mtl008 Chapter 4147 When the Pumpkin Ripens (29)
Chapter 4147 When the Pumpkin Ripens (29)
Chapter 4147 When the Pumpkins Ripen (Twenty-Nine)
In the laboratory at Wayne Manor, Pamela glanced at the instruments again, then turned to Sivana and said, "So, Headmaster, you didn't figure anything out either?"
“Yes. This power is truly extraordinary.” Shivana looked puzzled. “I can’t sense its source at all, nor can I extract it. Honestly, if it really is primordial energy, how can this be?”
"How to say?"
"Regardless of the type of power, the closer it is to the origin, the better its compatibility will be. It will react with many secondary powers, and we shouldn't remain indifferent."
At that moment, the main universe's Batman walked in and said, "Any new developments?"
Both of them shook their heads. Pamela sighed and said, "Perhaps only the creator of the Mother Box can understand its principles. And the Cyborgs in other universes are just a coincidence."
“That’s possible. But I think it’s more likely that only a chosen person can use this power.”
"But where are we going to find Cyborg now? I remember he was a football player in another universe. When is Gotham University's next game? Three days later? But that might not be the right time; maybe it'll be his team coming?"
“Perhaps we should seek out the Night Master,” Sivana said. “He has more expertise in this area and might be able to find us an expert to crack it.”
The two discussed the matter back and forth, trying to figure out what was going on. Just then, Brainiac suddenly sounded an alarm.
"Please proceed to the East District for support." Brainiac's voice rang out simultaneously on their phones. "I repeat, the East District operation is going poorly, please proceed to support..."
“Something’s happened in Barry,” Pamela said. “I told you he should have brought more men. Let’s go.”
She started to walk out, and the main universe's Batman followed her. Sivana shouted, "Wait! What about the Mother Box if we leave? It's not safe to just leave it here!"
“Trust Brainiac’s security measures,” the main universe Batman said, then turned and left without hesitation. Pamela frowned slightly. Sivana also sensed something was wrong. But Brainiac’s warnings continued to echo, and they had to hurry to provide support.
Shortly after they left, a dark figure appeared on the balcony. The previously tight security measures seemed to vanish instantly; not even a single alarm sounded.
As the figure slowly approached the mother box, all the lights in the laboratory suddenly turned on. Another person walked in through the door.
"They've come, just as I expected," he said. "Where's your shielding equipment?"
The figure who had climbed over the balcony was clearly startled. As the lights came on, his appearance was revealed—an ordinary-looking man.
He was wearing blue overalls and a blue headband, looking like a typical factory worker. His appearance was unremarkable. If anything, his demeanor was slightly furtive. But given that he was an uninvited guest in the lab late at night, it would be unusual for him to act so brazenly.
"I...I..." he stammered, then immediately turned to run away, only to be swallowed up by the gray mist.
"Found it." Greed appeared, holding a small blue sphere in his hand. He shook his head and said, "No wonder this thing couldn't be retrieved after falling into the lake. Even without monsters, it would probably be hard to find."
“Your plan has succeeded,” Brainiac said.
“We’re still far from it,” Greedy chuckled. “Right now, we’ve only got their shielding equipment. But the Mother Box isn’t the bait for catching these small fry.”
Before Halloween, Greed, swayed by Pride, prepared to go out to pick chestnuts. He hadn't gone far when he heard Brainiac shouting into the electronic devices in the house.
"Warning! Stealing public property is prohibited! Warning! If you come any closer, I will take force!!!"
"It's just some chestnuts, why are you so stingy?" Greed said, leaning against the fence of the yard. "If I hadn't given Barry a hint, you wouldn't have caught the murderer so easily. What's wrong with eating some chestnuts?"
"No. This tree is evidence of a crime; we need to protect the crime scene. If you really want to eat it, I can get you some from the dock, okay?"
"Alright, then get some from the dock. But I also need to pick some from this tree, otherwise how can I be called greedy?"
Greed pushed open the door to enter. Brainiac controlled the electrical appliances in the room, creating a loud noise that forced Greed back two steps. Actually, the main reason was that Gray Mist disliked noise. Although he wasn't a true symbiote, he had developed this habit during the years he thought he was one.
“Alright. Everyone has their price, and you’re no exception. Brainiac, you won’t let me touch this chestnut tree to protect the crime scene, and protecting the crime scene is for investigating the mastermind. How about we try a different approach, so you can find the jamming device directly, catch the mastermind, and maybe even pull off a scam? What do you say?”
"...Do you have a solution?"
“Of course.” Greed stood under the chestnut tree, looking up at the fruit, and then said, “Whom do you suspect most?”
“Darkseid,” Brainiac said without hesitation, “but it’s incredibly difficult to trace him back to this case. If necessary, he can abandon all his arrangements on Earth and sever ties. And Earth doesn’t have the capacity to travel thousands of miles to cause him trouble right now.”
