Spreading Fear

"Souls, Divine Power, and magic?"

Shane clenched his fists, his expression filled with surprise.

"I seem to feel something has been added to my body, but..."

This book is exclusively published on t w k a n . c o m

Before he could finish speaking, Shane's expression suddenly turned solemn.

The itching sensation inside his body, which he thought had calmed down after his evolution was complete, suddenly returned.

With no other factors interfering, Shane quickly pinpointed the source of the recurring changes in his body.

Making a shushing gesture to Rachel, Shane first looked up at the corrugated iron roof of the abandoned factory warehouse, then floated slightly upwards and drifted towards the factory warehouse door.

Nightwing turned off his earpiece, carefully shifted his position, and peered through the previous observation hole.

Only the grey-robed girl remained on the open ground, and Shane had disappeared.

"Damn it!"

Just as Nightwing was about to quickly relocate, a voice with a hint of amusement sounded in his ear.

"What are you doing hiding up there?"

Nightwing froze instantly, subconsciously holding his breath, his mind racing for an excuse.

Although he already knew Batman had likely sent him to monitor Shane, they had spent three days together lurking in every nook and cranny of Gotham.

Shane was undoubtedly intimately familiar with his hairstyle, accent, and build.

Considering Shane's Kryptonian-like physique, his own disguise as a Superhero with a changed combat suit and an extra eye mask might not fool him at all.

Nightwing awkwardly turned his head.

"Uh, being a private investigator moonlighting as a Superhero should be pretty reasonable, right?"

To his surprise, Shane wasn't looking at him at all.

Instead, he was gazing solemnly at the sky, pointing to the yellow and green light that almost covered half of Gotham.

"What is that?"

A deep, hoarse voice answered Shane's question.

"Green Lantern, and a Yellow Lantern ring searching for an adapter capable of spreading fear."

At some unknown time, a dark figure had appeared on the edge of the factory roof, watching Shane with intense vigilance.

Batman stared intently at Shane's expression. He had already guessed who the Yellow Lantern ring was after, and he wasn't unfamiliar with the kind of people the Sinestro Corps were.

Given that Shane could attract a Yellow Lantern ring, it was hard to say what his true nature was.

The only current problem was why the Yellow Lantern ring hadn't descended yet.

"Spreading fear?"

Shane feigned confusion.

In reality, he had some memory and impression of the Yellow Lantern ring, and he also knew why it was hovering repeatedly over Gotham.

It was because from the moment he had fully integrated his soul, he had rejected that call from the depths of space.

Of course, this alone couldn't completely deter the Yellow Lantern ring from seeking a host.

On one hand, there was more than one person in Gotham who could be an adapter for the Yellow Lantern ring. On the other hand, it could still sense Shane's presence.

However, the intelligent program within the ring couldn't understand why the host that had so strongly attracted it moments ago was now emitting such a faint signal.

"The Sinestro Corps, like the Green Lantern Corps where Green Lantern belongs, are cosmic organizations. But unlike the will the Green Lanterns seek, the Yellow Lanterns seek warriors capable of spreading fear—you seem to fit that standard."

Batman watched Shane until the latter stopped observing the light in the sky and met his gaze.

"So that's how it is. A corps that likes to spread fear sounds like an artificial Viltrum civilization."

Shane suddenly had an "epiphany" and then flashed a meaningful smile at Batman and the slowly retreating Nightwing.

Afterward, he slowly extended his right hand towards the sky.

The bewildered Yellow Lantern ring instantly stopped aimlessly wandering. Its intelligent program had reacquired Shane's signal, a powerful being capable of easily spreading fear.

In the ring's identification code, Gotham City below suddenly lit up like a signal beacon, crushing everything around it.

It cast aside the exasperated Green Lantern and plunged downwards without hesitation.

"Sentient lifeform locked!"

"You belong to the Sinestro Corps!"

"What are you doing?! Shane!"

Nightwing stared with wide, disbelieving eyes, unable to help but shout.

Although he didn't know what Shane had been through, he found it incredible that the gentle young man he had spent three days with would make such a decisive choice after learning about the Sinestro Corps' background.

Beside him, Batman remained silent but had already crouched down, his hand gripping three shuriken loaded with powerful explosives. His expression was unreadable, and he showed no surprise.

Shane's current choice had long since appeared in his countless scenarios.

In the sky behind the Yellow Lantern ring, Green Lantern, ignoring Batman's warning, roared and flew down.

The only one whose expression remained unchanged was Raven, who had just leisurely walked out of the factory.

She pulled her hood back up, tilted her head slightly, and looked expressionlessly at the scene above.

"So boring..."

The atmosphere came to an abrupt halt with Shane's sudden change in hand gestures.

Just as the Yellow Lantern ring was about to be placed on his finger, he sharply pulled his arm back, then quickly reached out and firmly grasped it in his fist.

Nightwing almost broke his legs from this sudden maneuver, stumbling on the rusted metal sheeting.

Green Lantern had already conjured a massive green fist. He swore that whoever dared to become a Yellow Lantern warrior in front of him, he would punch both the damned person and the ring away.

But when he clearly saw the youth's actions, he slammed on the brakes in mid-air.

No one knew better than Hal how difficult it was to capture a Lantern ring that temporarily had no host. Sometimes, even Superman couldn't stop it from forcibly attaching itself to the finger of its chosen wielder.

Yet, Shane could easily hold it in his hand.

Hal coughed awkwardly.

"Uh, hey, what you're holding isn't a toy. It's a very dangerous, cosmic-level strategic weapon. Please... please hand it over."

Batman, after a rare moment of stunned silence for half a second, calmly put his Batarang away.

"Why is everyone so tense? It's just a joke."

Shane shook his fist, the fiercely struggling yellow light still seeping through the gaps between his fingers.

"Honestly, this light can actually stimulate my body to evolve. It's indeed a rare treasure."

Shane slowly floated in front of the silent Batman and extended the hand holding the Yellow Lantern ring.

"But I went to great lengths to escape Viltrum, not to join another cosmic organization that spreads fear."

"The Yellow Lantern Corps? Forget it."

Shane looked at the silent Batman, then at the slowly descending Green Lantern, raising an eyebrow.

"You guys should be able to keep this thing, right? And I have some additional questions about this Yellow Lantern ring."

"Keep it? The radiation from the fear spectrum is very dangerous. There's nothing on Earth that can handle it--"

Hal was about to say that he would take custody of the ring and handle it at Oa headquarters when he saw Batman turn and pull out a black, square box.

His deep voice carried an undeniable certainty.

"Put it in. This box can block the spectrum energy's radiation."

With a click, the box closed. Hal first looked in shock at the Green Lantern ring, which was no longer emitting an alarm, and then looked at Batman with a horrified expression.

"No way? Where did you get that thing? Oa told me this material doesn't even exist in the galaxy!"

Batman ignored the screaming Hal, elegantly flicking his cape and flying straight off the factory roof.

"Your questions can be discussed in the Batcave."