American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Currently reading: Chapter 273 The Sun Ring: Red Light Integration, latest chapter available here.

"Your revenge has been on the wrong path from the very beginning."

Shuen didn't want to argue with Atositas.

For a soul immersed in millions of years of hatred, what he needs to do is liberate.

"Since you can't let go of this heavy burden."

"Then let me lend you a hand."

He issued a call to the other sages into the endless void.

"Support request, coordinates approximately sector 666 of the universe, Ismot. Mission objective: large-scale collective requiem ritual."

"Hurry up and send a few available logistics team members, it's urgent."

As soon as he finished speaking, layers of golden ripples spread across the space behind him.

Immediately afterwards, five golden figures dressed in trench coats, identical to him, and a sunflower, stepped out one after another from the golden ripples!

Now, there are six Xiu Ens, six self-contained suns, forming a purification array in this blood-red purgatory.

Meanwhile, Athocitas, atop the throne of bones, began to rage!

What are these guys trying to do?!

They want to take away his anger!

They want to steal the souls of his people!

"You! Don't touch them!!!"

Atos roared deafeningly, swinging his massive fist once more, attempting to drive the sea of ​​blood to tear these blasphemers to shreds!

However, the purification ritual has already begun.

One of them, Xiu En, sat cross-legged on the sea of ​​blood, his hands clasped together, and he and the sunflower worked together.

The warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze that caressed the wheat fields appeared, like a lullaby hummed by a mother beside a cradle.

The vengeful spirits in the sea of ​​blood fell silent.

The eternal pain on their faces seemed to find a moment's relief.

"Shut up! Stop!!"

Atositas discovers that his spiritual connection with the dead is being severed!

The other, Xiu En, raised his hands above his head.

Endless golden crow fire gathered in his palm, condensing into a sun.

As the sun rose, golden rain fell gently upon this sea of ​​blood that had been stained for millions of years.

Every drop of light contains the power of purification.

Their tormented soul outlines gradually became complete in the golden light.

One by one, the souls gradually regained their original appearance from their previous lives.

Countless aliens dressed in all sorts of clothing, winged Terranis, and crystal-skinned Akos appeared.

In this moment, the phantoms of thousands of forgotten civilizations in Sector 666 briefly reappear in the world.

They all hovered in mid-air, bowing down to the six golden figures and the sunflower.

Then, they looked up, with relieved smiles on their faces, and finally disappeared into the ends of the universe.

They have finally found peace.

"No! Come back! Come back now! My, my anger..."

Atositas reached out, trying to grasp the points of light that were leaving him.

But his hands were empty.

With each departing soul, the sea of ​​blood beneath his feet dries up a little.

His body also began to wither.

The red light emanating from him dimmed.

His power is being undermined!

He roared in fury, he attacked frantically, he used all his strength to try to stop the looting.

However, the other four clones of Xiu En had already built a barrier around him.

He was imprisoned on his own throne.

All I can do now is watch helplessly as everything I carry, the meaning of my existence, and the source of my strength, slips away from me, bit by bit.

The purification ritual lasted a full ten minutes.

When the last soul turned into a speck of light and dissipated into the sky.

The dark red in the sky was washed away by the purified golden light, revealing the starry universe.

On the throne of bones, a red-skinned scholar, even thinner than Hal, knelt on the ground.

The red light ring on his body had become so faint that it was almost invisible.

He lowered his head, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, and he let out incoherent sobs.

"My...Aya...my...daughter..."

"……sorry……"

"……sorry……"

Purchasing agent Xiu En clapped his hands, announcing the end of the workday.

The remaining five Shuen clones and the sunflower also stopped emitting energy.

They nodded to each other, then transformed into streaks of light and entered their respective teleportation portals.

"Is that all?"

"Hal asked."

Xiu En retorted, "Otherwise what?"

"Do you really want to stay for a late-night snack? I have a really bad opinion of the restaurants here."

As he spoke, he walked toward Atositas.

He kept his head down, his wide black battle skirt covering his frail body. Only his high forehead and faintly visible outline still hinted at his former majesty.

He has now returned to being the social psychologist, husband, and father from Planet Lake.

Hal stared at the scene before him, unsure of what to say.

Should we celebrate the fall of this enemy?

Should we offer a belated moment of silence for this poor survivor?

Xiu En walked up to the throne and stopped.

a long time.

"Feed".

"I have something to ask you."

The figure kneeling on the ground raised its head.

"What do you want to ask? I have nothing left."

"My anger, my power, my people, everything I have, have been taken away by you."

"I want to know, where is the red-lighted beast, the embodiment of anger?"

"A lamp beast?"

He seemed to be recalling a word from an extremely distant past life.

He remained silent for a very long time, as if searching through his memories, which had long been burned to ruins by hatred.

I don't know whether to hate you or thank you.

A smile that looked more like a grimace appeared on his face.

"For the first time in billions of years, I can't feel that flame anymore."

"Without those sounds, my mind is very quiet."

"It was eerily quiet."

"I've almost forgotten my daughter's face. All I remember is how much I hate her, how much I'm angry."

He looked up, and clear tears, without any redness, streamed from his eyes.

"You are the one who put them to rest in peace."

"You reminded me of what they looked like again."

He tried to stand up, but failed because of his weakness.

He could only kneel there, facing Xiu En, the enemy who had taken everything from him, and slowly lower his head.

"Thank you."

After venting his emotions for a moment, Atositas seemed to have finally calmed down a bit.

"You're talking about the Blood Slaughter Cow."

He answered Xiu En's earlier question.

