Pala was standing under the lush shade of the trees, but the sun outside still dazzled her squinting eyes. Seeing Harley approach, she couldn't help but complain, "I'm starting to miss the Gotham clouds a bit."
"You need to get used to this kind of life," Harley said. "The most fashionable Arican girls should sunbathe every day."
"Ha, I still prefer staying under the sun lamps in the lab."
"You'll probably have to move these items to the warehouse with your Vines first. Their vehicles won't be fixed for a few days, and there's a hurricane coming."
"I knew we should have spent more of the budget on vehicles." Although Pala said this, she still summoned the Vines to drag the furniture, which had been airing out on the ground, into the warehouse.
This land that Schiller had given them for renovation was one of three farmhouses, as well as the oldest, built during the developnt boom of the Arican West, filled with a strong Western style.
The place could be said to be waiting for revival; the warehouse was old, the house was dilapidated, the furniture unusable, the vehicles non-existent, and the vegetable patch was overgrown.
The only advantage was that the trees were old enough to provide shade at least.
Yesterday, they went to the local second-hand market and picked up a pile of useful items at cheap prices. Apart from vehicles, the most important were the pieces of furniture.
The second-hand market in Arica was very prosperous. One could find any kind of second-hand goods available, and the evaluation system was relatively well-established, providing mature references for various articles.
Cars in Arica were already not expensive; second-hand cars were even cheaper. The ones in better condition were generally priced at a few thousand dollars, while severely damaged or particularly unappealing ones could go for a few hundred dollars. However, the latter usually had restoration costs higher than the price of the car itself.
Jason, with his sharp eye, picked out a very cheap pick-up accident vehicle. Although it was severely damaged, as they only needed it for farm work and weren't driving long distances, diligent maintenance and repairs were not a problem.
Harley and the others chose a bunch of furniture, most of which needed cleaning, and so needed nding.
Pala was a superpower user, naturally quick at work. In about a morning, she controlled the Vines to scrub all the furniture clean.
The sun was just right today, and after being aired for a noonti, they were almost dry. They were supposed to be taken back into the house, but since the car was not fixed and currently wouldn't start, they had to put them back in the warehouse.
Blue Beetle Ted was also a superpower user, but clearly, he was more eager to play this kind of farm simulation ga than them. He and Cassandra took care of the old house together.
Instead of buying new carpets, they bought second-hand carpet cleaners and high-pressure water guns, and spent a morning cleaning the ground floor carpets, making them look almost brand new.
Ted was crouching at the kitchen cabinet door, peeking inside. When he stood up and coughed twice, he turned back to Cassandra and asked, "You are not afraid of cockroaches, are you?"
Cassandra silently gave him a look and shook her head.
"Alright, we have to cheat for this one." Ted took a step back and said, "I'm going to drive the cockroaches out shortly, it might be a bit horrific, so you can hide farther away."
Cassandra showed no intention of hiding, but just walked up to sit on the stairs leading to the second floor, as though she wanted to rest for a while.
Ted summoned Blue Beetle to figure out a way to drive the cockroaches out with lasers, and soon enough, a blue light flashed, and masses of dark spots ran out from the other end of the cupboard, swarming into the living room.
Harley and Pala had just pushed the door to enter.
"Ahhh!!"
Harley let out an earth-shattering scream, while Pala quickly summoned Vines to smack down the incoming cockroaches, but still, so got away due to the sudden event.
Ted imdiately ran out and said, "Sorry, we didn't know you were coming. We're just dealing with so bugs..."
Harley had already gone upstairs.
Pala, noticing the carpet as good as new, nodded and comnted, "Not bad."
"It's all thanks to Miss Cain," Ted scratched his head and smiled. "I'm not really good at using a carpet cleaner, but luckily it didn't break."
At that mont, Pala felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She took it out, answered the call, and said, "Yes, yes, not bad, just the car can't be used... Ok, I'll tell them. We'll be back soon."
"What's up?" Harley looked down from the top of the stairs.
"The Doctor wants us to return to Stone House now because there might be a hurricane tonight, and this house might not withstand the storm. Staying here overnight is too dangerous."
"He's really considerate." After the cockroach crisis had passed, Harley ca down from upstairs and said, "We should turn this place into our base, but first, indeed, we need to avoid the hurricane."
"The Doctor also said he picked so fresh veggies, we have salad for lunch. He wants us to get back soon."
"Alright, but Jason and the others definitely won't want to leave. Let's go back first and co back for them later."
So Harley and her group returned to Stone House first. Schiller was there chopping vegetables for the salad and said after seeing them, "Where are the boys, still engrossed in fixing the car?"
