General Lane inflated the actual ten million deployed troops several times over. Before the cameras, he claimed Earth had assembled fifty million regular forces, vowing to defend democracy and freedom to the death. Of course, if ordinary citizens wanted to enlist, that would be even better!
"Where will the battlefield be located? Will it destroy our cities? Will it cause massive civilian casualties?" A reporter asked a question on everyone's mind. Civilians had been traumatized by the previous two Metropolis battles.
Heroes and enemies flying wildly through the sky, east and west without pattern. Civilians could only flee blindly on the ground like headless chickens.
Good luck meant survival. Bad luck meant getting killed by a random piece of debris from who-knows-where! Having that experience twice was enough for bragging rights—please, no third time!
The speakers had coordinated their talking points beforehand. They couldn't mention using magic to create a new continent—that was too fantastical. General Lane used scientific terminology and vaguely stated, "It's a newly discovered landmass."
The general wasn't handling Q&A. After droning through descriptions of military strength—how many troops, warships, and mechs they had—his message boiled down to: Yes, the enemy is brutal, but we're no pushovers either.
The remaining time went to Cat Grant, the media powerhouse famous for her sharp tongue as the new Press Secretary.
Initially, she wasn't quite comfortable with the role and left some reporters wanting to bang their heads against walls.
She soon moderated somewhat, though she still verbally eviscerated several troublemakers who tried derailing the discussion.
After a full morning of chaos, reporters rushed off without even staying for the White House lunch, hurrying to file their stories.
By 3 PM, through various media channels, conservatively speaking, over half the global population had learned the news.
Disbelief, doubt, fear, and panic began spreading through the masses.
Several superheroes cooperated with police to crack down hard on criminals disrupting public order.
Bad news abounded, but there was good news too. Massive numbers of veterans, responding to Moira's call to defend homes and families, returned to military service. Countless passionate young people flooded recruitment centers in the streets.
While Thea worked diligently to absorb old Shazam's divine power and occasionally contemplated that strand of Primal Shadow from Earth-2, current Hollywood queen Felicity launched Avengers: Assemble.
All-star cast. High investment, high efficiency production team. Global simultaneous release.
People already wound tight with tension finally relaxed. Many watched it repeatedly—there was nothing else to watch anyway. Theater owners, terrified of tax audits, figured if everyone else was screening it, they might as well too. Miraculously, instead of going bankrupt as expected, their losses were manageable. Some theaters even showed 20% higher profits than the previous period.
The lead actors were worked like pack mules, dragged around the world by Felicity for promotional tours.
Facing reporters' overwhelming questions, they deployed their acting skills masterfully. Looking righteous and fully on-message, they declared: We will absolutely win. We're completely confident!
Whether Avengers awakened civilian unity, Thea and the heroes didn't know. But public morale definitely improved. This isn't a movie world—we have real superheroes!
Not actors. Not special effects. Not CGI. Real, living superheroes who could fly, run, and shoot lasers from their eyes. With these people at the front lines, rational thinking returned to the masses.
People's emotions roller-coastered, plummeting to the depths before slowly climbing back, eventually surpassing original levels. This relieved government officials—after all, they couldn't exactly send pot-bellied legislators to the front with assault rifles. Soldiers came from ordinary people, so their emotional stability mattered most.
Time passed. Amid feverish weapons preparation, supply transportation, and forward base construction on the new continent, a month flew by.
Hal Jordan arrived on Earth, bringing his rotund companion and his pet along. With him came Carol Ferris of the Violet Lantern Corps. The former aviation company executive wore a deep-V purple battle suit, with elbows and shins fully covered but thighs and shoulders exposed.
Thea wrinkled her nose in distaste. That outfit rivals the Indigo Tribe's uniform! Violet Lanterns symbolizing love were certainly passionate enough.
Honestly, Hal Jordan's personality was rather flamboyant, especially now that he was the "Greatest Green Lantern." Introducing him at a hero meeting risked them coming to blows.
For the upcoming battle, Thea needed to directly confront Darkseid and couldn't spare energy for command. The other superheroes would also have their hands full. They'd deliberately or inadvertently left command duties to Batman.
After all, he was just an ordinary person. Using his one hundred twenty-seven martial arts styles, he could probably kill a grunt with some effort, but that was his limit...
Better to keep this big shot in the rear providing ideas and strategies.
Thea now introduced Hal Jordan to him. They'd actually met years ago during the Parallax fight, but so much time had passed that another introduction didn't hurt.
After finishing, she stepped back to watch the fireworks.
Sure enough, as the current "Greatest Green Lantern," Hal Jordan was extremely proud. Hearing he'd need to cooperate with Batman, he immediately exploded.
After years alone in space, his perspective and vision had transformed completely. Hal Jordan looked Batman over with an assessing gaze. "So what exactly can you do? Can you fly?"
"No."
"Super strength?"
"No."
Hal Jordan looked utterly incredulous, glancing at Thea. "You're not just some ordinary guy in a bat costume, are you?"
Batman's face remained stony, his gaze seemingly capable of firing Omega Beams as he stared Hal down.
The Greatest Green Lantern stood confused, wondering why Batman looked so fierce, when suddenly the green glow around him vanished. His transformation was cancelled.
And his emerald ring had ended up in Batman's hand. Bruce actually smiled. "I can help you focus."
Seeing Hal get schooled, Carol Ferris—his ex-girlfriend and current friend with benefits—laughed heartily.
Batman examined the ring briefly before tossing it back. "The enemy's vanguard is infiltrating more aggressively. I need you and your companions to join the hunt. After that..."
Batman picked up a rectangular Mother Box. "We need to concentrate these devices together so the enemy appears on our predetermined battlefield."
After dismissing the self-sufficient Hal Jordan, Batman sighed. With Thea busy enhancing her own power, he had to coordinate everything. It was exhausting.
"Hang in there a bit longer. We have at most one more month." Thea was racing against time converting divine power and really couldn't manage trivial matters.
Not just her—Diana and Superman were also seizing every second to train.
With the three of them working together, even without Highfather's help, she was confident of taking down Darkseid's avatar. If the Dark Lord's true form showed up? Sorry, Miss Queen would be leading the retreat.
Time seemed to pass both quickly and slowly. Two weeks later, Blue Lantern leader Saint Walker arrived on Earth with Mogo the Living Planet.
To transport Mogo to the new continent, Thea recruited three hundred Indigo Lanterns. Using her teleportation array, they barely managed to relocate Mogo.
The Indigo Tribe, led by Indigo-1, established a base locally. The only disappointment was that the First Born hadn't answered her summons. Otherwise, the coalition would have gained a major powerhouse.
As for Yellow Lanterns, she selected five hundred whose appearances weren't too terrifying, led by Arkillo to Earth.
Green, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, Violet—regardless of numbers, they'd finally assembled.
Even with Thea deliberately suppressing tensions, Hal Jordan and the Yellow Lanterns nearly came to blows. Given this, they could only appoint the apparently neutral Saint Walker—who actually revered Thea like a deity—as overall Lantern commander.
Blue Lanterns ranked first in difficulty of acquisition among the seven corps. With Blue Lanterns present, they could greatly amplify nearby Green Lanterns and bolster others. Excluding White and Black, Blue Lanterns were among the most powerful—especially when paired with Green.