Compared to Metropolis, Gotham's sunny days always carry a piercing chill. The air under the sunlight feels more like a clear piece of ice, or like a thin, soft veil thrown down from the heavens, with everything cloaked in a faintly cool hue.
God is somewhat of a clumsy painter. By late autumn, he has already used up most of his paint, leaving only a mix of colors to form gray-green, deep brown, and orange. To fill the empty spaces left on the canvas, he brushes left and right, laying out the wild meadow in a wild, yellowish hue. The golden leaves of the maple and beech trees cut the clouds at the horizon into tiny pieces, with the light spots falling between the shadows of the trees like a message from the first snow that is yet to come.
Greed and Arrogance are walking by the stream in the forest, stepping over those smooth pebbles and damp earth as they enter the tunnel of shadows formed by the trees.
Originally, they should have been busy in the kitchen at this time, but they clearly had no such luck. After checking the quality of the fish they bought, they unanimously agreed that it was not fit to be served. The steamed fish they wanted to make is best picked just a second before it goes into the pot, even lively enough to give a slap. Though the fish sold at the supermarket were alive, they clearly weren't that lively, staying okay in the tank but going limp a few seconds after being placed on the chopping board.
The dinner was supposed to showcase their cooking skills, but without fresh ingredients, even the best cook could do nothing. Since making another trip to the docks was out of the question, they decided to use local resources.
The lake actually has fish, but unfortunately, fish aren't the primary creatures here, and catching fish in the lake would take too much time. So, they found a creek upstream of the lake.
The lake's water source isn't entirely underground—some comes from the surface water system, hidden in the forest to the east, making it difficult to find. They searched the forest for quite a while before discovering this creek.
"Why do I feel like there aren't any fish here?" Arrogance said, looking at the creek.
"We need to go a bit further. Judging by the water flow speed and volume, there should be a small lake ahead," Greed continued forward.
Both of them were wearing water shoes, stepping on somewhat slippery stones, making progress a bit difficult but not slow. Soon they passed through a dense, bushy bend and were surprised to find not only a lake but also a natural small waterfall.
This small lake was clear to the bottom, not connected to the underground water system; upon approaching, they could see some fish that seemed to be trying to leap up the waterfall. Greed grabbed a fish spear and, with a flick, speared a fish.
Arrogance caught the fish with a net, lifted it for a look; it wasn't big but seemed quite lively, still floundering after being speared.
Greed quickly preserved the fish, and they continued fishing there, catching about five or six small fish. Greed pondered and said, "Steamed fish might not be possible; making fish stew instead isn't bad."
Arrogance nodded, and they discussed making a fish stew, finally deciding on a Gotham-style mixed fish stew. It's a typical fisherfolk farmhouse dish found in coastal cities worldwide, simmering a mix of various small fish together, requiring hardly any extra seasoning to produce a golden, slightly sticky fish soup with an oily sheen on the surface. The soup is the essence, paired with freshly baked white bread, so good that one might swallow their fingers.
However, they decided to make steamed buns; anyway, bread is a bit too porous, lacking substantial texture, and its heavy wheat aroma is insufficient in the face of the subtle scent of dough; with Chinese cuisine, steamed buns are a must.
Prepared with the fish, they began their journey back. The stream was very pretty, crystal clear all along, with tiny splashes. The riverbed stones were large round pebbles of varied colors, arranged quite artistically. Beside the creek, there was a pebble-strewn plot perfect for setting up camp. The trees on both sides blocked most of the sunlight, no need to worry about getting sunburnt.
At this time, the forest's trees were mostly yellow, yet the leaves hadn't all fallen, remaining lush and green; it was the best of autumn.
They strolled down along, admiring the beautiful scenery, only to spot a fleeting figure in the forest when about to return to the lake.
Greed immediately thought they encountered an enemy, but Arrogance recognized the silhouette, shouting toward it, "Principal Xi Wana!"
Soon, a figure emerged from the woods. With a puzzled look at the two, he said, "You two..."
"You can consider us twin brothers," Arrogance, not willing to explain further, quickly asked, "What are you doing here?"
Xi Wana hesitated, then said, "I'm looking for something."
"Looking for something? What are you looking for?"
"Actually, I don't know; I just know there is something, and quite a few people are looking for it."
Greed immediately thought of the Mother Box, so he asked, "You don't know what it is, how do you know it can be found here?"
"Someone, of course, told me," Xi Wana replied.
Arrogance immediately caught on and said, "That day when you went to chop wood, you encountered someone, isn't that right?"
"Nothing escapes you, Professor. Indeed, that day when I entered the forest, I saw a man with a child wandering around and caught him on the spot."
