Outside Huìhé Star, Amazing Grace pursed her lips, and in irritation kicked her brother out of his seat with a flying kick.
"Godfrey, go check whether this dead, silent planet is that damn Brainiac's base!"
"Ah-ha, so it's just a simple little errand, yet you have to talk to me like this, dear sister?"
Godfrey chuckled, patting his own rear as he climbed up from the floor.
This ship was called the City of Thought, and it was typically used by two members of Darkseid's Dark Elite—Grace and Godfrey.
As for what the Dark Elite was…
Let me put it this way.
Darkseid was once called Uxas. He was the youngest son of Yuga Khan, the previous ruler of Apokolips.
Back when he was still a prince, he invaded Earth and launched the famous ancient war on that planet.
Of course, he failed, and so he fled back to Apokolips in disgrace.
Because of that, he began seeking power with even greater desperation!
And it was at that very moment that his brother—Yuga Khan's eldest son, Drax—
Just as Uxas was frantically searching for new power, Drax was unexpectedly acknowledged by the Omega Energy, and thereby gained the terrifying Omega Beams!
So, in order to gain the power to return to Earth for revenge, Uxas used schemes to kill his own brother and steal his Omega Beams.
But this very act allowed his brother, having survived the ordeal, to gain the recognition of the Source.
His brother actually became the agent of the Source—the Infinity Man.
And Yuga Khan, through his eldest son's fortune, also sensed the power of the Source!
In order to better study and seize the power of the Source, Yuga Khan kept courting death until he finally succeeded in getting himself stuck on the Source Wall…
At that point, Uxas was still just a boy who had obtained new power and planned to return to Earth for revenge.
But before he could even return to Earth, the series of events involving his brother and father made him the most qualified heir to ascend the throne of Apokolips!
But here was the problem—Uxas also had a mother…
The one who ultimately took the throne was his mother, Heggra.
Uxas chose to step back in the struggle for the throne, but his mother would not let it go.
Perhaps it was because Heggra had never liked Uxas.
Or perhaps it was because the detested youngest son had killed her beloved eldest son…
Either way, Heggra found some random excuse and planned to kill Uxas!
Thus, Uxas had no choice but to turn to his first ally and subordinate.
That was Desaad, who had always stood by his side!
Under Desaad's schemes, Uxas killed his own mother, took the throne of Apokolips, inherited Yuga Khan's divine power, and changed his name to Darkseid.
But having just barely secured the throne, the power in his hands was still not enough to suppress all the forces on Apokolips.
Moreover, Yuga Khan's death had also brought Apokolips under relentless assault from their old adversary—New Genesis, led by Highfather.
To secure his throne, Darkseid personally appeared on the battlefield, relying on his divine power and the Omega Beams to barely hold his own against Highfather of New Genesis.
In order to gain an advantage for Apokolips in the war, and to make his throne more stable,
during the twenty-eight thousand years of war, he continuously recruited outstanding subordinates, or simply raised his own children into formidable powerhouses.
As for Earth…
He had long since forgotten about it.
It was not until two thousand years ago that Darkseid gathered all his finest subordinates together and proclaimed the banner of the Dark Elite!
In this force, every member was a commander of Apokolips' Parademons. They generally operated alone, and each of them possessed the power to destroy a world.
Among them, the twin stars Amazing Grace and Glorious Godfrey were two whose achievements and strength were among the best in the Elite.
At this moment, inside the City of Thought.
Glorious Godfrey, who had just been kicked, smiled gently.
Then he turned his head to look at Huìhé Star, which was covered in dust yet showed no signs of life.
"Don't forget—Kanto is the greatest assassin and tracking master in the entire universe. If he told us Brainiac is on Huìhé Star, then the information is absolutely correct."
With those words, Glorious Godfrey sauntered toward the command room door with lazy, wandering little steps, like a drunken poet.
"Make sure the Boom Tube is open. Let's just blanket this planet with our little dogs first."
"Pah, what a simple and brutish approach. Godfrey, the thing I hate most about you is this habit of yours!
The mind is a power meant for us to savor the pleasure of torment—not a power used to simply bend wills into submission.
Your choice disgusts me!"
"But you have to admit, my choice is more effective than yours, dear sister."