"The embodiment of wrath. A spirit of pure wrath that has existed since the beginning of the universe."

"But it always appears as a bull engulfed in flames. It represents the most primal violence, the most direct revenge. It was born the first time a creature raised its fist in protest against injustice."

A pained expression appeared on Atositas's face.

"When I received my first ring and became the first Red Lantern Demon, it found me. It sensed the hatred in my heart that was enough to destroy everything. It burrowed into my body and merged itself with my heart."

"What?!"

Hal screamed in surprise.

"It's inside your body?!"

"Yes."

"My anger became its sustenance. And its power became my weapon of revenge. We are symbiotic, yet also mutually imprisoned."

"That sea of ​​blood, those souls of the dead, are both my power and its prison. With their endless resentment, they lock this beast within my body, preventing it from escaping my control and wreaking havoc in the universe."

He looked at Xiu En, a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

"Now you've sent all those souls away."

"That cage has disappeared."

"It will wake up soon."

"Once it awakens and breaks free from my body, the first thing it will do is devour the entire planet Ismot and then rush into the universe, dragging everything it sees into an eternal sea of ​​furious blood."

It sounds like an incarnation of rage, even more terrifying than he was in his prime, is about to descend.

Xiu En extended his hand.

His finger gently touched Atositas's chest, the spot where he said his heart was fused with the Bloodslaughter Bull.

The golden halo of divine fire seeped in, and I began to sense the power contained within.

Even with just a cursory investigation, Xiu En's brows furrowed deeply.

He could feel a will coiled deep within his heart.

Although it has temporarily lost its external energy supply and fallen into silence, its inherent mass and destructive power have not diminished in the slightest.

What's more troublesome is that it has merged with Atositas's soul, flesh, and even every gene chain in an unimaginable way.

They have become one.

"Tsk, what a troublesome major operation."

Xiu En withdrew his finger.

Although this clone of his possessed most of the abilities of his original body with the help of the Ring Workshop, it was still just a projection with limited energy reserves.

It's like asking a food critic to cook a state banquet; they understand the theory, but their skills and equipment are lacking.

"However, since we've come all this way, we can't leave empty-handed."

Xiu En reached out his hand again.

This time, the newly formed tricolor ring on his middle finger shone brightly.

The yellow lightning bolt pattern on the ring, representing fear, lit up! It suppressed the restless, angry energy around Atositas's heart, bringing it to a temporary standstill.

Immediately afterwards, the green light thread representing will on the ring surged, cutting a wisp of red light source energy from the edge of that dormant core of anger!

Enveloped in golden solar power, the wisp of dark red light was slowly drawn from Atositas's chest.

Finally, Xiu En pressed the dark red thread of light onto the ring face!

This time, four completely different forces—red, yellow, green, and gold—began a new round of friction and struggle on the small ring face!

A brand new four-color spectrum ring is born!

"Done."

Xiuen admired his new toy with satisfaction.

He glanced at Atositas, who was lying on the ground, and scratched his head in a somewhat troubled manner.

"So, what should we do with this big guy?"

After much deliberation, Xiu En made the wisest, yet most irresponsible, decision.

He drew another portal.

This time, it leads to the central sanctuary in the Sunlit Realm of Ximu.

Then, he grabbed Atositas by one leg and threw him in.

"Hey! Real body! Ivy!"

He shouted into the portal.

"We've found a critically ill patient! He has a tumor in his heart. You'd better figure out what to do with him!"

After saying that, he immediately closed the portal, as if he had just thrown away a bag of kitchen waste.

After doing all that, he felt completely relaxed.

Excellent, a potential cosmic crisis has been successfully resolved.

perfect.

Hal walked up to Shuen, his eyes, hardened by immense grief, fixed on him.

"Xiu En".

"I'm going to find them."

"Who should I look for?"

"Guardians".

When Hal uttered the word, his fist clenched involuntarily.

"I want to ask them in person."

"What exactly happened in Sector 666? Are the mechanical hunters real? Did they hear the cries of those souls?!"

"I need an answer. Didn't you want to kill them? I'll go with you."

He looked at Xiu En with a look in his eyes that seemed to be seeking a kindred spirit.

"Oh?"

Xiu En raised an eyebrow, looking at Hal's tragic expression of going into battle and never returning, and a playful smile appeared on his face.

"Are you sure? Going to cause trouble for your own boss could result in a pay cut or even being fired. Without this green uniform, you won't be able to conjure up airplanes and shields anymore."

"I don't care!"

"Wearing this ring means turning a blind eye to such crimes and a deaf ear to the cries of millions of souls."

He raised his hand, the one with the ring on it.

"Then I'd rather not have it!"

"Well said!"

Xiu En's smile became incredibly bright. It seemed he was unaware that his ring had broken through the limit, but Xiu En didn't want to point it out directly.

"That's courage! I admire employees like you who dare to argue with the boss!"

He stepped forward and put his arm around Hal's shoulder again.

"So what if it's causing trouble? I love that!"

"Let's go! Mr. Guide! I've been wanting to get rid of those blue-skinned dwarves for ages! They're so stingy, they can't even afford a decent snack!"

"Let's go to their OA Star headquarters and have a proper talk with them!"

Hal hadn't even had time to react to Shuen's 180-degree change in attitude.

The golden portal that was giving him PTSD symptoms lit up again before his eyes.

This time, on the other side of the door.

It's OA Star, that's right.

"Oh, right."

Shuen suddenly turned around and asked Hal one last question.

"Did you know that our Ximu Realm is currently lacking a professional pilot and security captain? Are you interested?"

Hal: "..."