The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4466 The Black Death (Part 3)
The Justice League once again pressed on to the nails. But this time, the resurrected Atlantis and Steppenwolf had learned their lesson. They didn't show themselves to the Justice League; instead, they burrowed underground, intending to pull the nails out from beneath.

“I will make a path,” Arthur said. “Follow me, but be careful, for they may ambush you in the dark.”

“I’ll protect Clark,” Ron said. “If there’s an attack, I can shield him. I can molecularize myself, so I won’t get hurt or contaminated.”

Clark moved his lips, somewhat disagreeing, but knowing it wasn't wise to risk himself, he followed behind Ron.

Victor followed behind Clark. His primary objective was also to protect Superman, and he was on high alert. If anyone attacked, he would immediately activate his modified mode and teleport the attacker away. Although this method couldn't be used too often, it could stop an attack once or twice.

The group followed the path Arthur had led them into the deep sea. They descended until they reached the spot where the nail had been driven in, but they couldn't find Atlantis or Steppenwolf. They didn't dare scatter to search, so they stayed where the nail was.

But soon, a familiar figure appeared. Arthur exclaimed, "Mother?!"

The person who arrived was none other than the Queen of Atlantis. Clark's heart sank, and he quickly stopped Arthur, saying, "She might be an imposter."

How could Arthur not know? He simply clenched his fists tightly and said, "The last time I saw her, she was still alive."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent. This could mean they had killed the queen and then resurrected her.

But that makes sense, since Atlantis has already been resurrected, and the cemetery isn't far from the Abyss. He would definitely target the Queen.

"Don't you recognize me, Arthur?"

"Shut up, you imposter!" Arthur was furious and wanted to say something more, but his eyes widened quickly. Atlan emerged from behind the Queen, holding a man in his hand.

“Father!!” Arthur’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wait a minute.” Clark stopped him again, then said, “Batman sent people to protect our families a long time ago. They won’t capture your father so easily. This might also be a hoax.”

After speaking, he carefully examined the man, trying to find a flaw in him, and did the same with the others. Although Arthur regained his senses, he still couldn't recover from the shock. Just then, a gleaming dagger pierced straight into Arthur's back.

"Watch out!!" Victor roared, and the Mother Box flashed with light. As she was teleported away, the undead Amanda revealed a cruel smile.

Arthur clutched his wound in pain and collapsed. Ron rushed to help him up. Arthur instinctively tried to use water magic to heal, but the seawater was filled with the power of death, and even without him actively using it, the power of death was still invading his body along the wound.

"Damn it, we've been tricked!" Clark glared angrily at Atlan. He also released the man. The man was enveloped in a dense aura of death; he was not Arthur's father, John, but a man wearing a black hood and with a ferocious face.

Rong En was somewhat puzzled. When did the Black Death Emperor learn illusion magic? Even he hadn't noticed it just now.

Then he realized that this might not be Black Death Emperor's ability. He and Darkseid had long been in cahoots. If Darkseid had a fierce general like Steppenwolf, he would naturally have other capable men. Even if his main force was tied down by the Lanterns, sending one or two subordinates to cause trouble wouldn't be impossible.

Rong En took a deep breath and said, "We can't stay in the sea any longer, let's go up."

Clark knew there was no other way at this moment. Without Arthur, the ocean was Atlantis's territory. Fighting here would expend many times more energy than their opponents, and they could wear them down to death.

The group immediately swam upwards, but Atlan clearly had no intention of letting them go. As he raised his hands, the seawater grew increasingly thick. The power of death was almost tangible, and the stench of decay enveloped everyone; even Clark found it difficult to swim.

Knowing this wasn't a solution, Victor gritted his teeth and said, "I'll open a sonic boom channel."

After speaking, his body emitted a burst of white light, and a sonic boom channel opened. Ron escorted Clark away. Just as Victor stepped away, a water arrow that Atlan had been preparing for a long time pierced through his shoulder.

Victor slammed out of the portal, and Clark caught him. Victor struggled painfully for a moment, then said, "Don't worry about me, I'll get back to base myself. You guys have to stop them, don't let them attack Batman!"

Victor gritted his teeth and opened the teleportation portal again, sending himself directly back to the Justice League Hall. Schiller came out of his office, was shocked to see him lying on the ground, and quickly helped him up.

Victor glanced down at the wound on his shoulder. Fortunately, the Mother Box's energy and the power of death were evenly matched, so the lividity on his body wasn't spreading quickly. But the injury was still quite severe. Schiller called an ambulance, and he was taken to the hospital.

Hal arrived late. Hearing that Victor and Arthur were both injured, he took a deep breath. Meanwhile, Clark's anger had reached its peak. He fired a laser at the sea, and instantly, even the nail trembled.

"Wait a minute, Clark, don't be impulsive!" Ron quickly stopped him. "We can't make too much noise, Batman is still inside."

