In the laboratory of Wayne Manor. Pamela tilted her head to glance at the instrument once more, then turned to look at Xi Wana and said, "So, Mr. Principal, you didn't see anything either?"
"Yes. This kind of energy is really too unique." Xi Wana's expression appeared very puzzled, he said, "I can't feel its source at all, and there's no way to extract it. Honestly, if it really is Origin Energy, why would it be like this?"
"What do you mean?"
"No matter what kind of energy, as long as it is closer to the source, its fusion should be better. It will react with many secondary energies, it shouldn't be so indifferent."
At that moment, Primary Universe Batman walked in and said, "Any new developments?"
Both of them shook their heads. Pamela sighed and said, "Maybe only the Creator of the Mother Box can understand its principles. And Cyborg from other universes just happened to stumble upon it."
"That's a possibility. But I think it's more likely that only a certain chosen individual can use this energy."
"But where do we find Cyborg now? I remember he was a football team member in another universe. When's the next game for Gotham University? Three days from now? But that might not be his team, right?"
"Maybe we should find the Master of the Dark Night," Xi Wana suggested, "he has more knowledge in this area and might be able to find an expert to crack this."
The two continued discussing what this was about. Just then, Brainiac suddenly issued an alert.
"Please proceed to the East District for support." Brainiac's voice simultaneously rang out in their phones, "Repeat, the East District operation is not going well, please proceed for support…"
"Something happened on Barry's end," Pamela said, "I told him he should have taken more people with him. Let's go."
She walked out, and Primary Universe Batman followed her, while Xi Wana shouted, "Wait a moment! If we leave, what about the Mother Box? It's not safe to just leave it here?!"
"Trust in Brainiac's security measures." Primary Universe Batman said this decisively and turned to leave. Pamela frowned slightly. Xi Wana also sensed something was off. But Brainiac's warning continued to echo, and they had to rush to provide support.
Shortly after they left, a shadow appeared on the balcony. And the once tight security measures seemed to lose effectiveness instantly, not even triggering an alarm.
As the figure slowly approached the Mother Box, all the lights in the laboratory suddenly brightened. Another person walked in from the entrance.
"As expected, you came." he said, "Where's your shield device?"
The figure who climbed in from the balcony was evidently startled. As the lights came on, his appearance was revealed—a very ordinary-looking man.
He was dressed in blue work overalls, with a blue band tied around his head, looking just like a common worker. His appearance had no memorable features. If anything, his demeanor was slightly sneaky. But he was, after all, an uninvited guest running into a laboratory in the dead of night; walking boldly would be abnormal.
"I… I…" he stammered and then immediately turned to flee, only to be engulfed in gray mist.
"Found it." Greed appeared, holding a small blue sphere in his hand. He shook his head and said, "No wonder this thing was impossible to fish out when it fell into the lake; even without a monster, it would be hard to locate, wouldn't it?"
"Your plan succeeded." Brainiac said.
"Far from it," Greed chuckled, "Now, we've only gotten their shielding equipment. But this Mother Box bait isn't meant for catching small fry like this."
Before Halloween, Greed, urged by Arrogant, prepared to go out to pick chestnuts. Not long after setting out, he heard Brainiac shouting through the electronic devices in that house.
"Warning, do not steal public property, warning! If you come any closer, I'll take forceful measures!!!"
"What's the big deal about a few chestnuts? Why are you being so stingy?" Leaning on the fence of the yard, Greed said, "If it weren't for me giving Barry a tip, you wouldn't have caught the culprit so easily. What's the harm in letting me have some chestnuts?"
"No way. This tree is evidence, and we need to protect the crime scene. If you really want some, I can get some for you from the dock, okay?"
"Fine, get some from the dock. But I also want to pick some from this tree, otherwise how can I be called Greed?"
Greed pushed open the gate to enter. Brainiac controlled the appliances inside, generating a huge noise, pushing Greed back a couple of steps. In fact, primarily the Gray Mist didn't like noise; although he wasn't really a Symbiont, the years he thought he was one left him with this habit.
"Alright. Everyone has their price, and so do you. Brainiac, you're preventing me from touching this chestnut tree to protect the crime scene, and protecting the crime scene is to investigate behind-the-scenes manipulators. Why don't we change our approach, let you discover the shielding device straightaway, catch the manipulator, and maybe even set him up. How does that sound?"
"... You have a method?"
"Of course." Standing under the chestnut tree, Greed looked up at the fruit above, then said, "Who do you suspect the most?"
"Darkseid." Brainiac replied without hesitation, "It's just extremely difficult to trace this case back to him. At crucial moments, he can also give up everything arranged on Earth to clear himself. The current Earth doesn't have the capability to travel far to trouble him."
