Chapter 476 When Schiller Finds a New Street Lamp (Part 3) (Patreon)

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Previously, Hal, who still possessed the Green Lantern ring, entered Wayne Manor alone and was captured by Alfred. Aisha took away the Green Lantern ring, and Dick eventually picked it up.

The key point is when Aisha took away the Green Lantern ring. As explained before, the Green Lantern ring is like a safe, storing Green Lantern energy inside.

Only a Green Lantern recognized by the ring can open the safe and retrieve the Green Lantern energy. This is part of the safety lock of the Green Lantern ring.

Ordinary people who have not been recognized by the ring cannot open the safe or access the energy, and they cannot bypass the safety lock of the Green Lantern ring.

The process of Hal losing the ring can be described as follows: Hal, using his identity as a Green Lantern, passed the authentication of the safety lock and opened the safe. Just as he was about to take something out, Aisha bit his hand, causing the safe to be thrown away.

However, at this point, the safe was already open, and the power was continuously transmitting. So when Dick picked up the safe, he could immediately use the power of the Green Lantern, even though he had not bypassed the safety lock or been recognized by the ring. He could still obtain some of the Green Lantern's abilities.

After listening to Dick's description of the entire process, Schiller figured out the principle behind it, and the key to it was Aisha.

The Green Lantern Corps has been operating in space for many years, and various security measures are in place. It is rare to hear about ordinary people getting lucky and finding a ring, then wreaking havoc.

This is because the Green Lantern ring has a comprehensive security lock mechanism. As Hal mentioned before, the ring cannot be removed during the power transmission process, even if the Green Lantern tries to pull it off.

But the only exception is Aisha.

Aisha is the embodiment of the yellow entity Parallax. Any material in the world can conduct Green Lantern energy, except for a few other entities. Green Lantern energy cannot be conducted through Aisha's body.

When Hal opened the safe and was about to take out what was inside, Aisha bit his arm, cutting off the Green Lantern's energy. At this moment, the safe door was still open.

Therefore, after the ring was taken away, there was a wide-open safe, and even someone like Dick, who had not undergone any willpower training, could use this energy.

Based on this principle, Schiller conducted an experiment.

Willpower does not have a fixed standard, but in most cases, it is related to focus, perseverance, and emotional control.

Different people have different levels of willpower in different situations. If you break Batman's leg, he may not even flinch, but if you break a pearl necklace in front of him...

So Schiller can meet the standard of willpower required by the Green Lantern by switching between different personalities. This is a simpler and more efficient method...

Naturally, he called for a Green Lantern ring. However, unlike Batman, who refused to rely on external forces, Schiller didn't mind wearing the ring for the sake of it. Since the ring was there, he might as well put it on.

But Schiller had no interest in using the ring to wreak havoc. The Dragon Proud Sky Traveler chose to be satisfied with a full stomach, and the Wise Traveler chose to have a full meal. Schiller, on the other hand, chose a new street lamp.

Schiller put on the Green Lantern ring and used his willpower to open the safe lock. Then he let Aisha bite his arm, cutting off the Green Lantern's energy, and took off the ring. In this way, he recreated the situation Hal was in. The Green Lantern ring he possessed became an unlocked safe.

Because the moment the Green Lantern ring got stuck, its energy kept flowing outward. So when Dick picked up the ring, he could immediately activate its power. Schiller took advantage of this and, after removing the ring, directed its energy into the already depleted Kryptonite Crystal.

Regarding the use of this new material, the idea still followed Schiller's "color commonality" theory. Green Lantern energy is green, and the energy stored in the Kryptonite emits radiation that is also green. After The Grey Mist absorbed the energy inside, the remaining colorless crystal was used by Schiller as a container for Green Lantern energy, and it worked as expected.

However, Schiller did not transfer all the energy from the Green Lantern ring to the Kryptonite Crystal. He left a small amount of energy.

Because Hal mentioned that the Green Lantern ring has a safety lock, it will automatically return to the power battery when the energy is running low.

Although the Green Lantern ring dropped by Hal did not successfully return to the power battery because Dick barely controlled the energy, Schiller did not control his own ring. Therefore, the ring successfully returned to the power battery and recharged itself.

At the same time, the ring was not lost or reclaimed by the Corps. Its owner remained Schiller Rodriguez, so after being fully charged, it returned to Schiller's side.

Then, Schiller put the fully charged ring back on his hand, opened the door lock again, let Aisha jam it again, extracted the energy, poured it into the Kryptonite Crystal again, and let it return to the power battery for recharging...

It is quite miraculous that the extracted Green Lantern energy, after being poured into the Kryptonite Crystal, is fully preserved. This crystal, which can store special radiation, seems to have some unique properties that ensure the Green Lantern's energy does not dissipate in space but remains stored within the crystal.

In this way, through his scientific experiment, Schiller basically understood the Green Lantern Corps, the Green Lantern ring, the Green Lantern power battery, and the nature of Green Lantern energy. With his outstanding economic mind and tested moral standards, he successfully took advantage of the Green Lantern Corps.

