Chapter 287: Rescuing Uncle Yondu, the Birth of the Zerg
The Dark Domain dissipated.
This planet returned to its original appearance.
Looking down at the scattered Lantern Corps members sprawled across the ground in various colors, Allen nodded in satisfaction.
"Kie kie kie kie…"
Allen put his hands on his hips and mimicked a villain's tone: "So much for the Spectrum Corps. Today marks your end—there shall be no more Lanterns in this world."
The corps members lying on the ground no longer had the strength to fight.
Even if they could still use their power rings, they wouldn't be able to defeat him—let alone now, badly wounded and exhausted.
Of course, the reason they were lying prone was simply because lying on their backs hurt more.
"Allen, we've got a serious problem."
At that moment, Hela's voice came from the side.
"Mommy, have you finally come to pick up your long-lost idiot son?"
Allen threw his arms wide open, wearing a moved expression as he shouted, "Mommy! I need a hug!"
"Stick to the point."
Hela rolled her eyes and said bluntly, "Uxas has been taken back to Apokolips. We need to start planning a rescue."
"What!?"
Allen's face switched to a fierce glare as he growled, "Who the hell was dumb enough to kidnap a member of the protagonist team while I was gone? Are they trying to steal my spotlight?"
As he spoke, a stretched, rainbow-colored Ghostfire car manifested beneath him.
Allen tossed his hair back with flair and called over his shoulder, "Seaweed Lady, get in the car."
Hela looked at the extended Ghostfire, noting the backseat was already filled with seven color-themed beauties. Frowning, she asked, "Where am I supposed to sit?"
"Sorry, there's no room."
Allen didn't forget to explain, "These gals are all my cousins from china town. If you don't mind, you can ride in the trunk."
"…"
With a look of resignation, Hela flew off on her own toward the spaceship parked in outer space.
"Hold on tight, cousin. Big bro's driving now~"
"Got it, big bro~"
A streak of rainbow light shot into space.
As Allen's nightmare-inducing figure disappeared from view, the seven Lantern leaders finally stopped playing dead.
Clearly, it was obvious he had no intent to kill them. Otherwise, they'd have all been long dead inside the Dark Domain.
"Should we still try to arrest him?" Larfleeze asked, unwilling to give up.
In response, he was met with nothing but glares of fury.
Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. As if they hadn't been humiliated enough already.
Time and again, they'd only ended up disgracing themselves. What were they, masochists? Once wasn't enough—they had to keep coming back for more?
The power-down protocol was the nemesis of every Lantern ring.
Abin Sur had come to understand the truth: this wasn't a matter that numbers could resolve.
Even bringing in the ultimate Lanterns wouldn't make a difference.
Any ability tied to the emotional spectrum was completely neutralized by the twisted power of the Dark Domain.
The unified stance of the Seven Corps regarding today's events was: never speak of it again.
So, everyone went home and pretended it never happened.
…
Inside the spaceship.
"Welcome back."
Allen's teammates greeted him with heartfelt warmth.
They had witnessed the defeat of the Seven Lantern Corps through radar footage and were utterly dumbfounded.
No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't figure out how Allen had done it. But with the evidence right in front of them, they had no choice but to believe it.
"So what happened? Someone broke in while I was gone?" Allen asked.
After a brief explanation, he quickly grasped the situation.
In truth, the feud between the two brothers over the throne was none of their business—neither emotionally nor logically did they need to get involved.
Besides, based on the plot's trajectory, Uxas was fated to make a comeback and become the new ruler of Apokolips.
Then again, knowing how messy the American comic universe is, nothing was ever certain.
Thus, Allen decided to intervene.
…
The Accuser's Military Base
With the High Evolutionary's addition, major breakthroughs were achieved in biological genetic engineering.
Lately, Ronan had stayed within the base, waiting for experimental results—mainly due to being wanted by the Kree Empire.
Behind protective barriers, scientists stared intently at the insectoid egg pods covered in instruments.
"Your Majesty, as long as we infuse enough bio-energy, the metamorphosis and revival process can be completed," one of them reported.
After learning Ronan's full plan, the High Evolutionary decisively joined the Accuser's ranks.
Compared to hoarding wealth, the opportunity to be under the protection of supreme power was far more appealing—and the High Evolutionary made the rational choice.
Pledging loyalty to Ronan meant that once they conquered the universe, he would become one of the very few to wield absolute authority.
And with that, riches would be within easy reach. Even resources that money couldn't buy could be obtained with a single command.
"I'm very much looking forward to the results, Chief Bioengineer."
Ronan was clearly pleased with the current progress and the High Evolutionary's cooperation.
He pressed a button.
Bio-energy infusion commenced.
The once motionless insect eggs began to twitch, as though something inside was growing at an accelerated rate.
As time passed bit by bit…
The surface of the egg began to bulge, a hideous silhouette faintly visible beneath the membrane.
Pop!
The egg sac ruptured.
A sharp, piercing screech rang out.
A hybrid creature—part insect, part xenomorph—emerged from its cocoon.
Standing five to six meters tall, it had a hard, carapace-like exoskeleton and a pair of insectoid wings on its back.
Its mouthparts were jagged, and its multiple bladed limbs suggested terrifying combat capabilities.
The High Evolutionary explained, "Your Majesty, according to the genetic programming, as long as energy is sufficient, the Insect King can asexually reproduce several types of insectoid units…"
The Insect King was the progenitor—not meant for combat, but stationed deep in the rear to ensure constant troop production.
There were three types of offspring: the Royal Guard Insects, the Hive Queen Insects, and the Starship Insects.
As the name suggested, the Royal Guard Insects were tasked with protecting the Insect King and had tremendous individual combat power.
The Hive Queen Insects were specialized auxiliary types, continuously breeding worker insects.
Lastly, the Starship Insects were capable of space transport missions.
"Of course, there's one critical issue—we need an enormous amount of nutrients and bio-energy," the High Evolutionary pointed out.
All insectoid units could rapidly mature, but they needed a constant supply of food and energy.
Forming a Zerg army capable of universal conquest was well beyond Ronan's current production capacity.
If it were a mechanical army, they could simply harness geothermal energy from the planet.
But the surface temperature here was thousands of degrees—was Ronan supposed to have the swarm lick the burning ground?
With a gesture, Ronan summoned a star map and casually selected several planets devoid of intelligent life.
"These five planets are in remote regions, unnoticed by any galactic civilization. They'll be perfect for cultivating the swarm."
He had begun preparations for this back at the start of the project, all to accelerate the timeline for creating a full-fledged Zerg army.
"Five ecological planets!?"
The High Evolutionary was stunned by Ronan's audacity.
He had once tried to purchase just one and failed, eventually settling for investing in a man-made eco-planet to cut costs.
But natural ecological planets were priceless treasures in the eyes of any spacefaring civilization.
Once the Zerg were released onto these five worlds, it would lead to irreversible ecological devastation. The swarm would devour all organic matter, reducing these planets to barren rocks.