amaotonovel Chapter 4126 When the Pumpkin Ripens (8)
Chapter 4126 When the Pumpkin Ripens (8)
Chapter 4126 When the Pumpkin Ripens (Part 8)
The car stopped in front of the Schiller's house. It was nearing evening, and the wind was picking up. The two men rang the doorbell against the wind. But the person who answered the door wasn't the professor they knew; although the two looked exactly alike, it was still easy to tell them apart.
"Doctor, what are you doing here?"
Greed opened the door for them and said, “I’ve come to celebrate Halloween with him. Please come in.”
They went into the room together. Alberto looked around the stylish living room and found that the decorations were much richer than he had expected, unlike the dullness of Schiller's previous manor.
Arrogance walked in from the backyard, and the two men froze, because he was wearing rain boots and carrying an axe.
"How are the neighbors?" Bruce asked.
"I went to chop wood."
"I know, is the firewood alright?"
"Thanks to you, it's not bad." Arrogance brought over a few more pieces of firewood from the back door. Upon discovering they were real wood, the two men breathed a sigh of relief.
"How could I forget? Everyone seems to be short of firewood lately. Even Rong En came to ask me for firewood, can you believe it? His X-ray can split a whole forest, and he still had to ask me for firewood."
“Cutting down a whole forest would result in a hefty fine. He also has to set a good example for his daughter, so of course he can’t do that.” Arrogance added firewood to the stove.
"Will it catch fire like this?" Alberto asked curiously. The firewood looked very wet, even wetter than ordinary trees, with moisture all over its surface.
“As long as the fire is big enough, these things will be dried out quickly and then set on fire once they're thrown in,” Arrogance sighed. “This method is only for emergencies because you have to keep the fire burning, so it uses a lot of firewood.”
“I’ll bring you some later,” Bruce said. “Before Alfred went back to Moscow, he prepared a warehouse full of firewood for me; it should be enough for the whole winter.”
Arrogance shook his head and said, "Your manor has too many places that need heating. You should make sure the laboratory has enough capacity first. After all, your current project is too important."
"What project?" Alberto asked with some curiosity. He wasn't interested in scientific research, but for this professor to call it very important, it must be something earth-shattering.
“After the war ended, Brainiac proposed a ‘Ten-Year Plan for the Comprehensive Solution to the Problem of Human Famine.’ He intended to completely eliminate the problem of human hunger by 2010, achieving the goal of abundant food resources and the complete eradication of absolute hunger.”
"...Is it possible?" Alberto felt a little incredulous.
"I don't know about the others, but the breeding projects we're in charge of are progressing quite well. Pamela has further studied the previously observed enlarged plants, producing very large pumpkins, potatoes, and corn. Clark is helping the project team on Krypton research extremely heat- and cold-resistant radiation wheat. On Atlantis, they've also produced a gigantic large-leaved algae, from which many nutrients essential for human survival can be extracted..."
“That’s great. Perhaps we should also study the Sicilian lemon.” Alberto said earnestly, “Large lemons are very easy to preserve and have a high vitamin C content.”
"That's a good idea. Do you have any lemons or seeds? Perhaps you could take them to Pamela."
“I don’t have any right now, but I can have someone send some over.” Alberto took out his phone and started making a call.
Arrogance then turned to Bruce and asked, "I heard that the first batch of corn developed is about to be put into production in Mexico."
"Yes, that corn is excellent. The stalks can grow to four or five meters tall, the corn kernels are as long as a forearm, and the kernels are much larger. It has a rich flavor and is very juicy. We just harvested a batch from the experimental field and are preparing to use it for the Halloween party."
"No wonder Harley was so eager to throw a party," said Pride, adding another piece of firewood to the fireplace.
“She’s a different story,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “She’s working on dense ice cream at a food processing plant and has come up with several very popular flavors. She’s looking forward to showing them off.”
"Dense ice cream?"
"Yes. Victor developed a type of dense ice specifically for food preservation, which can ensure that food in a small area does not undergo heat exchange. This way, the food will be exactly the same as what is cooked in the kitchen when it is sent to Krypton. This greatly improves the living conditions of the staff on Krypton, and Brainiac even commended her."
“That’s not bad,” Schiller nodded. “How’s Jason doing in England?”
“Aside from not being able to get used to the food there, everything else is fine,” Bruce sighed. “But he really can’t stand the food. I’m thinking of having Harley send him some canned food.”
“He really shouldn’t have chosen to study in England; France would have been much better,” Schiller sighed. Jason had found an internship, but after a while, he felt it wasn’t quite right for him. So he went back to England to study classical literature, and not just a one-year master’s program, but he’d be there for at least three years. It’s hard to imagine how much that unfortunate kid must have starved himself.
“Oh, right.” Bruce pulled a few tickets out of his pocket and said, “These were given to me by Dick. They’re for the Halloween Eve thank-you show. The Grayson Theatre Company’s star actors will be performing, and Selena will be there too. There’s also a Pamela and Harley’s awards ceremony. You should check them out if you have time.”