After listening to Schiller's account of this process, Hal was dumbfounded.

Since it was around the 1990s, the phenomenon of bugs in computer programs was not as common. Hal, who had no background in computer education, had no idea how to describe this behavior...

"In fact, I'm cleaning up your mess with Rotten," Schiller suddenly changed the topic and blamed Hal. Hal stared in astonishment and said, "Cleaning up my mess with Rotten? What did I do?"

Schiller pointed at the desktop with his finger and said, "It's because you had no vigilance. You dared to wear a strange ring on your hand and execute a strange command."

"Not only did you sell Earth's information to aliens, but you also used their abilities to cause trouble in Gotham..."

"I didn't cause trouble! I..."Looking at Schiller's eye contact, Hal's voice grew weaker and weaker. He lowered his head, knowing his guilt, trying not to think about the chaos that occurred when he disguised himself as Green Lantern on the Gotham Central Roundabout.

"But now that the cat is out of the bag, your information has already been handed over. Those aliens have probably read it through multiple times. The leak of intelligence is irreversible. So, we should at least try to salvage some losses, right?"

"But, without others' consent... um..."

"Did they get your consent before giving you the power?"

"To give me power, they...?"

"Of course they did." Schiller interrupted Hal and said, "Before they gave you this power, were you informed of the specific responsibilities that correspond to it? Did they obtain your personal information with your consent? Were there any privacy terms related to it? Were there any explanations about the risks that this power might pose before you used it?"

"For example, did anyone inform you, in any written or verbal form, that using this power while landing on the red Green Lantern pole of Humanity could lead to traffic congestion? So, the losses caused by the traffic jam at the Gotham Central Roundabout are not solely your responsibility."

"But, as you said, they are aliens. They probably don't understand Earth's contractual terms, right?"

"Because they don't understand Earth's rules, yet they recklessly gave you this power, causing you to cause damage on Earth. Whose responsibility is that?"

"It's..." Hal almost blurted out, but he hesitated and swallowed the rest of his words.

After Schiller's words, he became somewhat uncertain. He remembered that when he got the Green Lantern ring, no one told him how to use this power without harming Earth.

In fact, Hal felt a bit wronged for being accused of betraying Earth's information by Alfred and Batman.

He was just an ordinary person who suddenly received divine power, and the other party seemed righteous, so it was understandable that he didn't expect them to have ulterior motives.

And now, thinking about it, if a contract only contains terms that are beneficial to you, constantly giving you power, money, and the pretext of justice, only requiring you to do some small tasks, it's suspicious no matter how you think about it. The hidden risks must be unimaginable.

"If aliens have these rules among themselves but didn't tell you, it would constitute contract fraud, and they deliberately deceived you."

"If aliens don't even have these rules among themselves, aren't they more barbaric than Humanity? Why would you believe their words?"...

Listening to Schiller's words, Hal fell into contemplation. Schiller continued, "As I said before, now that the cat is out of the bag, just like any victim who has been fooled, the most important thing is not shame and self-blame, but to recover the losses."

Schiller threw the green crystal in his hand to Hal, who caught it and examined it.

Suddenly, he discovered that when he focused his attention, the energy in the crystal spread up his arm. In less than a second, he transformed back into the Green Lantern emitting green light all over his body.

"Now, you are free, Hal."

Schiller looked up at the floating Hal and said, looking into his eyes, "Do you know? I once asked Batman a question..."

"What question?" Hal also looked into Schiller's eyes.

"Whose justice is it that you want to enforce?"

Hal floated in mid-air, deep in thought. His expression gradually became serious and then resolute.

He didn't have a mysterious and tortuous background like Batman. He was just a kind and determined ordinary person. Therefore, the answer in his heart told him that any justice bestowed upon him by others was merely a powerful authority disguised in the cloak of justice.

"In fact, I still don't know... I don't know what justice is."

Hal gave an unexpected answer to Schiller, but he continued, "But I will use this power to pursue that answer. Until I find it, my footsteps will never stop, even if it costs me my whole life."

Saying that, Hal slowly descended. The green light on his body faded away but didn't disappear. It returned to the crystal, indicating that after firming his beliefs, he had gained better control over the Green Lantern energy.

"Your ideals are great, and I believe that with your willpower, you can uphold justice. But the only problem is that during the process, we may need a large amount of funding..."

"Funding? But I don't have money..."

Just as Hal said this, he paused and then looked at the green crystal on the desktop.

"But fortunately, I have already prepared our startup capital."

"Prepared? How did you prepare it..."

"I told you, they breached the contract first, so it's only fair that we charge them some penalty fees."

Hal suddenly had a bad feeling as he stared at Schiller and asked, "...How much did you charge?"

Hal saw Schiller bend down and pull out a large box from under the tea table. It was filled with piles of green crystals.

At the Green Lantern Corps headquarters, the Corps leader in a green uniform stood in front of a massive lantern, turning his head to his subordinate beside him, a bit puzzled, and asked, "The power consumption of the headquarters lantern has been very high recently. Do you have any clues?"

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 477: Green Lantern Corps in Trouble (Part 1)