bacchusnovels Chapter 414 Ion Shark, Possessing Batman!
Chapter 414 Ion Shark, Possessing Batman!
Chapter 414 Ion Shark, Possessing... Batman!
"We've retrieved the Green Light Central Power Battery," Killer Croc's voice came through Chen Tao's ear, followed by Bane's deafening shouts and curses.
"We did get a Green Lantern to help replace Bane, but Bane is just busy swearing right now."
On this point, Chen Tao expressed his understanding. The biggest dream Bain could have was probably growing up in prison with his mother. This was perhaps a dream that Bain, who had half his body submerged in a water dungeon during his childhood, had occasionally fantasized about in moments of weakness.
"So now everything's ready, Batman. What do I do?"
He asked, "Release the ion sharks?"
"No, no. Of course not. Bring him back to us first. Is William Hand with you?"
"Yes, I left him on the spaceship to guard the Green Light central power battery."
"Killer Crocodile said."
"Bring him along too."
Chen Tao specifically instructed, "Be careful to protect their safety."
Indeed, Chen Tao brought William Hand here not only to train the future leader of the Black Lantern Legion, but also as a potential backup member, in addition to Bane, who may be the host of the Ion Shark.
For the Green Lantern Ion Shark, what he needs is either incredible willpower or to be a creature far removed from other, more complex emotions.
Ion sharks can establish connections with such creatures, making them their hosts. Just as the fearful Yellow Lantern Parallax Beast and the red Blood Slaughter Cow chase after corresponding emotional energies, the inner logic behind what ion sharks chase is the same as theirs.
However, compared to the terrifying fear and utter rage that terrifies others, the so-called indomitable will seems quite harmless, and it won't reverse the control of the host like the Parallax Demon or the Blood Slaughter Bull.
Sounds amazing, right? No side effects, no controlling others, and it enhances your power and strength, suddenly granting you one of the most powerful abilities in the universe.
The most frustrating part is that the requirements to become a host of a green lamp beast are much more difficult to assess than those for the other two types of colored lamp beasts.
Faced with the Parallax Monster, Chen Tao could choose to pull out the Scarecrow, because he could tell at a glance who was good at manipulating fear.
The same applies to Blood Slaughter Bull. Chen Tao knows where to find a furious avenger, but as for Ion Shark—a person with truly unwavering willpower doesn't have "I have willpower" written on their forehead.
This is much harder to find than those who simply express their emotions outwardly.
So from the beginning, Chen Tao wasn't sure if Bain would really do as he expected, so he brought William Handler over.
Besides strong willpower, the trait of "staying away from other more complex emotions" can also create Ion Man.
As the first Black Lantern Corpse in history, preordained by the Black Death Emperor, William Hand was practically an insulator of other emotional spectrums, perfectly meeting the minimum requirements for being possessed by a Lantern Beast.
For Green Lantern Ion Shark, he would be happy to fight his old rival Parallax, and Chen Tao's problem is to find him a host.
Admittedly, the stronger the host, the stronger the power exerted by the Lamp Beasts. However, if it is uncertain whether Bane can truly succeed, having William Hand always ready is a safe enough backup plan.
If all else fails...
Chen Tao slowly retreated, transforming back into his Green Lantern Batman form, and silently watched Parallax Mormongo, who was continuously unleashing himself and spewing out large amounts of energy in mid-air.
The other person was acting like they were having an epileptic seizure, constantly grabbing their head and even repeatedly pounding it with their fists.
The fist, brimming with immense yellow light power, exploded on his bright yellow forehead with a rhythmic, drum-like sound.
Chen Tao knew that Mongo was fighting with Parallax for control of the body. Regardless of the outcome of the struggle, Chen Tao would be forced to confront a destructive and powerful enemy.
If all else fails… Chen Tao pondered. He had previously instructed Bane to secretly collect a large number of the deceased Guardians of the Universe, among whom he had deliberately kept two surviving little blue men. He had Bane use Brainiac's shrinking technology to shrink them all and then place them in a bottle. (Note: Chapter 389)
They are all currently poisoned by the Poison Ivy's specially made "grass-growing" series of poisons, and have no power to resist. Chen Tao had previously used the telepathic abilities of the bat-like creatures to forcibly break through their psychological defenses and read their memories.