"What did you extract from him?"
"To be precise, I didn't ask him directly," Xi Wana snapped his fingers, and a blue orb of light floated beside him. Greed suddenly understood, "You're a magician."
"That's right, I used a little trick to get some information out of him."
"Are they searching for something?"
"No, I asked how they managed to avoid Brainiac, and they said he has a device. They were recently captured, so I thought I'd try my luck to see if I could find this device."
"Obviously, you're not telling the truth, but I don't care," Greed said. "Whatever you're trying to find, you won't find it."
The flaws in Xi Wana's words were too evident. Although the first part might be true, like how he happened upon kidnappers and their victim while chopping wood in the forest and he extracted some information through interrogation, what he was looking for couldn't possibly be a shielding device; it was most likely the Mother Box.
Arrogance also remembered that Xi Wana entered this community in the first place because he detected abnormal energy fluctuations here. The Seven Sins he obtained seemed very sensitive to various abnormal energies, and he probably sensed the Origin Power leaking from the Mother Box, which is why he searched in this vicinity.
If he were actually looking for a shielding device, he would've started searching earlier, not waiting until the chestnut tree was unearthed and the Mother Box emerged before lingering here.
Most likely, his Seven Sins detected residual energy, but because Pamela had done some work at the scene, the residual energy was very weak and couldn't pinpoint an exact location, so he ended up searching such a distant place.
"It seems you know what it is," Xi Wana said, remaining calm and collected. "I just sensed some abnormal energy fluctuations, and even for my own safety in residing here, I must find it. You are not mages and might not understand that things emitting abnormal energy fluctuations are usually very dangerous."
"You've got that right," Greed nodded in agreement. "But whatever it was has already been handled."
Xi Wana furrowed his brow slightly, then said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but are you sure it was handled thoroughly enough? It better not just end up in some museum or buried in a basement of a management bureau. Eventually, it's bound to cause trouble."
"In your opinion, how should it be handled?"
"If you don't understand something, just putting it away is a recipe for disaster. Eventually, someone who knows its value will take it away, won't they?"
Greed nodded, fully agreeing, after all, Marvel is notorious for doing such things. S.H.I.E.L.D. finds strange, curious items, does nothing with them, doesn't research them, just puts them in their warehouse, almost like they are inviting people to steal them.
"So, I believe if there truly is such an item, we must strive to understand what it is and how to use it. If we really can't figure it out, we should create a complete protective barrier to isolate its aura and power, then store it away rather than carelessly discarding it."
"I must commend your sense of security, Principal," Arrogance said. "Looking at it now, having someone like you as the principal is a blessing for the Magic Academy's students and staff."
Xi Wana didn't show any pride, simply shaking his head, "It's precisely because I'm the principal of the world's only magical school that I have such responsibilities. Otherwise, anything that happens will be blamed on me."
Greed could actually tell that Xi Wana wasn't lying. His urgency in searching for the source of abnormal power was indeed primarily due to safety concerns. If a powerful magical item exploded on his turf, he wouldn't be fit to be principal anymore.
However, he was also an ambitious man. If he truly found a powerful magical item, he wouldn't hesitate to put it to use.
Greed stopped in his tracks, looked at Xi Wana, and said, "To be honest, we did find something. It's a combination of technology and magic, and it's of alien origin. For now, enough scientists are studying it, so I think you can be at ease."
"At ease? How am I supposed to be at ease? You've said it's a combination of technology and magic, yet you've only involved scientists and lots of them. Aren't you afraid this thing will explode and ruin the future of humanity's side of science?" Xi Wana couldn't help but hold his forehead.
"That's something for Brainiac to worry about," Arrogance also chimed in, "Though personally, I feel those scientists might not be able to figure it out, but since Brainiac arranged it this way, he must have his reasons."
"They obviously won't understand it, because once something involves a little magic element, it's possible that all its elements are related to magic. Even if it appears to be a mechanical creation, its components might be magically conjured, with only magical operating principles affecting its actual functioning. Studying it with the current scientific approach of the human race might take a century to understand."
"Do you want to be involved in the research then? Frankly speaking, if Brainiac hasn't contacted you right away, there must be concerns."
"Of course, of course," Xi Wana expressed helplessness, saying, "because he thinks my desire for power is too strong, afraid that I'd seize the item for myself or use some means to extract power from it."
"Would you do that?"
"Uh... generally speaking, no."
"So you would," Greed nodded in satisfaction, saying, "I'll go persuade Brainiac now to let you join the research group. Humanity needs talents like you who are actively enterprising. Let's go."