Clark clenched his fists. The situation was that good guys should be held at gunpoint. The Earth was theirs, the nails were theirs, Batman was theirs. For the safety of these things that belonged to them, they couldn't resort to excessive violence. But the other side was unscrupulous, cheating and deceiving, using every possible means.

“I’ll go down and deal with them,” Hal said. “Don’t worry too much, they’re no match for me. This power of death didn’t do anything to me, did it?”

After saying that, he flew down. Ron was a little worried, but he didn't dare leave Clark, fearing that the Black Death Emperor would pull some trick to catch him alone again.

“It’s a pity that my offensive ability is not strong enough,” Rong En said. “Although I can use the power of intangibility to avoid being disturbed, I can’t be the main attacker. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in such a passive position.”

Seeing his self-blame, Clark quickly banished the volatile emotions in his mind and said, "No, your ability to remain uncorrupted might be our trump card."

Hal sank to the bottom of the sea, but to his surprise, the group did not attack the nail directly. Instead, they stood in neat rows, as if welcoming him.

“Hal,” a strange man wearing a black mask called out his name, saying, “The famous Green Lantern.”

"You know me?"

"Of course, I'm also from Seaside City. When your mother died, I was probably the one who arranged her funeral."

Hal squinted and sized the man up. But Seaside City wasn't a small city, and even though he knew the man might be an embalmer, he didn't recognize him.

"Join us, Hal. You will become the greatest Black Lantern of all time."

"What are you dreaming about?" Hal scoffed. "Do you think the greatest Black Lantern is any better than the greatest Green Lantern?"

"Of course. The Black Death Emperor is the greatest..."

"Are you deaf? I mean, even the greatest Green Lantern isn't much better, so why should I be the greatest Black Lantern?"

In truth, the Green Lantern Corps' actions had already chilled Hal's heart. Sinestro wasn't unaware of the dangers Earth faced; in fact, he probably knew better than anyone else. Yet, he still chose to attack Darkseid.

That's right, in their view, the Green Lantern Furnace had been taken away by Darkseid. But Hal knew that Green Lantern Headquarters still had a considerable amount of Green Lantern energy remaining, enough for them to fight.

Earth is a relatively remote sector. Although Hal played a crucial role in sealing the Parallax monster, he was still just a rookie and not taken seriously at all. Therefore, Sinestro, considering the bigger picture, chose to directly attack Apokolips. This choice meant that he abandoned Earth.

Hal was still grateful to the teacher who had guided and mentored him when he first joined the Green Lantern Corps. But undoubtedly, his decision made Hal completely disillusioned with the Green Lantern Corps.

Taken aback by his unexpected reply, the hooded man choked for a moment before saying, "You're not doing well in the Green Lantern Corps because they didn't recognize your talent. Lord Black Death sees your potential, Hal. Join us and teach those who look down on you a lesson, wouldn't that be great?"

"So you guys actually ask for my opinion, huh?" Hal scoffed, revealing the lividity on his arm, then said, "What's this then? A greeting gift before the formal visit?"

The man paused, noticing the lividity on his arm, then quickly changed the subject, saying, "This is a gift from Lord Black Death, you should naturally accept it with joy. Soon you will feel just how powerful it truly is!"

"Powerful my ass!" Hal vented all his frustration at this moment, saying, "This piece of junk can't even break through my Green Lantern energy defense. If your master is only capable of this much, he might as well go back to the sewers back home!"

"you!!!"

Hal didn't bother to waste any more words with him. With a wave of his hand, the green light energy spread out, and everyone was thrown out.

After a while, Hal resurfaced, nodded to Clark, and said, "We repelled them. But I can't kill them; even if I did, they would come back. Never mind."

"Are you OK?"

Hal shook his head and said, "The power of death is not affecting me significantly. You don't need to worry about me."

"What does Schiller want with you?" Clark asked, somewhat puzzled.

After hesitating for a moment, Hal said, "They're preparing a plan and need a backup candidate. We don't know if I can do it, but we can only give it a try."

"What plan?"

“I’m not entirely sure, but it might be related to the light ring,” Hal said. “It’s kind of like a safety net.”

“I have to go check on Batman,” Clark said. “These unkillable guys are tougher than I thought. I’m afraid he won’t be able to handle them.”

Hal, however, dissuaded him, saying, "You'll only be comforting him if you go; you won't be able to do anything substantial. When I went to the seabed just now, I sensed the flow of death energy. We need to look in that direction; maybe we can find the source."

Since Hal had said that, Clark hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "That's right. We need to eliminate the source and stop ocean pollution before we can help Batman. Let's go take a look."

Hal breathed a sigh of relief. Although Schiller had indeed mentioned the selection of the plan's personnel in their conversation, he had focused more on showing him the massive amount of Seven Lanterns power he had retrieved from Oa and the unharmed Batman.