PFC Chapter 4134 When the Pumpkin Ripens (6)
Chapter 4134 When the Pumpkin Ripens (6)
Chapter 4134 When the Pumpkins Ripen (Sixteen)
Greed brought back a beech tree from the natural woodland and planted it in the yard. Planting a mature tree has its advantages; given Gotham's current natural conditions, all you need to do is plant it and leave it alone. But there are also disadvantages: it's currently in a mature growth cycle, and beech trees are deciduous. So, when the wind blows, the entire house is engulfed by endless fallen leaves.
“Actually, we don’t need to buy grass seeds at all,” Arrogant said, standing in front of the door, shielding his eyes from the view of the lawn. “If you just plant a few more trees, all our lawns will be covered with fallen leaves, and then they won’t be able to see where a corner is missing…”
"No way," Greed said from behind him.
"Don't tell me we have to clean up all these fallen leaves?"
"Yes, because if a tree is in your yard, you are responsible for it and cannot let it affect the aesthetics of your lawn."
"Can we cut it down now?"
"Stop talking nonsense and go get the broom."
The two picked up tools and began clearing the fallen leaves from the front yard. But as the wind blew, leaves continued to fall, and soon their hair and shoulders were covered in leaves. Pride sighed, while Greed chuckled.
“Let’s leave it to the robot vacuum, I’m serious,” Arrogance said, throwing the broom down. “Or I’ll borrow a brand new vacuum cleaner from Victor. We can’t waste any more time on this stuff.”
“Yes, because you have a super, incredibly big problem,” Greed followed them back, picked up the plant seeds they had bought, and said, “It’s autumn now, vegetables can’t grow naturally in this temperature, so you still need to build a greenhouse…”
“Oh God,” he said arrogantly, but then walked to the edge of the field and said somewhat uncertainly, “I don’t think you can judge Gotham’s plants by common sense. Maybe you could just scatter the seeds like that and they’d be jumping around and filling the whole yard.”
"impossible."
Barry was startled by the message on his phone, then he said, "Those guys are still wandering around in the woods. This is a picture Brainiac sent me, take a look."
He projected the image onto the wall and said, "These footprints are fresh, which proves that people returned to the woods after the three children were rescued. They were probably looking for something."
What do you think that is?
“I don’t know, but maybe Brainiac would,” Barry said. “However, I suspect it might be related to the lake. Because if the thing were easy to find, they wouldn’t have had to keep going back and forth to look for it; and there’s hardly anything that can be hidden in the woods, so if there was anything, it would probably have fallen into the lake.”
“The police didn’t get anything out of them, but the children provided some clues,” a colleague said, pushing open the door, bringing out a file. “Paul Austin, one of the missing children, told us that the kidnappers treated them quite well. They took him to the woods to chop wood, collect wild fruit, and even let them set up cameras on the lake.”
"Camera?"
"Yes, according to him, it was like a film crew's camera. But according to experts, it may just be an unknown electronic device."
"And then, where did they set this up?"
"According to Paul Jr., the thing fell into the lake. They were planning to set it up on the lakeshore, but the support structure was unstable, and there was a lot of slippery mud on the shore, so it fell in. And it was caught before they could retrieve it."
“It’s absurd,” Barry said. “Leaving aside why they would set up the machine in such a dangerous place, if they can’t even use a tripod properly, how did they manage to kidnap the child right under Brainiac’s nose?”
The colleague put the file on the table, put one hand on his hip, sighed, and said, "This kid named Paul Austin has a bad relationship with his family. He feels like he's being ignored, and we've found that he's a habitual liar, so his testimony may not be entirely credible."
“I remember now,” the blonde said. “Do you remember the reasoning behind that weak trap? If the kidnapper wants to establish authority among the children, he needs a positive example. Could it be Paul?”
What are the family circumstances of the other two children?
“They’re all pretty good. One is from a typical elite middle-class family and has an only child; the other girl’s family situation is a bit worse, but she has an older brother in college and her family loves her very much. Paul’s situation is the worst: a blended family, an alcoholic father, an indecisive mother, and almost no one cares about him.”
"Did they take Paul to chop wood?"
"Yes, there were about three outdoor activities, and Paul himself said he only brought him. But our experts believe that he may have brought others as well, and the two of them were competitors. Paul deliberately concealed this in order to elevate himself."
"Then he must be hiding something else important, such as that he was the one who put that machine into the water."
“We can’t rule out that possibility, but child protection regulations require us not to test children for lies,” my colleague sighed. “And it’s only because Paul’s family doesn’t care about him that we have the opportunity to ask so many questions; we can’t get in touch with the other two children at all. Their parents are furious and refuse to see any law enforcement officers. They even yelled at Brainiac.”