The Guardians of the Universe are quite skilled at controlling the Lantern Beasts. The little blue man, Ganther, even successfully sealed the Parallax Beast using a portable furnace made of four green lanterns. If Chen Tao is really pushed to the limit, it won't be the Ion Shark possessing him, but rather him forcing the other party...
Chen Tao had just shared these memories with Bane. As long as he already had the potential to become the host of the Ion Shark, and with some forced techniques, becoming the Ion Man would not be difficult at all.
Of course, this also depends on the ion shark agreeing to perform the most basic possession operation.
Chen Tao once again remotely and quickly treated the war world as his home via Luther Communications.
"Luther, you..."
As soon as Chen Tao made the call, he saw Luther sitting at the head of a luxurious banquet in the tribal city, surrounded by little people jumping around.
Is this a guest of honor from the mixed war tribe?
"How are things going on your end over there?"
Chen Tao asked in a low voice.
"It couldn't be better, Bat," he whispered.
"We can fire at any time."
Chen Tao nodded, and after confirming that the last item of preparation was correct, he breathed a slight sigh of relief, and then continued:
"I demand that you release the Ion Shark, Killer Crocodile."
Chen Tao whispered the order to the other party: "And Bane will try to become Ion Man."
He said this, then turned to look at Mongo, who was still there clutching his head and screaming in pain.
"You'd better hurry up. Mongo can't hold on for much longer. Whether you become Ion Man or not, I need to know your progress."
While maintaining communication with Killer Croc and his team, Chen Tao also sent Luther coordinates, which showed their current location.
The significance of the coordinates lies in the fact that once he decides to act, a massive energy cannon from the war-torn world, powerful enough to annihilate a planet, will strike this place and destroy all living beings.
Unless Mongols becomes as powerful as Parallax Demonhal after being possessed by Parallax, even he would have a hard time surviving such an attack.
Once Mongo is dead, Chen Tao only needs to retrieve the Parallax monsters that have lost their hosts again, which is much more convenient than dealing with monsters that already have hosts.
He wasn't unwilling to attack while Mongo was howling and clutching his head. The yellow light energy was reshaping his body, helping him restore his shattered form, making it stronger and more unstoppable than before.
However, for Chen Tao, this change meant that Parallax's willpower had somehow surpassed Mongo's in a factual sense. This was a dangerous sign. Attacking Mongo at this time would only increase Mongo's wear and tear, helping Parallax to take control of Mongo's body more quickly.
Chen Tao couldn't do that, but correspondingly, he also couldn't interfere with the fight between Mongo and Parallax. This was a battle of wills, quite idealistic, and any interference would only make the outcome worse.
He realized that Mongo hadn't been unprepared when he tried to forcibly control Parallax; he had indeed obtained many methods from the first Lantern and Calona. However, these changes ultimately did not alter the final outcome.
It'll be over soon, he thought to himself. He watched as Mongo sank deeper and deeper into despair, realizing the other's predicament. He counted down the days silently—
3, 2, 1.
Then... there was complete silence.
Mongo, who was shaking and slapping his head, and whose body was wrapped in yellow light energy, was no longer there.
What appears here now is...
"Hello, Batman."
Chen Tao heard the voice. He saw Mongo's mouth stretch to the back of his ears, even tearing through his muscles and tendons, revealing a bright and cheerful smile on his face—one of the most standard signs of the Parallax Demon.
A smile that exudes evil and terror, making people tremble with fear upon seeing it, and will definitely instill fear in you.
At some point in the DC universe, this smile represented a crucial figure, someone who triggered a zero-time crisis that nearly destroyed the entire universe.
But today's smile didn't achieve the effect it should have had.
