Chapter 416 Hal's Bad Luck (Part 2) (Patreon)

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"I can't stay calm?! I'm glowing! And it's green!" Dick yelled at him.

Obviously, he was a bit bewildered by the current situation, like a real child. He said, "Oh my god! I can't believe it. How am I going to school tomorrow? How am I going to explain to my teacher that I suddenly started glowing overnight?!"

He continued, "Our school has strict rules. We have to have traditional hair color. We're not even allowed to dye our hair. If my teacher sees that not only my hair but my whole body has turned green, she'll definitely call my parents!"

Hal was speechless. Obviously, he had no experience with children and didn't know how to deal with Dick's realistic but overly realistic logic.

"And I have to visit my biological parents at the end of this month. They're very old-fashioned people. They only use deep green, even for Christmas. How am I going to explain that I suddenly turned greener than a Christmas elf?!"

Hal stared at the ceiling of Wayne Manor. When he first gained this ability, he had fantasized about how great it would be to have it earlier. But now, he realized that the thoughts of teenagers were the biggest mystery in the world.

Dick didn't seem to care about this magical teleportation ability or whether he could control this powerful force. He only cared about his green glow.

At this moment, Hal, who was deeply troubled, suddenly had some different thoughts.

Was he really sober?

A normal person who gained the power of the Green Lantern Ring should indeed be suspicious of their strange appearance. But Hal found that he didn't have this feeling at all.

Even though he caused a huge traffic jam because he looked too much like the green light in a traffic light, he still didn't feel any doubt.

At this moment, Hal suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, like the horror people feel when they discover that they may be controlled by something. Unexpectedly, Hal, who had just escaped from the Green Lantern Ring, discovered too many anomalies that he had not noticed before.

Combined with what Alfred had said to him before, his back was soaked in cold sweat, and even his thick pilot jacket couldn't make him feel warm.

What was he doing? Did he get the power of the alien and report the information here to the alien? Was he bought or controlled?

Undoubtedly, even though Hal was inexperienced, he was a very upright person, and his strong will made him unafraid to admit his mistakes and immediately find a way to make up for them.

He tried to move his body and turned the chair back to face Batman. He said, "The problem may be more serious than we thought."

"Indeed, if you can't come up with a solution to cure Dick..."

"No, that's not what I mean!" Hal interrupted Batman. Batman was rarely interrupted, but he looked at Hal silently while Hal continued, "I think there's a problem here."

He sighed and said, "As you know, I accidentally obtained a Green Lantern Ring that gave me magical powers. It was given to me by an alien who died in a spaceship crash. He told me about the existence of the Green Lantern Corps."

"After that, the power of this ring allowed me to contact the Green Lantern Corps, and they told me about the history of this corps. I was deeply moved and felt honored to be able to join such a team."

"My first official mission was to investigate the arrival of the Yellow Lantern in Gotham. You know the rest."

"And the second task I received was to monitor the movements of the Yellow Lantern Corps members."

"In the information I received, the Yellow Lantern Corps was described as a terrifying presence. They disrupt the work of the Green Lantern and bring destruction and fear to space."

"The terrifying monster I saw in the dream world earlier confirmed this point, which made me believe even more that the Green Lantern Corps is dedicated to maintaining peace and tranquility in space."

"But, I don't know..." I, Hal, showed a hesitant expression and said, "I may have leaked too much information to this mysterious Green Lantern Corps. I haven't even been to their headquarters, only had remote contact..."

"I was eager to complete the mission and felt that I should report the cause and effect of this matter to prevent any harm from the evil members of the Yellow Lantern Corps to Earth, so..."

When Hal looked up, he saw Batman squinting his eyes. For some reason, when he saw this expression, Hal had a bad feeling.

"Why do you think Earth's safety should be entrusted to outsiders?" Batman asked a very fatal question, leaving Hal speechless.

"Have they told you the true origin of the Green Lantern ring?" Batman asked another question, and Hal still couldn't answer. He said, "I heard it was created by the first race born in space to maintain peace..."

"In other words, it is still created by intelligent beings, with leaders, divisions of labor, different departments, bases, and various members..."

Batman crossed his arms and asked, "How can you ensure that the data you upload won't be seen by people who shouldn't see it? And how can you ensure that the leadership of this team has no ill intentions towards Earth?"

