Arrogance and Greed took Xi Wana back to his house, and Xi Wana was still in a daze. He couldn't figure out what the logical connection was here.
Because he knew he couldn't hide it from the Professor at all, he could only tell the truth. It's impossible to say he didn't have any thoughts at all. Maybe it was due to childhood experiences, or maybe being the head of this magical school wasn't so easy, anyway, he was indeed a bit lacking in power. If he had the chance, of course, he would want to keep the thing for himself.
What he was looking for was indeed not a cloaking device, but it was because that kidnapper said they had a cloaking device, meaning it could evade Brainiac, so he planned to give it a try. If, by chance, he picked up a Divine Artifact in Brainiac's blind spot, wouldn't it be his?
But unexpectedly, someone was faster than him. The thing had already been found and even handed over to Brainiac. Brainiac would never let him get close to that thing. Since there was no hope, he might as well not hide it and just tell the truth.
Unexpectedly, it seemed Shiller somehow supported him getting this thing. But in Xi Wana's view, Shiller should be siding with Brainiac. Because based on what he knew about Shiller, the other party was clearly a left-wing person, so he would definitely feel that it would be better for human scientists to study it together.
After he expressed his thoughts, Greed shook his head and said, "For things like this, you need to study it, but you also need to use it. At this current stage, utilization is more important than research. Because the Alien Civilization that could create this thing isn't dead yet. Who knows if they might suddenly remember one day and search Earth under the pretense of losing something."
"...Would it really?" Xi Wana became a bit worried and said, "Since they threw it to Earth, it shouldn't be that important, right?"
Greed shook his head and said, "Based on the information we currently know, besides its Creator, there's another person who has been eyeing this thing ravenously. These two Alien Civilizations once fought a major war in the cosmos, which led to a sudden increase in dark matter in the entire universe, entering a dark era."
"Hiss..." Xi Wana took a sharp breath.
"Since you can sense this special power, I assume using it wouldn't be difficult. I would suggest to Brainiac..."
"Hold on," Xi Wana reached out with One Hand and said, "It's not that I'm unwilling to bear such a responsibility, but without coming into contact with this thing first, I can't rashly make a promise, saying I can definitely use it. If you have any big plans regarding this matter, it's best to stop for now."
"Is that so?" Greed seemed a bit disappointed and said, "What a pity. There aren't many magicians on Earth with such capabilities and a sense of responsibility—most people can't be relied upon. It seems we'll have to keep searching."
"I can give it a try," Xi Wana said, "but you have to let me see that thing first. I don't need to touch it; I can determine what kind of power it is and whether I can use it by examining its power fluctuations."
"That could work," Greed nodded and said, "This thing has probably been sent to Wayne Manor's lab by Brainiac. I'll contact him for you, and you can go check it out later."
Xi Wana quickly left. Meanwhile, Greed, while handling the fish, said, "Having a neighbor like this must be quite a headache, right?"
"Not bad. I reckon it won't be long before Brainiac designates his area as a nature reserve as well."
They kept busy in the kitchen, cooking various dishes. Before they knew it, it was afternoon, and those who claimed they'd come early to avoid missing out showed up early, against their own stated intention.
"Hey, Professor, is there anything I can help with?" Jason was the first to step through the door and shout towards the kitchen, "I brought scallops and crabs freshly bought from a fishing boat. Steam them, and they'll taste great. No one here is allergic to seafood, right?"
"Don't block the doorway," another voice came from behind Jason. Tim poked his head in and said, "We both went to buy them together. I also bought the newest flavor of sparkling water."
Jason moved aside a bit, and Tim squeezed in. Arrogance emerged from the kitchen and said, "You're done with your work?"
"Yes, and it's completely finished," Tim seemed very pleased and said, "Drake Industries has now entered full automation."
"Wayne Enterprises?"
"Completely done for," Tim stretched and said, "I can give myself a long vacation. I'm planning to take a trip to Europe."
"Don't go now," Jason said, "Things are a bit unstable in Europe. When I came back, there were massive flight delays."
"Unstable? With Brainiac around, how could anywhere be unstable?"
"Did you forget about the child kidnapping case I told you about?"
"Are you saying this is one and the same matter?" Tim squinted and said, "The child abductions erupting on the East Coast of the United States are related to the current situation in Europe... It really is organized crime. I just didn't expect that under Brainiac's strict surveillance, there could still be such a global crime syndicate."
"It proves their technological level is either beyond or on par with Brainiac's. It's basically confirmed that they have some sort of dealings with an alien civilization," Jason said.
