Before he could even process his confusion, Victor disappeared into space, obviously, he had entered the Tower of Heaven too.
"There might be some trouble because perhaps, the Purple Lantern Ring, which represents 'love', only accepts females..." Shiller said to Victor.
"What is this based on? The human soul? So, if my inner self is a female…"
"Enough. Just treat yourself as a transgender and it would definitely have no choice but to come!"
Shortly after, an ancient voice came:
"Fear and confusion bind two hearts,
On darkest nights, uneasy are the parts,
Touch of a finger changes thy face,
In lonesome love, the purple light embrace!"
"Sentient being identified, Victor Fries from Earth, your heart harbors deep love, welcome to join the Star Sapphire!"
Not long afterwards, Victor, bathed in a purple glow, appeared in the consciousness space. He exchanged a glance with Gordon, then they both looked at Hal beside them.
Soon after, Alberto disappeared and then, a resonant voice filled with fury arose:
"With fiery hot blood, scarlet rage springs,
Taken from cold corpses, death it brings,
Deep-rooted hatred seethes in hearts,
Upon you, the journey to the underworld starts!"
"Sentient being identified, Alberto Falcone from Earth, your heart is surged with boundless fury, you belong to the Red Lantern Corps!"
By the time Alberto, aglow with red light, emerged, everyone had gotten accustomed to seeing the blue, green and purple.
The last one to be called in was Cobblepot. He felt as if he was being called into the principal's office. After he went in, Shiller explained to him the principle of attracting a Lantern ring, then added: "I think the orange lantern is very suitable for you, as it represents greed."
"Greed? Greed for what?"
"That's up to you." Shiller stared into Cobblepot's eyes and said: "Don't you want to obtain infinite... power?"
Two minutes later, Cobblepot, wrapped in an orange glow, came out. At this point, aside from Batman, everyone was enveloped in a colorful radiance.
Looking at the other lamp heroes of various colors in front of him, Hal finally understood what Shiller meant by "Is there only one Lamp Hero on Earth?".
Indeed, there was more than one lamp hero on Earth...
There were a total of five lamp heroes here!!!!!!
"Enough looking, let's get to work."
In an instant, the colorful figures charged towards the Fear Joker.
The power of those supplemented by the lantern rings became greater, and more importantly, they could use the emotional power of the lantern rings to attack the Fear Joker. This was crucial since in the dream, emotions were still a very potent force.
Batman, who lacked the power of a Lantern ring, did not fall behind at all. One reason was because this was his consciousness space, and another was because his willpower was enough to surpass all emotions.
Suddenly, Batman stopped his movements, his voice echoed in everyone's ears: "Stop."
Everyone else was a bit puzzled, but they all halted their actions. They floated in mid-air. Looking at the monster in the center, Batman squinted his eyes and said: "The egg is starting to move, it seems like it wants to hatch…"
"Hatch?"
Everyone looked at the large monster's head, and at some point, ghastly blood vessels emerged on the gray egg, which looked as if it was on the verge of exploding. The monster's terrifyingly wide grin became even more grotesque, with traces of blood trickling down from the corner of its mouth, making its whole head appear increasingly horrifying.
"It's been absorbing all the dark tides." Batman muttered in a deep voice: "That is a power I cannot control, but it seems like it can serve as its nourishment."
"We cannot let it hatch!"
Hal said: "That mysterious person who brought me into the dream told me, if he appears, the entire Lantern Corps would be destroyed! Even if what he said was somewhat exaggerated, we can't let this terrifying monster escape…"
"I am aware of that, even more than you are."
With that, Batman's figure appeared above the monster. He tried to touch the egg, but was swung away by the Cosmic Entity's long tail. Hal declared, "It may already have control of the Cosmic Entity, we must stop it! Hurry!"
The several people who had gained the power of the lantern ring never stopped bombarding the monster, but the Cosmic Entity under the Laughing Egg's control, was not only powerful, but also very cautious. All its actions were to protect its own head.
Without the situation of a three-way stalemate, the Laughing Egg and the Cosmic Entity combined into one. The truly terrifying side of the monster emerged. Endless fear rose in people's hearts, wave after wave of dark tide washed over, and a large portion of these tides were being absorbed by the egg.
A faint "cracking" sound rang out. Several cracks appeared at the top of the Laughing Egg, and then spread into patterns resembling tree branches. When the eggshell had cracked to such a point, everyone understood that its hatching was now irreversible.
An oppressive tension rose in Batman's heart, as his intuition triggered an alarm. He nearly couldn't move and could only stand there watching the egg crack open, as if time was frozen.
In that very moment, the shell broke and a pale, skinny hand reached out from inside the egg.
No sound, no motion, yet, from the silence everyone heard the most hysterical laughter: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
However, what followed was not the expected monster breaking out of its shell, but instead, a familiar, yet indifferent voice.
"Stop laughing, it's too grating."
Suddenly, the colorful gleam pulsating on everyone's body shuddered for a moment. A heavy gray mist enveloped them, and the colorful glow was pulled out of everyone, kneaded into the endless gray mist.
The extremely discordant spectrums of colours continuously struggled in the gray mist, flipping the world upside down. There was conflict, explosions, friction, shattering, and merging...
Eventually, a multitude of colours mixed together in the gray mist floating in midair. They weren't black, nor were they white, but a chaotic gray.
In the endless silence, suddenly, the gray mist began to solidify, gradually forming a spherical lantern furnace.
A proud dragon's roar sounded, and the head of a giant dragon emerged from the mist, followed by its neck covered in scales, and its wings. An enormous dragon, composed of gray mist, flew out from the gray lantern furnace that was radiating energy.
A profound, ancient voice traveled from the horizon:
"Gray in abundance, mist vast and wide,
Reality's gone, where do dreams reside?
Column of thought, hall of the heart,
Thousands of stars shine, myriad lights start!"
"Sentient being identified, from…"
"Forget it, the rest is too long, in short——"
"Batman, continue."