To be honest, although Parallax had only recently taken control of Mongo, he had already been wandering the universe for many years before being locked in the Green Lantern Central Power Battery by the Guardians of the Universe. When each host possessed by Parallax showed that smile, Parallax was able to gain some fear from others, but this time, he only received a smile from Batman.
Looking at Batman's equally sinister and twisted grin, Parallax was momentarily speechless.
Chen Tao was stalling for time, sending a message to Killer Croc: "How's it going?"
"Bane has already inherited the power of the Ion Shark, but things are not looking good."
Chen Tao heard the killer crocodile's voice and it seemed a little panicked. William Hand was also there, speaking rapidly to the killer crocodile.
"Bane couldn't control the Ion Shark; he was controlled by it. The massive green light energy enveloped his entire body and then dragged him directly towards you."
Killer Croc succinctly stated: "He flew and ran too fast; William Hand and I didn't even have time to react."
"Bane, now enveloped in the green energy of ion sharks, is charging towards you," he stammered.
"We're flying over here with him now."
"Batman, what do we do?"
Chen Tao had no time to deal with Killer Croc. He turned to the side and saw something that looked like it was burning with green flames in the dark, boundless starry sky outside the outer gravity of Oa Star. It was as dazzling as the aurora borealis of a planet before its death. And at the center of those illusory green flames was Bane himself.
"Mongolia—"
The sound was so high and distant, as if it came from the sky, and it was deafening.
A massive surge of green energy erupted from Bain's body. Although the ion sharks had not completely entered his body, with most of their bodies still outside Bain's powerful muscles, the body structures of the ion sharks that had not entered his body also strained along with his roar.
The surging green energy formed an energy wave that resembled an inverted galaxy, crashing towards Mongo, who was possessed by the parallax monster, like a tidal wave.
Parallax immediately shifted its attention from Batman to its old rival, Ion Shark.
He controlled Mongo, not uttering a single unnecessary word. Before Bane, possessed by the Ion Shark, could make any further moves, he abruptly vanished from the spot.
The next moment, Bane was sent flying backward, his eyes turning green as his body was completely controlled by the Ion Shark. Mongo's body sprouted a large number of yellow energy constructs that looked like octopus tentacles, which swirled towards Bane. Bane, naturally, was not to be outdone and, under the control of the Ion Shark, tried to fight back with the same move.
"It's no use."
Then he heard Mongo's voice, which mixed with the Parallax Monster's voice, like a duet of sound effects exploding in the Ion Shark's ears.
"Your host is even less compatible with you than my host. Although he barely meets your requirements... wait?"
Parallax was halfway through his rant when he suddenly realized something. He controlled Mongo's body, launching several attacks at Bane to force him to reposition, then carefully observed the connection between his back and part of the Ion Shark.
Then the Parallax Demon burst into laughter: "What a joke! It's not just that the host is trash, but that this host became your host entirely by forcing you. It's absolutely ridiculous."
Suddenly, Yellow Lantern Mongo's speed increased dramatically, and his fists rained down on Bane like a storm.
Despite being limited by its host, Parallax cannot unleash many of its powerful abilities without restraint. However, when faced with an old rival who is even more constrained than itself, Parallax will never pass up this opportunity to bully the weak.
Such low-level attacks were enjoyable for the Parallax Monster, and didn't even need to actually cause much damage to the Ion Shark.
"I'll kill your host first, the Ion Shark. Then you..."
As he said this, he immediately controlled Mongo to deliver a fatal blow to Bane.
Mongo and Bane huddled together, while the Parallax and Ion Shark attached to them from behind were also locked in a close-quarters struggle, but overall, the Parallax had the upper hand.
But the parallax monster, which kept tearing at the ion shark, overlooked one person, a very important person.
Ion Shark, on the other hand, cares about this person very, very much, to the point of scheming against him.
As Chen Tao stood in front of Bane and launched an attack on the enemy, he suddenly felt a pair of cold hands on his shoulders from behind—it was Bane.
Following closely behind is the green energy of the Ion Shark.
If we can't defeat the opponent, then perhaps we should find a new host.
At this moment, the Ion Shark has temporarily possessed... Batman!
(End of this chapter)