"Click," Diana turned off the TV, took a deep breath, and sighed as she sat on the sofa. Well, now, even the fact that history books don't record Friene's serpent has been glossed over. If Shiller had been born thousands of years earlier, humans would have mastered pi by now.
As for Shiller's motives, so far Diana could see that, besides revealing that Martians are indeed plotting against the Justice League, he also managed to lure out the opposition, led by Metropolis' mayor.
Although the mayor wanted to flee when the fight broke out, by then, agents were already heading their way, so the mayor didn't escape. Moreover, everyone at the mansion was also captured. It wouldn't be long before a whole bunch of people were revealed.
In addition, there was a brand-new version of Friene's serpent, with its origin story compiled. Simultaneously, Clark's identity got its final patch.
It's not a good thing for people to always think Clark is a Martian. If he does well, people think it's because he should, as his compatriots started the war; if he performs poorly, people suspect he's pretending.
Now, through the myth of Friene's serpent, the existence of Kryptonians was exposed. Although there's no substantial evidence yet, at least there's an official explanation. If they really need evidence, it wouldn't be hard to gather. Let Clark visit home once more and bring back some local specialties.
Additionally, Damian and Steve were directly captured. These two were also part of the revived army, being unstable factors. It's best to monitor them strictly, like Barry's parents, to ensure they don't cause trouble.
In fact, Diana instinctively felt there were other purposes, but based on the information she had, she couldn't discern them. Still, she believed the trouble surrounding this serpent wasn't over.
Shiller's resource utilization was despairingly high. Through Friene's serpent, he had extended seven or eight lines, each with multiple different objectives. Every time this serpent appeared, it wouldn't rest until slaying the heads of several enemies. Yet, even so, many persisted, as if it was the world's most delicious bait, luring countless foolish fish onto the hook.
In theory, having such a powerful ally should be reassuring. But Diana wasn't happy at all. As the saying goes, black cat or white cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat. However, summoning an evil god to catch mice seemed a bit much.
What also made Diana unhappy was that her arm seemed to be in big trouble. As of today, it had started showing corpse spots.
It's not like she hadn't gone to Batman for a check-up; in fact, she went there immediately after the matter ended. Batman's only diagnosis was one word—"dead."
Diana's arm was now a corpse. Strangely, she could still control it freely, without feeling anything unusual. If it weren't for the skin dimpling at the touch and a large area of red corpse spots spreading, she would've thought she hadn't been injured at all.
Diana shared the same symptoms as Hal. So, she decided to meet up with Hal for a talk. Just to compensate Diana and cooperate with the president's work, the Metropolitan Museum granted Diana an extended leave. Diana directly went to the fast-food restaurant where Hal worked, claiming she wanted a job too.
Unlike Hal, Diana was a celebrity, especially popular recently. The fast-food restaurant owner wanted to refuse, but fearing the Justice League might audit their taxes, reluctantly agreed.
Thus, the two joyously fried fries in the kitchen.
"Fast-food places sure are convenient," Diana said while operating the machine. It was an automatic fryer, a fully automated one. You only needed to throw the fries into the basket and press a button; the basket would sink into the oil by itself, and pop up when done. All they had to do was put in and take out the fries.
But this wasn't exactly an easy job since the kitchen was hot. However, since these two corpses weren't afraid of heat, they happily fried, ate, and chatted.
"What do you think this is all about?"
"I think they might have changed strategies," Hal replied, "Batman foresaw potential threats, once the Martian plot unfolded, their plans to impersonate our relatives and drive wedges completely failed. Now they don't even bother pretending."
"What do you mean?" Diana asked.
"You should go back and ask your mother and sisters. Without superpowers, can an ordinary human infiltrate the Amazon Queen's prison and rescue another ordinary person without superpowers?"
"Probably not," Diana said, "Amazon's prison is designed for superpower users; it's not easy for them to escape. But I also asked my mother, and she said no one noticed anyone sneaking in, and no one was injured."
"They must have sneaked in quietly because now isn't the time for loud actions, or they'd become global enemies. Yet, sneaking in is quite impressive, wouldn't you say?"
Diana nodded, saying, "They surely used superpowers beyond our observation. Perhaps the behind-the-scenes manipulator, the God of Death, helped them."
"This isn't even sneaking," Hal glanced at Diana's arm, saying, "You've already been hit, haven't you?"
Diana looked at her arm and sighed. She indeed saw a black line that day, but because it was so tiny and fleeting, she couldn't be sure if she'd been attacked.
After all, her wound wasn't painful or swollen; apart from being somewhat dead, she could still control it freely. What kind of injury is that?
"Both you and I are showing these symptoms, which proves it's one of their most potent attack methods," Hal speculated, "Turning us into corpses must have some significant purpose."
