Early the next morning, within the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal had just stepped out of his bedroom when he was greeted by a rather beautiful female Green Lantern.
Despite her purple skin and six hands behind her, she was quite a stunning beauty. Hal blushed slightly and turned his head away. The female Green Lantern chuckled and then spoke to him:
"I never thought Ion would be such a shy little boy... Alright, enough joking. The Corps Leader is looking for you. Head to his office after breakfast."
"Alright... thank you."
After bidding farewell to the female Green Lantern, Hal took the elevator and arrived at the cafeteria.
There was an incredible array of beings here, from the Ancient One floating mid-air to spherical creatures bouncing around on the ground, and even a long-necked dinosaur with only its head stretching through a window. Hal walked while marveling at the sights.
Wherever he went, people praised him endlessly. Even Green Lanterns who hadn't been part of the action and those who had just returned from guarding sectors couldn't help but express their admiration after hearing about Hal's exploits.
Though the events in Gotham might not have been as grand as so interstellar wars, they carried an eerie and terrifying quality. All Green Lanterns who had been there could deeply feel the chaos and madness. Their descriptions inevitably beca exaggerated as they spread, growing more and more extravagant.
Hal was praised to the skies by the Green Lanterns, and even his injured adjutant Carol joined in.
The one who attacked him was Constantine. Hal hadn't even exchanged a blow with the magician before unfortunately being defeated. To cover up his own failure, he exaggerated Constantine's power, claiming that Constantine had summoned five or six terrifying hellish demons from who-knows-where, along with summoning magma and hail. He also stated that Constantine used hundreds of arcane spheres, and they battled for hundreds of rounds before he barely lost.
Other Green Lanterns held similar attitudes, more or less. After all, launching a massive attack on a city only to be defeated made them lose face. By blowing up their opponents' strength sufficiently, they wouldn't seem as weak. As a result, every battle report submitted claid that the residents of Gotham were not ordinary Earth people.
They were chaotic, crazy, elusive, equipped with dozens of large bombs each, capable of various magical feats, and seemingly possessed x-ray vision. Not only were they fearless of death, but they were also highly intelligent.
Likewise, Hal was described as a god descending among them. With the continuous exaggeration, so even began to call Hal the "greatest Green Lantern in history," stating that his unprecedented achievents in saving people should be recorded in history.
Amidst this chorus of praise, Hal felt sowhat lost. He was acutely aware that the events were far from being as terrifying as they described.
Perhaps the Green Lanterns had lost with a bit of a lack of dignity, but in reality, the losses weren't significant. The vast majority sustained minor injuries, and the unlucky one with major injuries was Carol, who encountered Constantine. Most had rely depleted their Green Lantern rings' energy and had experienced significant ntal exhaustion. After a night's rest, they had all returned to duty.
Still, Hal received an unprecedented welco and gratitude. In the midst of this applause, he began to feel uncomfortable. Not only because he had gained recognition without rit, but also because he found the organization's style sowhat frivolous, lacking a serious attitude toward failure.
There was no reflection on strategic decisions, no tactical analysis and improvent, not even a summarizing eting. It was as if they just needed to paint the enemies as terrifying calamities and blow up the savior into an unparalleled hero, and the matter would be settled.
Anyone with a military background would find such an organizational approach rather amateurish.
With this sentint in mind, Hal arrived at Thaal's office. It was a room situated along the corridor next to the core of the central area, just like Hal's own office.
He knocked on the door, and Thaal's voice ca from within, saying, "Please co in."
After Hal entered, he noticed that Thaal's expression was sowhat serious. Before Hal could ask, Thaal spoke, "I saw that you submitted a report last night about leaving the headquarters. What's the matter?"
"Um... things on Earth aren't fully dealt with yet. I need to handle the aftermath, and the security in the Earth sector also requires maintenance."
"No, Hal. I received orders to temporarily abandon the sector where Earth is located and give up all security-related work concerning Earth and Gotham."
"Why?" Hal widened his eyes in shock and asked.
Thaal pursed his lips, patted Hal's shoulder, and said, "You're just starting out, and you don't understand the situation. Although I haven't been the leader of the Green Lantern Corps for long, before this, I was responsible for personnel deploynt as well."
"The security work in sectors varies in importance. We have limited manpower, and the energy of the central power battery is also limited. Therefore, we need to focus on maintaining the more important sectors..."
