Chapter 22: The Underworld Lantern and My Dad Aren't That Kind of Relationship

Elias: "Yeah, why is that?"

That story begins with him quitting his job without a backup plan in his previous life. If he hadn't quit, he wouldn't have been approached by the HR of a bizarre company, nor would he have been entangled with a sinister book, eventually inheriting a pair of strange children after sacrificing his own life...

Thinking of this, he asked from the bottom of his heart: "Can't being a father to someone be a profession?"

Clark: "..."

He suspected he had misheard, or that there was something wrong with the way the Lantern expressed himself in English: "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

The Lantern fell silent for a moment, then rephrased it, though the core meaning remained the same: "This is my job."

Ophelia buried her face deeper into his arms, while Galen sneered.

This time, Clark heard him clearly.

He looked at the Lantern in shock, and after confirming through the expressions of others present that he hadn't misheard, a sudden flash of insight struck him—he thought of the contract between this man and Elias. However, theoretically, the only person who knew about this was Superman; Clark Kent had no reason to be that well-informed, so he swallowed his words and glanced at Batman, pretending it was unintentional.

Black Lightning stood next to Batman, feeling as if he could hear the Dark Knight's brain whirring at a frantic pace.

A moment later, Batman asked: "Because of the contract? You and Elias Esposito had an agreement that included looking after these two children?"

Uh...

It seemed to make sense, yet something felt off. Just as everyone was racking their brains trying to figure out what was strange, Galen spoke up with a straight face: "The Lantern and my father don't have that kind of relationship."

Batman, as if prepared, gave him a cold look and said: "The agreement I mentioned does not refer to a marriage license."

"……………"

So that was what was wrong?

How could that be what was wrong!

Ahhhhhhh—

Why are you all capable of having this conversation so seriously and fluently!!

Ophelia gripped Elias's clothes tightly, struggling to suppress the urge to scream. She couldn't see the expressions of others and didn't know how everyone was managing to endure this, but regardless, there was a strange silence in front of the Iceberg Lounge, and a frozen beauty seemed to hang between the sky and the earth.

At that moment, Elias patted Ophelia's shoulder gently, then firmly pushed her away.

Ophelia immediately adjusted her expression, trying to appear calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. She turned back, just about to ask a question, when she saw Elias naturally pick up the silver-white staff at his side and stride toward Galen. Galen’s scalp tingled; he turned to leave, but Elias flicked his weapon, the curved tip of the staff hooking onto the young man's collar.

Then, Galen ducked and shucked off his coat entirely! His movements were as fluid as Batman’s retort, displaying mysterious skills in areas where one shouldn't be proficient, leaving the onlookers unable to react. But Elias wasn't fooled, and his next strike was exceptionally fierce!

Yet, Galen tumbled awkwardly on the ground and somehow dodged it again!

He immediately tightened his face and exchanged a few moves with Elias in a rush, stumbling and scrambling, purely defending without attacking, narrowly avoiding disaster several times at the last second, making one marvel at his good luck. This series of events was overwhelming; Clark felt the Lantern's aura growing increasingly sinister. That fragile father-son bond, established through a marriage certificate... no, through a contract, was in deep jeopardy!

What is a family crisis?

This is a family crisis. Meanwhile, Ophelia, who should have been on Galen's side, stood by and watched quietly, a faint, elegant smile on her pale, beautiful face, looking at first glance like a portrait of the Mona Lisa!

But when Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, that surely wasn't what was happening in front of her.

After all, most people haven't experienced this.

Finally, the Lantern seemed to have run out of patience. The Book of Fate returned to his hand and gradually took the shape of a book. Seeing this, Galen’s face changed, and a glimmer of fear even appeared on his features. He gritted his teeth, wanting to say something, but Elias didn't give him the chance—or rather, he had already given Galen too many chances.

The pages of the Book of Fate flipped on their own in his hands without a breeze.

A few seconds later, it stopped at a certain page in the middle.

The Green Lantern in the air glanced over in a hurry, but even with his pilot’s vision, he couldn't see what was written on it. Ophelia saw it clearly but didn't recognize the characters; only Galen, without needing to look, knew which page his father would turn to—

*The Life of Galen Esposito*.

That was the meaning of those twisted letters.

The Book of Fate records the infinite possibilities of every life since the world began. Some have already happened, some are about to happen, and some are stories that people today will never witness. These infinite possibilities are evenly distributed across countless parallel universes, which is why there is a rule:

[Stories that have been written are destined to happen.]

It’s just that they don't necessarily happen to the person involved in this particular universe.

At the same time, [Reading the contents of the Book of Fate aloud makes the reader a participant in the story.]

This means that the story you are reading aloud has intersected with a certain possibility of your future, causing the trajectory of fate to change.

