amaotonovel Chapter 4121 When the Pumpkin Ripens (3)
Chapter 4121 When the Pumpkin Ripens (3)
Chapter 4121 When the Pumpkins Ripen (Part 3)
“Are you still going to Wellen’s? I’m packing these pumpkin pies to take to Billy’s school; the kids will love them,” Victor said as he packed.
Schiller nodded and said, "Harley also sent Wellen a big pumpkin. I think she probably forgot that Wellen is a carnivore."
“You’re wrong. Every animal needs fiber, including pure carnivores.” Victor put the pumpkin pie into the basket, covered it with a thick cloth, and said, “Besides, it has its own teeth and claws, making it much easier for it to deal with this big pumpkin than we do.”
Victor was right. By the time Schiller arrived at Wellen's company, only half of the enormous pumpkin he owned remained. Judging from the cut marks, Wellen's bite force was comparable to that of an adult crocodile.
"Did you eat all of this?" Schiller asked.
“Of course not, otherwise I would be the world’s first orange crocodile.” Wellen grinned and stood in the remaining half of the pumpkin. “Doesn’t this look like a pumpkin house?”
The pumpkin Wellen had was different in shape from Victor's. This pumpkin was exceptionally tall, somewhat resembling a small, upright car. After being gnawed in half, what remained did indeed look a bit like a small house.
"Great, very creative. I think you could refine it and put it at the company entrance."
Wellen laughed, clearly pleased that someone appreciated his work, and then said, "Harley told me that this is the latest scientific achievement, and as long as the outer skin isn't damaged, it can be preserved for a long time. I didn't understand anything about fibrosis."
"Can it slow down the onset of fibrosis?"
"It seems so, but you'll have to ask her for details."
"How is she doing lately? Is she still working as a designer?"
"Hmm, it seems she's doing product development at a food factory, but I'm not too sure about the specifics. She also seems to be planning a Halloween party at your old manor."
Schiller nodded. He knew his old manor had become the base for the Teen Avengers. Calling it a base was a stretch; there was practically no crime going on, it was just a large youth club.
"I'm waiting for her to send me the invitation," Schiller said as he left. "I hope there will be some other dishes besides pumpkin at the banquet."
By the time Schiller got home, it was already afternoon. Not long after he arrived, the main universe Batman called again.
"Hello, Doctor, I have another question I'd like to ask you. I've reached the entrance to Gotham City, but there seems to be a facial recognition system here, and my face failed the scan. What should I do?"
"Oh, I forgot, you still need to register your personal information and enter your facial data in that green software to get proof of identity. The information monitoring here is quite strict, so you can't use the same identity as Bruce. You should register a new one."
"Okay, that sounds pretty complicated. I'll figure it out myself."
Schiller hung up the phone and shook his head. Batman wasn't so clueless as to not understand a facial recognition system, but he wouldn't casually enter his personal information, especially sensitive information like his face and fingerprints.
Brainiac's oversight is indeed very strict, but that only applies to ordinary people. For those with technological means, especially Batman, there are still ways to evade it.
However, Schiller thought Brainiac would put on a show a little. Asking for Batman's identity information from the main universe right off the bat seemed a bit too arrogant. Was he even going to bother with any pretense?
However, the power struggle between Batman and Brainiac in the main universe has nothing to do with him. He has to finish preparing the final exam papers first, and then he has to face the coming greed.
The house had guest rooms, but they hadn't been cleaned since Billy left. By the time Schiller finished tidying up, it was already evening. He looked out the window from the living room; the wooden boardwalk leading to the forest was lit, its lights reflecting on the shimmering lake in a melancholic, cold light, and the fireplace was almost out.
Schiller sat down in the armchair by the fireplace and tossed firewood into it, only to find nothing at the end. He realized he was out of firewood. It seemed he hadn't been to the store to buy firewood for quite some time.
Although it's not particularly cold now, the fire is mainly used to dry out the moisture. Living by the lake offers beautiful views, but it's incredibly humid. If the fireplace is extinguished in the first half of the night, the living room will be very damp and cold when you wake up in the morning; but if it burns all night, the whole house will be dry and warm.
Although it was dark, it wasn't particularly late. Schiller thought for a moment and decided to go into the forest to cut down a tree and chop it for firewood. The forest was always closer than the neighborhood store, and if he weren't usually too busy, he would be happy to chop the wood himself.
Schiller first changed into a pair of rain boots suitable for walking in the mud, then went to the tool shed to grab an axe, circled the lake, and headed into the forest. He hadn't gone far when he saw a pine tree of just the right size, and he picked up the axe and began chopping it down.
Because it was a small tree, it wasn't difficult to cut it down; it was almost gone in a few strokes, and with a push, the tree fell over. Transporting it back would be a bit more troublesome, so Schiller didn't plan to carry it back. Instead, he had brought a small cart beforehand, loaded the tree onto the cart, and pulled it back.
On his way back, Schiller noticed that there seemed to be a car on the road to the east of the forest, in the opposite direction from his house, but he couldn't see it clearly because the headlights weren't on.
Schiller figured it might be someone's car; after all, while the community was sparsely populated, it wasn't completely deserted. Gotham University's president, Sivana, hadn't moved either; they were neighbors, so he was probably just getting off work.