"Who could it be? Darkseid? The Guardians of the Universe? Or some other odd existence?"
"There's no clue just yet, but it should be soon," Jason said. "After the dinner party tonight, Barry should head to the East District, searching around the houses under the pretext of checking the ice layers. As long as a passageway is found, their gathering place can be discovered. Once we catch them red-handed, we can find out everything."
Tim shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. I believe this organization didn't originate in Gotham. This could just be one of their bases; the leader is someone else altogether."
"Why do you say that?" Jason asked, somewhat puzzled. No wonder he had questions; after all, traditionally, Gotham has always been a gathering place for demons and ghosts. Whenever something happens here, people generally don't think it's done by outsiders. Gotham's heroes are as numerous as fish in the sea, and outsiders typically don't have much room to stir up big trouble.
"It's precisely because the child abductions took place in Gotham that this couldn't have been done by locals," Tim shook his head and said. "Whether they need children for something, or to brainwash them into committing crimes, or to offer them up to some evil god, Gotham is not a good choice. Haven't there been enough tragic cases already?"
Jason opened his mouth but didn't have much to say. After all, he came from that era, and he was even the leader of the Children's Gang. How could he not know what the kids in Gotham are like?
"But that era is long gone."
"If you were taking such a big risk, abducting children right under Brainiac's nose and wanting them to do something, would you be so careless in your choice of target? Any mishap could ruin everything. The facts also prove that this choice is not wise enough."
"It's true," Jason thought for a moment and said, "Even though the children might not be the same group of children, the police and criminals are the same group. Abducting children under their protection and interference is indeed more difficult than in other cities. Other cities also have children; there's no need to specifically come here."
"Or maybe they have some reason to come here?" Jason added. "For example, they might think Gothamites are unique, that the children here are more suitable for sacrifices or something."
"That's a possibility," Tim nodded and said. "But there's another point of doubt, which is that after they caught the people, they didn't take any immediate action. If it were for sacrifices, wouldn't they just take them immediately for sacrifice? Why lock them up in a house? If they can stay in this community for such a long time without being discovered, they can do the same elsewhere. The longer they wait, the more risks there are."
"You're suggesting that they want these children not as disposable resources but to educate and train them?"
"I guess so; otherwise, there's no need to set up a base," Tim nodded. "Moreover, they aren't staying here for just a day or two. From the looks of it, it might be a year or two. You can't say that children in Gotham are easier to educate than those in other cities, can you?"
Jason waved his hand. Doesn't he already know? Although the city isn't as polluted now, and Bruce is no longer Batman, as if they've broken the curse, this city still has its quirks. The chance of having various smart kids and little geniuses is much higher than in other cities.
If it's a local from Gotham, regardless of whether they're from the upper or lower class, they all understand this situation. Those in the upper class could pay attention to educational stats and would realize how many madmen the schools here produce; those from lower classes, just with common sense, would know that in such a city, kids can run in packs forming gangs and even firmly occupy a part of the underclass ecosystem. None of them are easy to mess with.
If someone wants to cultivate or manipulate kids, choosing Gotham is a huge mistake. Let alone trying to train them locally in Gotham. Anyone daring to have such thoughts would meet with extremely harsh lessons, just take a look at Shiller from afar, family.
Though kids indeed have more malleability than college students, among college students there's a mixture of outsiders, while the kids are pure local breed. If they can manage with that, they wouldn't need to rely on such a low-level method as kidnapping.
"If it's an outsider, where would they be from?"
"Metropolis," Tim said. "This person must be unable to achieve anything in their city, which is why they're trying a different place, but they can't let things get out of their control, so they can't go too far. Then this city must be under very strict surveillance by Brainiac and not far from Gotham. That leaves only Metropolis."
Jason nodded. He knew that despite how well Gotham was doing now, as a logistics hub, the most important city on the East Coast was still Metropolis. It's the economic and political center of the East Coast and a famous American city, more renowned than the capital of this country and most other cities, akin to Marvel's New York. Brainiac's efforts there far outstrip those in Gotham, which has only just gotten better recently.
"Looks like we're caught in the crossfire this time," Jason said, rubbing his chin. "Now the key issue is what exactly this group is up to and where they got the technology to shield against Brainiac. Could it truly be Darkseid?"
"Why don't we test it and find out?" Tim raised an eyebrow.
And upon hearing that sentence, the movement of Greed, who was busy in the kitchen, suddenly halted.