Pala had brought a vast array of items, all hanging from her bicycle. Jason was stunned the mont he opened the door and said, "How on earth did you ride this thing over here? Did you train in a circus?"
"Guess why I didn't drive?" Pala tossed her hair back and strode into the house. She didn't sit on the sofa but rushed into the kitchen instead and poured two large glasses of water, saying, "Do you know how damn high the oil prices have gotten? If you know anyone from the circus, you'd better introduce for a part-ti job; I've nearly maxed out all my cards!"
"You've made a very wrong investnt decision." Shiller seed a bit displeased as he said, "From the day the stock market crashed, you should have stopped paynts to the bank instead of stubbornly holding onto that house. Selina is doing much better than you."
Pala stood blankly in front of the kitchen island and said, "I just wanted a house."
"That's rare." Shiller said, "In Western culture, renting a house isn't usually seen as shaful, but it is a custom in East Asian cultures, where they see it as continuously giving money to soone else."
"Isn't it?"
"Every single product you buy ans giving money to soone else; don't you use the things you buy?"
Pala sighed deeply and said, "It's too late to talk about it now, the sunk cost is too high, I must earn more money. I won't let the bank take my house."
"How is the cleaning equipnt developnt going with Victor?"
"The cleaning robot? Research is never the main issue, comrcialization is the hard part."
"And the functional plants?"
At the ntion of this, Pala's expression soured as if she had eaten sothing disgusting. She said, "My entire research team has been complained about by environntalists. I've been in the news several tis, and several previously stable partners have said they don't want to work with anymore."
"What did they say?"
"Persecution and abuse of plants, against the nature and ethics of plants, calling a mad scientist and such." Pala almost laughed with anger and said, "They don't bother about cows eating grass or people eating salad, but they fuss over my developnt of attacking cabbages."
"They didn't storm into your lab, did they?" Jason asked while sorting out the heap of things Pala had brought to the kitchen, "Didn't you give them a taste of their own dicine?"
"It's just that the security at Gotham University is too strict." Pala said, "They couldn't even break in; otherwise, I would have turned them into fertilizer a long ti ago."
"So what do you plan to do next?" Shiller asked, "Continuously pushing the limits on loan repaynts isn't a solution."
"I'm already planning to join Wayne Enterprises." Pala snorted and said, "I'd like to see if those people dare to storm into Wayne Enterprises."
They neatly organized the things they brought. rkel had already brought in the vegetables, and Pala's mood finally improved a bit. She picked up two baskets to check the condition of the vegetables.
"They look pretty good. At first, I thought Clark was bragging, but now it seems his seeds are indeed excellent. These cabbages are big and round, and the hearts are so tender, perfect for making salads," she said.
Then she went to check the potatoes, but clearly, they did not satisfy her. Pala looked at the bunch of potatoes disdainfully, saying, "These potatoes have been over-fertilized, they've grown a bit too big. Small potatoes are better for salads, these are only good for making fries."
Just as she was speaking, there was a knock on the door. Shiller walked over to open it and saw Clark and Diana standing outside.
Clark was still wearing his sunny smile. After he walked in, he imdiately rushed to the kitchen, spotting the vegetables and started discussing the harvest from the small garden with Pala.
Diana clearly had just co from Mount Olympus, dressed like a goddess, and she looked like she could carry a torch and play the Statue of Liberty. She borrowed Shiller's guest room to change, and when she ca out again, she was in casual athletic wear.
"The situation at Mount Olympus isn't great, Ares is up to his old tricks again," Diana shook her head and said, "And because of the economic crisis, tourism on Paradise Island has stalled, with visitors down by 70%. We're trying to find a solution."
Shiller knew that the Great Depression in Arica wasn't just an Arican crisis; since the US Dollar is directly linked to gold, when this country had problems, all other countries were badly affected.
Now the global economic situation is very bleak. Larger countries are still managing, but smaller nations like Amazon are nearly on the brink of collapse. Diana hadn't appeared for a long ti since she was probably helping Amazon get through the tough tis.
Harley also ca over but she brought nothing with her, clearly intending to freeload food and drink. Selina followed behind her, looking largely unchanged, her eyes darting around as if planning to swipe sothing while Shiller wasn't watching.
Harley's gaze landed on Jason by the sofa, and she quickly averted her eyes, pretending nothing had happened, and rushed over to pull Pala aside, whispering sothing in her ear.
The harvest feast was very simple, mainly salads and stir-fried vegetables, but they were full of flavor, making for a decent vegetarian banquet. So though there were quite a few at-lovers present, everyone enjoyed the al imnsely.
After setting the table for dinner, it was clearly ti to talk business. Shiller first looked at Jason, who said, "I've already t them in Battleworld, it's hard to imagine other cosmos' versions of myself are so difficult to deal with. Except for a few younger ones, the rest seed like they were owed millions by ."