“Then let’s create a reason for him to come.” Greed crouched down, reached out and brushed aside the fallen leaves under the chestnut tree, revealing the soil around the roots, and then said, “What does Darkseid want?”
"...Anti-Life Equation?"
"Perhaps. But there's something else he wants, or rather, what he wants most right now."
"What is it?"
"Mother box".
"Why? The Anti-Life Equation should be stronger than the Mother Box, right?"
"If it were Darkseid at his peak, he would indeed choose the Anti-Life Equation, because that thing is an extremely powerful weapon. But if it were Darkseid now, he would choose the Mother Box."
"Is it because of the multiverse war?" Brainiac asked tentatively.
“That’s right. Darkseid has been elevated to a multiverse of oneness, meaning that the Darkseid of our universe, the one in other universes, and the one in the main universe are the same person. Having suffered such a great setback, what is his greatest desire?”
"Using the Anti-Life Equation to attack Batman?"
"This is the final step. He must first become one with the power of the multiverse before he can return to the main universe to take revenge. The Anti-Life Equation is powerful, but it is a weapon, while the Mother Box has the ability to open cosmic portals, which is what he urgently needs."
“That makes sense,” Brainiac said. “But the problem is, we don’t have the Mother Box either. I came to Earth to find it, but I haven’t found it yet. I’ve practically turned the whole planet upside down.”
"Then let's make a fake one."
“Darkseid isn’t that stupid; he should be able to tell the difference between truth and falsehood.”
Greed shook his head and said, "Whether an item is genuine or fake depends on two things: whether it is fully functional and whether it has official endorsement. If it has both, who can say it's fake?"
"But how do we achieve these two things?"
"Isn't it just about opening up a cosmic passage? I happen to have something that's exactly what I'm talking about here, called M'Kraan Crystal. It has the ability to open passages to new worlds and can also be used for teleportation between the multiverses. Moreover, it's an item from another world, so no one in this universe can figure out anything about it."
"Okay, so what you mean by official endorsement..."
Who is Darkseid's greatest enemy?
"Batman."
"To be precise, it's the main universe's Batman. And me, since I was involved in killing him in the end. If we both say this thing is the Mother Box, even if he doesn't believe us, wouldn't he have to find a way to check it out? Because if it's real, and it falls into our hands, wouldn't he be finished?"
“I understand,” Brainiac said. “You plan to use an otherworldly item to impersonate the Mother Box, attract Darkseid’s attention, and lure out his people on Earth?”
“That’s right.” Greed pulled a box out of nowhere and said, “The crystal shrunk by the Pym Particles is already in this box. I’m going to bury it under the chestnut tree. What do you think?”
"...Why do you insist on picking on this tree?"
Greed said with a hint of helplessness, "You're an electronic life form. Can you please not be so emotional when you think about things? Let's talk about work during work hours, okay?"
Brainiac was speechless for a moment. He, an electronic life form, was being called emotional; he didn't know whether to be angry or happy.
"I submitted an application to you for transplanting the trees. If it's approved, they'll send someone to dig up the trees, which will then be the perfect opportunity to unearth the box. Otherwise, in this godforsaken nature reserve, how do you plan to bring the box to light?"
"Okay. Although I always feel that you went through all this trouble just to steal chestnuts and keep eating them, I think your plan is good, and we can do it."
"Judging others by your own petty standards." Greed finished speaking, buried the box under the tree roots, and reminded him, "Don't hire ordinary workers, because this thing is bound to affect the tree. The feng shui here isn't good either, and it would be terrible if the tree went berserk and attacked people. You should find someone with superpowers instead."
"Uh, what reason should we use? If we don't have a legitimate reason, wouldn't it seem a bit abrupt to suddenly transfer an important researcher here?"
"What other reason do you need? This is the nature reserve you drew up, with large, ferocious beasts inside. If we don't bring in someone with superpowers, isn't this just like delivering takeout?"
"Oh, that makes sense. I'll go arrange it right away."
As Greed returned with a large pile of chestnuts, Brainiac asked again, "Should we inform the main universe's Batman beforehand?"
“No need. He is one of the few people who has been in close contact with crystals, and has even studied and deciphered them. No one knows the data about crystals better than him. He will know what we want to do as soon as he sees a crystal.”
"...Really? But so much information is missing, the logic isn't even complete, how can he deduce it?"
"If you understood Batman, you wouldn't be here racking your brains over Darkseid's henchmen."
Brainiac's silence betrayed a hint of grievance. Greed ignored him, took Chestnut back to the house, and called out to Pride, "I'm back!"
"So many chestnuts?" Arrogance looked at the box of chestnuts with some surprise, then said, "What should we do with them?"
"You mean peeling chestnuts? No problem, someone will be here to help soon."