Hal truly had not expected the versions of himself from other universes to be like this. Or rather, he simply could not believe that his other selves could be idealistic to such an extent.
First and foremost, Green Lantern energy was the lifeblood of a Green Lantern. Even if most Green Lanterns lacked the means to crack the Blue Men's energy-extraction technology, couldn't they at least think about how to avoid being controlled by others as much as possible?
Yet most Green Lanterns really did obediently fly back to headquarters to recharge.
To Hal, that was downright unbelievable. It was like the absurd situation he had encountered in Mexico—they had food, they had trucks to haul the food, but they had no fuel.
Oliver had led them through dozens of battles over gasoline before they managed to acquire the hardest currency on the American continent: petroleum to power their vehicles.
It was the most vital resource for building a food distribution network. Without fuel, nothing could move. Food rotted in warehouses on one side, while people starved to death in their homes on the other.
In Hal's view, Green Lantern energy was comparable to cosmic petroleum, perhaps even more versatile and important than petroleum. Yet they in other universes had worked diligently in this position for so many years, only to remain gas-station attendants.
They naively believed that the boss behind the gas station would truly pour all that fuel, free of charge and selflessly, into the trucks hauling food to save the hungry.
Hal had no comment.
The fact that Green Lantern energy was not actually being used to maintain peace in the universe was no secret. Before Earth's Green Lantern appeared, Earth had not been within the protected range either. Every Green Lantern knew this to some extent.