Taking the box from Pamela's hand, Hal opened it and saw countless tiny green thorns inside.
"Are you really sure about this? According to the intelligence the Professor gave us, he's not afraid of Kryptonite. Kryptonite can't make him weak."
"But this thing can break his skin," Hal said. He had studied Shiller's intelligence carefully, which mentioned that in another universe, Hai'er had once had his chest pierced by a Kryptonite dagger.
"This means that although the weakening radiation from Kryptonite can't affect him, it can physically break his defense. This is the only known thing that might break his defense."
"I don't intend to use this to kill him," Hal said. "Just to interfere with him enough so that I don't get killed instantly."
Pamela pressed her lips tightly together and said, "Come back alive, okay?"
"Don't make it sound like a life-and-death situation," Hal smiled. "Even if I die, Bruce will fish me out of Lake Eden."
Pamela chuckled helplessly, and then she seemed to think of something: "I think you can ask Lilith for a prophecy."
"Oliver tried. She couldn't see anything," Hal shook his head. "That guy obviously used some trick to avoid the prophecy. It proves he's not driven mad by rage; he's clear-headed and difficult to deal with."
After saying that, Hal walked away. Pamela stood where she was, watching his figure fly out the window, and sighed deeply.
Oliver arrived a step too late, panting heavily. "Where's Hal?"
"Just flew away," Pamela said. "You know you can't stop him."
Oliver leaned against the wall, gasping for several breaths, then looked at the window, his brows furrowing deeply. His fingers on the wall slowly clenched into a fist.
A few seconds later, he straightened up, relaxed his eyebrows, and said, "Helen is back."
"So soon?" Pamela turned her head in surprise. "Great, have her help me test a new plant."
After flying out of Earth, Hal ran into Clark and his group, to be precise, Diana was bidding farewell to Clark and Kara.
"The two of us need to go back to Krypton," Clark said. "There are too many mysteries on Krypton. If we can't defeat Hai'er head-on, we have to figure out what his problem is."
Hal was visibly troubled. He said, "The problem is you don't know what dangers are on that planet. If you get trapped, it's even more troublesome."
"Everything comes with risks. If I were afraid of danger, I'd still be farming back home," Clark smiled.
"We need to go quickly," Kara said anxiously. "Although most of the equipment and weapons on Krypton are scrapped, there might be something left behind. If it falls into the enemy's hands and is used to invade Earth, what then?"
Kara pushed Clark and flew away. Hal waved to Diana and flew off too.
Diana had already noticed that Hal was flying towards Mercury. She silently whispered a few prayers to Zeus but reconsidered, thinking it's better not to ask for his protection given his current situation.
Hal didn't fly very fast; he was contemplating various scenarios and responses. Before long, he approached Mercury, where most of the debris had been cleared.
The nearby sun had dimmed, making the entire cosmos even darker. Hal constantly adjusted his emotions, flying towards the place where the star's projection used to be.
There floated some tiny fragments, looking like shattered mirrors. In the faint reflection, Hal vaguely saw a pair of eerie green eyes.
"Are you there?" Hal asked aloud.
Green Lantern energy covered his entire body, clearly indicating he was fully armed and ready.
"I think we can talk," Hal added. "We have no hostility toward you. Whatever you're planning, you can tell us..."
After a long silence, Hal finally heard a sigh, seemingly coming from the distant end of the cosmos.
His nerves were intensely strained, and the Green Lantern energy uncontrollably spread outwards, monitoring every bit of movement around him.
"My homeland is destroyed," a hoarse voice said.
Hal couldn't identify the source of the voice; it seemed to come from all directions, past and future, in his ears, and in his mind.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Hal said.
As soon as his words fell, Hal felt a huge sense of crisis sweeping over his psychic battlefield, like a massive bomb exploding inside his heart.
The Green Lantern energy exploded, and the shadow of an Ion Shark appeared instantly, enveloping his chest. But in the moment it collided with that grayish-white hand, it shattered like glass.
Within two seconds, one hand broke through countless layers of Green Lantern energy defense and pressed against Hal's chest. The fingertips pierced his skin as easily as a knife through butter, and blood instantly gushed out.
"Ugh..."
Hal let out a painful groan, but his mind remained sharp. Almost endless Green Lantern energy poured out of the ring, constantly pulling his body away from that hand— he couldn't shake the opponent, only retreat himself.
The owner of that hand finally revealed his true face: countless ugly and ferocious scars crossed a face, and deep green eyes burned with a profound fire. He pressed forward, his hand piercing straight into Hal's chest.
