Chapter 803: Chapter 759: Senagang Main Star
On the Senagang Main Star lies the homeland of the Winged Race; the wings of Hawkman and Hawk Woman originate here.
Under the illumination of the Double Star system that granted this planet Life, the colossal space construct encircling the world blazed with dazzling Golden Light.
Seen from the Cosmos, it looked like four golden pairs of wings large enough to blot out the sky, virtually cradling Senagang Star in their embrace.
This great Marvel in high orbit was forged entirely from N Metal; it was called the Raptor Skyvault and served as Senagang Star’s first line of defense.
Through the power of the metal and a special resonance, it allowed Senagang to safely coexist in different Phases with the surrounding Cosmos—that is, it caused Senagang to appear simultaneously in multiple locations in the Cosmos.
Whether you came from the Centaur Star System, the Andromeda Galaxy, or the distant Sirius Star System, as long as you flew toward "Senagang" in those systems, you would ultimately arrive at the same destination: the planet Senagang, located in the Ursa Minor Star System.
This was planet‑scale Phase Transfer technology, dating back to the ancient Origin era of the Cosmos.
The brightest Fixed Star in the Ursa Minor Star System at present was Polaris; people on Earth had many names for it, Western countries also called it "Senajiu," but most folks simply knew it as—Polaris.
In people’s understanding, Polaris was the guiding Light: whether at sea or camping in the wild, as long as you could see Polaris at night, you wouldn’t lose your way.
Unfortunately, the few people currently closest to Polaris were still utterly at a loss inside; that enormous white Fireball had not pointed out any path for them.
These few were the small team the Justice League sent to Senagang to seek the Truth of the Totality: Mars Hunter Ron, Hawk Woman Kendra, and the Black Man Green Lantern Hero John.
They had come here to search for Mars’s wisest "Steward." Ron had heard that after the Doom of Mars she had relocated here; she was Mars’s only surviving elder, who not only recorded all the history of the Mars People, but also knew the Dark secrets of the Cosmos.
However, after they arrived, the Hawkman Queen of Senagang informed them that the Steward had long since died, and that Senagang was powerless to help.
The Hawkman Queen was named Xiara Hall, a split-off body of the previous generation’s Hawk Woman; in a sense, she could be considered Kendra’s former life.
With their mission objective gone, the three‑person team originally intended to return to Earth, but Xiara persuaded them to stay.
The Queen said Senagang might have historical records concerning the Totality; however, all history here was inscribed on N Metal Alloy plates, which had to be manually searched in the Great Book Library.
That would take a great deal of time.
After arriving on Senagang, Ron’s Mind Reading Ability was almost completely ruined. Every building and decoration here, even the sky and the ground, and the equipment and helmets every person wore, were all made of N Metal.
He could not pierce these defenses to read other people’s thoughts; on the contrary, the resonance between N Metals meant that whenever he tried to use his Mind Ability he would hear a massive noise, suffering agony beyond bearing.
The Queen stated that while she arranged for people to search the records, the Justice League members could reside on Senagang for a time; in a few days it would be Senagang’s traditional "Dance of Alanti" festival, a planet‑wide carnival, and the Justice League must participate to demonstrate the sincerity of allies.
The other side was extremely enthusiastic, and the three had no way to refuse—especially John, that seasoned bachelor, who was so delighted at being surrounded by beautiful local women that he didn’t know where "north" was anymore.
So while Earth was being ravaged by floods, the three of them, knowing nothing about it, were still on Senagang, anxiously waiting for results.
In the last battle where Kendra snatched the Totality back from Luthor, her metal wings were severely damaged—but the instant she made contact with the Totality, it activated her wings and repaired them with N Metal.
So now the upper half of Hawk Woman’s wings was white, and the lower half golden, which looked very strange.
N Metal itself was black and also known as Dark Metal; turning it into gold was a forging technique unique to Senagang, the place of its origin.
Therefore, to explore the secret of her wings, Hawk Woman had joined Ron on this mission.
Yet after arriving here, despite the warm reception, she kept feeling that something was off.
Now the three of them were on the balcony outside their guest room, looking at the distant scenery. John still reeked of alcohol, a reddish flush showing beneath his Black skin.
He leaned his elbows on the balcony railing, staring at the distant golden architecture, with green trees and rivers interspersed among them, many people unfurling white wings as they flew overhead—a magnificent, dreamlike vista.
"They actually used metal to build so many great structures, and all of them defy the principles of physics." He pointed at a building in the distance shaped like an upside‑down Pyramid; he had no idea how something so massive at the top stayed stable on a single point. "I really want to talk to the engineers here—I have to build houses all the time myself."
He wasn’t exaggerating either: Alien baddies were always making trouble in Seaside City, and whenever Hal took action, collateral damage to the buildings was inevitable; parts of Seaside City had to be rebuilt every few days.
And the Green Lantern Corps was always treated as cheap labor, sent to build houses for Hal.
Kendra had no interest in this topic. If John spent as much time talking to engineers as he did flirting with Alien beauties, he might already have been able to go back to Earth and sit for the architect’s license exam. "Say whatever you like, John, but I think something’s wrong with this place."
Ron stood between the two of them; he always stood perfectly straight. There were no reflections in his red eyes, and no one knew what he was actually looking at.
But whenever he spoke, everyone would feel at ease, as if a spring breeze were blowing through their minds, calming them down:
"Tonight is the festival, and first thing tomorrow morning we head back to Earth. I’m really sorry for dragging everyone on a wild goose chase, especially when our home is still in the middle of a crisis."
