Chapter 4138: When the Pumpkins Ripen (Part 31)

After Brainiac issued the alert, Wei En Manor truly became a fortress. All passages to the outside world were severed, and in an instant, it entered a state of complete isolation. Yet, no one raised any objections.

The young people were all sitting in front of the fireplace organizing supplies. Tim was sorting medical supplies. The main-universe Batman observed that the medical kits he had stacked to the side looked like products from the wartime era. The boxes were dark blue, with a white Earth emblem printed on them.

Then there was some loose gauze, which also looked like it was needed for battlefield bandaging; he placed it all into a sealed bag. Tim wore gloves, took the gauze out to count it, and then stuffed it back into the bag.

Next was a full set of surgical equipment, including various models of scalpels, needles, thread, and syringes. A set of ECG monitoring equipment, an AED, a blood pressure monitor, a blood glucose meter, and other instruments were neatly arranged in a large black box.

Immediately following were various medications: painkillers, anti-inflammatories, anesthetics, and so on, along with some daily cold medicine, all placed in a small white box.

Finally, there were some ampoules containing unknown drugs, a pile of equipment for intravenous drips, and some test strips.

Tim counted them one by one. After counting each item, he would take a photo with Brainiac's software, record the number, and then it seemed to be uploaded to the server.

Soon, Brainiac's voice sounded from his phone: "Assessment results released: Vital sign monitoring equipment is intact, no replenishment needed for now; surgical equipment requires re-maintenance and sterilization; daily medication consumption is too high, stock is insufficient. Medication replenishment will be configured in 1 hour and 42 minutes..."

Jason, meanwhile, was taking inventory of the food. He took everything out of the refrigerator, along with the two large freezers left behind by Alfred, as well as the canned goods and such stored in the pantry, counting and taking photos as he went.

Pamela went into the garden to check the plants, mainly the edible crops. Wei En Manor also had a small plot of land where pumpkins, tomatoes, and cucumbers had been planted; most had been harvested, but some remained. She simply forced them all to ripen and brought them back.

Placing these on the kitchen island, she looked at Jason, who was checking the refrigerator, and asked, "Can't Bruce and the others come back?"

"Yes, they are at Selina's house in the East End. But that's fine; they have central heating there, so they won't let Aisha catch a cold. Where's Harley?"

"She's at the food factory. She's been living there, so there shouldn't be any problems," Pamela said while organizing the vegetables.

"Oh, god, why is there martial law again?" Raven said, walking down from upstairs. "We were planning to leave for Blüdhaven tomorrow morning."

"Looks like that's not happening," Dick said, leaning on the railing of the second-floor atrium. "Are our supplies still enough? Have you finished Brainiac's inventory? Is there anything I can help with?"

"Actually, there is," Tim said while inputting data into his phone. "Brainiac requires us to register group information. You send them a message and ask who wants to join our chat group."

"Bruce and Selina definitely will, of course, and the Professor and the Doctor, maybe Professor Fries and his wife too. Are J'onn and the others in Gotham? Maybe we can pull them in too."

Dick muttered as he started sending messages on his phone. The main-universe Batman looked at Raven and said, "It seems you don't have any very important work to do, Miss. Can you explain to me what is going on?"

"No problem, sir," Raven smiled at him in a friendly way and said, "Actually, there's nothing to explain; it's just reverting to a wartime martial law state. That is, without Brainiac's permission, no one is allowed to go out; at the same time, daily supplies must be fully registered. Brainiac will assess whether supplies are sufficient and when they should be replenished; at the same time, for our mental health, regional chat groups can be established. People within a city can pull their friends and family into the group to chat."

"If everyone is locked at home, what about factory production?"

"Most factories have achieved fully automated production," Tim said, looking up. "For example, my family's Drake Construction Materials Factory currently has six fully automated production lines and three semi-automated ones. But even on the three semi-automated lines, the ones working there are robots; it doesn't really require humans to go to work. In the past, people worked there only because Brainiac needed humans to maintain a minimum level of labor to enrich their spiritual lives. In reality, dozens of humans can't compare to a single robot; after all, they can operate around the clock."

"Sounds like Brainiac is supporting all of humanity."

"That's not quite it; the top scientific researchers still have to work, it's just that most top researchers are on Krypton now," Pamela spoke up. "Bruce and I stayed on Earth because we need to study agricultural production and need to establish experimental fields on Earth."

"In other words, Krypton is now a large-scale human scientific research center?" The main-universe Batman had long seen part of the war process in the news and knew that humanity's Mercury was gone, but they had welcomed Krypton.

"You could say that," Tim said. "In reality, Krypton's functions are far more than a laboratory, but we are still researching. Those scientists are just there to do that."