"You should have guessed," Harley took a bite of a raw-tasting tomato and almost gagged. Pala approached to inspect the vegetables and said, "Doctor, you're even better at gardening than the Professor."
"The main reason is that my butler isn't called rkel, and the climate in California is better," said Shiller very modestly.
Shiller put the chopped vegetables into the salad bowl and was about to pour the dressing when the ringing of a phone echoed down from upstairs.
He walked around the island platform and went upstairs to answer the call. When he ca back down monts later, he clapped his hands and announced, "Hey girls, you should go pick up your companion. Bruce is coming over."
"Bruce?" Harley, who was changing the TV channels, turned her head and asked with so puzzlent, "Didn't he follow so Joker into another cosmos? Why is he coming over now?"
"They might have run into so trouble." Shiller went back to mixing the salad, and before long, the door to Stone House was pushed open.
The figure of Bruce appeared at the doorway; he smiled and greeted the person next to him, and soon, a haggard Jason and the others were back, all surprised to see Bruce.
"Why are you here?" Dick truly was surprised and said, "Didn't you say you were going on a business trip to another cosmos for a while?"
"Yes, that was the plan, but now there's been a change," Bruce walked over to the kitchen and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"
"Nothing. We're planning to just have salad for lunch. Would you like sothing else?"
"What? Why isn't there a sumptuous Chinese al?"
"It's too hot," Harley complained with a yawn, "We had a big feast when we first got here and still haven't digested it all. We've decided to have sothing light and refreshing."
"Alright," Bruce replied sowhat disappointed, "But I still want sothing spicy. Did you put in any chili, Doctor?"
"No, if you want it, you'll have to mix a separate portion for yourself." Shiller put the salad bowl down and then went to wash his hands, while Bruce had no choice but to mix his own salad.
When it was ti to eat, everyone had a plate of salad, and they all enjoyed the al with relish. The weather was indeed too hot to have an appetite for much else, and the freshly picked vegetables were particularly tasty, especially with the well-mixed dressing - even the salad was delicious.
Bruce obviously wasn't satisfied with the al standards but he only had himself to bla for the unfortunate timing.
After lunch, he indicated he had so serious business to discuss with Doctor Schiller but did not ask anyone to leave.
By this ti, dark clouds had already begun to gather on the horizon, and a storm seed imminent, so the others did not leave Stone House but instead gathered in front of the TV to start gaming.
Shiller and Bruce sat near the back door, watching the thick clouds move in while discussing matters of the Pale Knight Universe.
"...The situation in the cosmos was sowhat better than I had imagined, just sowhat, but still fraught with endless problems, it's critical. His own situation isn't great either."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He relies on dication to maintain his ntal stability, but his supply is running low. I'm not certain he has a reliable channel to get more, and if not, the city's stability won't last very long."
"Why is that?"
"He alone, on his own power, saved the city, which also ans he has to rely on personal capabilities to keep the city running. Without him, everything might revert to old ways."
"That's hard to imagine." Shiller sincerely remarked, "He's not solving the problems systemically."
"Yes, without the system, he's addressing surface issues, maybe even so mid-level developnt issues, but he can't go deeper."
"What about the Batman of his universe?"
"Sa as always," Bruce shook his head, "He is still young, actively fighting cri, a typical volunteer police."
Shiller sighed softly and said, "Of course, but he's not like you, who has invested almost his entire fortune into the makeover of Gotham."
"He can't afford that price. You know, my funding later on mostly ca from the military, who made large purchases of weapons and production lines to contain the situation in xico. I even sold a bunch of patents to barely keep things running."
"The Batman of that universe can't do that?"
"He just doesn't understand the significance of doing so," Bruce lowered his head, "He wouldn't start a revolution in xico just for money, to threaten the military and Congress. In his eyes, that's unreasonable, and in fact, to the Pale Knight as well, it's too much."
"They lack revolutionary spirit."
"Yes, they're too accommodating," Bruce took a deep breath, "Because their reforms seem effective, they think they can hold on. But in reality, it's just pie in the sky."
"He got elected as the mayor of Gotham City, used so thods to control the most lethal criminals, set up a charitable foundation, provided welfare for the slums and children, and even ford a special police force to maintain city order."
Hearing this, Shiller also shook his head and comnted, "A very typical reformist approach, but it's only easing conflicts, not resolving them. It won't succeed."
"Yes, the financial situation of the city is actually very bad. Because of the major financial investnts into the slums, the entire city's operational system is on the brink of collapse."
"It's probably not just that, is it?"
"Yes, the biggest danger is precisely the people standing behind Batman and the fight against Super Villains, the Elite who have always been at the upper echelons."
User Comments
0 comments from readers