"Oh, my heavens! How did beetroot drop another 12 Cents? Brainiac! Brainiac!!!"
A loud shout came from the barn of the farm. A strong figure wearing a straw hat and gloves emerged from the shadow of the barn door, walked to the side of the tractor, opened the door, and shouted at the radio placed to the right of the steering wheel, "Brainiac, are you listening? Beetroot really can't drop any further!"
"Clark," another voice called out from the barn, "stop yelling, we have to transport all the grain from these two barns to the threshing factory today, or else we won't get a spot in line."
"But beetroot is really too cheap; if we sell at today's market price, we'll lose money." The young man sighed deeply, "I should've listened to Dad and planted less."
Another figure emerged from the barn, naked from the waist up. His skin was a pale gray, and the Superman logo on his chest was a faint scar on his skin. A cartoonish little flower hairpin humorously held up his black hair. Following him was a dog flying in the air, carrying his shirt.
"Clark! Hai'er! Uncle Kent is calling you home for lunch!" Another silhouette streaked across the sky, with sunshine-bright golden hair. She stopped in mid-air and then slowly descended, saying, "This afternoon we have to bring back the dried tomatoes to make sauce and harvest two acres of cabbage in the east. Hurry up!"
The dog tossed the clothes to Hai'er and darted toward the flying girl. Clark hurriedly shouted, "Come back! Little Kryptonite! Sorry, Kara, it's just a little too lively..."
"Oh, it's so cute." Kara rubbed the dog's head and said, "If it weren't for the busy farming season, I could've spent an entire afternoon playing frisbee with it, whether you throw it or I do."
Clark walked over, took Little Kryptonite from her hands, and then said, "Have you been helping Mom all this time? What's for lunch today?"
"Yes, we picked fresh chickpeas, and today's main dish is hummus seasoned with bell peppers. We also opened up the cheese we made earlier, so there'll be a cheese platter. The ham is ready for harvest, and along with fresh lettuce just picked from the field, we made two kinds of sandwiches. I picked two great pumpkins and made them into soup..."
On the vast plains of Kansas during harvest season, the long autumn resembles a poem composed of wheat fields, honey, and sunflower seeds, recited on the ridge where the west wind blows. The three people and the dog slowly flew back until they saw Martha standing at the door with a basket of bread waiting for them.
Martha placed the basket on top of the mailbox and gave each of them a hug. The smiling lady appeared even more petite against the backdrop of two strong figures. Kara walked over, holding her arm, passing under the shade of the mesquite tree. The dining room was filled with the aroma of ham.
Seeing the figure slouched on the sofa, Clark paused. However, the individual seemed to sense his arrival and turned around, with blue eyes shining like a finely carved blue gemstone amidst the lattice shadow from the window.
"Hey, Clark. I just got here. How's the fall harvest?"
"Not bad." Clark walked over, straightened Bruce's posture by grabbing his shoulder, and sat next to him, saying, "Why did you come here? Weren't you developing a new phone?"
"Brainiac thought my research was pointless and dumped me into the agricultural equipment production lab. I invented a better beetroot harvesting machine, and Kansas is a major beetroot state, so I heard you planted several acres of beets, and came to check it out."
"Goodness, no wonder Brainiac dropped the minimum beetroot price again; it turns out other places have already started large-scale harvesting?" Clark bumped Bruce lightly with his elbow and said, "Offering a good machine and not letting your buddy use it first, I really misjudged you."
"Stop kidding, your farm is diversified: it grows everything but not much of anything. Based on output, you wouldn't even get a turn next month. Since we're buddies, I brought over some experimental equipment for you, and we can try it this afternoon."
"You never cease to amaze." Clark hugged his shoulder in delight and said, "I thought this year's experimental field was ruined again, but there seems to be a turnaround; that's great. You know? Besides the broccoli we planted that year, Kent Farm's experimental field has been losing money for several consecutive years."
"I told you planting broccoli was a good idea. Of course, too many have planted it recently, with the price adjusted six times a week. On my way here, I heard quite a few farmers cursing."
"When aren't they swearing? Purely whining without reason. At least Brainiac stabilized the winter wheat price, and the corn price is decent too; pity my farm didn't plant much. Let's go eat; you caught the best season with fresh bacon and ham..."
While they walked to the dining table, they overheard Mrs. Kent telling Kara, "Ever since that Earth Butler arrived, running the farm has become like a video game. Your uncle specifically bought a phone to refresh agricultural prices. If you can time it right and sell when the price is high, you can earn quite a bit more. Certainly, the best aspect is the on-site pickup process; I've never seen so many planes in my life..."
As soon as she finished talking, a loud humming sound came from afar, and a massive hovering cargo ship landed on an open wheat field. Mr. Kent's small car quickly appeared around the transport aircraft, as many giant carrying robots began to move toward the barn under his command.