Hawk Woman shook her head slightly. Her eyes were hidden beneath the triangular helmet, her brown skin exuding a wild, feral air. "It’s fine, Ron. Coming here was my decision too. It’s just a shame there’s been no progress regarding my wings."
John glanced at her wings and also straightened up a bit. As a Green Lantern Hero, his Willpower was plenty firm, but Sena Gang was an extremely special case.
As the core of multiple phases and a Cosmic Vault, none of the Lantern Groups were authorized to enter here. The only reason he’d gotten into Sena Gang this time was by cashing in on the Justice League name.
He was the first, and so far the only Lantern Ring possessor in history to enter Sena Gang, and he’d even been welcomed here like a hero.
He did suspect a bit that these people might have mixed him up with Hal, but Hal was his comrade and his bro; Hal probably wouldn’t mind, right? They were all Green Lanterns anyway.
"For your wings problem, you might as well go back and ask Batman. It’s obvious the people here aren’t going to figure anything out about your wings either." The Black Man said this.
Kendra forced a smile. There was no way she was going to admit she didn’t dare hand her wings over to Batman for research in the first place.
Hawk Woman and Hawkman were the same: their wings were fixed onto their backs with a harness and controlled through an N Metal belt, which allowed them to flap the wings and achieve Flight.
Without those wings, the two of them were nothing but pitiful souls doomed to reincarnate forever.
Bear in mind, across dozens of reincarnations, most of the time she and Hawkman had been husband and wife or lovers. But the moment their Flying Ability was disabled, Wanda Savage could kill them dozens of times over with ease; even if they attacked together, they weren’t his match.
What level was Wanda at? He was the kind of guy who got laid out by a single punch from Luthor, and then one more shot finished him off.
Not that Luthor couldn’t fight—baldy had actually had professional combat training—but no matter how professional he was, there was still a big gap between him and the world’s famous Martial Arts masters.
So those wings were Hawk Woman’s meal ticket. If she handed them over to Batman for research and he left some kind of backdoor in them, what then?
Given what she knew about Batman, this wasn’t a "what if" scenario; it was a certainty.
"I know my story is really complicated. You probably need a degree in Quantum physics just to follow along. But Xiara used to be Katahour’s wife, and Kata is one of Carter Hall’s incarnations. If that’s the case, then she should be one of my past lives. How is that possible? Past and present lives can’t appear at the same time."
Ron: "...."
Kendra continued, "The natural laws don’t hold here. This world is off. There’s something—something darker—powering Sena Gang’s operation...."
John looked down at his Lantern Ring. Since this place didn’t fall under the Green Lantern Corps’ jurisdiction, he had no authority to enforce the law here. So aside from Manifestation of a Green Lantern Uniform to give him some protection, and filling in as a translator, the ring was basically in power-limited mode.
Even if he forced it with Willpower, he could only squeeze out at most twenty percent of its strength.
"This whole planet is condensed out of N Metal. That’s not dark enough for you? My guess is, if you made it into a Warhammer head, you could probably smash Barbatos to Death in one hit." John said to Kendra. Her Weapon was a Morning Star Hammer.
Ron’s eyes were full of helplessness. Even if you could turn an entire planet into a Warhammer head, who could possibly lift a hammer that big?
He didn’t bother responding to John’s joke. Instead, he turned his attention to Kendra. Watching the slim woman turn to leave, he asked, "So what’s your take? In this dark era, we need the support of a planet’s leader. Are you planning to pry open her mouth and dig the secrets out?"
Kendra turned back to look at him and stopped walking. "Secrets cut both ways. Because of fear, I’ve been destroying or collecting N Metal on Earth all this time. But that goal I’ve been clinging to for over a thousand years, through countless reincarnations, was proven wrong the moment Barbatos descended."
"Even without N Metal, Barbatos would have found some other way into the Bright Multiverse." Ron said calmly. He knew that dark Giant God had left a psychological scar on a lot of people.
In this life, Hawkman and Hawk Woman weren’t lovers, and back then Kendra’s Blackhawk Squadron had even been serving Wanda’s Eternal Council. But both Carter and she had been controlled by Darkness. No one knew what kind of grand "Marvel" Barbatos had shown them.
"But it was a few metals, including N Metal, that turned Batman into a Door." Kendra shook her head. That wasn’t what she meant.
Seeing the topic veer back into serious territory, John chimed in with a bit of comfort: "The N Metal on Earth is scattered all over the world. You could never collect all the N Metal."
"Exactly. Using finite Life to collect something Infinite—how is that not ridiculous? Especially when I’ve repeated this mistake through dozens of reincarnations, only to find out it was all meaningless."
A smile appeared on Ron’s green face, giving him a somewhat odd expression. He wasn’t good at speaking, and he wasn’t good at showing emotions either:
"It wasn’t pointless. It’s a precious part of what you’ve lived through... I’m also searching for my own Truth. I know not every secret should be known to everyone. It’s just that because everyone trusts me, I want to be someone worthy of that trust."
"Uh, sure, we’re a team. Of course I trust you." Kendra turned and walked away, waving the sharp, claw-like glove on her hand. "Maybe I’m just too dumb, always needing to get to the bottom of everything. Whatever. We’ve still got a party to attend tonight. I hope you guys brought formal wear."