"Luthor is also on Krypton," the main-universe Batman said. "When he video-called me that day, he looked a bit exhausted."

"Yes, because a super-genius like Luthor, in addition to conducting Krypton's research and development, also has to maintain Brainiac's system. I heard there are still thousands of program errors that haven't been solved, it's just that because they aren't very important, they haven't caused any trouble."

"Yes, he sent a portion to me to look at, and I'm still researching it," the main-universe Batman nodded and said.

"Regarding the layout of the solar system, this is what I think," Brainiac's voice sounded from the television. "I don't intend to concentrate all functional zones on Earth; this is also impossible. This planet's greatest advantage is its beautiful natural environment; such planets are rare in the universe. Over-development would be counterproductive."

"Therefore, in the future, Earth will be the solar system's agricultural and natural cultivation base. I will restore Earth's natural ecosystem to the maximum extent, and then dot it with forestry and agriculture, as well as a portion of food factories, to provide natural green food for all humans in the solar system, and with its beautiful natural environment, become a place for them to relax and unwind outside of work. Mars and Venus will serve as industrial bases; all heavy industry and chemical industries with pollution will be set up on these two planets. The gas giants will be mining areas, used to collect the resources needed. Krypton will serve as a high-tech industrial park, mainly used for cutting-edge technology research. And the remote Uranus and Neptune will be used as starports, used to display troops and starships."

This made the main-universe Batman think of the central universe he had seen on the Marvel side. Their approach to developing the solar system was roughly the same as Brainiac's, except for the fact that they hadn't yet carried out Earth's industrial relocation, it was almost identical.

So he raised a question about this point. And Brainiac's answer was: "I think they didn't not want to do this, but they didn't have the ability to do so for the time being. Because restoring Earth's ecological environment is not that easy; if it weren't for the help of the Green, I wouldn't have made this plan."

"That's right," Pamela said. "Dr. Schiller told me before that they spent half a day of effort, and the magical plants they researched were only suitable for a small portion of people, which proves that they lack talent with natural-type superpowers on their side. But we are different; the power of the Green, why not use it."

"Perhaps it's also because they took a different route," the main-universe Batman said to himself. "The ordinary people on their side underwent a special kind of evolution, their lifespans were significantly increased, and their physiques were much stronger than before. This means they can ignore most industrial pollution, and their requirements for living conditions are not that high anymore."

"Yes, this is exactly our shortcoming," Brainiac said. "The magical energy on our side is not that easy to obtain. Even if there is energy, many energies have too obvious attributes; once ordinary people come into contact with them, it is very likely to cause pollution. So we cannot use this method, we can only try our best to build a safe greenhouse for ordinary people. But with the development of technology, the expansion of heavy industry scale and the increase in pollution are inevitable, we can only move these industries out of Earth. Even in another world, their starships were not built on Earth."

"Alright, I think your plan is not bad, so I will add a point to your evaluation," the main-universe Batman said. "However, whether this plan is truly feasible depends on subsequent practice. But you have indeed seen further than most rulers of Earth."

"I am surprised," Brainiac said. "So I am not the only one who has ruled Earth."

"Yes, it's not just the Earth of your universe that has achieved unification. You should have seen that Batmobile before; he once unified Earth, but was later driven away. The situation on his Earth is not very good, and currently, the score is at the bottom. If it continues to be deducted, the Multiverse Alliance will have to take action."

"There is actually such a thing," Tim said with some surprise. "He unified Earth, how could he be driven away?"

"People felt they lost their freedom, so they started hunting him down. It's not that he had no way to deal with them, but he just felt a bit disappointed, so he simply left."

"I remember an Earth with a Superman who wore white clothes that seemed to have been unified as well," Pamela recalled. "What was it called? Justice Lords?"

"Yes, their scores are quite good, because they have indeed completely eliminated crime, even more thoroughly than the one eliminated in your universe. Although there are certain deficiencies in the comprehensive quality of the rulers and the degree of civil liberty, the scores are among the best."

"What kind of standard is this again?" Jason couldn't help but ask. "Then like us under martial law, wouldn't the score for civil liberty be deducted to the bottom?"

"Of course not. The laboratory was attacked, important research items were lost, and there is sufficient evidence to prove that it was done by aliens, so sounding a global alarm and imposing martial law is not particularly excessive. However, how people live during martial law, whether their physiological and psychological health needs can be met, whether things can be successfully resolved during the martial law period, and whether any accidents or riots will occur, these specific details will affect the final score."

"So that's how it is," Pamela smiled and said. "Little B, you have to work hard."

"Don't call me Little B."

"Alright, Bailey, I believe in you." ===== CHAPTER 4139 =====