"But!" Hal raised his voice, asking, "What defines an important sector? Isn't Earth important?"
Thaal sighed, sat behind the desk, and gestured for Hal to sit as well. However, Hal remained standing there, and Thaal said sowhat helplessly, "I know that every Green Lantern feels that the sector where their ho is located is the most important. I understand your desire to protect your holand, but all of this is for the future of the Corps."
"For us to achieve healthy growth, we must invest our limited resources into the most important places. The so-called important sectors are actually more prosperous areas, places with more civilizations, and closer to the headquarters..."
Thaal wore an expression of difficulty and said, "The sector where Earth is located is relatively remote, and there are fewer civilizations."
"What's even more important..." Thaal lowered his head, his tone becoming sowhat somber. He said, "This failed operation ca at a great cost. We used up half of the energy in the central power battery, over a dozen Green Lanterns were injured, and forr adjutant Carol was seriously wounded..."
"Compared to the strategic position of the sector where Earth is located, this kind of loss is almost unacceptable."
Hal stood silently in place, looking at Thaal. His Adam's apple moved, his fingertips trembled, but he still said:
"What about justice? What about peace?"
Thaal spread his hands on the table and said, "We need to ensure the healthy growth of the Green Lantern Corps first to bring peace to more civilizations. For this purpose, sacrifices are inevitable."
"And what about those civilizations that are sacrificed?" Hal continued to ask.
Thaal sighed again and then said, "I know you were only a surface dweller before, and you've only been in space for a short ti. You don't fully understand space. You might not know that among all the civilizations born in space, only about one percent of them can leave their planets and venture into space."
"Among this one percent of civilizations, only less than one in a thousand can navigate space, join the interstellar society, and beco a part of the space civilization society."
"And those remaining, no matter where they were born, no matter how splendid they might have been, in the end, they will perish within the cradle of civilization."
"The developnt of civilizations depends on various factors. Only a very small fraction of star systems with exceptionally favorable conditions have the potential to give rise to a civilization that can join the interstellar society. And those star systems are the ones we must focus on safeguarding."
"But obviously..." Thaal shook his head and said, "Earth is not included in that."
"I know you're feeling disappointed. I used to feel the sa way," Thaal stood up from the front of the desk and walked up to Hal. He said, "But soday, you will understand that everything is for a greater justice."
Looking into Thaal's eyes, Hal fell silent for a mont. Then, he shook his head slowly. His tone had cald down, but it carried a chilling strength as he said, "Justice delayed is not justice."
"On the path to greatness, those civilizations you're leaving behind, the populations treated as sacrifices, they are vibrant lives, just like my fellow beings on Earth."
"But if we don't do this, if we waste our power in places with no hope, it will only lead to the collapse of the Corps. Without the Green Lantern Corps, more civilizations will be engulfed in conflicts."
Looking into Thaal's eyes, Hal knew he probably couldn't persuade him. He said, "I'm sorry, but I can't accept this reasoning."
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and then used his other hand to forcefully remove the Green Lantern ring from his finger.
"I renounce my identity as a Green Lantern. I'll return to Earth and fight for my civilization as an ordinary human."
Thaal's eyes widened slightly. He had never thought that soone could give up the Green Lantern energy. This easily obtainable and imnsely powerful force was like a pie falling from the sky. No one had ever voluntarily relinquished it.
However, he saw a different kind of power in Hal's eyes, a power that made his eyes shine like the sun in space.
"I've always believed that my fellow beings and I will create the greatest civilization in this space."
"Perhaps today I'm leaving, but soday, when humanity ventures deep into space, we will et again."
With that, Hal turned and left. Thaal watched his departing figure, and within Hal's silhouette, he saw the shadows of many individuals who had been hailed as the greatest Green Lanterns in history.
Yet, Hal was entirely different from these shadows. He didn't possess the intense green light symbolizing formidable power, nor did he carry the aura of strength. Like all small surface-dwelling creatures, he couldn't fly, couldn't teleport, could only tread on the ground step by step.
But the less capable a species is of flying, the more it yearns to soar. Hal, as an ordinary human, could have chosen to beco a Green Lantern and freely soar through space, but he gave that up.
Thaal thought, perhaps he truly will beco the greatest Green Lantern in history... a genuine Green Lantern.
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