Glorious Godfrey laughed as he opened the City of Thought's Boom Tube, and at the same time he continued speaking to his sister.
"Think about our track records, little girl.
Your torment and games have destroyed a mere eighty thousand worlds.
Under your torture, all life on those worlds turned to nothingness and terror, never to be of any use to Apokolips again.
But my subjugation and will-bending have made the inhabitants of thirty thousand worlds the eternal dogs of Apokolips.
Without us needing to expend X-Element and Mother Box energy to convert them into Parademons, they fight and die for us, waging war endlessly…
Just like now, my dear—if not for the dogs I've raised, would you be tormenting yourself on this seemingly uninhabited planet?
Aside from Mantis, that powerhouse second only to His Majesty, and Verman Vundabar, that brain-eating fellow—
apart from those two, whether it's you or anyone else, this so-called conquest of parallel universes you all boast about is nothing more than steamrolling through with the source power of Apokolips and the strength of Parademons.
The Elite, heh—you people don't deserve the name."
As he finished speaking, Godfrey smiled and glanced twice at his sister's thighs, and his gaze made Grace smile back in that same ambiguous way.
Grace swayed her steps lightly and moved skillfully to her brother's side, reaching out to stroke Godfrey's chest.
"That's why I have you, dear brother.
You torment me, and your dogs torment this planet, and then…
we happily watch it all happen. How about that?"
"Of course. That's exactly what I want, my dear…"
Godfrey nodded with narrowed eyes, then decisively activated the Boom Tube.
…
Meanwhile, on Huìhé Star, Abin, located in the southern hemisphere, looked up in shock.
Less than six hundred kilometers away from him, a clear Boom Tube was rapidly forming, and then countless, endless, sky-covering, heaven-to-earth streams of life came pouring out of the tube!
In an instant, Abin directly abandoned any thought of a head-on fight, because among those damned creatures, there were actually quite a number of Lanterns!
After all, the Lanterns' method of flight was the most conspicuous—seven-colored light flashing continuously.
There were not only Green Lanterns like himself; Abin even saw countless Blue and Yellow Lanterns, along with a small number of Lanterns of other colors.
"Gambino, Bize, a Boom Tube has appeared in Area 429 of the southern hemisphere. Suspected multiverse Apokolips attack!"
Abin urgently said into the communicator, and the words immediately drew a response.
Bize let out a thunderous roar.
"OK, looks like we've found the right place. If this were a useless dead planet, then why would Apokolips attack it?"
"This isn't the time for that, little bee," Gambino cut in. "Abin, how many Parademons came out of the tube?"
"Endless—but not just Parademons. There are Lanterns, Titans, Martians, and more. Countless!"
"Damn it, I knew it. Just the three of us coming to find Brainiac was a terrible idea!
Hell, Apokolips actually sent such a terrifying force directly?!"
With those words, Gambino raised his hand casually, and a greatsword formed of green light appeared in his grasp.
"Can you get away? If not, I'll come back you up. If you can escape easily, then let's get off this planet now!"
At that, Gambino grabbed the blue greatsword and leaped into the air, then shot straight up into the sky.
"Because if this really is Brainiac's base of operations, then he'll soon release that standardized space-time energy barrier of his…"
Before he could finish, Gambino, soaring upward, slammed hard into a layer of air.
The impact shut his mouth and sent him tumbling awkwardly down from the sky.
As he fell, he cursed viciously.
"Fuck, the barrier's already up. Why couldn't our detectors pick up on this?!"
"That means we can't fly out, right?"
Bize asked from far away, then twitched his wings, and two beams of green light shot toward the sky in front of him—only to be blocked just the same by the completely invisible barrier.
Seeing that his attack had no effect, Bize smiled helplessly.
"Fine, fine. I've tried. This barrier has probably encased the entire planet.
As for our detectors—I think we were wrong from the very beginning.
What made us think we could rely on an eleventh-level intelligence product issued by Oa to detect and search for Brainiac, one of the top intellects in the entire multiverse?!"
With those words, Bize paused briefly—because right in front of him, a Boom Tube had also appeared!
This tube was extremely close to him, less than two kilometers away, so he was instantly spotted by the newly arrived enemies.
"Damn it!!!"
Bize roared and immediately fled backward.