I dragged the tree back to the house and found an open space in the backyard to chop firewood. It was just a small tree, not much to chop, so I just cut it into sections to burn. Although a freshly dead tree is a bit damp and harder to burn, it can still burn if the fire is big enough; otherwise, there wouldn't be forest fires.
Schiller added all the firewood and even fanned the flames to make the fire bigger. Once the fireplace was lit, the living room felt even warmer.
Just then, he received an unexpected visitor; the doorbell rang. Schiller opened the door and saw that it was none other than Sivana.
"Professor, um... I'm out of firewood. I forgot to buy some during the day. Do you have any? Could you lend me some?"
"...Aren't you a magician?"
“The magical flames are a bit dangerous. If I don’t watch them, they could burn the whole house down. It’s safer to burn the fireplace.”
"I'm out of firewood too. The wood in the fireplace was just cut in the forest."
"You can cut down forests? Isn't that a woodland reserve? Won't Brainiac dock your pay?"
"But buying firewood still costs money, doesn't it?"
“Yes, I’ll go chop some then,” Shivana said with a hint of helplessness. “The weather’s getting colder so quickly; I should have prepared the firewood earlier.”
After seeing Shivana off, Schiller soon saw a flashlight beam appear in the forest; it must be Shivana going to chop wood. However, Schiller didn't know how much wood he had chopped, as the flashlight beam swayed back and forth for over an hour, making Schiller worried that he might have cleared the entire forest.
After lighting the fireplace, Schiller read for a while in front of it. As drowsiness gradually crept in, he went upstairs to sleep.
As he drifted off to sleep, at the end of the woodland path to the east, a group of people sat shivering in a car that hadn't been started.
"What kind of place is this? There isn't even a coffee shop. And I'm not a field agent, so why would I be here spying on someone?"
"Stop complaining. The big boss transferred us here to keep an eye on this case. Even Brainiac couldn't handle it. If we don't pay attention, we could lose our lives."
"We should have gone to check when we saw that person disappear into the forest; he might have been burying those children's bodies. The one who went later was his accomplice..."
"That doesn't make sense. Either they bury it together, or one buries it while the other keeps watch. Why would they go one after the other?"
"You think there are two groups of people?"
“I heard the sound of trees being chopped down. Maybe they were just going to chop firewood,” Barry’s voice came from the back seat. He breathed on his hands, rubbed them together, and said, “Are you sure that suspicious person went around here?”
"Of course, this place is sparsely populated, there aren't many surveillance cameras, and there are large forests, making it easy to hide. It's also not too far from the city, so it's easy to run away and cause trouble. If I were a kidnapper, I would choose this place too."
“I think we shouldn’t stay here too long,” Barry said, glancing worriedly out the window. “This place is sparsely populated; besides the killer, there might be something else…”
"No way? You're afraid of ghosts?"
"I'm not afraid of ghosts, what I'm afraid of is... never mind, just pretend I didn't say anything."
“It’s not a good habit to leave things unsaid, but I also think we shouldn’t just wait here. I see a house on the other side of the lake, shall we go there…”
“No!” Barry raised his voice, but quickly realized something was wrong, so he softened his tone and said, “First of all, it’s bedtime now. If you wake them up, they’ll definitely be unhappy and won’t tell us any clues. Besides, those guys are very cunning for being able to fool Brainiac. What if we rush in and alert them, and they get away?”
“That’s true. The field agents will be transferred over tomorrow. If we act rashly and ruin the case, they’ll definitely cause trouble for us. Let’s not do anything, just keep watch for the night, and then go back.”
Barry sighed inwardly. It was really cold by the lake that night, and he really wanted to go for a run to warm up, but he couldn't. So he curled up in the back seat of the car and fell asleep. When he woke up again, it was already daylight.
His colleague was leaning against the car, smoking. Barry got out and stretched, then asked, "Any leads?"
“Nothing at all.” The Black female colleague patted the steering wheel and said, “Let’s go, get in the car, let’s go back. We just need to tell the field operations department that someone went into the forest last night. This job is really inhuman.”
They quickly drove back to Green Avenue. Barry went to the same shop and bought coffee. When he returned with his breakfast, the aggressive field agents had already finished their meeting and come out.
"Agent Allen, when will your behavioral analysis report be available? I mean, the one for those kids."
“I’ll be right there,” Barry said. “I’ll bring it to you in a bit.”
But the agent stopped him and said, "I heard you saw someone enter the forest in a suspicious area last night?"
"Hmm," Barry mumbled in response, then said, "I heard the sound of trees being chopped down; it's probably the neighbors chopping firewood."
"Heh, it can't be that simple. Why would someone be cutting firewood so late at night? Maybe they're deliberately cutting down trees to cover up some noise. Let's investigate today."
"Then remember to be polite. That's a wealthy area. If they complain to Brainiac, you could be fined."
"Okay, okay," the other person waved their hand and said.
Barry was eating breakfast when he saw the fully armed field agents get into their vehicle, which quickly disappeared at the end of the leaf-strewn street. He sighed inwardly again. If his life before was like a modern crime drama, it probably wouldn't be long before it turned into a horror movie.