For everyone, as long as you can understand the content of the book, the two theorems above hold true.

However, as far as Galen knew, only his father, Elias, was different. Elias was both a participant in the story and the holder of the Book of Fate.

Therefore, he could subjectively decide in which direction an unimportant detail of the story in front of him would develop.

—This might be called prophecy.

Just like now, the Lantern merely lowered his head and glanced at the content in the book.

In that fleeting moment, the future belonging to Galen in the current universe was fixed.

[Stories read by 'Elias Esposito' are destined to happen, ignoring the will of the participants.]

"Galen Esposito," the Lantern said in English, his tone indifferent. "Next Monday, you will accompany your father to Garfield High School."

"..."

For a split second, Galen had an expression on his face as if the sky were falling and the earth were cracking. But he quickly leaped up and, without a word or a backward glance, dashed into the darkness of Gotham.

This time, no one stopped him, because the Lantern's words clearly carried the weight of an oracle.

Many of the Bat-family vigilantes and several Spider-Men watched him go, their faces showing varying degrees of pity.

Long after, someone finally broke the silence.

Black Lightning wiped his face, nearly knocking his goggles to the ground.

He looked at the Lantern, asking almost with hostility: "Garfield High School?"

Elias came back to his senses and replied casually: "In Suicide Slum."

Black Lightning: "I know it's in Suicide Slum, but why Garfield High School?!"

Have you considered the feelings of a teacher named Jefferson Pierce??

It is known that Black Lightning has a troublesome opponent.

Jefferson Pierce has a student who skips class.

It is also known that Black Lightning and Jefferson Pierce are the same person.

His troublesome opponent and the student who skips class are also the same person.

Just a few minutes ago, on the battlefield of the superhero Black Lightning, the entity contracted to his student's guardian ordered his student to report to Mr. Jefferson Pierce's office next Monday.

...

Are the battlefields of modern superheroes this flexible!

It's so overwhelming!

By now, Clark, Batman, and Green Lantern, who knew the inside story, all began to sympathize with him. They didn't know when it started, but a cloud-like misfortune had gradually begun to erode the heads of everyone present—first the young leader of the International Gang, now Black Lightning, who would it be next?

Batman, who had been watching until now, felt a splitting headache. On one hand, the amount of information brought by Elias's family was too overwhelming; on the other, the absurdity and difficulty of this series of sudden events were directly proportional.

Not to mention anything else, who knew how to deal with all these Spider-Men in Gotham?

If someone asked why there were so many Spider-Men in Gotham, how would he answer?

The Spider-Men from parallel universes had also gradually figured out the situation. They exchanged their names and backgrounds very quickly, then happily and without any sense of crisis began to chat with the locals. One went to find Batman, another went to find Miles, and the remaining two approached Elias.

Ophelia’s body stiffened, and she pursed her lips, becoming nervous. Mostly, she realized that Elias was under much more pressure than she was; everything that had happened tonight had long since exceeded the threshold of someone who loathed socializing and disliked change.

The Lantern said nothing, but Ophelia could sense his fatigue. Children are extremely sensitive to the emotions of adults and are easily influenced by them; Elias's exhaustion deepened Ophelia's anxiety, making her reflect on the chaos she had caused so far, which in turn generated a strong sense of guilt.

The consequence was that her powers began to flare up uncontrollably again.

Clark felt his soul tremble and was shocked, nearly exposing his super-speed. He immediately associated this with the terrible consequences that might occur after the arrival of Supermen from several parallel universes, and he almost wanted to rush up regardless of the consequences to knock Ophelia unconscious first—

But someone was one step faster than him.

The Lantern lowered his head and said in the language of the Book of Fate: "Sleep, Philly."

His tone was gentle, but the power contained in his words was anything but light. As a strong sense of fear welled up from the bottom of her heart, Ophelia felt strangely settled, believing this to be a lullaby her father was singing just for her, the little witch. She closed her eyes and obediently fell into a deep sleep, following her body's instincts. At the same time, Elias bent down and easily scooped her up into his arms.

"Whoa." An older Spider-Man from a parallel universe overcame the inexplicable wariness that had arisen and asked Elias on purpose, "Are you really not their father in the legal sense?"

Even a biological father might not be this thoughtful.

But then he thought of Galen's treatment.

Uh... perhaps one is a crystallization of love, and the other was picked up from a trash can.

This was, of course, a joke.

Unfortunately, the dark, inhuman monster in the distance had no intention of responding to this joke.

He glanced at them casually before retracting his gaze, saying to Clark: "If you have any business, find Elias Esposito." Then, holding Ophelia, he turned and left. The mess left behind by the Lantern's children... or rather, the children of the Lantern's contract partner, had yet to be resolved, but people couldn't say he was entirely irresponsible.