A few milliseconds later in the real world, Main Universe Thor woke up. He first sighed deeply, complaining about the inhuman torture he suffered in the Psychic_Battlefield. But soon, the desire for victory took the upper hand. He immediately focused his attention slowly, following the method taught by Professor X, and guided the divine power to construct a shield on the outer layer of his Psychic_Battlefield.
Inside the Green Lantern Ship, Main Universe Martian Manhunter quickly frowned. Hal looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The invasion is starting to become difficult," Main Universe Martian Manhunter said. His brow was deeply furrowed, as if he was checking something. After a while, he shook his head and said, "He has defended his Psychic_Battlefield with divine power. But this is not his combat style; there must be someone giving him high-level guidance behind the scenes."
"It should be Professor X who made the move," Hal said, "However, he should directly attack you to protect Thor, right? Why hasn't he done that?"
Main Universe Martian Manhunter pondered briefly, then said, "This is actually the better way. Only if Thor learns how to resist psychic invasions, in crucial moments that require Professor X's power, can he focus on offense rather than defense."
"If he attacks with full power, how confident are you in stopping him?"
"None, actually," Main Universe Martian Manhunter shook his head again and said, "He's a specialist in psychic abilities, unmatched in this field. More importantly, I suspect they have a Mind Power Amplifier. That thing must be ridiculously big and highly powered. If they unleash full power, even the Shield on Apocalypse Star might not be effective."
Hal widened his eyes instantly. You know, the reason they're confident to attack with full force now is that they're certain Apocalypse Star is a safe rear base where they can retreat anytime to resupply. But if Apocalypse Star isn't safe, then where can they perform repairs?
"Don't worry, Batman surely has a backup plan," Main Universe Martian Manhunter said, "Since that evacuation, the Flash from your universe hasn't been seen again. I guess Batman might have sent him on some investigation and destruction tasks, maybe even targeting the Mutants."
Even if he hadn't spoken, Hal's heart was already up. He said, "But Barry is still young; he's just recently interned, and the Mutants are particularly dangerous. Can he really accomplish this?"
"The Flash from your universe is different from those of other universes. Not only are his abilities somewhat different, but his mentality is also very mature. If the task exceeds his abilities, he won't throw his life away. Don't worry."
Hal wasn't reassured at all. If it wasn't Barry from his universe, it would be fine, but since it's Barry, it's completely like throwing a nuclear bomb in ignited state into a group of nuclear bombs. Barry himself might not be able to fully control such strength, and dealing with Mutants with it is like fearing the universe is too stable.
"Fire!" Hal commanded again, "Launch another round of fire suppression, force those ordinary Asgardians to retreat, and buy more tactical space for our allies!"
The Green Lantern Fleet immediately fired again. Countless energy began impacting the battlefield, even the Asgardians had to avoid its edge. They retreated slightly, but Thor was unwilling to back down.
"Where's the Mage?!" Main Universe Thor started yelling again, "The essence of encircling strategy is damn pincer attack; if the people inside aren't hitting outwards, we can't press in at all!"
"Don't count on the Mage." A voice appeared next to Main Universe Thor's ear. A flash of light, Loki appeared beside him, twirled the Magic Wand in his hand, and said, "Those fools probably collapsed during the first round of cannon fire attack. Later, I'll be with His Majesty the God King launching an internal offensive, that's when the real encircling begins."
"You're truly insane!" Main Universe Thor stared wide-eyed at the young girl in front of him and said, "Your brother is also crazy! It's not enough that he's going alone; he even wants to take you with him. I bet when you go back, Frigga will break his legs!"
"Blind eyes cannot see high. Loki glanced at him lightly, then disappeared again.
Thor took a light breath, just trying to say something, suddenly realizing: they're in a battlefield full of cannon fire right now. When Loki just appeared, the Green Lantern Fleet's second round of salvo hadn't ended yet. How did she get in?
To know, facing the first round of salvo earlier, the entire space was full of energy turbulence, and the Mages couldn't open a stable Teleportation Portal. Otherwise, they would have run away earlier.
This must be Batman's tactic. They dare to come after such flexible Mages because they're sure the saturation attack of Green Lantern Energy can completely disrupt the energy field, destroy all other energy and squeeze it to the edges, artificially creating an energy void, making it impossible for the Mages to flee. Otherwise, he wouldn't use this tactic.
And the effect is indeed excellent. Green Lantern Energy is the most stable energy in the Emotional Spectrum, which is a major reason for the Green Lantern Corps' sheer number compared to other corps. Compared to the Mages' unknown borrowed ragtag army energy, this unified energy is very easy to generate energy fields, thus expelling other energies. If it isn't significantly higher in energy level or power, it could even be completely magic-suppressed. It can be said, the Green Lanterns are well-trained, while the Mages lose in being scattered and unorganized.
Thinking of this, Main Universe Thor raised the hammer again and shouted, "Everyone listen to my command! Press forward! Press forward at all costs!!!"
Several Thors around hesitated and turned to look. But seeing Main Universe Thor's determined expression, they still gripped their hammers and charged forward fiercely against the cannonfire.
