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Chapter 504: The Destruction of Coast City
Hal Jordan's life had been going great lately.
A former Air Force pilot forced to retire after an accident, he joined a private company and received a generous salary.
With his impulsive and straightforward personality, he never thought too much about things, let alone why the company's pay was so lavish.
They even stuffed him with cash every few days; Hal was incredibly pleased with himself.
His childhood sweetheart, Carol, on the other hand, was suspicious. After secretly investigating for some time, she couldn't find any holes in the story.
"I told you, there's nothing wrong here. Look at this news, 'Oscorp invests in Glider Company.' Now look at the news from two months ago, 'Stark Industries injects capital into a private company.' You can find this kind of news on the official websites for Oscorp and Stark Industries, even if it's not prominent."
Hal chattered endlessly beside Carol, leaving her feeling helpless.
She adored Hal, but his blockheaded personality... she didn't know if he was genuinely dense or just playing dumb, but he couldn't seem to understand any of her hints.
After a while, Carol began to think Hal was playing dumb as a way of rejecting her.
"Besides, what do they want from me for paying my salary? The only thing I have to offer are my piloting skills," Hal said with a shrug.
He was very satisfied with his current life.
"It seems I was being nosy. Good luck, Hal."
Looking at Hal's punchable expression, Carol fought back her rage and grievance. Her eyes reddened, and she turned and walked away.
Hal stared after Carol, utterly dumbfounded and completely clueless as to what had just happened. Why did she suddenly get angry???
Only after Carol's figure disappeared down the street did Hal scratch his head, feeling like he should do something... probably...
"Carol—"
He had just opened his mouth when a massive shadow suddenly covered everything.
Hal looked up, stunned. In the sky, there was suddenly another... moon?!
A moon that shimmered with a strange light, its surface dotted with incessantly flashing points of brilliance.
This suddenly appearing satellite left all Earthlings stunned, their mouths agape in astonishment.
"We've arrived at Earth, Cyborg Superman. What's your plan?" Mongul turned his head, a strange smile on his lips.
"Open fire immediately. Destroy a city as a greeting gift." Cyborg Superman stared at the screen, at the beautiful azure planet. The red light in his eyes flickered nonstop, filled with madness.
"Tony has already left. I've confirmed it. This planet is without its guardian. The time for my revenge has finally come."
Cyborg Superman roared maniacally, his voice filled with grim determination as he clawed at his own mechanical body like a lunatic.
"I was supposed to have a better life, a happy family, but it was all destroyed! I just went out for an expedition, and Krypton was destroyed! My family too..."
"It was all a conspiracy!"
Cyborg Superman raved, "It was all caused by the House of El! Jor-El wants me to take revenge directly on Earth? Fine, but I will also kill his son!"
"That guy named Kal-El, I will kill him! If it weren't for that naturally born wretch, none of this would have happened! Jor-El and Zod would never have had their falling out that led to Krypton's explosion, and my wife and child would not have died!"
"Jor-El is dead, so I will take my revenge on his child, and on the planet that raised him!"
Cyborg Superman was in a state of frenzy. A large part of his mechanical brain was logically chaotic, filled with rage.
This shred of angry emotion was the only remaining testament to his former life as a being of flesh and blood, the last sign of life he possessed as one of the few surviving Kryptonians, unlike the cold, silver mechanical construct that had replaced the rest of him.
As a former Kryptonian scientist, he had lost everything simply by going out to conduct an expedition.
He then spent decades to be reborn, madly pursuing any news of Kryptonians, and had finally located Earth not long ago.
It was H'el—a die-hard loyalist personally cultivated by Jor-El—who had voluntarily told him.
H'el was also alive.
Cyborg Superman couldn't be bothered with all that; he directly stormed Warworld and forced Mongul to fight for him this one time.
Mongul had to yield because the crazed Cyborg Superman had the ability to drag him and the entire Warworld down with him. Furthermore, a troublesome figure stood behind Cyborg Superman—that intelligent lifeform known as "The Collector."
It was said that fellow had his eyes on Ego the Living Planet, and the two of them were currently entangled with each other.
Besides, Mongul himself was very interested in Earth. That messy business with the Kryptonians was truly fascinating, so he half-reluctantly, half-willingly agreed to stir up trouble with Cyborg Superman.
Everyone knew now that Tony had taken his people and left for an unknown destination. He had nothing to fear.
