Lights, Lights, Lights, Lights, Lights, Lights, Lights (Part 2)

The moment Schiller finished speaking, everyone was enveloped in Gray Mist. Gordon was the first to disappear. After a moment of daze, he found himself in a wondrous place. Beneath his feet was a floor woven from black and gold, while above him stretched endless floors.

Two Schillers stood before him. One was the Schiller he knew, while the other had green hair. Beside them stood another green-haired person wearing Joker makeup.

"You’re letting him go first?" Joker Jack circled Gordon twice, clicked his tongue, and said, "Fine, this kind of person looks like Batman’s opposite. No matter when, he clings to that ridiculous kindness and hop—"

Schiller ignored Jack and explained to the somewhat bewildered Gordon, "At present, even if we combine all our mental strength, it still won’t be enough to completely destroy this monster."

"First, that egg with the laughing mouth may possess some very special property. If one’s status isn’t high enough, it’ll be difficult to destroy it completely. Second, as one of the sources of the yellow power ring’s power, Parallax itself is very difficult to destroy."

"What do you intend to do?" Gordon looked at Schiller, then around at the surroundings. "It looks like you already have a plan?"

"That’s right. This tower you see is actually my Mind Palace. Just now, I modified it and turned it into an ‘amplifier.’"

"An amplifier? What does it amplify?" Gordon asked doubtfully.

"Emotions." Schiller gave a clear answer. He said, "There are all kinds of Emotional Spectrums in the universe. When a certain emotion reaches its peak, it attracts a mysterious power—the power rings."

"I’ll use this tower to infinitely amplify your emotions, then send them into the universe and actively draw the power rings here. That way, you’ll be able to fight with the power of the rings."

"Fine, but why me?"

"Different power rings represent different emotions, and only those with the corresponding emotional traits can attract them."

"Although my Mind Palace can greatly amplify a certain emotion, those who are naturally born with a particularly strong emotion will still have an easier time succeeding."

"And you, Detective Gordon, please focus now and recall the scenes in your heart that are filled with light and hope…"

Although Gordon was still a little confused, he did as instructed. Scene after scene began to emerge in his mind.

He worked day after day in this hopeless city, returning home exhausted beneath the pitch-black night, driven away, insulted, even hunted down.

He remembered the time he had been pursued. On that rainy night, he had fled for his life as pain and the stench of blood surged over him. He had tried every possible way to escape the murderer, jumped from a window, and landed in a pile of garbage as cold rain lashed his face.

Yet infinite determination and resolve rose within him. Even if this city had only one person left who sincerely wanted to save it, that person would be him. It would be Gordon.

Hopeful, intense emotion surged through the tower of thought and shot straight into the universe. Soon, a hazy voice sounded beside Gordon’s ear, muffled and unclear, as if separated by a thick wall.

"On a fearful day, through a painful night,

Fierce flames retreat from bitter cold,

All are lost within the fires of war,

Yet they look to the stars—

The light of hope shall never fade!"

"Intelligent Life identified: James Gordon of Earth. You possess the ability to instill steadfast hope in others. Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps!"

Schiller turned to look at the walls of the Mind Palace, as though he were looking through the walls and the dream into reality.

In reality, a ring radiating blue light was quietly floating above the sleeping Gordon’s head.

The blue power ring representing hope had been drawn over by the amplified emotion of hope, but the moment it arrived, it was a little confused.

It could sense that its future host’s consciousness was immersed in a dream. But if the host did not wake up, how was he supposed to accept the power ring?

If the host did not actively accept the ring’s power, then the ring could not recognize him as its owner. Just like in the original comics, Batman simply refused to wear a power ring, and there was nothing the ring could do about him.

But since it had already come, could it really just go back like this? The blue-glowing ring hesitated for a moment, then decided to move closer to its host’s consciousness.

But the ring was a physical object and could not merge into Gordon’s body. Thus, the blue light gradually separated from the ring and burrowed into Gordon’s forehead, while the ring, drained of its power, fell to the floor with a crisp thud.

Only the Blue Lantern energy entered Gordon’s body. The physical ring did not, because after being drained of power, it had gone into standby mode with no charge left.

When the crisp thud sounded, a blue power ring appeared before Gordon in the consciousness space. Gordon examined it and said, "This is the power ring you mentioned? Do I need to wear it?"

"Of course, Detective Gordon. But don’t let this power control you."

"Don’t worry, I understand. I’ve never liked relying too much on external things." With that, Gordon extended his hand, and blue light flew onto his finger.

When Gordon emerged from the Towering Babel, he had completely changed. Blue light flickered all over his body. Hal stared at him in shock and said, "That’s power ring energy? A Blue Lantern ring?? How do you have the power of a Blue Lantern ring???"

Before he could finish wondering, Victor vanished from the space as well. Clearly, he had entered the Towering Babel.

"This one may be a little troublesome, because the Violet Lantern power ring representing ‘love’ might only accept women…" Schiller told Victor.

"What does it judge that by? A person’s soul? Then what if my inner self is female…"

"Stop talking. Just think of yourself as transgender. It definitely won’t dare refuse to come!"

Before long, a distant voice rang out:

"Fear and confusion bind two hearts,

None sleep alone on the Darkest Night,

A slender finger enters the ring and changes your face,

The world’s lonely love fills with violet light!"