Barry sighed deeply and said, "Regardless of who put the machine in there, if it's not some kind of regular camera or device, then it's very likely a special machine that has tampered with Brainiac's surveillance footage. We need to find a way to get this thing up here."
“I’m going to do some preparation,” his Black colleague said, walking away. Barry turned to him and asked, “Don’t rush, we haven’t decided how to fish yet.”
As they walked away, the other party turned back and said, "Before that, we need to make sure that any of our underwater operations comply with environmental regulations. Working in natural waters without permission can lead to prosecution."
"Who will sue? Brainiac?"
“Community administrators, the church, and residents could all be involved. You know, if something like this happens, Brainiac won’t side with us,” the Black colleague said. “Although this community isn’t large, it’s considered an upscale community. If they’re determined to make things difficult for us, then even if it’s Brainiac’s central computer that falls in, we can’t go and retrieve it.”
Barry couldn't help but sigh again. The blonde smiled at him and said, "You haven't been here long, so you might not be used to it yet. That's just how law enforcement is. Sometimes you might even feel like everyone is an accomplice to the murderer; but if you put yourself in their shoes, you probably wouldn't want a construction crew suddenly appearing next to your house, pumping water day and night. You'll get used to it."
Barry then realized the seriousness of the problem, because the closest house to the lake was Schiller's house. He quickly caught up with his Black colleague and said, "Take a good look at the environmental regulations, and if possible, contact a noise assessment agency to make sure that any noise from underwater work doesn't affect the surrounding residents."
Even so, Barry still had to bite the bullet and visit Schiller, because he knew underwater operations were probably unavoidable: whichever method was used, it would definitely affect the professor's life, as an engineering team's basic needs required a whole logistical system, which meant potentially 24-hour lighting and noise. Barry guessed that Brainiac's decision not to start work immediately after learning the news was probably out of consideration for Schiller; and as a law enforcement officer, he had to step forward without hesitation in order to solve the case as quickly as possible and protect the children.
Despite having prepared himself mentally, Barry still felt somewhat deflated when he stood in front of the Schiller family's courtyard gate.
Barry was a very empathetic person, so he was very good at putting himself in other people's shoes and understanding their troubles. He thought that if there was a construction crew working around the clock and making all sorts of noise downstairs in his rented apartment building, he would probably want to curse them out too.
The situation is actually much more serious than that, because they are law enforcement officers, that is, police officers. No American wants to deal with the police, let alone accept such a large group of police officers surrounding their house.
“Brainiac, what’s the minimum number of people needed to retrieve this from the lake?” Barry asked, pulling out his phone.
“I can’t give you an exact number; it depends on who goes into the water to retrieve the item,” Brainiac’s voice came through.
"Uh, what else could it be? A frogman? A submariner? An underwater engineer?"
"Sorry, those are not options. You should consider Superman, Martians, or Atlanteans."
“What the hell?” Barry’s features scrunched up. “Don’t tell me this lake leads straight to the Earth’s core, or that some ancient volcano is about to erupt…”
There's a monster at the bottom of the lake.
"what???"
"Who's that guy standing in front of our gate?" Greed asked, peering through the back door at the front. "He looks a bit like Barry. Why isn't he coming in?"
Arrogance was tidying up the plastic sheeting used to set up the greenhouse. He lifted the sheet up, then shook it down, almost covering himself. He stopped, walked over, glanced at it, and said, "He definitely didn't want to peel the chestnuts. It's all your fault."
"We've run out of chestnuts, and it's all your fault."
The two still went to the front door and saw Barry looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle like a thinker, his brows furrowed.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Greed waved his hand in front of him, but it seemed to startle him.
"Uh, it's nothing. Good afternoon, doctor. Have you eaten yet?"
“It seems you’re determined to enjoy the fruits of your labor as much as possible,” Greed said, opening the gate for him. “Not yet, but we’re about to eat. Come in.”
Barry went inside, then realized he hadn't brought any gifts and was arriving just in time for dinner. Feeling even more embarrassed, he sat down on the sofa and offered, "Are there any chestnuts left? I can peel them for you..."
“The chestnuts have all been given away, but you can come and help me carve pumpkins,” said Arrogantly. “The scraps we get will be our lunch.”
Barry watched as Arrogance placed a perfectly shaped, large pumpkin on the table, then took out a whole set of carving knives. Barry almost laughed, but he still said, "What kind of sculpture are you planning to carve? A professor? A grimace or a smiley face?"
"I hope it's not too scary, maybe a smiling face?"