The Failure of the Seven Thousand Spears
Seven thousand-plus spears shot forth from above, below, left, right, and every direction imaginable, a complete, all-encompassing attack that left Luke no angle to dodge.
He had to admit, this move, Ten Thousand Spears Returning to the Source, was beautifully executed.
"Beautiful, yes, but ultimately useless," Luke shook his head dismissively. The premise for ants killing an elephant is that they can breach the defense. If the outer defenses can't be penetrated, a billion ants wouldn't matter.
He activated the Kinetic Force Field!
The armor's surface surged with light, and energy expanded outward, forming a blue energy shield.
Luke fired energy streams from his feet and flew at full speed toward Carol. As for the surrounding spears, he didn't spare them a glance. The purple energy spears' speed and destructive power were comparable to armor-piercing rounds—and that was all.
The Phantom Unit 1's shield was modified by Luke based on Kryptonian spacecraft defense systems. If it couldn't even block Earth's armor-piercing rounds, then Krypton's hundred thousand years of development would be a joke.
The black armor brutally tore through the rain of spears. Seeing the distance rapidly closing, Carol had to abandon controlling the spears. Her fingers moved, and a wall of several meters thick materialized before her.
"Break!"
Luke roared, his right hand crackling with electrical energy as he punched the wall.
BOOM!
Large cracks appeared in the wall, which then exploded into countless fragments as if struck by a cannonball. The black armor burst through the fragments, its sheer presence causing Carol's breath to hitch.
Ignoring her fear, she frantically waved her arms, sending dozens of purple chains toward the armor. Before they even got close, they were deflected by the surface force field.
Luke shook his head, speechless.
"This girl has zero combat experience. She's worse than a rookie. She has the power to manifest objects but doesn't know how to use it, relying only on the most basic attacks."
The Dark Green World
The distance between them rapidly narrowed. Carol finally panicked. With a thought, purple armor materialized on her body, an exact duplicate of Phantom Unit 1.
However, one was black with blue-flashing limbs, and the other was absolutely purple—pure purple!
Seeing this, Luke almost slammed on the brakes.
Are you kidding me?!
Even if you're copying me, you don't need to do it live! Besides, what good is that thing except as a shell?
Carol's face flushed slightly, realizing the absurdity, but she feigned haughtiness and held her head high. So I copied it. What are you going to do?
In the nearby woods, the mysterious woman who had been observing the fight could no longer bear to watch. Her "Queen's" clumsy performance was embarrassing.
"Your Majesty, the Star Sapphire bestows upon you the ability to manipulate emotions. Use your heart to feel and discern the voices appearing in your mind."
"Those voices come from the deepest reaches of the soul, they are the truest emotions. Listen to them and control them. You will reap extraordinary rewards."
The mysterious woman was thousands of meters away from Carol, yet her voice clearly appeared in the latter's mind.
This wasn't the first time this had happened.
Carol was accustomed to it. After a moment of silence, she dismissed the protective armor. Jet thrusters appeared on her back, and while dodging Luke, she tried to tap into the power within her as the mysterious woman had instructed.
As her consciousness concentrated, strange voices quickly appeared in her mind. A variety of tones conveying different emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, love, hate, passion, and vengeance. The sounds were chaotic and noisy, yet they were ordered in a unique way. By concentrating, she could clearly perceive the emotion contained in a certain whisper, and even modify it.
"Is this Emotional Manipulation?" Carol muttered, her eyes instantly lighting up.
She had finally found a way to defeat her opponent.
You bastard Luke! You like to cheat, don't you? Fine, I'll turn you into a pig who only likes sows' butts, and I'll throw you into a pigsty so you can have all the affairs you want!
Carol's eyes glowed as she stared intently at the black armor in front of her, using her heart to sense the emotional fluctuations within. Then, a grand, sudden world appeared before her eyes. Under a boundless dark sky, green flames burned everywhere, not red, but green—like the ghost fire of an endless abyss. Countless souls struggled and screamed in the flames, slowly melting away to become fuel, spurting out new flames.
This world had no light, only despair, fear, and wailing. The shocking scenes merged into a heavy hammer that slammed against the girl's heart.
She cried out, rolled her eyes back, and instantly passed out. Her body plummeted, falling into the grass below.
Luke: "..."
I hadn't even started fighting properly, and you collapsed?
"Ava, what happened?"
"I apologize, I detected no abnormalities in her vital signs."
"You mean she's faking it?"
"Unclear. I cannot deduce."
Luke frowned slightly. After a moment of thought, he landed next to Carol. After a careful check, he was genuinely perplexed to find her deeply unconscious.
"She was fine a moment ago. How did she pass out in the blink of an eye? I've never heard of her having anemia."
He considered every possibility but found no answer and finally gave up. He picked up Carol, ascended, and vanished into the night sky.
A moment later, the mysterious woman appeared on the hillside, watching the disappearing stream of light with a look of intense confusion.
"How could she pass out? There's no reason for it!"
A Troubling Dilemma
Inside a villa in the Coast City suburbs, Luke gently placed the unconscious girl on a sofa and said,
"Ava, what's her physical condition?"
"Everything is normal. Very healthy."
"Brainwaves?"
"Disordered. Extreme fluctuations. I cannot rule out mental stress or mental illness."
"Can you give me a specific diagnosis?"
"The categories of mental illness are too vast. I cannot deduce a pathological reason based on brainwave disorder."
"This is troublesome, then."
Luke left the Phantom armor and approached the girl. He glanced at her sexy, fiery body, feeling a slight warmth in his abdomen.
Carol, with her athlete's physique, was already in great shape. In the purple Lantern battlesuit, her physical merits were perfectly accentuated: curves defined and figures taut.
"This suit looks custom-made for you," he said, then sighed softly. "The problem is, what am I supposed to do with you?"
In the comics, the Star Sapphire Crystal automatically dissolved its symbiotic relationship with Carol Ferris after she was defeated by Green Lantern. But here, things had changed for Luke.
The girl was unconscious, suggesting defeat, yet the Star Sapphire crystal had not detached from her body as expected.
This was highly problematic. If she woke up in this state, she would be furious, and another battle would ensue.
Luke didn't want to fight her. Even with her power as Star Sapphire, he couldn't bring himself to strike her (otherwise, he would have blasted her out of the sky with the Phantom Unit 1's full firepower already).
Perhaps I could try the Green Flame!
He thought about it, then shook his head. The Green Flame was too domineering; he might accidentally cause irreparable damage to her soul.
Forget it. I'll wait until she wakes up. At worst, we'll fight again.
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