Chapter 46 Filial Piety and Parental Love? Really.

The spores falling from the sky were like a sudden drizzle. By the time people noticed, they had already soaked their clothes and hair, and silently infected everyone.

Dr. Edward clutched his chest in confusion. "Something's not right. My heart rate shouldn't be like this... Am I going to suddenly die?! No way, I haven't even gotten my perfect attendance bonus yet..."

Before he could finish speaking, a yellow flower popped out of his head with a 'biu' sound.

Dr. Edward moved his vine-like hand from his chest to above his head, and exclaimed in a daze, "Wow, I've bloomed! And I'm a frangipani! Aloha!"

Dick took a large step back and retracted the Cali stick he was about to throw: ...

Dr. Edward had forgotten about Dick and Matthew. He was so happy that vines flew everywhere, as if he was about to pluck the frangipani from his head and weave it into a Hawaiian wreath for everyone on the spot. He showed no sign of the fear that a normal human should have after being forced to mutate.

Matthew pulled Dick back quickly, and then they saw a person covered in frangipani flowers, shouting "Welcome to Hawaii" and "Ms. Goodman, please don't dock my pay," frantically swinging his two vine-like legs toward the Brudhaven emergency room.

The irrational Dr. Edward seems to still remember his perfect attendance record; it seems that even mutations can't make someone with an office smell normal.

“…He looks really energetic,” Dick’s lips twitched. “I hope he doesn’t frighten the patients when he goes to check on them today.”

“Probably not,” Matthew replied. “The ER in Bruderhaven is full of mutants of similar breed to him. They’ll become good friends… And there’s this guy over there covered in yellow hibiscus.” Yellow hibiscus is the state flower of Hawaii.

Dick sighed. "Congratulations, Dr. Edward. So, what did baby Allen do to save us from this mutation?"

It's obvious to anyone with their toes that the fact that they were the only ones who remained human when almost everyone around them had mutated was not just luck, but that Allen must have done something behind their backs again.

Even when those spores landed on them, they had no effect on them.

Matthew couldn't help but sigh, "Allen... I swear I'm going to beat him up!"

Dick glanced at him sideways, thinking to himself, "When have you ever been so angry with Allen that you actually hit him?"

However, Allen was really going too far. He always held back from them, never revealing any important information, and by the time they realized it, it was too late.

Ellen's father and boyfriend unknowingly reached a consensus on the matter of "giving Ellen a good beating after this is over." They looked at each other and both felt sorry for the other.

Accompanying Alan as she grows up/becoming Alan's boyfriend must be no easy task, and Uncle Dick/Uncle Matt must have had a tough time too!

With a consensus reached, the cooperation will proceed smoothly from here on out. The most important thing right now is to find Allen.

Unfortunately, they could no longer get close to the lighthouse that connected to the laboratory. The mutated people spontaneously formed a natural protective barrier around the lighthouse. Even more strangely, a thin fog began to spread over Broodhaven, making it impossible to see the road.

The mist carried a familiar scent, a mixture of formaldehyde and rotting lilies, just like the one Dick had smelled when he was with Allen.

He vaguely sensed that Allen was 'watching' him in some way, as if... this thin mist was Allen's extended tentacles.

Matthew and Dick exchanged a glance and finally decided to go their separate ways. Matthew drove Dick's car and sped towards Lex Building; Dick decided to go to Gotham to find Batman—BatTech must be able to find the cure for the spore virus.

**

In a suburban lab in Brudhaven, Allen was trapped in the lighthouse that should have been under his control. He still didn't know what 'Matthew' and Luther had done, but he was unable to contact Trisker again and could only watch helplessly as Luther spread the spore virus.

'Matthew' sat inside the lighthouse, looking at Allen with loving eyes: 'Allen, I've said it before, you never need to suppress yourself in front of me. Only that imposter would want to prune your personality like a branch, and I never will. You can do whatever you want.'

Allen stared at him intently without saying a word.

But Matthew remained determined to persuade Allen, his eyes growing increasingly frantic. "Allen, I am the only person in this world who will never hurt you."

A corpse was ejected from the lighthouse wall, and upon closer inspection, Allen realized it was the long-lost Andy Miller.

He looked utterly wretched, his rotting face nothing like the cheerful surgeon Allen had first met.

“Norman Osborn used you, Emily abandoned you with her death, and Daredevil would only choose Hell’s Kitchen over you,” Matthew said. “Your first ordinary friend Andy betrayed you, your lover Dick Grayson hid his identity from you, your trust was broken, and your feelings have nowhere to go. Isn’t that enough to make you disappointed in this world?”

