Thanks to LexCorp's ticulous planning, ‘Green Lantern's’ dramatic entrance and his powerful oath were heard loud and clear by everyone watching.
People everywhere were stirred by his commanding presence. Spirits lifted. Hope returned.
And what Reid gained from this wasn't just role-playing percentage.
The green light instantly transford into a massive barrier that blocked the cosmic storm, just as it was about to overwhelm Ben.
Not only that, the huge shield kept expanding. In monts, it ford a large sphere that safely contained all the storm’s energy.
Only then did Reed, inside the space station, rember that ‘Green Lantern’ had been silently protecting them all along.
Realizing this, he finally let out a deep breath.
Beside him, Johnny shot him a look, then scoffed.
"Useless."
He said it out loud, making no effort to hide the contempt in his voice. Reed turned to watch him walk away toward the storage controls, wanting to say sothing.
But in the end, he just lowered his head and stayed silent.
It was his fault. LexCorp had entrusted the entire experint's calculations to him. The accident happened because he got the math wrong. Then he panicked and lost his cool. If Johnny looked down on him, he had no choice but to accept it.
* * *
With the crisis over, viewers around the world also let out a collective sigh of relief. Even those waiting for LexCorp to fail had to admit things had been resolved.
Still, no one was giving up just yet. There had been no casualties—that was true.
But as long as they focused on the fact that an error occurred during a LexCorp-led experint, they still had a chance to steer public opinion.
The company might control most of Arica's industries, but so areas, like dia and public discourse, weren’t so easy to touch. Control over those still rested firmly in the hands of others.
* * *
Back on the space station, the defense system was deactivated. With ‘Green Lantern’s’ help, Johnny used the prebuilt storage unit to collect the cosmic storm's energy into a special containnt vessel.
"Next step is experintation," Reed muttered, watching the scene.
Was this what made Reed Richards who he was?
A short while ago, his best friend had nearly died. The man hadn’t even taken off his spacesuit completely. But now, seeing the cosmic storm secured, he had already thrown all that aside. His eyes lit up with excitent, ready to start experinting right there in the station.
"Don’t even think about it."
Just as Reed moved toward the containnt equipnt, Johnny stepped in to block him.
"This isn’t your personal lab. The storage unit’s headed back to LexCorp headquarters. And you are too. You’re going back to face brother-in-law and see how he plans to deal with you. Do you really not understand how badly you ssed up?"
Those words snapped Reed out of his excitent.
"I..."
He wanted to defend himself, but there was nothing he could say. Everyone else had done their part perfectly in the experint, except him.
With Johnny standing firm and ‘Green Lantern’ choosing not to intervene, Reed was never given the chance to handle the cosmic storm directly. In the end, the team returned to Earth under ‘Hal’s’ escort.
At the landing site, an ambulance was already waiting.
It had co for Ben. While it looked like ‘Green Lantern’ had shielded him from the cosmic storm completely, no one could be sure of his physical condition until a full check-up at the hospital.
The man lay down on the stretcher. But before being taken away, he reached out and grabbed his friend's hand.
"Reed, stay calm. This ti, it really was your fault. And this entire space mission was broadcast live. You have no room to argue. Just accept whatever LexCorp decides."
Reed gave a bitter smile at that.
He wasn't blind to the situation. Even if he didn’t know everything had been planned by Luthor in advance, he still understood what was coming. He would be abandoned by LexCorp, made the scapegoat for everything that had gone wrong.
However, he couldn't even protest. The mistake had been his. What truly hurt was the realization that he might never have another chance to chase his dreams.
After sothing like this, no one would ever invest in him again. Even governnt research grants would be completely out of reach.
* * *
After Ben was taken away, Reed was left completely alone.
The only option he could think of was to study the cosmic storm as soon as possible and try to make so progress to redeem himself. That way, even if LexCorp still ended up removing him, at least others might still see his value and be willing to sponsor his future projects.
But reality was far more brutal.
LexCorp had no intention of letting him continue any research on the cosmic storm. As the storage device containing the storm’s energy returned to Earth, it was imdiately transferred into the company’s most secure underground lab.
It was rumored that in the entire corporation, only Lex Luthor and his assistant, Reid Pennyworth, had access to that place.
Reed tried to be patient. He hoped that once they hit a wall in their research, they would co looking for him.
He believed that both n knew how capable he was. After all, he was the first one to discover the cosmic storm. If he joined the research, he could be a huge help.
But what he didn’t expect was how fast those behind-the-scenes forces who were watching LexCorp would act.
The very next day, major news outlets across the United States, and even around the world, began reporting on the incident.
Their tone was strikingly unified. With every article focusing on one thing: the heroic actions of 'Green Lantern.'
For every voice that praised him, there was another criticizing LexCorp for the mistake.
Even though the company's PR departnt quickly released a statent and had Reed publicly take responsibility, clarifying that all the experintal data had co solely from him and that it was not an internal failure on their part, the dia refused to let it go.
Using "lack of oversight" as the main argunt, they tried to drag the entire LexCorp empire down into the dust.
Public pressure only continued to build.
Outside of New York State, where LexCorp still maintained strong influence, people across other parts of the U.S. began to question the brand.
They hadn’t gone so far as to ditch the company’s high-end products for cheaper alternatives yet, but the seeds of doubt had already been planted. With that kind of uncertainty in the air, any plans for LexCorp to expand further would face serious resistance.
In the end, society is made up of people.
If LexCorp truly wanted to climb to the very top of Arican society and reshape the country itself, the support of the public was sothing they could never ignore.
Even soone like Luthor, if he ever hoped to beco president, had to care about what ordinary citizens thought.
And so, after holding out for a full week, on the sa day Ben was discharged from the hospital after a full recovery, LexCorp released another public statent.
They officially terminated Reed Richards' position as a researcher and announced that he would never be rehired.
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