At the same time, the various lifeforms pouring out of the Boom Tube looked with delight at the fleeing green light.
One of them, a Green Lantern who looked like a blue elephant, shouted in pleasant surprise.
"I didn't expect to see our enemy the moment I came out. Justice demands his death!!!"
"No—the one who demands his death is my king, the glorious Godfrey!"
"No, it is Hell!!!"
"It is the wisdom of the Life Equation!!!"
"It is Hitler!!!"
Indeed, among this group there were actually Nazis from World War II. Who knew how many worlds Glorious Godfrey actually controlled.
And the people under his control were not mere puppets. They all retained their own intelligence; it was simply that Glorious Godfrey had replaced their original faiths and become their sole guiding beacon and lighthouse.
For instance, the elephant Green Lantern who was now relentlessly chasing Bize truly believed that killing all life on Huìhé Star and seizing the Kryptonian in Brainiac's possession was the revelation granted to him by the green light.
This was what made Glorious Godfrey so terrifying.
Watching the Green Lanterns chasing him, Bize transformed into a streak of lightning in irritation, then suddenly whirled around and attacked the enemy at the very front.
In a split second, his light swept across the giant elephant, cleaving him clean in two.
And after killing him, Bize changed direction and continued fleeing.
As he ran, he spoke into the communicator.
"I just took out a Green Lantern. That's really not good news. Clearly, another parallel universe with a Green Lantern has been conquered by Apokolips!
Abin, Gambino, I'm being chased here. You two need to notify Oa headquarters immediately. This is a huge problem that will require most of the Green Lanterns to come deal with!"
"I already fucking tried notifying Oa!!!"
Gambino immediately cursed.
"But I failed. Brainiac has probably cut off all communication between this planet and the outside world!"
"Damn it!"
Abin shook his head and shouted.
"They've spotted me too. We have to regroup first. At the very least, we have to get the message out!"
"All of you, come to me!"
Bize roared at Abin and the others while dodging enemy attacks.
"To prevent Mogo from wandering off too far, my communicator is specially made. There are only two in all of Oa—one with me, and one with Mogo.
Even twelfth-level technology won't be able to block it. At the very least, they're products of the same tier!!!!"
With those words, Bize beat his wings fiercely, and instantly countless raindrops of green light fell from the sky, crushing vast numbers of his enemies.
The two beams of green light Bize had used earlier had imitated Mantis's slashes, and now this green rain imitated gloomy weather—both were things Bize had once feared the most.
The power of the Green Lantern was to materialize the weapon within a Lantern's heart, and the power of that weapon was controlled by the strength of the Lantern's will.
And what kind of weapon they transformed into depended on what had left the deepest impression on them!
After killing countless enemies, Bize continued explaining to Abin and the other two.
"Hurry and regroup on me. My special communicator has a drawback—it can only be used in a safe environment, and when in use it must be linked to my central nervous system!
I need you two to provide that environment for me!"
"Got it, I'm on my way!"
"Wait for me, kid!!!"
Abin and Gambino answered and immediately moved to regroup with Bize.
Soon, the three of them had gathered together under heavy encirclement.
And just as they regrouped, a scene that utterly shocked them unfolded.
Before their very eyes, Huìhé Star, originally covered in rubble, fully awakened.
Countless weapons churned up from the planet's surface, and at the same time, countless bio-mechanical robots surged out from underground structures.
Seeing this, Gambino hurled his detector away in fury.
"Son of a bitch! The fortifications are only about two hundred meters underground, but even when I dug down more than a thousand meters, I couldn't sense a thing.
This planet might as well be alive. They've taken planetary flexible-assembly technology to the absolute extreme!"
"Forget all that. Help me confirm a safe position. I have to contact Mogo as soon as possible.
I need him to notify Green Lantern headquarters, and more importantly, to get His Eminence Heisenberg to come support us!!!"
Bize roared as he took out two Parademons charging at him.
Hearing Bize's words, Gambino chuckled, then abruptly transformed the green light in his hand into a labyrinth and hurled the green maze—spanning nearly three square kilometers—around the three of them.
"You just stay put in the center. Abin and I will hold them off for you!
But tell me—that 'His Eminence' you keep talking about, is he really reliable?!"
/-\
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