Kryptonian? Are You Talking to Me?

"The spacecraft crashed on Earth, a purple-skinned alien on the verge of death.

This must be Abin Sur."

David waved his hand, and a gravity field, like a large hand, smoothly lifted the escape pod from the seawater onto the beach.

He glanced at the ring on his finger.

"I just don't know whether Clark or I got the Green Lantern Ring that should have belonged to Hal Jordan."

"Hey, how are you doing?"

Seeing the alien stunned for a moment, Clark quickly pulled open the escape pod's transparent hatch and pressed down on Abin Sur's chest, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Don't die on me, I'll get you to a hospital right away."

Even though he knew the chances were slim, perhaps this alien, with its purple blood, had a similar physiology to humans.

"No." Abin Sur weakly shook his head, struggling to fulfill the final duty of a Lantern.

"Cough... cough, my name is Abin Sur, Guardian of Sector 2814 of the Green Lantern Corps."

The fear entity was eroding his body; he wouldn't last much longer.

"Stop talking. You need to conserve your strength. In five seconds, you'll be at the nearest hospital."

Hearing him speak while coughing blood terrifyingly, Clark wanted to pick up Abin Sur and rush him to the nearest neighborhood hospital.

"Let him speak, Clark."

David placed a hand on Clark's shoulder, stopping him, and shook his head.

"Earth's medical facilities can't save him."

As one of the most advanced technological creations in the universe, the Lantern ring itself possessed healing capabilities. If it could heal him, it wouldn't have initiated the process of selecting a successor.

He was helpless to save the life of this honest and upright Lantern.

"Even the Dionysus Factor might not be of any use."

David's gaze swept over the fear entity, clinging to Abin Sur's horrific wounds like a parasite.

"My time is running out."

Abin Sur nodded with difficulty.

Clark's expression was complex.

A living alien, though clearly not of the same species as himself, was the only other extraterrestrial visitor he had ever seen besides himself. Yet, upon meeting, the alien was about to die.

"According to Corps regulations, I... I must choose a successor for the ring before I die.

This time is a bit special, as the ring of my comrade Ventara from Sector 2811 is also involved."

Abin Sur first looked at Clark, then turned to David.

David understood that the ring on Clark's hand should belong to Abin Sur, confirming his earlier guess.

"As the 'son of tomorrow,' Clark has been sought out by the ring more than once in the comics. In fact, when Abin Sur was dying, the 'strong will' the ring first sought was Clark's.

But because of his Kryptonian heritage, Abin Sur had to find someone else, which led to Hal Jordan."

He wondered what the outcome would be this time.

David's eyes brightened slightly, suddenly realizing that the members of the Green Lantern Corps, each possessing extraordinary abilities and playing crucial roles in the universe, might provide him with more emotional points than the Atlanteans.

"What's special is not only the need to decide successors for two rings at once, but also your identities – a Kryptonian and a powerful, unknown species."

Abin Sur didn't know how to express his surprise that the ring's selection process had chosen two aliens on this planet teeming with billions of native lives.

"Kryptonian? Are you talking about me?"

Clark pointed to himself, looking somewhat bewildered.

After nearly twenty years, was he finally going to learn about his origins?

But what about his brother's powerful, unknown species?

"I am an Earthling."

Shaking his head slightly, David knew that it must be his mutation of the Eternal's physique that had caused Abin Sur's misunderstanding.

All other templates were Earthlings, except for the Thanos template.

"The rings have chosen you. Dai, put on the ring, point it at the lantern, and recite the oath. You will become a member of the Green Lantern Corps, bearing great honor and responsibility..."

Abin Sur didn't have time to discern their suitability. They didn't seem greedy or malicious. Seeing the dying owner of a high-tech spaceship, he had no other thoughts.

One of them was even trying to save him.

He tremblingly pointed towards the lantern beneath the escape pod seat, which was used to charge the ring.

"The universe needs you. My final duty as a Lantern is complete. I... I hope the universe can overcome this crisis."

Krypton had a long and unpleasant history with the Green Lantern Corps, almost bordering on animosity.

While not written into any of the Corps' laws, it was an unwritten rule not to select Kryptonians as Lanterns.