“You’re boring,” Allen said. “Why should I be disappointed by these things? What’s it to you? And… do I really look like a loveless little boy?”

Allen is now certain that the shadows, monsters, and Mrs. Johnson who had been transformed into Emily that he had been seeing around him were all things that 'Matthew' had created to provoke him.

Thinking about this, Allen felt that his previous high level of vigilance was a complete waste of emotion—was the trick this guy came up with insulting his intelligence?

And why didn't Luther even try to persuade him?

Allen secretly rolled his eyes, then twisted his snake tail and rushed towards Luther.

The idiot deserved to be beaten.

Lesker Luthor seemed to have not expected Allen to attack him first, and in his haste, Allen had already lashed out with his tail.

Luther was struck in the chest by the hard, cold snake tail and slammed against the wall, nearly coughing up blood.

A million thoughts flashed through his mind, but in the end, he could only angrily blurt out, "Allen Osborn! Are you crazy?! The person who's provoking you is right there!" He didn't say a word!

The mycelium on the wall surged towards Luther, and before he could hear Allen's reply, it blocked his mouth and nose, rendering him unable to speak.

Allen raised an eyebrow and said coolly, "I thought you were controlling Triskell... You dared to barge in like this without even figuring out everything? Are you out of your mind?"

Over there, 'Matthew' placed his hand on the writhing wall with a gloomy expression. After a long while, Luther coughed and was spat out by the wall.

His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, retching and vomiting a large amount of still slightly wriggling mycelium.

The mycelium fell to the ground, quickly reintegrated into the ground, and disappeared.

"You lied to me?!" Luther stared at 'Matthew' with a grim expression. "You didn't control this monster at all!" Otherwise, he would never have been swallowed by the wall.

Allen gave Luther a laugh.

As it turns out, there was no cooperation between Luther and 'Matthew' at all. 'Matthew' was a ruthless and treacherous man, a complete liar. Luther probably had no idea what Triskell really was; he relied on his past experience researching extraterrestrials and, fueled by arrogance, arrived at a wrong conclusion.

He thought he had used Allen and 'Matthew' to obtain aliens and the method to control the world, only to discover now that he had no place in today's game.

Of course, Allen also deserves credit for this; he concealed the most important part from Luthor what he had told him before.

Allen added fuel to the fire: "He probably didn't even tell you what this lighthouse is, did he? Let me tell you, we're all in Trisker's stomach right now... The guy next to you has been planning to use you and then discard you, and you're that stupid donkey."

Luther glared at 'Matthew,' then realized the other man wasn't paying any attention to him at all.

Luther took out the sample that 'Matthew' had given him, only to find that the contents had long since disappeared.

Matthew no longer concealed his intentions: "It's just a little trick of chaos magic, more than enough to fool an ordinary person."

"You even tried to influence his mind, making him so stupid that he listened to your nonsense." Allen almost laughed out loud. "Hmm... okay, I admit it. I also tampered with things when the bear bit you last time. That spore can bewitch people."

Matthew looked pleased: "Great job, Alan."

Allen rolled his eyes.

Luther clenched his fists in anger.

Damn it, he actually lost to 'filial piety'?

Those two bastards teamed up to trick him!

Damn it! Didn't that bastard ever consider that he wasn't actually Alan's father? Alan Osborn is the one using him now!

Matthew certainly doesn't think he's not Allen's father. He now only thinks he's the best father in the world and has successfully reunited with his son. He's planning to kill Luther, who has designs on Allen, and he's also planning to let his son go into the new world with him. This is the gift he wants to give to Allen. Is there a problem with that?

He knew there would be risks involved in merging Allen and Trisker, so he had prepared for it long ago. Now, he and Allen would each bear a portion of the risk, and Trisker would become the perfect weapon controlled by the father and son together.

'Matthew' waved his hand, and several vines shot out from the wall and locked Luther's hands and feet.

“Allen, I will help you defeat all your enemies,” he said. “Your birthday is in three days. Do you like the gift your father gave you? I remember when you were ten, you said that you wished everyone in the world could become plants, so that the air would be much cleaner.”

“Dad?” Allen looked at Matthew and thought to himself that the man was seriously ill.

The word 'Dad' was like a mysterious switch; Matthew's eyes lit up, as if he was ready for Alan to give him a touching hug.

Allen merely chuckled coldly and stepped back as 'Matthew' prepared to approach him.

He felt his back press against the soft wall, and the mycelium instantly enveloped his entire body like seawater.