Hal waved his other hand, and countless green thorns flew towards Hai'er. Those Kryptonite thorns, which could easily pierce a Kryptonian's skin, were deflected when they touched that silvery, metallic-looking skin.
The hand grasped Hal's heart.
Ignoring the pain, Hal sent a mental message to Charles: "Don't move."
Then he widened his eyes in horror as he saw a flash of golden light behind Hai'er.
"Don't come any closer! Barry!!!"
Hai'er, clutching his heart, didn't leave, but another figure appeared before him and directly reached out to grab that golden lightning.
Barry was pulled out of the Divine Speed, crashing heavily to the ground. He tried to get up and run, but Hai'er grabbed his throat.
Hal fought desperately to break free, but Hai'er's fingers, like an iron cage, tightly clutched his heart. With every slight movement, blood gushed like a breaking dam.
The golden color in Barry's eyes was rapidly swallowed by black, his eye sockets filled with a dense black tide. The power intertwined with black and gold spread up Hai'er's arm that held his throat, causing Hai'er's skin to start showing an abnormal pallor.
Hai'er finally loosened his grip. Barry seized the opportunity to return to the Divine Speed. Countless thin black-gold threads appeared around Hai'er, and the space and time on both sides of each thread began to misalign.
Numerous shattered mirrors reflected countless figures, each shard depicting a gray-white figure chasing Barry.
However, Hai'er in front of Hal only hesitated for a moment, then tightened his grip on Hal's heart again. Blood flowed from the corner of Hal's mouth as he struggled to lift his eyes to look at the strong man before him.
The deep dark green eyes were filled with ice and mockery, looking at Hal as if he were a mouse caught by a cat.
"Ready to act?" Charles asked.
Hai'er suddenly exerted force, making Hal scream in agony, feeling his life force rapidly draining away. Hal gritted his teeth.
In an instant, a green light flashed, and Hal's figure completely disappeared.
Hai'er seemed surprised by the situation, turning his head to search for Hal's figure, but the place was empty, not even a trace of green lantern energy remained.
In the world within the Green Lantern Ring, constructed by green lantern energy, Hal, covered in blood, lay on a plain. His heart had a big hole dug out, blood constantly spreading out, and due to lung damage, blood coughed up into his trachea, making it difficult for him to breathe.
Another Green Lantern Ring in Oliver's office suddenly flashed. Oliver hurriedly walked over to check.
The moment his finger touched the Green Lantern Ring, Hal, covered in blood, appeared in the corner of the room.
Oliver's eyes widened in shock, his roar echoed in the office.
"Doctor!! Call the doctor right away!!!!!!"
Medical staff rushed in and lifted Hal onto a stretcher, Oliver noticed his lips moving as if he was saying something.
"Barry..."
Oliver heard him softly call Barry's name and immediately realized Barry might be in danger.
"Helen! Helen! Head to Mercury right away!" He shouted into the communicator.
Helen, having received the order, immediately set off. She flew towards Mercury at full speed but upon reaching the target location, found nothing; no enemy as Oliver mentioned, nor any sign of Barry.
"They went into the Divine Speed." Bruce's voice came through the communicator, he said, "I tried to pull him out but was too late. They might have already gone to another timeline."
"Hsss..." Helen took a light breath.
As Bruce said, when Barry cut through space and time via the Divine Speed, he felt a strange force rushing into the Divine Speed.
Instead of resisting, Barry let it in. The moment Hai'er appeared, he pounced at Barry like a ferocious beast.
Barry was not flustered. The Divine Speed is fair; the opponent entering his timeline means he can enter the opponent's timeline.
Hai'er could jump to his past, and Barry could find ways to enter Hai'er's past.
For someone who can control time, the best method to deal with an enemy is to go back to the past and eliminate them in the cradle. This naturally changes the future, making the enemy disappear.
And once both can invade each other's timeline, this battle turns from a combat game into a racing game.
Whoever can find the time point that makes the opponent disappear faster, wins the battle.
Conversely, preventing the opponent from finding the time point that makes oneself disappear is crucial for survival.
There are countless Hai'ers at countless time points, so he can both find the time point to make Barry disappear and return to his own time point to protect himself.
But Barry is alone; he can't do both.
So, he needs a helper.
Barry clearly remembered that a Flash from another universe came to this universe before. He needed to go back to that time and seek his assistance.
Barry immediately jumped back to the time point when he first met the Flash from another universe. As he landed, he saw a strange figure rushing towards him, instinctively pulling out the Freeze Gun from his waist.
"Bang!"
The shot fired, freezing the person in front of him into an ice block. Barry turned his head and met a familiar pair of gray eyes.
Barry shouted loudly:
"Professor, I swear I'll submit the draft by tomorrow!"