Seeing Emperor Viktor fall into a long silence, Superman held a mix of surprise and admiration.
Shazam looked at Emperor Viktor's dark expression and felt a bit nervous.
He quietly flew behind Viktor and whispered a question.
"Was what you just said a bit too harsh? Does your personality include the part where you get 'angry out of shame'?"
"There are five of us."
Viktor responded calmly.
The five people on the scene, including himself, were pretty much the highest-level superhumans Earth could offer at that moment.
If the five of them working together couldn't handle him, Earth might as well just be handed over to the Emperor.
Shazam looked at Wonder Woman beside him and seemed to gain some confidence.
Emperor Viktor's yellow pupils flickered as he thought, but it was clear that he was not someone who could be completely convinced by just a few words.
After seeing the yellow light in his eyes fluctuate several times before finally becoming steady again, Viktor raised his fist with a bit of helplessness.
This man had been bonded with the light of fear for nearly a thousand years and had merged with Parallax.
He was essentially a humanoid demonic parasitic entity, and feeding on fear had long since become part of his fundamental nature.
Unless Viktor could throw solid evidence in his face, Emperor Viktor was the type who would never admit he was wrong.
Sure enough, when Emperor Viktor looked up at him again, his expression had returned to a calm and indifferent state.
"The timeline that belongs to me has been entirely erased, and everything you said is nothing but speculation."
"Let me guess. Even if we could find another witness from the future, the moment you saw the Reverse Flash—"
"He destroyed everything I had. I won't let him live long enough to blink twice."
Emperor Viktor's tone was firm and final.
There was no need to let such an enemy live even a few more seconds just to prove a theory.
Viktor spread his hands.
"Everyone, there is no need to be polite on my account. Or do you have other ideas?"
Martian Manhunter said nothing, but his attitude was clearly resolute.
The majority of A.R.G.U.S.'s agents were dead, and his own superior, Amanda, had been crushed by this man right in front of him.
Regardless of whether gods were pulling the strings, Martian Manhunter intended to capture and make him pay for his crimes.
Even if the Justice League backed out, he would fight this man alone to the very end.
Wonder Woman looked at Superman.
After his initial disappointment, Superman didn't try to persuade Emperor Viktor anymore and only asked one last question.
"So you intend to do everything that happened in the future all over again?"
Emperor Viktor's answer was equally brief.
"This time I'll do it better."
The five of them began to spread out, surrounding the stubborn Emperor from all sides.
Back in the Watchtower, Batman kept close watch on the live feed transmitted by satellite while making his way to the circular corridor on the top floor.
After verifying that the spy, Rhonda, was still unconscious, Batman manually opened the code lock on another prison cell.
A thin layer of cold mist drifted away.
The former lord of the Yellow Lantern Corps raised his head, bound heavily by layers of thick mechanical shackles.
When Sinestro saw that the visitor was Batman, he was honestly a bit surprised.
"I thought it would be Hal Jordan, but it's you?"
Even though he had already become a prisoner of the Justice League, Sinestro didn't seem very anxious, and his tone was calm and steady.
"Since it isn't Hal, then you're probably not here to transfer me to Oa headquarters or Korugar."
Those cunning yellow eyes reflected Batman's silent figure.
"Let me guess. There's been a problem with the order of fear?"
Yes, even at that moment, Sinestro felt confident.
As the one who had built the Yellow Lantern Corps with his own hands, Sinestro believed that no one else could control the power of fear as well as he could for very long.
The fear and wisdom went hand in hand.
The universe had accepted the balance of the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum, and Sinestro was certain no one was more fit to rule fear than him.
But just when Sinestro thought Batman would tell him the universe was in chaos without him, Batman did something else.
He simply removed the restraints that were suppressing him and then raised his hand to show him a live broadcast of Emperor Viktor fighting Earth's five strongest heroes.
Sinestro dropped to the floor, began moving his limbs, and stared at Emperor Viktor for a long while before he finally began to understand what he was seeing.
"What is this? Did Parallax escape? What is the Green Lantern Corps doing?"
Batman's tone was calm, but his words hit Sinestro like a heavy blow to the chest.
"There is no more Parallax, or rather the man you're looking at has replaced Parallax's position in the universe."
"That's impossible."
Sinestro was genuinely shaken.
"Even if someone had been possessed by Parallax, he should have become a Parallax host. What do you mean he replaced it?"
"You only saw his compatibility with the yellow ring, Sinestro. What you don't know is that he isn't simply compatible with ring energy, but his body treats that energy more like food."
Sinestro stared at the screen for a long time before speaking again.
"I can't sense the Anti-Matter Universe anymore. He has locked the permissions for the Fear Spectrum. I cannot even summon my own ring back."
Batman opened his palm, and a yellow power ring floated gently toward Sinestro.
Sinestro quickly put the ring on.
A yellow Lantern suit appeared around his body again, but he frowned because he could feel that the energy of fear was no longer as close to him as it had once been.
It was only at this moment that Sinestro fully believed what Batman had told him.
A trace of bitter resignation crossed that face.
"He's the leader of the Yellow Lantern Corps now. What exactly can I do for you?"
Batman didn't answer directly. He was already turning to leave when he added one instruction over his shoulder:
"… Do not leave the Watchtower's range. If he sensed your existence, he would not allow a second Yellow Lantern to exist in the Corps he controlled."
Sinestro looked at Batman's back as he left, then lowered his head and glanced at the ring on his hand.
He narrowed his eyes and thought for a long time, but in the end, he still didn't step out of the cell.
The cell door closed again, and a light white mist sprayed from the ceiling.
Even in a prison, the Justice League was humane enough to simulate the trace elements and humidity that suited his species.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Emperor Viktor was now facing an attack from all five of them, and no longer looked as calm as before.
He struggled to defend against so many enemies at once.
After only two or three minutes, Emperor Viktor's upper body armor had already been shattered, and there were many cuts on his body from the Godkiller sword.
Even though his injuries healed quickly with the support of nearly endless yellow Lantern energy, Emperor Viktor realized that if the beating continued, the Justice League might actually capture him alive.
It was hard to say what the outcome would be if he fell into Batman's hands.
As these thoughts ran through his mind, Emperor Viktor looked at Viktor charging at him once again.
He had already lost the desire to continue the fight.
...
600 POWER STONES = 1 BONUS CHAPTER
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