In this time of cosmic crisis, Abin Sur felt it was a fitting moment to break the rules.

"The universe needs more powerful Lanterns to protect it…"

With his final thought echoing in his heart, Abin Sur, known as one of the greatest Lanterns, closed his eyes and passed away.

"A member of the Corps, hoping the universe overcomes its crisis?"

Clark was at a loss, staring at the body before him.

He instinctively resisted joining any corps, but it sounded like the universe was in danger?

He looked to David, hoping to get some answers from his brother.

Even though David shouldn't have any knowledge about aliens, the impression Clark had of his brother was that there was little he didn't know.

"The Green Lantern Corps, a legion led by the Guardians of the Universe who claim to uphold cosmic order, wielding the power of will as their weapon…"

David briefly introduced the Green Lantern Corps.

As for the so-called cosmic crisis, it was likely referring to Parallax.

"It sounds like a respectable vigilante corps led by selfless individuals?"

Hearing Clark's words, David let out a faint, disdainful smile.

…

"Bright is the day, vast is the night. All evil and wicked shall have no place to hide. Heretics and rebels shall fear my divine light. The Green Lantern shines forever, its radiance eternal."

"Is this it?"

A message to take the oath came from the ring. In the farm's attic, Clark, following David's example, hesitantly pointed the ring at the Green Lantern and recited the oath.

After a burst of green light, the ring's functions were officially unlocked.

A suit woven from the power of will enveloped Clark's body.

"This feels really wrong."

Clark looked at the suit, which was faintly glowing green, with discomfort. He hated green.

Clark had little inclination to join a cosmic corps, leave his family and home planet to protect universal peace, but the cosmic crisis Abin Sur mentioned before his death couldn't help but concern him.

"Earth is also within the universe.

If something happens to the universe, Earth cannot escape."

Furthermore, he wanted to know about his origins – why, years ago, was he, an infant, programmed into a spaceship and sent to Earth? Where were his family, his people?

After the ring was unlocked, a flood of information related to the Lantern rings poured into Clark's mind. He quickly learned about the Green Lantern Corps.

"A Lantern whose race is Kryptonian."

David stood with his arms crossed, his expression slightly odd.

This was likely something that had never happened in the Green Lantern Corps' million-year history.

"How could this be?"

Flipping through the information database within the ring, Clark eagerly finished reading the retrieved information related to Krypton. His face changed, and he looked at his brother with some alarm.

"I… I am the descendant of a naturally cold-blooded, interstellar colonial empire?"

Seeing Clark's reaction.

David waved his hand, and the information stored in the Lantern ring materialized into a light screen.

Unlike the detailed information about cosmic races or factions, the entry for Krypton was only a single page, just a few sentences.

"Krypton, a life-bearing planet in Sector 2183 of the galaxy, now extinct. As a former cosmic colonizer, during its most prosperous era, Krypton's reign was a long, dark period in the universe, with countless life-bearing planets being colonized.

Krypton's internal system was ancient and corrupt, limiting its innate potential. The extent of achievement was determined at birth. The ruling class suppressed individuality, and the class structure was unshakeable. Every Kryptonian was a naturally cold-blooded, powerful machine…"

David raised an eyebrow, understanding why Clark had such a reaction.

No one would feel good knowing they were the descendant of colonizers who brought a history of dark humiliation to the universe.

"My home world is destroyed, and I am the descendant of a naturally cold-blooded cosmic colonizer… Is… is this true?"

Clark looked at David, urgently seeking an answer.

He couldn't help but recall Ms. Cassandra's prophecy again.

After returning home, David told Clark some of what he knew, such as how this planet wasn't as simple as it seemed, hiding things and races older than human civilization.

He had made some contact with the Atlanteans and learned things unknown to ordinary people.

As for his conquest of Atlantis and becoming the Lord of the Seven Seas, David felt there was no need to elaborate.

"Half of it is true."

He nodded.

Krypton was indeed a former cosmic empire that, at its peak, had colonized almost all known life-bearing planets.

The so-called little blue men who claimed to uphold cosmic order were the ones leading the Green Lantern Corps in their battles against the Kryptonians.

However, just ten thousand Kryptonians were said to possess the power to destroy the universe, and the Kryptonians on Krypton numbered far more than ten thousand.

