Chapter 2650: Mayfly World (15)

Shearer mentioned China, of course. In fact, China is no longer content with just farming on extraterrestrial planets—they have some unique ideas. You say plants grow through photosynthesis and the light required for this process is from the sun. So why can't we farm on the sun itself?

As for how far along this research is, Shearer doesn't really know. He hasn't had much to do with China in his lifetime, only knowing a few people from SWORD at most.

The reason is that this universe's China does not really need help. Historically, they have always been formidable, dominating the world much longer than America and need no one to worry over them.

However, Shearer believes that since the general setting hasn't changed, China must have such talents. But he also feels that they would probably not cooperate with the Mutant Brotherhood.

First of all, the Mutant Brotherhood's philosophy is to look for a Utopia outside Earth, which does not align with China's attitude towards mutants. China has always advocated mutants integrating into society, just ordinary people with extraordinary abilities—they certainly don't agree with shipping mutants far away.

Even if China wanted to do this, they would have to consider the opinions of so many mutants within the country. After many generations, most mutants living in China think along these lines: I am a member of the ordinary people, a citizen of Earth, a builder of this society, and rightfully deserve the entirety of this civilized society. Why should I be driven away?

Secondly, the Mutant Brotherhood doesn't have the best reputation, with real terror attacks under their belt. Shearer remembered that China would not openly cooperate with such an organization.

Shearer explained this point to Magneto, saying, "So it seems traditional farming methods might have a hard time achieving your goals."

Magneto fell silent, thinking that this was indeed a checkmate. Now, he had neither the personnel for infrastructure nor the organizations good at it willing to join him. Was he only left with robbery?

"But then again," Shearer changed his tone and said, "if traditional farming won't do, we need to think of some alternative methods."

"What do you mean?"

"Farming with superpowers," Shearer suggested with a snap of his fingers.

Magneto shook his head and said, "We don't have people to farm here, and neither does Charles. Some who might be able to help would rather throw punches at street thugs than consider the future of their race."

Magneto's remark was clearly directed at his two daughters; his son was not worth mentioning, as he was no help at all.

Scarlet Witch and Polaris did indeed have abilities that could be used for farming. The problem was one was lovesick, and the other had a relationship with her father akin to enemies; neither would be of any help.

At Charles's side, Legion, though his son, had hardly interacted with him. It would be difficult for Charles to mobilize him. As for the kids at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, they were not at the age to obediently do work.

The more Magneto thought about it, the more despondent he became about the mutants' future. But at that moment, Shearer said, "You may not have them here, but I happen to know a few."

Before Magneto could speak, Shearer cut him off saying, "And they just so happen to have ample experience farming in Mexico in another universe, and they're rather free lately."

Shearer drew out his words, implying something Magneto could clearly understand. Therefore, he asked, "So what's their price? What do they want?"

"I don't know yet; I need to ask them. However, some of them have recently run into trouble and might need help."

"Of course, mutants are happy to help," Magneto said with a cold smile. "There's hardly any trouble in this world that we can't solve, except for farming."

After parting with Magneto, Shearer returned to his hotel room. He had planned to visit The Great Pyramid to see about positioning an Array, to see if he could summon a part of the Aztec Deity System's entity there.

According to Martin, all the Aztec Gods are rather weak right now, most of them can only give some echoes. This way, there's no way to discuss specific terms; they first need to recover, and he wondered if the method he previously used to worship the Ancestral God would work.

Shearer thought there was no need for such trouble—if he could just find their people, energy was not something he lacked. He could just pump it into them until full.

However, because of Magneto's situation, Shearer decided to first make a trip to another universe.

He sent a message to Clark through the Doujie System, indicating that it was him who wanted to come, then made his way to Metropolis as quickly as possible. Clark had just finished work.

Clark was surprised to see Shearer arrive so soon upon seeing the message, but he recognized Greed and knew this Doctor was entirely different from Professor Shearer.

Clark gave Shearer a big hug, opened the door to let him in, and said with a smile, "How did you get here so quickly? Had I known, I would've picked up dinner on the way from the restaurant."

"No rush, I've brought some," Shearer said, weighing the bag in his hand. "Is Lois around? Perhaps I might have the honor of sampling her cooking."

"Stop kidding; she can't cook," Clark said helplessly, shaking his head. After taking the bag into the kitchen and placing it on the island platform, he checked it and said, "Let's see... the celery is quite fresh, the steak is nice too, it's fresh good meat, my goodness, broccoli? Are you serious? Even I don't like it... and cabbage, I've been eating cabbage for almost two months!"

Shearer ignored Clark's lament, walked into the living room, turned on the television, and looked around.

Clark is now a freelance journalist, but his coverage of Batman and the Gotham Music Festival earned him a handsome sum. He now rents a spacious two-story duplex apartment, and more importantly, there's a floor-to-ceiling window spanning two floors facing south.