"Oh, isn't that a transport ship retired from the war?" Kara said while looking out the window, "Now that I see it, this thing is quite large; it should be able to transport quite a lot at once."
"Of course, it usually takes over a dozen truck trips to load a single unit on it. The grains from several nearby farms are carried away at once. It seems today we should be able to sell the last batch of threshed wheat, and what remains can be set aside for us to eat."
After a while, a rosy-cheeked Mr. Kent walked in, waving his arm enthusiastically, clearly satisfied with the harvest. He began talking at length about how he timed the high wheat price days and then moved on to Brainiac's food strategy.
Few at the table were actually listening to his talk. Clark whispered to Bruce, "I heard from other Supermen that Night Owl is looking for you."
Bruce took a bite of his sandwich, savoring the ham's fragrance as he closed his eyes tightly, then said, "Yes, but I'm avoiding him."
"Why is he looking for you, and why are you avoiding him?"
"He's looking for me because he's useless, and I'm avoiding him because he's useless," Bruce rolled his eyes subtly and said, "His cosmos is in turmoil, and he actually wants me to clean up his mess. He's dreaming!"
"What's going on?" Clark asked with interest.
"Their Justice League... um, I mean the opposite of the Justice League. You know many things in their cosmos are reversed, right? Anyway, the Evil Alliance fell into internal chaos. Night Owl was nearly smashed to a pulp by Evil Superman and Evil Wonder Woman."
"Why would that happen? Shouldn't they get along like birds of a feather?"
"It's a long story." Bruce stirred the soup in his bowl and said, "Remember the magical school we went to?"
Clark nodded and said, "Of course, I heard he got quite a beating from another Batman."
"Yes, but he did learn a thing or two, although maybe not quite right, which triggered trouble in that cosmos."
"What do you mean by not quite right?"
"Do you know the essence of magic?"
"Imagination?"
"Very close." Bruce took another sandwich from Martha, then said, "You need energy to harness imagination, so you have to get energy first."
"How do you get it?"
"Snatch it."
Clark was momentarily speechless by the blunt answer. Bruce continued, "Of course, a more civilized way is to borrow, but if it's possible to borrow, it's possible not to return. If you're not planning to return it, you might as well snatch it directly."
"Makes sense, but you said what Night Owl learned was wrong."
Bruce nodded and then, as if thinking of something amusing, he laughed gleefully, but quickly choked on his food. Martha hurriedly patted his back, then gave her son a glare, signaling him to talk less while eating.
No one dared to upset Mrs. Kent at the dinner table, and they all silently finished their meal and stepped outside into the sunset. As soon as Clark walked out, he saw the tractor accessories Bruce had placed at the warehouse gate not far away, which seemed to be the machine mentioned for harvesting sugar beets.
So Clark went to start the tractor—the once shiny new Lamborghini tractor now had some signs of age, yet it remained sturdy and majestic. Clark was quite adept at operating the sophisticated import. He manually attached the accessories, got into the driver's seat, and started the engine.
Bruce also sat on the vehicle, and the two swayed along as they headed toward the experimental field. The sunset reflected a rich orange-red across the plains, immersing everything in a "California Sunset" bubbly cocktail.
"Night Owl was definitely misled; he thought magic was all about honing skill to use minimal energy for maximum impact, so he devoted himself to studying deep Black magic, even imprisoning Constantine."
"Just doing research, so wouldn't that cosmos's Superman want him to?"
"If he were only researching on his own, it might not matter, but magic is dangerous, and our Earth's magic is especially risky. Without fully understanding the situation, he dared to conduct complex Black magic experiments, which of course led to a disaster."
Clark, seeming to have thought of something too, smiled with pursed lips and said, "Didn't he blow up his own people?"
"Almost, it was unlucky for them. Night Owl didn't know what kind of magic he used, but he corroded the space of their base, causing them to plummet into nothingness. They only returned through Battleworld, each bearing significant injuries. Night Owl had no idea of his mistake, argued with them, and left the team in anger."
"So that's it, serves him right. That's why they're chasing him?"
"Not entirely; there's more that's come back to bite him." Bruce chuckled again and said, "Night Owl isn't the type to swallow his pride. Being booted from the team left him with no outlet for his anger. Unable to confront others directly, he resorted to foul play and used the Black magic he learned to trap Superman from that cosmos."
"Trapped him? How'd he do that?"
"That's unclear, but he used a Curse Magic that made Superman very weak. To lift the curse from Superman, other members of the Evil Alliance teamed up to hunt him down. However, he's hidden well and hasn't been found yet."
"But hiding like this isn't a long-term solution, right?"
"Of course, that's why he came to me."