"Even the battle-hardened Lanterns of the Green Lantern Corps, tempered by life and death, couldn't defeat a mere Kryptonian who had casually basked under a yellow sun."

The little blue beings didn't elaborate on the outcome of that battle, but their very words spoke of the darkest age they had ever endured, leaving the result self-evident.

And the Green Lantern Corps, which had always claimed to uphold cosmic order, faced a vile enemy colonizing the universe. Instead of a heroic sacrifice, they formed an alliance with Krypton, together 'maintaining cosmic peace.'

This was precisely why he had scoffed uncontrollably when he heard Clark say that earlier.

"From the data I have access to, Kryptonians were quite corrupt internally. The General's son was born a General, and the scientist's son was destined to be a scientist.

However, they were far from being inherently cold-blooded."

David shook his head and said earnestly.

"Clark, you are you. You don't need others to define you. Can't you feel what kind of person you are?"

It was perfectly normal for the little blue beings to inject their own biases into their internal military records.

Those shameless little blue beings were incredibly hypocritical. They claimed to uphold cosmic order, but in reality, many of the crises that nearly destroyed the universe were caused by them.

With David's comfort, Clark felt much better.

As for the fact that Krypton had long been destroyed, while it did shock him, the impact wasn't overwhelming.

He had always wondered what could have caused an infant to travel in a spaceship to another planet, and why none of his relatives or kin had come looking for him all these years.

Looking up at the Andromeda Galaxy in the sky, he wondered if his homeworld had once shone there, but it was now gone.

Clark lowered his head, feeling a sense of loneliness.

But then he thought that his family was right beside him. What mattered now was protecting the family and home he had.

...

"So, you two were chosen by rings from outer space and taken before a dying alien to be recruited into a corps that maintains cosmic peace?"

After breakfast, Jonathan, while drinking hot black tea, almost spat it out, his expression peculiar.

If he hadn't known how special his two sons were, he would have thought they were babbling nonsense.

But even knowing their abilities, the idea of an alien corps made Jonathan put down his teacup and sit up straight.

"That's right."

Clark nodded, bracing himself.

"A corps?"

"There won't be any danger."

David said reassuringly, meeting his mother Martha's worried gaze.

He and Clark hadn't intended to tell their parents about this.

But since the couple had seen them being enveloped in green light and taken away in public on television, they had to explain.

"In fact, neither of us plans to join them."

David suggested they shouldn't mention anything about cosmic crises to avoid worrying their parents. Clark hesitated for a moment, then heartily agreed.

"Abin Sur spoke of terrible things, a crisis for the entire universe..."

David secretly shook his head.

Although Parallax, the embodiment of Fear, one of the seven emotional spectrum powers in the universe, was powerful enough to destroy civilizations, claiming it could affect the entire universe was a bit alarmist.

The so-called cosmic crisis likely referred to the destruction of the little blue beings and the Green Lantern Corps, leading to an imbalance in cosmic order.

"However, whether the universe will be in trouble is uncertain, but Earth is indeed under an imminent danger."

David knew that according to the storyline, Parallax would track the mortally wounded Abin Sur to Earth, the legendary Lantern who had once defeated it.

Even though Abin Sur was no match for it now, after it had absorbed the life force of two planetary civilizations.

But when it was sealed beneath the planet's surface, it had accumulated boundless hatred for Abin Sur. It wouldn't rest until it saw Abin Sur dead with its own eyes and its corpse ground to dust.

"Mom, Dad, we might have to leave for a while."

Clark said after some hesitation, "To resolve the issue of our status in the corps."

Hearing about the cosmic crisis, how could Clark stand by? He wanted to go to the corps' headquarters recorded in the Lantern ring's data—Oa—to see what was happening and if he could contribute.

"For the universe, and for Earth," he clenched his fist silently.

David was silent for a moment, unsure how to explain that Parallax would soon pursue them to Earth.

Suddenly, he sensed something through the gravitational field and turned his head.

A figure with a body structure entirely different from humans, with fins on its head and bald skin, was flying towards the farm.

It wore a sleek battle suit and a Green Lantern Ring on its hand.

"Perhaps not... Someone has arrived."

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