He gently placed his hand on Soren's cheek, and just as his palm was about to touch the pale skin, the colors around him suddenly dimmed.
The vibrant hues of the surroundings were stripped away, leaving only a gray and black-and-white palette.
The black-and-white tones consumed the entire world, with streets, buildings, and crowds fading away.
The lines of physical objects swirled away like mist, and even he himself began to turn gray.
Superman lowered his hand.
He slowly turned around to face Kon-El, that was come out from the gray-black void.
In this black-and-white world, only Kong Kenan r Kent's red combat suit remained vividly bright, almost blinding.
This was Kong Kenan's Yin Space.
In this space, everything that was real had become its opposite.
There was no sunlight, no substance, only eternal black and white, and the endless transformation of pure yin into pure yang.
Kong Kenan intended to use this space to trap Superman and buy time for Soren and the others outside to retreat.
"You can't take him."
Kong Kenan faced his far stronger opponent with calmness and fearlessness, his black eyes serene like an ancient well.
Superman stared at him coldly, remaining composed, and asked, "Do you think you can stop me?"
Kong Kenan sneered and smirked, "You're too arrogant, Kryptonian. Haven't you heard of a saying in my country? It goes, 'An overconfident army is bound to be defeated!'"
Before his words had fully left his mouth, he shot forward like lightning, charging at Superman.
They were engaged in a fierce battle within Kong Kenan's yin space, but outside this overlapping dimension, Soren had just tried to push Peter away, intending for Peter to retreat first, when his tactical mask suddenly vanished.
The fallen tactical mask landed at his feet.
He glanced down, his temples pounding.
He knew something had just happened.
His hand touched Peter's shoulder. "Go find Whitney and get back to the base!"
He whispered quickly into Peter's ear, while his other hand pressed on the comms Bluetooth, calling for Kong Kenan but receiving no response from the black-haired youth.
Among all possible scenarios, the one he least wanted to face turned out to be the most likely truth.
He clenched his fist, his heart racing so fast it felt like it might burst from his chest.
He turned around to look at the street; most of the crowd had already disappeared.
He knew this was thanks to the Flash, but they couldn't let the Flash discover—
At that moment, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him.
Before he could say the word "run" to Peter, he and Peter were already standing on a mountainside several blocks away!
The sensation of moving at speeds exceeding the third cosmic velocity was unpleasant; his stomach churned violently, nearly making him vomit.
He quickly steadied himself and Peter.
Peter also looked unwell but seemed to handle it better, his spider-mutated body giving him more resilience than Soren.
He furrowed his brow and peered over Soren's shoulder at the youth behind them.
—The Flash, Barry Allen, in his red lightning suit made of silicone quartz material.
Soren turned around and saw the Flash.
"Barry?" He looked at the figure with surprise and wariness.
Unsure of the Flash's allegiance, he tensed up, slightly shifting his stance and preparing to deploy his energy shield at any moment.
Barry stood not far from them, his eyes darting nervously back and forth, showing clear hesitation.
He bit his lip and made a shooing gesture towards them. "It's far from here. You— you should hurry and be careful not to get spotted by him."
Soren stopped Peter from launching his web and turned to Barry. "Why are you helping us?"
He asked, looking directly into Barry's eyes.
When he had first returned to Earth, he had encountered Barry at the Justice League headquarters.
At that time, Barry had always shown complete trust in Clark, believing that everything Clark did was right and effective because Clark was the leader of the Justice League.
Therefore, Barry had steadfastly chosen to support Clark in pursuing the resistance and suppressing the uprising.
…But why was Barry helping them now?
Barry's gaze flitted between Soren and Peter, a hint of regret in his eyes.
"Hal's wearing the Yellow Lantern ring," Barry said hesitantly. "He abandoned his Green Lantern ring and chose to ally with Sinestro. This isn't right… He shouldn't be like this. I don't know how to make him take off the Yellow Lantern. That ring is consuming him; he's becoming more and more brutal and cold every day. If he were still the Hal Jordan he used to be, he'd hate who he's become now. I think… B might have a way to help him find himself again. I hope you can help him."
—At the same time, the roar of aircraft engines echoed overhead.
Whitney had noticed their GPS location change and was now flying the fighter jet up the mountain.
Soren stared at Barry and nodded gravely. "Understood. I'll inform B. Thanks for your help, Barry. Our teammate has arrived; you should get back before you draw any more suspicion."
Barry glanced at him and muttered a "Take care" before vanishing from their sight.
The fighter jet, known as the Andean Condor, was approaching them from a distance.
Whitney's voice crackled through the Bluetooth headset. "Damn it, how did your location change so quickly? Get on board now! Where's Kong Kenan?! Tell him to catch up with me!"
The jet lowered its landing ladder, and Peter shot a web to quickly scale the jet's canopy.
However, he waited and waited for Soren to board, but Soren was still on the ground.
Soren stood on the ground, looking up at the fighter jet hovering above.
Suddenly, he took a small step back.
"You all retreat first. I'm going to rescue Kong Kenan," Soren said into the comms.
"What? No, you can't!" Peter shouted.
He fired a web at Soren, trying to pull him up, but Soren rolled out of the way and avoided the web, then burst forth with a dazzling array of light from his back.