Chapter 3496

Taking advantage of the time Yodun was talking to the police officer, Aisha tugged on Schiller's sleeve. The two of them walked out of the back door together and stood in front of the window facing the backyard.

"I don't think he's a good person," Aisha concluded first.

"I think so too," Schiller nodded and said, "but it doesn't matter, we aren't here to find him anyway. It's not bad that he can provide us with a place to stay."

"Why do you think that?" Schiller asked again.

"I can't put my finger on it, I just feel like he's acting nervous," Aisha shook her head and said, "From his appearance, he should be a shy bookworm. But would someone who isn't good at socializing really invite strangers to stay at their own home?"

"Also, although he didn't show it, he has a strange, inexplicable excitement. The way he looks at me is also weird," Aisha rubbed her arm with her hand and then said, "His sister looks about my age. He wouldn't have some strange fetish, would he?"

"It's not that complicated," Schiller said, "Just from him saying he likes my theories, I know he isn't a good person."

"Why?"

"What kind of good person could like psychoanalysis?"

"... That makes so much sense."

Schiller accompanied Aisha on the swings in the backyard. After finishing his talk with the police officer, Yodun walked over, his fingers interlaced, looking somewhat hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong?" Schiller looked at him and said, "Why did the police come? Did you run into some trouble?"

"It's nothing," Yodun shook his head and said, "Because the location where the alien spaceship was sighted was the wheat field on my farm. There are often outsiders wandering around. The police came to remind me to be careful and told me not to go out casually recently."

"That is indeed how it should be," Schiller nodded, as if in total agreement, and said, "New faces appearing in a small town should make the police very nervous. When I arrived, the police even stopped me and specifically warned me to be careful."

"You ran into the police before?" Yodun's voice cracked slightly at the end. He immediately realized something, cleared his throat, and said, "They are indeed a bit too nervous. They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

"No. My daughter said she wanted to find aliens, so the police didn't ask much more. However, he did mention that some people seem to have gone missing recently. Do you know what that's about?"

"Oh, yes," Yodun replied, "I've heard about it too, but I haven't been to town recently, so I don't know what's going on."

Schiller nodded. Aisha stopped swinging and looked at Schiller, saying, "Daddy, I'm a little hungry!"

Schiller patted her head and said, "Then let's go to the car and get something to eat."

Schiller had indeed prepared some food in the car, but it was all small snacks meant to coax Aisha, and there was nothing that could serve as a main meal. He said this just to see Yodun's attitude.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Yodun took two steps forward and said, "You are guests in my home; if you still eat the things you brought yourselves, it would show that I am a poor host."

"My farm has a large vegetable patch. It's the harvest season, so I've picked quite a few fresh vegetables. My cooking skills aren't bad either. I think I can show you what I can do..."

"That would be too much trouble," Schiller declined, saying, "You have already kindly invited us to stay, saving us the accommodation costs. If I let you cook for us as well, it would be a bit too rude."

"It's alright, I actually quite enjoy studying cooking," Yodun smiled and said, "I'll go pick some vegetables, it'll be ready soon."

After saying this, as if afraid Schiller would change his mind, he turned and walked toward the warehouse. Schiller and Aisha exchanged a glance.

Seeing Yodun's figure disappear completely, Schiller whispered to Aisha, "Go and get me the small box on the far right side of the car's trunk. There are dangerous items inside, don't open it, and absolutely do not break it."

Aisha nodded, slipped through the house, went around from the front yard to the garage, took a small black box out of the trunk, and then quickly ran back.

Schiller took the box and put it into his trench coat pocket. Aisha asked with some curiosity, "What is this?"

Schiller shook his head, not explaining specifically, only saying, "This is a weapon that might be used later."

"You really should practice shooting, Professor. A handgun would solve all our troubles right now," Aisha shrugged and said.

"That's not necessarily true. Without a silencer, it makes too much noise; with a silencer, it's hard to carry. If someone were to swipe it, we'd be finished."

"That's strange," Aisha exclaimed, "I really couldn't tell, you actually know so much about firearms. Professor."

Hearing that Aisha was joking, Schiller patted her head. Aisha smiled at him.

They walked back into the house and sat on the sofa, but through the window, they saw another police car parked in front of the house.

"Who do you guess came this time?" Schiller asked.

"It should be the real police now."

"You think the previous one wasn't real?"

"Of course not," Aisha shook her head and said, "Uncle James said that besides daily patrols, American police must work in pairs for any field mission. Especially when approaching residential houses, if one person knocks on the door, another must be standing by to keep watch; otherwise, it's a violation of police protocol."

"Everyone knows this rule. Even a con artist, if they want to impersonate a police officer, will find a partner and work in pairs. Otherwise, no one would open the door for them at all."

"The male officer from before came alone, which was already very suspicious. And for Yodun to see that situation and still dare to open the door, that's even more suspicious."

The entire set of Mercury base equipment brought over from the Marvel side was actually no longer the original type from there, but a complete version that had been repeatedly modified and upgraded by Stark; its scale and technological level were incomparable.

At that time, the Mercury base had basically hollowed out the entire planet, transforming it into an iron mechanical fortress, or even an artificial planet.

After the Mercury base here was built, it incorporated technology from Luthor Corp and Wayne Tech, and then became the Green Lantern Corps' solar system headquarters, undergoing large-scale adaptive modifications and maintenance using Green Lantern energy. Now, it had completely changed its appearance.

