The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4144 When the Pumpkin Ripens (26)

Chapter 4144 When the Pumpkins Ripen (Twenty-Six)

Pride and greed led Sivana back to his house, where he remained completely bewildered. He couldn't grasp the logic behind what had happened.

He knew he couldn't hide it from the professor, so he had no choice but to tell the truth. It was impossible for him to have no ulterior motives. Perhaps it was influenced by his childhood experiences, or perhaps being the headmaster of this magic school wasn't easy; in any case, he was indeed somewhat lacking in power. Given the opportunity, he would certainly want to keep the things for himself.

He wasn't actually looking for a jamming device, but because the kidnapper claimed they had one—meaning it could fool Brainiac—he decided to give it a try. What if he happened to find a powerful tool in Brainiac's blind spot? Then it would be his!

However, he hadn't expected someone to be faster. The item had already been found and even handed over to Brainiac. There was no way Brainiac would let him get his hands on it. Since there was no hope, he simply stopped hiding it and told the truth.

Unexpectedly, Schiller seemed quite supportive of him obtaining the device. However, in Sivana's view, Schiller should side with Brainiac. Based on his understanding of Schiller, the latter was clearly a leftist, and would certainly believe that collaborative research by human scientists would be better.

After he shared his thoughts, Greed shook his head and said, "For something like this, we need to study it and utilize it. But at this stage, utilization is more important than research. Because the alien civilization that created this thing isn't dead yet. Who knows if they might suddenly remember it one day and search Earth under the pretext of losing something?"

"...Really?" Sivana asked, sounding more worried. "Since they threw it onto Earth, it probably isn't that important, right?"

Greed shook his head and said, "Based on the information we currently have, besides its creator, there is another person eyeing it covetously. These two alien civilizations once fought a great war in the universe, causing a sudden increase in dark matter throughout the universe, ushering in the Dark Ages."

"Hiss..." Shivana gasped.

“Since you can sense this special power, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to utilize it. I would suggest to Brainiac…”

“Wait a minute,” Shivana said, extending a hand. “It’s not that I’m unwilling to take on this responsibility, but without having access to the product, I can’t make any guarantees that I can use it. If you have any big plans for this, it’s best to stop now.”

"Is that so?" Greed seemed somewhat disappointed. He said, "What a pity. There are very few magicians on Earth with this level of skill and such a sense of responsibility. Most people can't be relied upon. It seems we'll have to keep looking."

“I can try,” Shivana said, “but you must let me see the thing first. I don’t need to touch it; I can determine what kind of power it is and whether I can use it by examining its power fluctuations.”

“That works too,” Greed nodded. “Brainiac should have sent this to Wayne Manor’s lab. I’ll contact him for you, and you can go check it out later.”

Sivana left quickly. Greed, while processing the fish, remarked, "Having a neighbor like that must be a real headache."

"Not bad. I reckon it won't be long before Brainiac draws up a nature reserve for him too."

They were busy in the kitchen, preparing various dishes. Before they knew it, it was afternoon. And those who claimed to have arrived early and might be eaten still arrived early, despite their insincere words.

"Hey professor, is there anything I can help you with?" Jason was the first to squeeze through the door and call out to the kitchen, "I brought some scallops and crabs that I just bought from the fishing boat. They'll taste great steamed. Is no one here allergic to seafood?"

“Don’t block the doorway,” another voice came from behind Jason. Tim poked his head in and said, “We went shopping together. I also bought the newest flavor of sparkling water.”

Jason stepped aside, and Tim squeezed in as well. Arrogance emerged from the kitchen and asked, "Are you done with your work?"

“Yes, and it’s completely finished,” Tim said, sounding pleased. “Drake Industries has entered full automation.”

"Wayne Group?"

“I’m completely done for.” Tim stretched and said, “I can take a long vacation now. I’m planning to go on a trip to Europe.”

“Don’t go now,” Jason said. “Things are a bit unsettled in Europe. There were massive flight delays when I came back.”

"Not peaceful? With Brainiac around, where isn't peaceful?"

"Have you forgotten about the child abduction case I told you about?"

"You mean this is one thing?" Tim squinted. "The child abduction cases that broke out on the East Coast of the United States are related to the current situation in Europe... It really is organized crime. I just didn't expect that such a global criminal group could exist under Brainiac's close surveillance."

"This proves that their technological level is superior to or comparable to Brainiac's, which basically confirms that they have had contact with extraterrestrial civilizations," Jason said.