"Cyborg Superman, let's be clear. If you succeed in killing your kinsman, you will remain on my Warworld and fight a thousand matches in my pits. Also, you cannot stop me from selecting slaves."
Mongul sneered under his breath.
"As you wish." Cyborg Superman regained his composure, becoming terrifyingly calm.
Warworld moved with astonishing speed. After reaching the Solar System, it immediately positioned itself above Earth and, picking a random direction, opened fire.
The flashing lights that Earthlings saw when they looked up were Warworld's cannons charging up.
A few seconds later, the cannons finished charging. Then, they fired.
What was a simple, minor attack was, in the eyes of the Earthlings, an unimaginably terrifying disaster. The energy cannon blasts shot straight down, firing before Earth's defense systems could even react.
A blinding light illuminated the sky, turning night into day. Beams of light rained down, carrying the despair of total annihilation, sweeping across the land.
The world lost its color, turning gray and white; it lost its sound, becoming deathly silent.
The beams descended upon the earth, followed by violent explosions. More than half of Coast City was engulfed in white light. Buildings collapsed with a roar, and all life was extinguished.
In almost the blink of an eye, Coast City was gone. More than half of this bustling city had been leveled, becoming horrifyingly clean. Clean to a terrifying degree.
In a pile of rubble on the city's outskirts, Hal suddenly crawled out, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. His body was covered in dust, and he struggled to open his dazed eyes.
The entire Earth was dazed, because they had no time to react at all.
Kamar-Taj, the Avengers, Superman... none of them had time to react. In just a few short minutes, Coast City was gone.
Seven million people, dead.
The crisis came too quickly. No one had time to react, let alone formulate a plan to counterattack. Earth didn't even know who the invading enemy was.
Hal trembled as he looked at the apocalyptic scene. He paid no mind to the wounds covering his body. His vacant eyes were completely numb.
Everything he knew was gone.
Immense Fear devoured his heart, leaving no room for anything else.
At this moment, on the Mars base, several hundred stationed Transformers froze in unison, staring in astonishment at the abruptly blaring warning.
The body of Abin Sur had moved.
A wisp of yellow energy detached itself and shot straight towards Earth.
Parallax, the Yellow Lantern Entity, had sensed Hal's immense Fear.
(end of chapter)
Hal Jordan's life had been going great lately.
A former Air Force pilot forced to retire after an accident, he joined a private company and received a generous salary.
With his impulsive and straightforward personality, he never thought too much about things, let alone why the company's pay was so lavish.
They even stuffed him with cash every few days; Hal was incredibly pleased with himself.
His childhood sweetheart, Carol, on the other hand, was suspicious. After secretly investigating for some time, she couldn't find any holes in the story.
"I told you, there's nothing wrong here. Look at this news, 'Oscorp invests in Glider Company.' Now look at the news from two months ago, 'Stark Industries injects capital into a private company.' You can find this kind of news on the official websites for Oscorp and Stark Industries, even if it's not prominent."
Hal chattered endlessly beside Carol, leaving her feeling helpless.
She adored Hal, but his blockheaded personality... she didn't know if he was genuinely dense or just playing dumb, but he couldn't seem to understand any of her hints.
After a while, Carol began to think Hal was playing dumb as a way of rejecting her.
"Besides, what do they want from me for paying my salary? The only thing I have to offer are my piloting skills," Hal said with a shrug.
He was very satisfied with his current life.
"It seems I was being nosy. Good luck, Hal."
Looking at Hal's punchable expression, Carol fought back her rage and grievance. Her eyes reddened, and she turned and walked away.
Hal stared after Carol, utterly dumbfounded and completely clueless as to what had just happened. Why did she suddenly get angry???
Only after Carol's figure disappeared down the street did Hal scratch his head, feeling like he should do something... probably...
"Carol—"
He had just opened his mouth when a massive shadow suddenly covered everything.
Hal looked up, stunned. In the sky, there was suddenly another... moon?!
A moon that shimmered with a strange light, its surface dotted with incessantly flashing points of brilliance.
This suddenly appearing satellite left all Earthlings stunned, their mouths agape in astonishment.
"We've arrived at Earth, Cyborg Superman. What's your plan?" Mongul turned his head, a strange smile on his lips.
"Open fire immediately. Destroy a city as a greeting gift." Cyborg Superman stared at the screen, at the beautiful azure planet. The red light in his eyes flickered nonstop, filled with madness.
