"Are you still going to Waylon's place? I need to pack up these pumpkin pies and send them to Billy's school; the kids will love it." Victor said while tidying up.
Shiller nodded and said, "Harley also sent a big pumpkin to Waylon; I think she must have forgotten that Waylon is a carnivore."
"You're wrong there; every animal needs some fiber intake, even pure carnivores." Victor packed the pumpkin pies into a basket, covered them with a thick cloth, and added, "Besides, with his teeth and claws, it's much easier for him to handle a big pumpkin than for us."
Victor was right. By the time Shiller reached Waylon's company, the giant pumpkin he had was already half-eaten. Judging by the bite marks, Waylon's bite force was comparable to that of an adult crocodile.
"Did you eat all of these?" Shiller asked.
"Of course not; otherwise, I'd become the first orange crocodile in the world." Waylon grinned, standing inside the remaining half of the pumpkin, and said, "Doesn't this look like a little pumpkin house?"
The pumpkin Waylon had was shaped differently from Victor's; it was particularly tall, like a small car standing on end. After half of it was gnawed away, what's left indeed looked a bit like a small house.
"Nice, very creative. I think you could refine it a bit and place it at the company entrance."
Waylon laughed, clearly pleased with someone appreciating his work, and then said, "Harley told me this is the latest research achievement. As long as you don't damage the outer skin, it can be preserved for a long time. Something about fiberization, I didn't quite get it."
"It can delay the fiberization process?"
"Seems like it; you'd have to ask her for the specifics."
"Is she doing well lately? Still working as a designer?"
"Yeah, seems like she's in product development at a food factory. I'm not too sure about the details. She seems to be planning a Halloween dinner, at your old estate."
Shiller nodded. He knew his old estate had become the base for the Young Avengers. Though they called it a base, in reality, since there were hardly any crime incidents, it just functioned as a large youth activity club.
"I'll wait for her to send me an invitation." Shiller said as he was leaving, "I hope there will be more than just pumpkin on the dinner table."
By the time Shiller got home, it was already afternoon. He hadn't been home long when the Primary Universe Batman called.
"Hello, Doctor, I have some issues I'd like your advice on. I'm at the entrance to Gotham now, but there seems to be a face recognition system here. My facial scan didn't pass. What should I do?"
"Oh, I forgot. You still need to register your personal information in that green software, input your facial data to get an identity certificate. The monitoring here is quite strict; you can't use the same identity as Bruce. You'll need to register a new one."
"Alright, sounds complicated, but I'll figure it out myself."
After hanging up, Shiller shook his head. Batman surely wouldn't be confused by a facial recognition system. It's just that he would never casually input his identity information, especially sensitive data like his face and fingerprints.
Brainiac's regulation is indeed strict, but that's only for ordinary people. For those with technical means, especially Batman, there are still ways to get around it.
However, Shiller thought Brainiac might at least put on a bit of a show; asking for the Primary Universe Batman's identity information right away seemed a bit too brazen. Not even pretending?
Nonetheless, the dispute between the Primary Universe Batman and Brainiac had nothing to do with him. He needed to finish drafting the final exam before preparing for the imminent arrival of Greed.
There were guest rooms in the house, but since Billy left, they hadn't been tidied. By the time Shiller finished tidying up the house, it was already evening. Looking out the window from the living room, the wooden path leading to the forest was lit, reflecting shimmering waves on the lake, a somewhat bleak cold color, while the fireplace was nearly extinguished.
Sitting in the armchair by the fireplace, Shiller threw firewood into the fireplace. After tossing in the last piece, he realized he was out of firewood. It seemed like he really hadn't gone to the store to buy firewood for a while.
Though it's not particularly cold now, the fire was mainly to dry out moisture. The scenery by the lake is beautiful, but it's also undeniably damp. If the fireplace goes out in the first half of the night, by morning, the living room would be very cold and damp. But if it could burn all night, the whole house would be dry and warm.
Though it was already dark, it wasn't very late. After thinking it over, Shiller decided to go cut down a tree in the forest and chop it up for firewood. The forest was closer than the community store. If it weren't for the usual lack of time, he would have enjoyed chopping his own firewood.
Shiller first changed into rain boots suitable for walking in muddy ground, then went to the tool room to grab an axe, bypassed the lake, and headed into the forest. He didn't have to venture far to find a pine tree of just the right thickness, whereupon he hefted the axe and started chopping.
Being a small tree, it wasn't difficult to chop down. After a few chops, it was almost done, just a push, and the tree fell. Transporting it back was a bit more cumbersome; Shiller didn't plan on carrying it back, but had already brought a small cart, placed the tree on it, and began pulling it back.
On his way back, Shiller noticed a car on the road toward the east of the forest, in the direction opposite to his house. But since it didn't have its headlights on, it wasn't very visible.
Shiller figured it might be a neighbor's car. Even though the community has few people, it's not completely uninhabited. The principal of Gotham University, Xi Wana, hadn't moved away, and they were still neighbors. Perhaps he just got off work.