This will greatly increase their divine power consumption, and might even cause them injuries, striking the opponents also as a trade of injury for injury. But Main Universe Thor knew very well, in encircling strategy, the window for internal and external joint offense to break the opponent's formation is very brief. If the external battle line hasn't pressed in when the internal burst happens, this battle will definitely be lost.
"Asgard has never feared sacrifice." Main Universe Thor unleashed another lightning strike, and shouted, "Long live the Father of All Gods!" He then leaped abruptly into the Green lantern energy field.
First, he swung Mjölnir to send Wonder Woman flying, then he broke open Shazam's thunder barrier. Next, he faced off against three opponents, charging full force to knock two aside, but was hit in the waist by a laser of Green Lantern energy and sent flying.
Main Universe Thor groaned softly but, seeing the approaching Lasso of Truth, he rolled away, evading Wonder Woman's attack, before throwing Mjölnir in that direction.
The war hammer, carrying the Power of Thunder, struck Wonder Woman head-on, causing her to stumble. Her shield was already depleted, and her body was paralyzed by the thunder.
Main Universe Thor got up and charged again, punching her away and retrieving the hammer. He then dove to the left to dodge the gunner's attack, followed by a powerful throw of Mjölnir towards the nearest Green Lantern Ship. The hammer smashed through the firing barrel, causing an unfired laser to explode, leaving the Green Lantern inside severely shaken.
Main Universe Thor suddenly realized something. He shouted again, "Everyone, target the ships! The Power of Thunder can destabilize Green Lantern energy! Take down the ships first!!!"
He thought that since Loki could freely navigate such a battlefield, she surely knew the situation here. She could easily decide when to 'blossom from within', based on the current situation on the frontal battlefield, which was likely them assisting him. So, even if time was spent dismantling the ships, it shouldn't lead to a failure in coordination.
Moreover, these ships presented a major issue; if not dismantled, the battle line would be hard to push in, and even if pushed forward, they would be ambushed from behind, resulting in a counter-encirclement.
The other Thors and Asgardians did not hesitate, immediately starting to throw weapons towards the Green Lantern Fleet, while those who were nearby simply jumped onto the ship's deck to smash vigorously. The raw power of the Aesir shook all the Green Lanterns and Martian Manhunters inside the ships.
"Abandon the ship," Hal said as he flew out of the ship, "recall the energy and face them in direct combat. We can't let them press forward any longer!"
The Green Lanterns showed no hesitation. As the Asgardians were about to breach the ships, they directly disassembled the ships, reclaiming the Green Lantern energy back into their bodies and relying on the energy advantage to continue tangling with the Asgardians.
"Damn it," cursed Main Universe Thor. He had already noticed that opposing forces were not the usual trained ones; they were definitely a regular army, and an elite unit at that, seasoned by countless battles. Asgard had truly met its match today!
In reality, regular armies within the superheroes were extremely rare. Most fought individually and did not understand cooperation. Even when forced to assemble, they fought separately, reacted slowly to commands, and occasionally questioned the commander.
Take Wonder Woman on the field now, for example; she seemed to be part of a team, but in actuality, everyone fought independently. Although they occasionally assisted each other, they never executed coordinated tactical cover. The commander clearly could not effectively command them, only issuing major orders like attack or retreat, with no room for micromanagement.
On his side, Thor came with only the Asgardians. Although they weren't the elite troops from the Central Universe, but merely regular forces, they could still achieve immediate obedience, following the commander's orders unconditionally.
Main Universe Thor initially thought this would be an advantage, but unexpectedly met the opposition's regular army. Judging by their demeanor, they were familiar with cosmic warfare. With coordination advantage nonexistent, only a frontal assault remained viable.
"Everyone follow my command!" Main Universe Thor raised Mjölnir high, "For the Father of All Gods, for Asgard! Advance!!!"
The Asgardians initiated another wave of attacks. It was their last chance, because the battle had lasted so long that everyone's divine power was nearing depletion.
However, the situation was far from optimistic, as the Green Lantern Corps decisively abandoned the ships, letting energy flow back into themselves, now fully charged and forming a complete energy suppression. Hal's defense was impenetrable, and the battle line made no progress.
Main Universe Thor watched this unfold, anxiety gripping him; he basically fought while cursing the opposing commander as a dogsh*t. Despite having energy suppression and a favorable situation, the enemy did not advance a single step. Such endurance should qualify them to become the US President!
With another swing, Main Universe Thor distinctly felt his arm weakening. His divine power had long been exhausted, currently relying solely on the God Clan's physical resilience.
But just at this moment, that bothersome Martian Manhunter struck again. Main Universe Thor's vision went black; without divine power for defense, amidst an anxiously irritated state of mind, he fell victim to Martian Manhunter, almost losing consciousness immediately.
"Damn," Main Universe Thor cursed. He mustered all his lifetime's willpower, managing to lift his eyelids for one more second.
And in that fleeting second, he witnessed an infinite light spreading from the battlefield's center.