"Then create a reason for him to come over." Greed crouched down, reaching out to clear the fallen leaves under the chestnut tree, revealing the soil of the roots, and then said, "What does Darkseid want?"
"...The Anti-Life Equation?"
"Perhaps. But there's also something else he wants, or what he currently desires the most."
"What is it?"
"Mother Box."
"Why? Isn't the Anti-Life Equation supposed to be stronger than the Mother Box?"
"If it were the fully-powered Darkseid, he would indeed choose the Anti-Life Equation because it's an incredibly powerful weapon. But if it's the current Darkseid, he would choose the Mother Box."
"Is it because of the multiverse war?" Brainiac asked tentatively.
"Precisely. Darkseid has been promoted to be the sole entity across the multiverse, meaning the Darkseid in our universe, other universes, and the Prime Universe is the same person. After suffering such a disadvantage, what does he want to do the most?"
"Use the Anti-Life Equation to attack Batman?"
"That's the last step. He needs to unify and gain multiverse level power before he can return to the Prime Universe for revenge. The Anti-Life Equation may be strong, but it's just a weapon, while the Mother Box has the ability to open cosmic portals, which is what he urgently needs."
"Makes sense," Brainiac said, "But the problem is, we don't have a Mother Box either. I came to Earth to find that thing, but I haven't found it yet. I've almost turned the whole planet upside down."
"Then make a fake one."
"Darkseid isn't that stupid. He should be able to tell the real from the fake."
Greed shook his head and said, "Whether something is real or fake depends on two aspects: one, whether it's fully functional, and two, whether it has official endorsement. With these two, who can say it's fake?"
"But how do we achieve these two points?"
"Isn't it about opening cosmic portals? I just happen to have something that fits perfectly, called the M'Kraan Crystal, capable of opening new world portals and transporting across the multiverse, and since it's an item from different worlds, no one in this universe can figure it out."
"Okay, and about the official endorsement you mentioned..."
"Who is Darkseid's biggest enemy?"
"Batman."
"To be precise, it's the Primary Universe Batman. And me, since when we finally killed him, I also had a part. If both of us say this thing is the Mother Box, even if he doesn't believe it, 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 doomed?"
"I understand," Brainiac said, "You're planning to use the item from different worlds to impersonate the Mother Box, attract Darkseid's attention and fish out his forces deployed on Earth?"
"Exactly." Greed pulled out a box from who knows where and said, "The crystal shrunk by Pym particles is already in the box, and I plan to bury it under the chestnut tree. What do you think?"
"...Why do you have it out for that tree?"
Greed said somewhat helplessly, "You're an electronic lifeform, can you stop thinking about these issues so emotionally? Work time is for work, alright?"
Brainiac was momentarily speechless. As an electronic lifeform, he didn't know whether to be angry or happy about being called emotional.
"I submitted an application report for transplanting the tree to you. If you approve, then someone will be sent over to dig up the tree, which will coincidentally unearth the box. Otherwise, how do you plan to reveal the box in such a barren natural reserve?"
"Alright. Although I keep feeling like you're going to such lengths just to steal and continuously eat those chestnuts, I think your plan is pretty good, and we can do it."
"To judge a noble by the heart of a petty person." Greed said as he buried the box under the tree roots, adding, "Don't hire ordinary workers, because this thing is likely to affect the tree. And since the feng shui here is bad, if the tree goes crazy and attacks people, that would be a disaster. Better hire a superpower user."
"Uh, what reason should we use? Without a legitimate reason, suddenly calling an important researcher over may seem a bit abrupt."
"What additional reason do you need? This is your own designated natural reserve, with large beasts in it. Not hiring superpower users would be like delivering take-out."
"Oh, makes sense. I'll arrange it."
And as Greed headed back with a bunch of chestnuts, Brainiac asked again, "Do we need to inform the Primary Universe Batman beforehand?"
"There's no need. He's one of the few people who has been in close contact with the crystal and has even researched and cracked it. No one understands the crystal's data more than he does; he'll know what we're up to at first sight."
"...Really? But there's so much missing information here, the logic chain is incomplete. How can he deduce it?"
"If you could figure out Batman, you wouldn't be here having headaches over dealing with Darkseid's minions."
Brainiac's silence appeared slightly aggrieved. Greed ignored him, carried the chestnuts into the house, and shouted to Arrogant, "I'm back!"
"That's a lot of chestnuts?" Arrogant looked at the box of chestnuts in surprise and then said, "What are we going to do with them?"
"You mean peeling chestnuts? Don't worry, someone will come to help soon enough."