Beneath a sky choked with dark clouds, the phantom outline of a massive spaceship flickered in and out of view. On the already devastated ground below, survivors who had endured countless disasters had long since learned to hide in shelters. Even if the world ended the next second, there was nothing more they could do.
Looking up at the spaceship, one could see the muzzles of numerous enormous railguns along its sides. But there was something especially eye-catching on the ship's underside—a circular chamber with a separate cannon barrel beneath it.
Everyone knew what it was, because not long ago, the beam it fired had collected two cities on the East Coast into bottles, nearly confirming every terrifying human legend about aliens.
People called it the "Collection Engine." They had no idea how it worked and could only pray that it charged more slowly, that the next target would not be them.
Unfortunately, the Collection Engine charged far faster than they had imagined. Before long, intense white light lit up once again, and this time, the cannon was aimed at a major city on the American East Coast—Boston.
Standing atop a Boston high-rise, Hal's eyes glowed with an eerie green light. Green Lantern energy, which most people believed represented justice and peace, carried a chilling sense of terror when it appeared on him.
Hal did not move, but Superman, standing behind him, saw countless thin green threads spreading from his body. They wove into a great Web and slowly merged into the white light emitted by the Collection Engine.
Every green thread was compressed Green Lantern energy. Even though Superman was not particularly sensitive to energy, he could clearly sense the astonishing amount of power now surrounding him.
Soon, the Green Lantern energy vanished into the white light, but everyone