The Lantern Groups know nothing about the world outside the Origin Wall, only White Lantern Hero Kael has been there and returned safely.
Anyway, the Little Blue Men on Oa Planet have said it, outside the Origin Wall is the Light Storage Sea, a pond of the cosmos's entire emotional spectrum, once you go, you can't come back.
The big shots said this, and the Book of OA said the same, so there's no need to doubt. Thus, the major Lantern Groups are stuck on their own little patches, fighting each other back and forth, wasting energy.
The Guardians' plan unfolded...
They just feared someone would be too curious and see the world outside.
Why are these Little Blue Men called Guardians? What exactly are they guarding? No one ever asked, and they would never explain...
But they could block the Lantern Groups, yet couldn't stop Luthor. Luthor somehow managed to see the scenes outside the wall.
Although he couldn't leave this world, he was no longer satisfied with the current situation.
And destruction was a good solution, according to his plan to reshape the entire cosmos. In the new cosmos, there would be no need for a wall.
Flying through the viscous chaos, Su Ming idly let his mind wander.
He thought Luthor was like a teenager addicted to the internet.
He saw an internet café across the street outside the wall, and planned to climb over the wall to go online at night.
But the school security team wouldn't allow it, so he began to plan to blow up the school and build a new one, without a security team or walls.
Gotta say, when you have money, you can really do as you please, even destroying the multiverse seems so casual.
But according to Su Ming's plan, the DC World had to exist, especially not to expand without limit as Luthor thought.
So from certain perspectives, Su Ming, the one opening a restaurant outside the school gate, and the school security team, the Justice League, shared a similar stance.
Internet-addicted Luthor wanted to go online, to play simulation games, and Su Ming had ways to let him play to his heart's content. The security team pointed at the school to make a living, hoping the school would always exist, and Su Ming could also meet their demands.
Of course, the bigger the school, the better the business outside the gate, Su Ming also had some benefits...
In any case, things shouldn't be like they are now.
But before that, they need to deal with the bald guy and his followers.
..............
The Light Storage arrived, and though it's called storage, you can't see where the light is, it's just that the chaos here is denser than elsewhere.
Like a nebula, dense grayish spots crowded in this indescribably large area, filled with indistinct thoughts and ideas.
Once inside, a person is like a little worm stuck to a spider web, struggling to move.
However, with the Seven Lantern Rings, plus the Magic Floating Cloak and the Symbiote, Su Ming was like walking on solid ground in there.
No, to be precise, he could swim freely.
First freestyle, then switch to butterfly stroke, then breaststroke, dog paddle...
And then Su Ming noticed not far away, the mafia was staring lifelessly at him.
"Stare..."
Is this your swimming pool? This is the most dangerous and mysterious Light Storage, can't you be a bit serious?
For the mafia, it was like this. Now he felt like he was floating on the Sea of Death, rising and falling with the energy in the Light Storage. Those misty, chaotic threads wrapped around his limbs, making it impossible to move, forcing him to dullly watch the unchanging scenery around him.
He was losing his mind, though he was already quite mad, but this desolate, empty world was far less beautiful than death.
He didn't know how long he'd been trapped here, it felt like countless centuries had passed, he wanted release, to return to the kingdom of the dead.
But he didn't have the power for that; he was a dead man without a path to reincarnation, even if he cried, there wouldn't be a single tear. His heart was filled with despair and frustration, and the Guardians' intention was for him to feel that until the chaos drove him insane.
Perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him, as suddenly he saw Deathstroke swimming leisurely nearby...
Even though he couldn't see Deathstroke's face, he felt as if his mood was quite good?
"Ahem... mafia, I'm here to negotiate terms."
Deathstroke stopped swimming, floating in front of him, looking down at him.
The mafia hadn't spoken in so long, his voice almost didn't sound human, though actually he was Hal's old neighbor, both having grown up in Seaside City.
"You... want something..."
"Ring, can you translate that?" Su Ming scratched his head, though it felt like English, but why couldn't he understand?
Yet there was a downside to wearing multiple Lantern Rings, upon issuing the translation command, seven voices would simultaneously echo in his head, like a choir.
Previously as well, asking for a sector map led to his finger projecting seven identical maps, all stacked densely together.
But the effect was achieved, he could understand the 'zombie language'. The mafia was asking him what he wanted.
"Tsk, as expected of the mafia, still so generous even when trapped in the Light Storage, letting me name my price?"
Su Ming sighed, sizing up the other, wondering what good things he might be carrying?
Actually, the mafia wasn't inherently bad, just mentally unstable, he just wanted corpses to stand up and play with him.
The family business passed down through the mafia generations was the funeral director, a unique offering in Seaside City; his father's craftsmanship was excellent.