Hal shook his head, and Batman looked into his eyes and asked, "Is it that you don't want to answer, or that you simply don't know? I hope it's the latter."

Hal felt his lips dry, he licked them and said in a low tone, "...I don't know."

"You joined a company without understanding its nature, scale, personnel structure, and operating system, and you uploaded all your personal data and the data of your family, neighbors, and street to their network..."

As Batman's tone grew increasingly somber, Hal's sense of unease grew stronger. Just then, Alfred suddenly spoke up, saying, "Sir, your university professor, Professor Rodriguez, just called asking about the situation here."

"He mentioned hearing Aisha scream and expressed concern. He said he would wait by the phone until the situation here is confirmed to be safe. I think, to prevent your respected professor from staying up all night, it would be best for you to give him a call now..."

Batman's aura had reached its lowest point, but upon hearing Alfred's words, he remained silent for a moment, then turned and walked towards the telephone desk.

As soon as the call connected, Schiller's voice came from the other end, "I guess you must have caught Hal by now and are interrogating him about the Green Lantern Corps, right?"

"I didn't 'catch' him, and I'm not 'interrogating' him," Batman immediately denied Schiller's choice of words. Schiller then said, "Well, I suppose you have Green Lantern Hal sitting in a certain chair and have taken some security measures."

"And in your casual conversation with him, you unexpectedly obtained some information about the Green Lantern Corps."

"What do you think of the Green Lantern Corps?" Schiller asked him.

"A group of aliens who are potential threats to Earth, already developing spies and plotting against Earth."

"As expected," Schiller said on the phone. "First of all, I have no idea why Hal appeared at Wayne Manor. Secondly, if you want to investigate the Green Lantern Corps, the best way is to start with the Green Lantern Ring."

"Do you remember the box I gave you last time? You should already know what's inside..."

After Batman hung up the phone, he felt a little calmer. Using violence against Hal now would not benefit the situation. The most important thing was to deal with Dick's condition first.

During the time Batman was on the phone, Hal was constantly communicating with Dick, but they were like two people speaking different languages.

Hal kept emphasizing that Dick needed to learn to stay calm and control his powers, but Dick was panicked by this abnormal state and they were not on the same page.

When Batman came back, Hal sighed and said, "Although I admit that I'm not a good teacher, I don't know how to teach a teenager to use the power of will. When I was ten, I might not even have been able to spell the word 'will' correctly."

"I don't think I can teach him, but I don't know who else can. To teach him to control this power, at least they should have controlled this power themselves."

"But the Green Lantern Corps has very strict standards, and only one in a billion people can meet the requirements. Where can I find another Green Lantern?"

Batman stared at him in silence, and Hal saw his gaze. He said, "...No, there's no way, and don't you understand? The Green Lantern has very strict requirements for willpower, which is not something ordinary people can achieve."

Seeing Batman staring at him all the time, Hal could only explain, "Well, if there is a trick, you have to concentrate and show your willpower..."

"Although I got this ring from another alien, it took a lot of effort to gain the recognition of the Green Lantern..."

Just as he was speaking, a familiar green light slid past the window. Hal widened his eyes and saw a ring emitting a faint green light quietly stopping between him and Batman.

As he listened to the familiar oath of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal opened his mouth in shock and said, "Wait, I know the Green Lantern Ring can be reissued, but I haven't reported it as damaged yet, how did..."

Just as he said this, the ring emitting a green light flew towards Batman and rubbed against him like a pet waiting for its owner's touch.

Just as Hal was amazed, something even more shocking happened. Batman slowly opened his mouth and said, "I refuse."

The Green Lantern Ring stopped in mid-air, and then slowly floated out of the window of Wayne Manor at a very slow pace, as if waiting for Batman to change his mind. Unfortunately, it did not wait for Batman's change of heart.

"I was just trying to see if this would really work."

Hal coughed a few times and said, "Being chosen by the ring is very precious, and there may not be many people in the world like this. How can you just..."

As Hal spoke, Batman left the hall. After a while, he came back holding a box and sat on the sofa. In Hal's gaze, he opened the box.

There was a clattering sound as a pile of rings spilled onto the table.

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 417: Metropolis Mystery (Part 1)