Oa.
Hal had been training with Sinestro for several days now.
Before he began his betrayal of the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro was always a charismatic individual.
His training methods for new recruits were highly militaristic, and Hal, having served in the military himself, adapted well.
Most importantly, Sinestro wasn't like his Officer on Earth, who was incompetent, bossy, and liked to suppress his subordinates.
On the contrary, Sinestro was eager to guide Hal on how to more flexibly use the various abilities of the lantern ring.
Dane's training methods were, after all, unconventional; from a more formal perspective, Sinestro's approach was far more effective.
Furthermore, Sinestro was much stronger than Hal in his use of the lantern ring; in both the application of abilities and the intensity of his willpower, he consistently surpassed Hal.
This made Hal deeply respect his abilities and ignited a strong competitive spirit within him; he wanted to become stronger than Sinestro to repay him for his tutelage.
Sinestro, too, admired Hal's perseverance, especially as he trained him, he discovered that this Earthling possessed immense potential.
His ability to use the lantern ring improved faster than anyone from other Planets.
With both admiring each other, a feeling of mutual appreciation quickly developed.
Finally, one day, Sinestro decided to test Hal, to see if there was a 25% chance of bringing him into his own camp.
It wasn't that he was in a hurry; it was because the Weapon Master on Qward had already sent word.
The new weapon he wanted was almost finished!
After training that day, Sinestro didn't leave immediately as usual, but waited for Hal.
"Are you waiting for me?"
Hal calmed the surging blood in his body from the training and looked at Sinestro with a puzzled expression.
"That's right. I think it's time, Hal. Would you like to visit my Planet?"
"Huh? What does 'go to your home' mean?"
Hal's features scrunched together, his face clearly expressing rejection.
"Is same-sex dating very popular in the Universe?"
Fortunately, Sinestro couldn't hear his thoughts, otherwise Hal would have been in for a beating.
Sinestro sighed, saying, "What I've taught you recently is just how to become a warrior."
"But to become a true Guardian of order, merely having these is not enough."
He proudly told Hal:
"My home Planet is within the sector I oversee, and it is recognized as one of the most peaceful and orderly Planets in all sectors, if not the most!"
Hal was very curious upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but ask, "What about the crime rate?"
"The crime rate is almost non-existent!" Sinestro declared emphatically.
Hal became even more curious. The Universe truly held many wonders; there was actually a Planet with no criminals at all.
Could the experience of this Planet be replicated on his own home Planet?
To turn Earth into a paradise free of evil?
Hal was tempted.
Sinestro noticed this and struck while the iron was hot.
"Hal, don't you want to see what true peace looks like?"
"I can absolutely impart this experience to you. Believe me, this experience can be seamlessly replicated on all civilized Planets!"
Hal was persuaded. He nodded, "If such a paradise truly exists, I want to see it."
"If there's truly a way to eliminate evil, I'm willing to learn."
"Excellent. Then, without further ado, let's depart now!"
"Now?" Hal asked, surprised.
"Seriously, are we in such a rush?"
"The Green Lantern's style is to act decisively! There can be no slack in the path of maintaining order!"
Hal shrugged helplessly. Anyway, he didn't have any friends on Oa, so he might as well go.
Sinestro's home Planet was Korugar, located in Sector 1417.
From space, it was a beautiful Planet, and Hal had entered it with great expectations.
But when he truly saw the living conditions of the Korugar citizens, his good impression of Sinestro instantly did a complete 180-degree turn.
All the Korugar citizens cowered in fear upon seeing Sinestro, bowing their heads to him in dread.
"Why are they bowing to us?" Hal asked him, puzzled.
"Because we are the ones who maintain order, and therefore, we deserve respect."
Hal reluctantly accepted his explanation.
He wanted to tell those people not to bow, but they ran away in terror.
The lantern ring had an automatic translation function, so Hal could understand what they were saying.
"He is his man! They are together!"
Everyone immediately scattered upon hearing this; no one dared to approach Hal.
This made him even more suspicious of Sinestro's words.
He toured the Planet with questions in his mind.
Sinestro seemed to have some official duties; his status on this Planet was very high, and everyone... feared him.
Hal could feel this.
If the people of a ruler fear him more than they respect him, then there must be something wrong with him.
Hal decided to get to the bottom of this.
So he disguised himself and mingled with the people of this Planet.
However, the true living conditions of the Korugar citizens greatly shocked him.
From the Korugar citizens, he learned that Sinestro was the true ruler of this Planet.
He was the one who established all the laws here.
He forcefully demanded that all Korugar citizens abide by his laws, without the slightest deviation.
And his identity as a Green Lantern gave him natural authority; he represented the most "righteous" one in this sector!
Helplessly, everyone could only live by Sinestro's rules.
Even a slight violation of a commandment would inevitably lead to severe punishment.
Hal personally witnessed a poor citizen who, for taking a little extra free ration, was arrested by the enforcement team and subjected to a whipping.
By the time he emerged from the execution ground, he was already half-dead.
This wasn't Utopia; this was dictatorship! It was tyranny!
It was a mountain that Sinestro had imposed on all Korugar citizens!
Hal was furious; he felt he had been deceived.
Returning to the administrative building, he and Sinestro had a heated argument.
"What have you done on this Planet?! This isn't peace! It's not justice! This is dictatorship!"
"It's undeniable evil!"
Upon hearing this, Sinestro angrily grabbed Hal by the neck, lifting him high.
"What do you know? This is what order ultimately looks like! Treating everyone equally is absolute fairness!"
"Fairness? You've enslaved your own people, and you call that fairness?"
Sinestro sneered:
"Why do you think Korugar has no criminals? If I weren't monitoring everyone on this Planet, they would be like the scum of other Planets, constantly committing crimes to seize a tiny bit of resources."
"And Green Lanterns would have to be like garbage collectors, constantly sweeping away this trash."
"But I'm tired of it. Why can we only be cleaners?"
"Why can't we be more thorough and solve the problem of criminals at its source?"
"This is the answer you found?" Hal looked at him in disbelief.
"To be a tyrannical dictator, making everyone obey your rules?"
Sinestro was unmoved; "Everyone must obey the rules, 250 Hal, even you and I."
"Rules, when properly utilized, become the best weapon for maintaining order. This is what I learned from the Guardians of Oa."
"It's just that I'm a bit bolder than them; I've gone a step further. Look!"
He lifted Hal out the window, letting him look at the lifeless yet orderly pedestrians and vehicles outside.
"This is the answer. Everyone plays their role in society, and everyone only needs to do that role well."
"Isn't such a society stable enough? Isn't this state ideal enough?"
Hal struggled to look back, wanting to face Sinestro.
"But what about... the citizens' free will?"
"What if someone doesn't want to play the role others have arranged for him? What if he wants to pursue the role he desires?"
Sinestro said coldly, "All who might disrupt order must be punished. Free will is sometimes not a good thing."
If Dane were present at this moment, he would probably understand Sinestro's meaning.
However, he would also oppose Sinestro's methods; they were too crude.
The Korugar before them appeared orderly, but in reality, it was merely temporarily suppressing social pressure, and there would always be a day when it would rebound.
In Dane's view, when dealing with social problems, one should neither be too left nor too right.
Sometimes, one had to be "two-faced."
This World, or rather, this entire Universe, as long as sentient life still possessed free will,
would lead to factional divisions due to differing opinions. In such circumstances, a perfectly absolute system could not exist.
Sinestro might not have realized that, although their directions differed, he and Hal were both idealists.
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