Looking from mid-air, one could no longer see any signs of natural creation; it looked entirely like a planet shaped from steel structures. Moreover, because of the participation of Green Lantern energy, many glass structures were used, and there were windows and hollow walls everywhere, allowing one to see the complex and exquisite structures within at a glance.

The moment they landed, everyone's eyes widened.

A metal planet was slowly rotating in front of a huge star, with indescribably exquisite structures interlocking and nesting. Stark's unparalleled talent in mechanical engineering brought this planet a mechanical aesthetic that didn't belong to this universe—magnificent yet detailed, massive yet precise, like a sparkling diamond ring humans used to express romantic love to the sun.

Batman swallowed lightly. He instinctively realized that the universe he was currently in had more secrets than he had imagined, but even the seemingly unimportant differences he had learned about were enough to construct a beautiful and infinitely mysterious new world.

"Alright, let's go in." Hal led them as they flew into the Mercury base.

"Currently, they are all outsiders. However, because it's the season for purchasing farm machinery, many locals have gone out and haven't returned yet. It cannot be confirmed if some of them have already met with foul play."

During holidays, this place served as the station for the Green Lantern Corps. Those working here were all Hal's direct subordinates; although there weren't many humans, most had lost their home planets and were focused on working with Hal.

After entering the base, the various types of equipment were even more dazzling. It wasn't that Kara and Superman hadn't seen equipment with higher technological levels than this, but the high-tech equipment of alien races was customized according to the characteristics of their own species; for humans to look at, they might not understand it at all, nor could they appreciate any aesthetic.

But the things in front of them carried a kind of "human-style" high-tech aesthetic they had never seen before. The various parts of the equipment and the operational methods they could roughly discern were clearly designed by humans, manufactured by humans, and used by humans, rather than a crude imitation of alien technology.

Batman, who could see more of the nuances, began to think: Normally, if there were such a scientist on Earth, he couldn't possibly not know about them. But if it wasn't developed by a scientist on Earth, how did this thing manage to be so "human-flavored"?

Batman raised his question, and Hal just smiled mysteriously. He said, "I can only tell you that the Battleworld is more magical than you imagine. Make good use of the trading system, and you will open the door to a new world."

"Did you trade for this thing in the Battleworld?"

Actually, no. Hal said to himself, it was just a line used to promote the Battleworld.

But he still nodded and said, "Yes, it was traded from an Iron Man in a certain universe. If you want one too, you can browse the forum; there are all sorts of strange things."

Seeing Batman's suddenly unfocused gaze, he must have gone to browse the forum, and then, like discovering a new continent, was shocked by the various statements on the forum. Superman couldn't help but open the Battleworld interface as well.

Watching his expression, Hal curled his lips: "You two are both addicted to the Battleworld, so you shouldn't have time to bother me anymore, right?"

That's right, Hal didn't consider this pair of Batman and Superman from another world as helpers at all, but only felt they were very redundant. If one were to ask why, it was probably because someone had significantly lowered the evaluation of Batman and Superman in this universe.

?? Diablo 3 is coming back! Hahahaha!

? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3487 =====

"Hello. Mr. Officer, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come and warn you," the other party lowered his voice and said, "The Mr. Yodun who invited you and your daughter to stay here is very likely a dangerous person. The missing persons cases occurring near the small town might be related to him. You had better leave here as soon as possible."

Schiller frowned and said, "Do you have any evidence?"

"If I had any, I would have already arrested him. An investigation requires a certain amount of time. Before receiving support from the city, the police station doesn't allow us to act rashly. So this is just my personal suspicion."

"But you had better listen to me. He is clearly very suspicious. The case of his sister's death back then had major doubts. It was only because the Yodun couple insisted on not pursuing it that it wasn't investigated further. You understand what I mean, right?"

"Alright, he just said he wanted to treat Aisha and me to a meal. I actually thought he was a good person."

"Do not eat anything he gives you," the officer emphasized his tone and said, "Leave here as soon as possible and drive to town. The police force there is more sufficient, and it will be safer."

Just then, Schiller heard the backyard door being pushed open; it was probably Yodun coming. So he stood up. He discovered that Yodun had already walked over.

But the previous police officer had already left before he came over. So he didn't see anything.

"Professor, dinner is ready," Yodun smiled and said.

Schiller brought Aisha to the dining table. The meal was simple: a fresh vegetable salad, pan-seared steak, and mashed potatoes.

Although there were no complex dishes, the aroma was rich, and the presentation was not bad. It seemed Yodun wasn't lying when he said he knew how to cook.

Schiller first served a little salad onto his own plate, then filled Aisha's plate with vegetables, urging Aisha to eat more vegetables like a good father.

Aisha had already stuffed half a piece of steak into her mouth, nodding while chewing. Meanwhile, Schiller began to eat the vegetables on his plate.

"Not adding any salad dressing? Professor, the mayonnaise we make ourselves at home..." Yodun placed a bottle by Schiller's hand.

"No thanks. I never eat any sauces," Schiller said while pushing the steak over to Aisha's side. Aisha didn't stand on ceremony either; she finished her portion in a few bites and began to tackle Schiller's portion.

"I think you really should try it. The mayonnaise is also vegan. I guarantee it tastes very good."

"Then can I try it?" Aisha suddenly asked.

"Uh, mayonnaise is high in oil and sugar, it might not be very healthy for a child. What do you think, Professor?"

"Alright, Aisha. You can't eat any more sweets. Finish the steak, and then we'll go to the wheat field to see if we can wait for the aliens. We have an agreement: if you don't see anything tonight, we'll leave tomorrow morning."

Aisha muttered a few words, but still nodded.

(End of chapter)