Dragging the tree back to his house, Shiller found a spot in the backyard to chop the firewood. Since it was just a small tree, there wasn't much chopping to be done—just cutting it into segments so it could be burned. Though newly felled wood is a bit damp and harder to burn, as long as the fire is big, it'll catch. Otherwise, forest fires wouldn't happen.
Shiller put in all the firewood, fanned the flames to make the fire bigger. Once the fireplace was blazing, the living room became even warmer.
At this moment, an unexpected visitor arrived; the doorbell rang. When Shiller opened the door, it was Xi Wana.
"Professor, um...I ran out of firewood and forgot to buy some today. Do you have any? Could you lend me some?"
"...Aren't you a magician?"
"The Magic Flame is kind of dangerous. If I don't keep an eye on it, it might burn the whole house down. It's safer to use the fireplace."
"I don't have any firewood either. What's in the fireplace just came from some woodcutting in the forest."
"The forest can be cut? Isn't that area a woodland protection zone? Wouldn't Brainiac dock your pay?"
"Isn't it the same if you buy firewood; it costs money?"
"True, I'll go cut some." Xi Wana said somewhat helplessly, "The weather's getting cold too fast. I should've prepared some firewood earlier."
After sending off Xi Wana, not long after, Shiller saw the flashlight beam appear in the forest, probably Xi Wana chopping wood. But no one knows how much wood he chopped; the flashlight beam swayed around, swaying for over an hour, and Shiller feared he might clear out that patch of woodland.
After lighting the fireplace, Shiller looked at a book in front of the fireplace for a while. As sleepiness gradually overwhelmed him, he went upstairs to sleep.
Meanwhile, as he warmly drifted into slumber, a group of people was shivering in a car that hadn't yet started at the end of the eastern woodland path.
"What's up with this ghost of a place? Not a single coffee shop around. And I'm not even a field agent; why do I have to stake out here?"
"Stop whining. The big boss put us here to watch this case. Even Brainiac hasn't figured it out. If we don't focus and get it right, it could cost us our lives."
"When we saw that person slipping into the forest earlier, we should've gone to check. He might be burying the bodies of those kids. The one who went later is an accomplice..."
"That doesn't make sense. Either they bury them together, or one buries while one watches. Why go separately?"
"You think it's two groups?"
"I heard woodcutting sounds. Maybe they just went to chop wood." Barry's voice came from the back seat, breathing warmth into his hands before rubbing them. Then he asked, "Are you sure that suspicious person showed up around here?"
"Of course, there's hardly anyone around here, not many surveillance cameras, and large forests. It's easy to hide, and it's not so far from the city, making it easy for troublemakers to get here. If I were a kidnapper, I'd choose here too."
"I think we shouldn't stay here too long." Barry worriedly glanced out the window, saying, "There's hardly anyone here; besides the murderer, there might be something else lurking..."
"No way! You're afraid of ghosts?"
"I'm not afraid of ghosts. What I fear is... Never mind, just pretend I said nothing."
"Ending halfway is not a good habit, but I also think we shouldn't wait here doing nothing. I saw a house across the lake. Shouldn't we..."
"Don't!" Barry raised his voice but quickly realized something was off and softened his tone, saying, "Setting aside the fact it's bedtime now, waking people up will surely annoy them, and they won't give us any clues. Moreover, if those folks are sly enough to evade Brainiac, they're very cunning. If we go over rashly and alarm them, what if they run away?"
"That's also true. The field agents are coming tomorrow. If we act rashly and spoil the case, they'll cause trouble for us. Better do nothing, finish watching the night, and head back."
Barry sighed inwardly. The night by the lake was indeed cold. He really wanted to go for a run to warm up, but it wasn't possible, so he curled up in the back seat and slept. When he woke again, it was daylight.
His colleague was leaning against the car, smoking. Barry also got out to stretch his legs, then asked, "Any leads?"
"Absolutely nothing." The black female colleague patted the steering wheel and said, "Let's go, get in the car, and head back. Just tell the field division about someone going into the forest last night; this job is really not for humans."
Soon they drove back to Green Street. Barry bought coffee from the same shop. When he returned with breakfast, the field agents, all geared up, had finished their meeting and emerged.
"Inspector Allen, when will your behavioral analysis report be ready? I mean the one for those kids."
"It's coming right up." Barry said, "I'll deliver it to you shortly."
But the agent still stopped him, saying, "I heard last night, you all saw someone enter the forest in the suspicious area?"
"Yeah." Barry nodded vaguely and then added, "I heard woodcutting sounds. Maybe a resident nearby chopping wood."
"Heh, definitely not so simple. What firewood cutting at night? Maybe it was to cover certain sounds, deliberately cutting trees. We're going to investigate today."
"Remember to be polite; that's a wealthy area. If they complain to Brainiac, you might get fined."
"I know, I know." The other waved dismissively.
As Barry was having breakfast, he watched the fully armed field agents board the vehicle, soon disappearing down the leaf-strewn street. He sighed inwardly again; if his previous life resembled a modern crime drama, it wouldn't be long before turning into a ghost story.