Shearer noticed the air conditioning wasn't on, but the room wasn't cold either. It's almost winter in DC, and this south-facing window indeed provides a good deal of heat.

Clark prepared a hot cup of coffee for Shearer and asked, "Are you cold? Doctor, should I turn up the temperature a bit?"

"I see you don't have the air conditioning on, are you using floor heating?"

Clark started, then said, "I'm using a biological standpoint, you can think of me as a large-scale air conditioner."

Shearer rubbed his forehead, somehow he had forgotten that the man in front of him was Superman, but then again, is it odd for Superman's home to have air conditioning?

It seemed as though Clark heard what Shearer was thinking, he said, "This house is rented by me, not bought. The air conditioner is the landlord's, I usually don't use it, and sometimes I even generate my own electricity. It helps save on the electric bill."

"That's really nice," Shearer said. "Electricity is quite expensive in Metropolis."

"Tell me about it," Clark took a sip of coffee, sighed, and said, "I'm thinking of going back to the newspaper to look for a job. The fees for my articles keep dropping. If it keeps up, I won't be able to afford this place anymore."

"I have a part-time job here, do you want to hear about it?"

"I knew you'd be the best to me," Clark said with a radiant smile. "Any good opportunity, and you think of me first."

"Of course," Shearer said. "Whether or not it pays well or has any returns is secondary, the key is to find Oliver something to do."

Hearing Oliver's name brought a somber mood to Clark's face, even dimming his usually sunny smile. He said, "I think so too, Oliver has been down lately, always drinking. I told him he shouldn't have gone to Moscow, blame those Russians."

"People with ideals are busy, and those without, when they get busy, don't have the time to contemplate too much. But when a person with ideals suddenly becomes idle and realizes that the world's turning has almost nothing to do with them, it's bound to feel heartbreaking, and they might even give up on themselves."

"I've tried to get him to go hiking or fishing with me, but he's not too keen. I know you sent him an invitation to the housewarming party, but he doesn't like leaving his place these days, so he didn't go."

"This can't go on," Shearer shook his head and said, "from a professional psychologist's point of view, he might have a tendency toward depression, but considering his past, it's not surprising."

"Do you have any jobs you could introduce to Oliver? I've looked for jobs for him, too, but he didn't want to do them. I heard the Soviet Union also arranged a position for him, but he flat out didn't want to stay there. He always tells me that he would rather polish shoes for ten thousand farmers than set a jewel in a crown."

"You know that's just the way he is, a steadfast idealist. Mundane things just don't move him."

"Do you have any ideas, Doctor?"

"I've just got a job related to Mexico."

Clark's expression suddenly became serious, he said, "The Mexico of your cosmos is having a revolution too? How are things going there? Who controls Guadalajara?"

Shearer shook his head and said, "No, no revolution. Our universe has entered the interstellar age. America is now urbanizing Mexico, and people are going to the cities for work, leaving many farm lands abandoned."

Clark showed a pained expression, he said, "Only those who have farmed know how good their soil is. Whenever I go home and see our farm, I wish I could transport soil from Mexico, but unfortunately, the sunlight conditions in Kansas are something we don't have, and soil alone is useless."

"However, right now, there's a group, oppressed, planning to start a new home on an alien planet. The problem is they are short on labor to till the lands. They plan to lease land in Mexico, farm it, and then transport the harvest to their new planet."

"That's not bad," Clark said. "They'll pay rent, right? This way, the farmers who stay behind could earn extra income from it. Since it's lying fallow, they might as well let them grow crops on it."

"But they're already heading to other planets?" Clark scratched his head and said, "Will they find Krypton? Does that universe have other Kryptonians?"

"No, the structure of their universe is completely different from ours. Remember? It's that very distant other world."

"I got it, the people from there are rather odd, oh, wait, it's actually the people from here that are odd. Compared to them, our side is a bit too dark."

"Isn't that the truth? Their light conditions are much better than here. Mexico is developing much faster there than here. Maybe this could give Oliver an opportunity to use his talents, right?"

"Really?"

Of course, that group of mutants are now desperate for someone with Oliver's talent, and it's a great time for change. If Oliver could make a mark there, wouldn't he be even more effective back in Mexico of our universe?

"You're right, Doctor," Clark stood up and said, "I don't care much about a career, but as long as it makes him happier, I will do everything I can to help. I'm going to give him a call right now."

"Don't rush. Oliver, he..."

But Clark had already dashed to the balcony. After a while, he came back looking dejected, his hair deflated, and he said.

"Oliver chewed me out. He asked if I thought of him as a coward looking to escape. He said even if he can't achieve much in the Mexico of this universe, he would never consider anything a substitute for his career."

"That's why I told you not to rush. I need to give you a proper introduction to the oppression the mutants as a group have faced throughout history…"