"Especially that guy with a J-shaped scar on his face, who put his giant Batman puppet on the couch and left no room for to sit. I asked him to move it, and everyone else sided with him! These bat-fanatics are beyond help!"
Jason was viciously chopping the vegetables on his plate, but this childish display of frustration looked rather comical given his large fra.
"I t other versions of myself from different universes," Clark said. "We got along really well, and they suggested a visit to Kent Manor as they wanted to et my Dad. If a dozen of visited, Martha would be thrilled."
"My experiences were nothing to write ho about," Diana, looking slightly distracted, said. "Most of couldn't escape the troubles on Mount Olympus. A few were even less lucky, but it was still great to have so many Amazon sisters. We had a barbecue together, danced, and had a really nice chat."
Harley suddenly shouted, drawing everyone's attention, then she said, "You wouldn't believe how creepy it is to be around a bunch of punk non-mainstream makeup-wearing versions of yourself. It felt like I was the insane one!"
"And they kept babbling about 'little cookies, little pudding, little sweetheart,' I thought my ears would develop calluses," Harley complained with a pout. "And those Jokers aren't anything special at all, just crazy one after another. I can't understand how poor the taste of other universes' s could be."
While speaking, Harley glanced at Jason, but for so reason, he was intently staring at the cabbage on his plate, without moving his eyes even a bit.
"I guess I'm alright," Pala chuckled. "The fashion style of my other selves is a bit... well, hard to comnt. If it's because of the plant toxins, I guess I understand, but I'm not that fond of green anyway, and why nickna 'Little Red' in other universes when 'Little Pa' would do?"
Selina leaned on her hand and said, "We didn't have much to talk about, but they ntioned a few jewels they claid to have stolen from Gotham. I doubted it since I've never seen them before. I was planning to ask Bruce about it..."
"Did you marry Bruce in the other universes?" Clark asked, sowhat gossiping. "Did you have children?"
"Don't even ntion it," Selina said, clearly not interested in the salad, struggling to stab a piece with her fork without succeeding in taking a bite. "They were all shocked when I brought Aisha along. They couldn't believe that I'd have a child with Bruce."
"Didn't you explain?" Diana asked.
"There's nothing to explain. I am Aisha's mother, and they also took care of the child of that woman nad Talya," Selina snorted dismissively. "Damian is not as cute as my daughter; he is a real brat."
"Wait a second." Harley realized sothing and said, "The genders in each universe might differ, right? After all, Harley Quinn is definitely female, but Superman and such may not be..."
"There is indeed a Superwoman," Clark nodded. "But I also heard there's a Supergirl, supposedly my cousin. I'm not too clear on these titles, but we don't really care about gender."
"There are also male versions of , but it's hard to imagine n on Paradise Island," Diana admitted with so disdain. "I also couldn't quite get along with him. Everyone else felt a bit awkward too. He said he plans to team up with other gender-swapped superheroes, which I think is a good idea for everyone."
"It might not be that simple. At least Batman wouldn't let Batwoman go," Shiller interjected. "And Joker wouldn't spare the Court Jester. They clearly have bigger ambitions."
"Right," Pala turned to Shiller and asked, "Is Jack going too? He doesn't seem much, doesn't lose out, right? Last ti he even gave a free ride. Should I get him so neurotoxin?"
Shiller shook his head, "Although Bruce is no longer Batman and Jack can't really be considered a true Joker, rember, their power levels are dynamically bound."
Diana raised an eyebrow, "Bruce is an Angel, so Jack is..."
Shiller didn't elaborate further; Harley, however, stared at him and said, "I feel like there's sothing off about you today."
"What's off?"
"Can't put my finger on it," Harley twirled her fork and said, "I watched closely but didn't see anything special, might just be my imagination."
"Are you really planning to beco a full-ti Magician?" Shiller seed a bit regretful. "Your talent in psychology is exceptional. Don't you want to try a bit harder?"
"I'm a typical psychopath enthusiast," Harley sighed, "so since I saw that crazy state of my other selves, I've decided against studying psychology anymore. Eventually I'd beco soone's underling. Instead of that, isn't it better to trade my sanity for so transcendent power?"
"Nothing's worth the trade," Jason couldn't help but say. "It's just choosing between hanging and drowning."
"Then what do you propose? I can't hide in a rich man's house and play the good baby. Stay out of my way."
Shiller and Diana exchanged a look; Diana then shared a glance with Clark. Selina, taking initiative, raised her eyebrows at Clark, then looked at Pala for confirmation; even rkel, standing by, gave Pala a look.
All of them tacitly closed their mouths.
The quarrelso duo awkwardly stopped, Harley glaring fiercely at Jason, and both bowed their heads to eat in silence.
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