even Clark cannot perceive what lies three meters below the surface. Under such circumstances, engaging in underwater combat is far too risky.

After a brief hesitation, Clark said, "Don't go down. Let's go back and find Batman."

Although everyone was very worried, they had no better option than to retreat. After they left, a figure sneaked to the beach, gazing at the sea, lost in thought.

Back at the Justice League base, Batman was already waiting. He turned on the projection screen and said, "I won't show you the technical data. In about 12 hours, the power of death will pollute the global oceans. More than 60% of rainfall in tropical regions will be affected. After 24 hours, the global water cycle will be contaminated."

Upon hearing this time, everyone felt a sense of despair. Diana exclaimed, "12 hours? Why is it so fast?!"

It's important to understand that the Earth's oceans are vast. Even a speed of 100 kilometers per hour wouldn't be sufficient to spread the virus to all oceans within 12 hours. The speed of spread would likely be comparable to that of a high-speed train.

“They were prepared.” Batman’s voice remained calm. “The ocean is Earth’s greatest blessing and its greatest weakness. We’ve known that for a long time. In fact, while you were focused on Steppenwolf, there was movement on the seabed.”

"You noticed?"

"Yes, but there's no way to stop it. Or rather, there's no need to stop it."

"Why?" Arthur looked at him, puzzled. "Even if you can't go into the sea, if you had told me beforehand, perhaps..."

"As long as the oceans exist on Earth, he will definitely find a way to take action. Even if Atlantis is gone, someone else will. Because this is the fastest way."

Arthur fell silent, for he knew that even as the King of the Sea, he couldn't possibly see all seven seas at all times. And the Atlanteans were so numerous that if one were to be resurrected and cause trouble in some obscure corner, he wouldn't even notice.

As Batman said, the ocean is Earth's weakness. Anyone wanting to cause trouble on Earth will inevitably use the ocean as their point of attack. You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't be a thief for a thousand days.

“Then what should we do?” Barry asked. “If you don’t have a solution, you probably won’t just let him do this.”

Everyone looked at Batman, clearly agreeing with Barry's assessment. Batman seemed to have anticipated this and remained calm. He must have a plan.

Batman didn't say anything, but simply pressed a button on the remote control. The image on the projection screen changed. Everyone's eyes widened, because what appeared on the screen were the three nails driven into the earth.

Everyone looked at Clark. Clark blinked, his mind a complete blank. He looked at Batman and said, "What is this?"

“These are nails,” Batman replied.

“I know this is a nail, I’ll tell you its scientific name.”

Batman uttered a strange string of words, and Clark replied, "...Huh?"

“Isn’t this Kryptonian?” Ron said. “You can’t understand it either?”

Clark was completely bewildered. Batman spoke several more times, seemingly explaining the previous term, but Clark still didn't understand. Then he shook his head and said, "I'm illiterate on Krypton. Why don't you speak in English?"

His English wasn't much better, consisting of a bunch of incomprehensible technical terms. Finally, Batman sighed and said, "Simply put, this is an ecological reshaping system, designed to change the Earth's environment. That's its original purpose."

The last sentence was clear to everyone. Diana suddenly realized, and said, "Oh right, I remember you got this from the Kryptonian flagship. What were they originally planning to do with it? To terraform Earth into an environment that Kryptonians could adapt to?"

“That’s right.” Batman nodded and said, “Even within Krypton’s technological system, this is an extremely advanced instrument. Without this instrument, Zod wouldn’t have come to Earth. The Environmental Reshaping Device, in conjunction with the Book of Life, is the only way to possibly revive Kryptonian civilization.”

“Why do I feel like he’s more of a Kryptonian than you?” Barry asked Clark in a low voice.

“I think so too,” Clark replied quietly. “I don’t know any of this. What are the Environmental Reshaping Device and the Book of Life?”

“So you were prepared all along,” Ron said. “I knew you wouldn’t just shoot this thing down to lie. Can it reshape the Earth’s marine environment?”

"When there is no invasion of the power of death, of course it can work. But if you want to fight against the power of death, the effect will not be so significant. It can only slow down the spread. And you will need Hal's help."

Batman looked at Hal and said, "This thing is just a medium. It can diffuse some kind of power into the water. Right now, the best one seems to be Green Lantern energy."

“I would like to, but I might not have that much energy,” Hal said with some worry. “I’m just a new recruit. Even if I defeat Parallax, I’ll only advance one level. My energy ration is limited, and I’m afraid I can’t withstand such a drain.”

"What time is it for you to worry about this!" Arthur was clearly extremely anxious. He raised his golden trident and said, "I'll go to headquarters with you. Anyone who dares not give you energy, I'll shove them into the ground!"

Diana also said, "We can't worry about that now. The Green Lantern Corps is known as the cosmic police, but they haven't gone after the mastermind, have they? We're fulfilling their duty to protect the safety of the universe, so they have an obligation to provide us with logistical support."

“Yeah, let’s go straight to Greenlight headquarters,” Barry said. “Let’s have a good talk with them; they’ll definitely support us.”

Batman gave Hal a wink, and Hal immediately understood, putting on a troubled expression. He said, "The Green Lanterns have it tough too. The rations from Green Lantern headquarters are limited..."

"Who controls the green light power?"

“The Guardians of the Universe,” Hal said. “They formed the Lamp Corps and issued the rings. The Master Lamp is with them. The Green Lantern headquarters is just a branch base.”

Clark stood up and said, “I support Diana’s view. Since we have fulfilled our duty to protect the universe, they should provide us with energy. Let’s go talk to the Guardians of the Universe. I believe they will support us.”