Diana suddenly understood and said, "Do you remember Shiller mentioned this is a multiverse-level crisis, only breaking out in our universe?"
"You mean..."
"They might want to use us to invade the multiverse."
Hal nodded and said, "It's quite possible. Shiller mentioned before that the so-called God of Death hasn't fully come over yet. He might need to cultivate a batch of loyal followers within the multiverse to help him open the portal and threaten the multiverse. We are the unlucky ones chosen."
"So, even though the injury doesn't seem serious now, what if he wants to use his power to control us..." Diana said worriedly, "I'm really afraid I might harm Earth and the Justice League."
"Look at it this way," Hal patted her shoulder and tossed a fry into his mouth, "Why should it be that it controls us, and not us controlling it?"
Diana looked at him somewhat puzzled, and Hal thought for a moment and said, "Once something's in my body, it's my energy. Whether it's the Green Lantern energy or whatever power of this God of Death, they're driven by my spirit, not the other way around."
"Even if it's strong, and sends a lot of power into my body, it still can't control me. Rather, I can try to absorb and control its power. Isn't that right?"
"You seem quite confident."
"That's experience talking," Hal said seriously, "To be honest, when the Green Lantern energy first entered my body, it also tried to control me, or should I say, any external power entering the body will compete with the body's own power for autonomy. I was able to control the foreign power through sheer will, allowing me to become the Green Lantern."
"So, the same goes for the God of Death's power. Once it enters my body, it will inevitably struggle with me for control of my body. But who says it will necessarily win?"
"It might be a lot stronger than the Green Lantern's power." Diana said.
Hal shook his head and said, "During those days at the Green Lantern Headquarters, I didn't just idle around. As far as I know, the Green Lantern Power is already one of the universe's origin powers, and even the Mother Box may not surpass it. It needs to surpass the Green Lantern Power, unless it's God."
"If it's not stronger than the Green Lantern Power, I've already fought against it, and controlling it should be easy; if it surpasses the Green Lantern Power, I'm not necessarily going to lose. Because the most powerful force I've controlled is the Green Lantern Power, but perhaps my potential isn't limited to that. When it comes, I'll take it down."
Diana couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. Hal is a pure optimist. He is very confident and determined, even someone as ancient as her would be moved by such pure faith. No wonder he's the ace pilot.
Thinking of pilots, Diana's mood dropped again. She said, "I've never told you guys before, but Steve was also a great pilot. He was really good at flying fighter jets and had many battle achievements..."
"I've heard about him," Hal said, "A heroic pilot during World War II, unfortunately died young. He was one of my role models."
Diana forced a smile, and Hal continued, "Honestly, if one day I were about to die, embracing my lover while flying a plane and freeing him from shackles is the most romantic death I can imagine. Unfortunately, I don't have a lover as sturdy as you."
Diana laughed out loud at his words. She shook her head and said, "I'll relay your message to Carol."
"No, no, no. If she knows I want to crash a plane into her, she'd go crazy." Hal quickly backed down, saying, "Plus, such talk is considered unlucky in this line of work. Normally, I avoid saying words like 'fall' or 'crash'."
"But you take test-flying planes..."
"That was an accident." Hal sighed and said, "I just..."
"Wait," Diana suddenly interrupted Hal and said, "Are you sure it was an accident?"
Hal looked at her.
"I mean no offense. Of course, I trust your judgment. But, looking coldly, there's no one in the entire Justice League who hasn't been persecuted by conspiracies. It's always better to think and investigate more, even if it doesn't mean expecting the worst."
Diana's words were gentle, but in truth, she was saying that the whole Justice League had faced persecution. Not to mention Victor's family tragedy; even Ron, a superpower user, couldn't protect Dr. Erdel; Bruce, a wealthy tycoon, still lost his son.
Hal's life seemed smooth, carefree, perhaps not because he never experienced persecution, but because he was strong enough to dodge it. Most likely, that plane crash was such an event.
Hal nodded and said, "Actually, I didn't feel obvious loss of control. But I'll try to investigate further. Carol also had her suspicions back then since their family made quite a few enemies. But without decisive evidence, it's hard to confront anyone about it. I understand her."
Diana then realized that it wasn't that they didn't investigate, but that the other party was thorough, leaving no conclusive evidence, making it hard to confront anyone. Hal could only endure quietly for a while.
No wonder, despite such a big incident, his father-in-law didn't blame him much, and his girlfriend took on all his expenses. Hal was indeed quite lucky.
"By the way," Hal remembered something else, "Our families have all been revived. What about Clark's? Didn't his father pass away?"
"Seems like it," Diana said, "But ever since he became president, his mother left the farm. She should be elsewhere, protected by Batman. If his father returned, he'd probably go to the farm too."
"I'll text him a reminder," Hal said, "Even though I don't think he'd fall for anything, it's still better to be cautious."