"Tony has already left. I've confirmed it. This planet is without its guardian. The time for my revenge has finally come."
Cyborg Superman roared maniacally, his voice filled with grim determination as he clawed at his own mechanical body like a lunatic.
"I was supposed to have a better life, a happy family, but it was all destroyed! I just went out for an expedition, and Krypton was destroyed! My family too..."
"It was all a conspiracy!"
Cyborg Superman raved, "It was all caused by the House of El! Jor-El wants me to take revenge directly on Earth? Fine, but I will also kill his son!"
"That guy named Kal-El, I will kill him! If it weren't for that naturally born wretch, none of this would have happened! Jor-El and Zod would never have had their falling out that led to Krypton's explosion, and my wife and child would not have died!"
"Jor-El is dead, so I will take my revenge on his child, and on the planet that raised him!"
Cyborg Superman was in a state of frenzy. A large part of his mechanical brain was logically chaotic, filled with rage.
This shred of angry emotion was the only remaining testament to his former life as a being of flesh and blood, the last sign of life he possessed as one of the few surviving Kryptonians, unlike the cold, silver mechanical construct that had replaced the rest of him.
As a former Kryptonian scientist, he had lost everything simply by going out to conduct an expedition.
He then spent decades to be reborn, madly pursuing any news of Kryptonians, and had finally located Earth not long ago.
It was H'el—a die-hard loyalist personally cultivated by Jor-El—who had voluntarily told him.
H'el was also alive.
Cyborg Superman couldn't be bothered with all that; he directly stormed Warworld and forced Mongul to fight for him this one time.
Mongul had to yield because the crazed Cyborg Superman had the ability to drag him and the entire Warworld down with him. Furthermore, a troublesome figure stood behind Cyborg Superman—that intelligent lifeform known as "The Collector."
It was said that fellow had his eyes on Ego the Living Planet, and the two of them were currently entangled with each other.
Besides, Mongul himself was very interested in Earth. That messy business with the Kryptonians was truly fascinating, so he half-reluctantly, half-willingly agreed to stir up trouble with Cyborg Superman.
Everyone knew now that Tony had taken his people and left for an unknown destination. He had nothing to fear.
"Cyborg Superman, let's be clear. If you succeed in killing your kinsman, you will remain on my Warworld and fight a thousand matches in my pits. Also, you cannot stop me from selecting slaves."
Mongul sneered under his breath.
"As you wish." Cyborg Superman regained his composure, becoming terrifyingly calm.
Warworld moved with astonishing speed. After reaching the Solar System, it immediately positioned itself above Earth and, picking a random direction, opened fire.
The flashing lights that Earthlings saw when they looked up were Warworld's cannons charging up.
A few seconds later, the cannons finished charging. Then, they fired.
What was a simple, minor attack was, in the eyes of the Earthlings, an unimaginably terrifying disaster. The energy cannon blasts shot straight down, firing before Earth's defense systems could even react.
A blinding light illuminated the sky, turning night into day. Beams of light rained down, carrying the despair of total annihilation, sweeping across the land.
The world lost its color, turning gray and white; it lost its sound, becoming deathly silent.
The beams descended upon the earth, followed by violent explosions. More than half of Coast City was engulfed in white light. Buildings collapsed with a roar, and all life was extinguished.
In almost the blink of an eye, Coast City was gone. More than half of this bustling city had been leveled, becoming horrifyingly clean. Clean to a terrifying degree.
In a pile of rubble on the city's outskirts, Hal suddenly crawled out, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. His body was covered in dust, and he struggled to open his dazed eyes.
The entire Earth was dazed, because they had no time to react at all.
Kamar-Taj, the Avengers, Superman... none of them had time to react. In just a few short minutes, Coast City was gone.
Seven million people, dead.
The crisis came too quickly. No one had time to react, let alone formulate a plan to counterattack. Earth didn't even know who the invading enemy was.
Hal trembled as he looked at the apocalyptic scene. He paid no mind to the wounds covering his body. His vacant eyes were completely numb.
Everything he knew was gone.
Immense Fear devoured his heart, leaving no room for anything else.
At this moment, on the Mars base, several hundred stationed Transformers froze in unison, staring in astonishment at the abruptly blaring warning.
The body of Abin Sur had moved.
A wisp of yellow energy detached itself and shot straight towards Earth.
Parallax, the Yellow Lantern Entity, had sensed Hal's immense Fear.
(end of chapter)