Arrogance took the ticket from him and looked at it. He found that there was indeed a cast of Shakespearean plays that he often watched, as well as stars like Selena who performed in popular plays and musicals. Most of the political figures would be in attendance.
“The Grayson Theatre Company is very popular in Europe,” Alberto said after taking a closer look. “Especially Ms. Kyle, whose war trilogy was a hit in the Old World. If she were to get married, many people would be heartbroken.”
“Oh, you remind me of some bad memories.” Bruce chuckled and wiped his face. “When I went to Brussels to see Selena’s show, customs officials found out I was her fiancé and almost punctured my passport with their stamp. They just slammed the stamp into my passport like that, and it sounded like they shot me.”
Alberto laughed and then said, "Then you absolutely mustn't go to Rome to see her performance. The customs officers there always find something to do, so be careful they don't lock you up in a dark room."
The group chatted like this, and Arrogance felt more and more that he should go to his neighbor's to buy some chestnuts; it would be nice to chat and eat chestnuts at the same time.
As dusk approached, the two said their goodbyes. The wind had died down a bit, and Aoman saw them to their car. In a daze, he saw the light of a flashlight in the woods across the way.
Bruce, who was driving, noticed it too. Alberto glanced over there frequently, somewhat warily, but Bruce said, "Everyone's short of firewood in this weather; they're probably going to chop some."
"But didn't you say this is a mental health sanctuary?"
"Mental patients can also suffer from hypothermia. And you know there are many mentally ill people here, do you still dare to go and join the fun? They have axes in their hands."
Alberto immediately shook his head vigorously. He wasn't the Godfather anymore; these lunatics were Brainiac's problem, and he had no desire to get involved.
“I feel something’s not right,” said Greed, sitting on the sofa as Arrogance pushed open the door. “While we were chopping wood, people with flashlights were chopping wood. We have enough firewood to burn all night, and they’re still chopping wood.”
"Perhaps they are just stockpiling firewood for winter."
"What I mean is, the way they're cutting firewood has completely exceeded the reasonable range for personal use, and it meets the criteria for arrest for damaging natural forest land. Shouldn't we call the police?"
Pride was speechless for a moment. New Yorkers and Gothamites certainly thought differently, even though they both felt something was amiss. Pride figured they'd come knocking sooner or later, and there was no need to go out and investigate on a stormy day; Greed, on the other hand, was thinking of calling the police in on such a stormy day and letting them investigate. He'd be here for two days, enough to kill at least three Gordons.
Pride didn't stop him, and just watched as Greed went to make the call. After a while, the police lights started flashing. Greed stood by the window on one side of the living room and looked out, then he seemed to notice something and stared intently in a certain direction.
One group of policemen went into the woods to arrest the so-called loggers who were destroying the natural forest, while another group came to find Schiller.
Arrogance, too lazy to deal with the police, went to the backyard to chop wood. Greed walked over, opened the door for the police, shook hands with them with a smile, and said, "As a resident of this community, it is my duty to protect the natural woodland from damage. You don't need to thank me too much."
The police officers who arrived looked pale and exhausted. Although the wind wasn't as strong as a typhoon, it was still enough to leave them covered in dust and grime. Even though it had stopped raining, raindrops were still being blown back, soaking them to the bone. Under Brainiac's supervision, they had to respond to any call for help, even if it meant enduring the stench.
As everyone knows, the temperature drops too quickly, and many areas without heating need a lot of firewood. If they can't buy it, they have to go to the forest to cut it, otherwise they can't all freeze to death, right?
So even Brainiac turned a blind eye to this. As long as you didn't engage in large-scale logging for your own use, he generally wouldn't interfere. After all, with Pamela around, cutting down a few trees wouldn't harm the natural environment.
Unexpectedly, there was someone here who took it seriously, leaving the police somewhat helpless and only able to repeat the same old arguments to the greedy man. But soon, a subordinate ran over and whispered something in his ear, and his expression turned serious.
"What's wrong?" Greed asked knowingly.
"I'm sorry, sir. The natural forest destruction you reported is very important. Could you tell me approximately on what day and at what time you saw people in the woods? How many were there? Could you see what they were doing?"
Greed feigned recollection and then told the truth. The police officer's expression grew increasingly grave as he listened, and then he said, "We suspect this may be related to a recent child abduction case on the East Coast. There are clues indicating that the perpetrator has fled to Gotham, and is very likely in this area. Do you have any children?"
"I don't have any at home. But Halloween is coming soon, and kids might come here trick-or-treating. It would be best to catch the culprit as soon as possible; it's good for everyone."
The police nodded. Since the person who reported the incident, Greed, had provided all the information they knew, they didn't linger. The police quickly returned to search the surrounding woodland area.
They did find some footprints in the woods, and more importantly, half of one footprint didn't look like it belonged to an adult. However, because the wind was too strong and the rain too heavy, the footprints weren't very complete, so they couldn't be certain.
Just after the police cordoned off the entire woodland, a car with FBI markings pulled up by the roadside. Barry got out of the car and sighed. He glanced at the house the police had pointed to, the house of the person who reported the crime, and prayed that the killer hadn't yet been stuffed into the fireplace.