"Intelligent Life identified: Victor Fries of Earth. Your heart contains profound love. Welcome to the Star Sapphire!"

Before long, Victor, radiating violet light from head to toe, appeared in the consciousness space. He exchanged a glance with Gordon, then both looked at Hal beside them.

Next, Alberto disappeared. Soon, a deep, booming voice filled with fury rang out:

"Scalding blood, scarlet rage,

Drawn from corpses not yet cold,

Deep hatred seethes within the lungs and guts,

Forging the road to your underworld!"

"Intelligent Life identified: Alberto Falcone of Earth. Roiling fury surges within your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps!"

When Alberto emerged covered in red light, the green, blue, and violet ones were no longer surprised.

Cobblepot was called in last. He had the strange feeling of being summoned to a teacher’s office after class. After entering, Schiller explained the principles behind attracting power rings, then told him, "I think the orange ring suits you very well, because it represents Greed."

"Greed? Greed for what?"

"That depends on you." Schiller stared into Cobblepot’s eyes and said, "Don’t you want to obtain endless… power?"

Two minutes later, Cobblepot emerged bathed in orange light. Now, aside from Batman, everyone on the scene was glowing with colorful light.

Looking at the other Lanterns in every color of the rainbow, Hal finally understood what Schiller had meant when he asked, "Is Earth only home to one Lantern?"

Earth truly had more than one Lantern now…

There were five whole Lanterns here!!!!

"Stop staring. Get to work."

In an instant, the colorful figures charged at the Fear Laughing Demon.

Empowered by the power rings, they became stronger. More importantly, they could use the rings’ emotional power to attack the Fear Laughing Demon. This was extremely important, because within a dream, emotions were still a very powerful force.

Even without the power of a ring, Batman was not at any disadvantage. On one hand, this was his consciousness space. On the other, his willpower was enough to overwhelm every emotion.

Suddenly, Batman stopped moving, and his voice echoed in everyone’s ears. "Stop."

The others did not understand why, but they all stopped. They floated in the air, staring at the monster in the center. Batman narrowed his eyes and said, "That egg is moving. It looks like it’s about to hatch…"

"Hatch?"

Everyone looked at the giant monster’s head. At some point, grotesque blood vessels had appeared over the gray egg, as if it were swelling to the point of explosion. The smile of its gaping mouth grew increasingly bizarre, and even blood-like traces began to flow from the corners of its mouth. The entire head became more and more terrifying.

"It’s been absorbing those black tides." Batman said in a low voice, "That’s a power I can’t control, but now it seems it can become its nourishment."

"We can’t let it hatch!"

Hal said, "That Mysterious Person who brought me into the dream told me that if it appeared, it would destroy the entire Lantern Corps! Even if he exaggerated a little, we can’t let such a terrifying monster get out…"

"I know that better than you do."

As he spoke, Batman’s figure arrived above the monster. He wanted to touch the egg directly, but Parallax’s long tail knocked him away. Hal shouted, "It may have already controlled Parallax! We have to stop it! Hurry!"

The people who had gained the power of the rings continuously besieged the monster, but the Parallax controlled by The Laughing Egg was not only powerful, but extremely cautious. Every movement it made was meant to protect its own head.

With the three-way standoff gone, The Laughing Egg and Parallax had fused into one. The truly terrifying side of this monster was revealed. Endless fear began to rise in everyone’s hearts. Wave after wave of black tides washed over them, and a great deal of that tide was absorbed by the egg.

A faint crack sounded. Several fissures appeared atop The Laughing Egg, then spread into branching patterns like tree limbs. With the shell broken to this extent, everyone understood that its hatching could no longer be reversed.

A suffocating tension rose in Batman’s heart. His intuition had reached its highest warning level. He could barely move, only stand there and watch the egg crack open, as though time itself had frozen.

At that very instant, the eggshell shattered, and a pale, slender hand reached out from within.

There was no sound, no movement, yet everyone heard the most insane laughter within the silence: "Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

But what followed was not a monster breaking out of its shell, but a familiar, somewhat indifferent voice.

"Stop laughing. It sounds awful."

Suddenly, the multicolored radiance surrounding everyone trembled. Thick Gray Mist wrapped around them, pulling the various lights from their bodies and kneading them into the endless mist.

The utterly incompatible spectrums struggled without end, fighting chaotically within the gray fog—conflict, explosions, friction, shattering, fusion…

In the end, after countless colors mixed together within the gray mist floating in midair, it was neither black nor white, but a chaotic gray.

Amid endless silence, the gray mist suddenly began to condense, gradually forming a round lantern.

A resounding dragon’s roar rang out. A dragon’s head emerged from the mist, followed by a scaled neck and wings. An incomparably enormous dragon formed from Gray Mist flew out of the energy-radiating gray lantern.

A deep, distant voice came from the horizon:

"Gray surges vast, mist stretches boundless,

Where does reality go, where do dreams lead?

The pillar of thought, the hall of the mind,

A thousand stars shine together, myriad blooms give light!"

"Intelligent Life identified, from…"

"Forget it, the rest is too long. Anyway—"

"Batman, catch."

This book is also known as "The Days I Spent Combining Big Watermelons in American Comics."