"Who could it be? Darkseid? The Guardian of the Universe? Or some other strange being?"

“There are no leads yet, but it should be soon,” Jason said. “After the dinner tonight, Barry should go to the East Side to search the area around the house under the guise of checking the ice. Once we find the passage, we’ll find their meeting place. Then we can catch them red-handed and get all the information out of them.”

Tim shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. I don't think this organization originated in Gotham. This may just be one of their strongholds, and the leader may be someone else."

"Why do you say that?" Jason asked, somewhat puzzled. It's understandable that he had doubts; Gotham has always been a melting pot of monsters and demons. If something happens here, no one usually suspects it's the work of outsiders. Gotham's heroes are as numerous as fish in a river, and outsiders generally don't have much room to cause trouble.

“It’s precisely because child abductions happen in Gotham that this kind of thing isn’t done by locals,” Tim said, shaking his head. “Whether they need the children to do something, brainwash them into committing crimes, or offer them up to some evil god, Gotham is not a good choice. Aren’t there enough tragic cases already?”

Jason opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. After all, he came from that era, and was the leader of a kid gang. Didn't he know what kind of people those kids in Gotham were?

"But that era is over."

"If you were taking such a big risk, kidnapping children right under Brainiac's nose and making them do something, would you be so careless in choosing your targets? Any mishap would have meant total failure. And it turned out that this choice was unwise."

“That’s true,” Jason said after thinking for a moment. “Although the children may not be the same group of children, the police and criminals are the same group. Kidnapping children under their protection and interference is indeed more difficult than in other cities. There are plenty of children in other cities, so there’s no need to come here.”

“Or maybe they have a reason to come here?” Jason added. “For example, they might think that Gotham is a place of outstanding people and that the children here are more suitable for sacrifice or something.”

“That’s possible,” Tim nodded, “but there’s still a question: after they captured the people, they didn’t take any immediate action. If it was for a sacrifice, wouldn’t it have been simpler to just take them there? Why lock them up in a house? They could stay in this community for so long without being discovered, so they could do the same anywhere else. The longer it goes on, the more things could go wrong.”

"You mean, they want these children not as disposable resources, but to educate and nurture them?"

“I guess so, otherwise there would be no need to set up a base,” Tim nodded and said. “And they’re not just staying here for a day or two, judging by the looks of it, it’ll probably be a year or two. You can’t say that the children here in Gotham are better educated than those in other cities, can you?”

Jason waved his hand. Didn't he know? Even though the city was less polluted now, and Bruce had stopped being Batman and seemed to have broken the curse, this city still had its tricks up its sleeve. The chances of finding clever kids and child prodigies here were far greater than in other cities.

If you're a Gotham local, whether you're from the upper class or the lower class, you're well aware of this situation. The upper class can look at the education data and know that the schools here are teeming with lunatics; the lower class, with just common sense, knows that in a city like this, kids can form gangs in droves and even firmly occupy a niche in the lower class's social structure—none of them are easy to mess with.

If the intention is to cultivate or even manipulate a child, then choosing Gotham is a grave mistake. Not to mention his desire to cultivate him within Gotham itself. Anyone who dares to harbor such thoughts will suffer a terrible lesson; just look at Schiller, family members.

While children are indeed more malleable than college students, college students often include people from other regions, while children are purely local. If he could handle that, he wouldn't have needed to resort to such a low-level method as kidnapping.

"If he's from out of town, where is he from?"

“Metropolis,” Tim said, “This guy must be feeling like he has nowhere to go in his own city, so he wants to move to another place, but he can’t let things get out of his control, so he can’t go too far. So this city must be under Brainiac’s tight surveillance, and it must be not far from Gotham. That leaves only Metropolis.”

Jason nodded. He knew that although Gotham was doing well now and was a logistics hub, the most important city on the East Coast was still Metropolitan Area. It was the economic and political center of the East Coast, and a renowned American city, more famous than the country's capital and most other cities—like New York in Marvel movies. Brainiac was investing far more effort there than in Gotham, which had only recently begun to recover.

“Looks like we’ve been caught in the crossfire this time,” Jason said, stroking his chin. “The key questions now are, what exactly are these guys up to, and where did they get that technology that can block Brainiacs? Could it really be Darkseid?”

"Why don't you try and see?" Tim raised an eyebrow.

Upon hearing this, the greedy person, who was busy in the kitchen, paused.

(End of this chapter)