Even if the corpse had originally been devoured by maggots, once his father repaired it, the end product looked as though it was merely asleep.
Thus, the mafia's family was quite wealthy.
To ensure the mafia inherited the family business, his father often took him to observe the repair and dressing of corpses.
But this led the mafia to become obsessed with corpses from a young age, with the eternal beauty that death brings, a never-fading existence.
Even as he grew up, the mafia's wickedness was simple, so simple it couldn't even be called evil, only terrifyingly pure and hard to comprehend.
He didn't like the living; even if he liked someone, he would have to kill them first and then live in eternal companionship with their corpse. This is how his family was killed by him, then resurrected using the 'accidentally' acquired Black Lantern Battery.
This way, his parents and sister could accompany him forever.
So, one time when Hal accidentally passed by the mafia's house, he discovered this situation.
Hal was baffled; the youngster living with his family's corpses, dining at the same table, was too grotesque. This lifestyle was excessively unhealthy.
He casually manifested a crematorium and cremated the mafia's family...
"No need to thank me, I'm a Green Lantern Hero, Seaside City is a City of Fearlessness, but your fearless approach is wrong... You need to go out more, play some baseball with peers, choose a healthy lifestyle."
After speaking, Hal winked at the mafia, gave a thumbs-up, flashed a heroically charming smile, and flew off, as he was needed to battle the Red Lantern Corps, with Atositas causing trouble again.
At that moment, the mafia was in despair: "..."
Thank your grandmother's legs! Thank your whole family!
With his family turned to ash, the mafia felt he had no will to live; he understood before committing suicide that the Green Lantern and flames were the great enemies of that eternal beauty of death.
But the 'boss behind the scenes' resurrected him, and he crawled up from the cold floor.
The Black Death Emperor took note of the mafia's fascination with death, choosing him as a deputy to launch the undead invasion on Earth.
This is the general origin of the Blackest Night.
........
"I want your Black Lantern Ring, in exchange, I'll kill you, how about it?"
Su Ming drew his weapon, and the Nightfall Greatsword shimmered with beautiful black light.
Although directly killing the mafia would also get the ring, the mafia would certainly resurrect, and it was better not to strain relations with such an undying psychopath.
Deathstroke was a mercenary, not a robber. It's always better to negotiate.
If it weren't for Lafritz being entirely unapproachable for negotiation, Su Ming wouldn't resort to force.
"Are you... real? Not my hallucination?" The mafia wanted to rub his eyes, but he couldn't move at all.
Su Ming used the Greatsword to slash the mafia's leg, and black, preservative-like blood flowed from the wound.
"How is it? Real?"
"Real, too real!" The mafia became excited; this pain, this weapon was amazing, making even the dead feel pain!
"Give me the ring, I'll give you a powerful experience." Su Ming tempted the mafia like a street vendor selling medicine.
The mafia was becoming impatient, wanting death, to return to death, to escape this place.
"The ring is on my hand, take it yourself! Just let me die!"
"Haha, the deal is made. Do you want to look at the contract?... Shake your head? No need, huh? Just to mention, I don't issue receipts here. Is it okay? If the ring is lost, will the Black Death Emperor reimburse you?"
"Quick, kill me!"
He was possibly either crazy or too eager, repeatedly telling Su Ming to kill him quickly.
"Ah, your family legacy is profound, you're quite knowledgeable. Let me be honest with you, on my side, services are divided into three categories, which one would you like?"
Su Ming wasn't in a hurry anymore; he knew the mafia still had the Black Light Battery, which he wanted.
"Kill me, kill me..."
"These three services are generally defined by the victim's corpse status, divided into 'euthanasia,' 'tragic death,' and 'dead and gone,' with customizable processes. How many cuts do you want? From the left or the right? It can all be chosen. Do you want organ damage or just arterial bleeding? This needs to be clarified..."
Deathstroke pulled out some papers from somewhere and sat cross-legged in the void before the mafia, beginning to explain the treaty details.
The mafia had never wanted to die more; it was already unfortunate enough, but now there's a talkative mercenary in front of him endlessly saying ritualistic words like chanting for his passing.
Yet this mercenary was the only one who could kill him, too real.
"Kill me..."
Deathstroke flipped through the documents, keeping his head down, ignoring him: "Now let's talk about the second major section, third subsection. Do you want your heart intact after death? Do you need cold storage? If your heart is chopped up and fed to dogs, do you prefer 'cross' cuts or 'peony' cuts?"
"Please just kill me, I agree to any condition! Stop tormenting me!" The mafia's head shook violently as if in extreme pain.
"Hey, young people these days have no patience... You could've said so earlier!"
Deathstroke's red visor flashed a light, reversed the sword draw motion...