53. Gotham: Butterfly

61.

Jason Todd once walked the streets of Gotham after the rain.

Even on rainy days, the traffic can serve as a medium to separate the rich and the poor - the gentlemen and ladies who travel by car never have to worry about their shoes getting dirty, so naturally they don't care where Gotham's municipal funding goes.

Not only that, when encountering a puddle, some bored people will impulsively ask the driver to drive faster so that they can enjoy the interesting reactions of pedestrians on both sides of the road being splashed with sewage when passing through the slums.

Unlike other kids who would hide away from cars when they saw them, Jason was a well-known troublemaker in the slums. Life also taught him many survival strategies - for example, when walking on the street on rainy days, he would pick up a stone and hold it in his hand, showing it intentionally or unintentionally, so that the rich men driving cars would not dare to splash him with dirty water.

But putting aside these trivial matters day after day, after filling the stomachs of the two people in his family, he likes to pass the time watching butterflies in some places.

He'd seen butterflies landing by mud puddles, stretching out their curled mouthparts and sucking—they looked no different from street drug addicts. Luckily for them, Gotham had watering holes everywhere. These sleazy guys didn't have to suffer at home like their mothers, unable to raise drug money. They could simply hang out by a watering hole and satisfy all their lifelong needs.

It’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad.

But Gabby obviously didn't think so - although they were both living on the streets, she always gave her companions endless sympathy and comfort. After seeing him squatting by the puddle, lost in thought, Gabby encouraged him with the metaphor of butterflies.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that they can only feed on dirty water now," Gabby said, gazing at the insects fluttering their wings above the water, as if he had wings himself. "One day, these beautiful little creatures will emerge from their cocoons and leave for a beautiful garden filled with sweet nectar and rare plants."

"Sounds like a fairy tale." Jason Todd, who was still a rebellious teenager, showed disdain. He had heard this kind of fantasy too many times in Gotham, and it no longer stirred any ripples in his heart.

"But unfortunately, there's not that much nectar for butterflies in the world. Even if there was, it would have already been scooped up by those 'gentlemen and ladies.'" Jason waved his hands around a few times, roughly sending these 'addicts' away. "From what I understand, they're just here to absorb some minerals and salt..."

The next second, the wheels of the Rolls-Royce rolled over the puddle in front of the two men, spreading the sewage everywhere.

Jason pulled Gabby back in time and added softly, "...and they also like to eat shit." He had seen butterflies land on dog poop or animal carcasses more than once.

This little-known fact undoubtedly dealt a fatal blow to Gabby, who still had a glimmer of fantasy about butterflies. Jason Todd, a rebellious teenager who always claimed to be cool, had no regrets about it.

...I didn't expect that revenge would come after so many years.

Seeing Aria pretending to jump into the sea on the stool, Jason Todd, who was a few steps faster than Holly, subconsciously ran a few steps to rescue her, although he didn't know what had suddenly happened to her.

Unexpectedly, a moment later the farmer stood up in a posture that absolutely violated physics. She waved happily to the two of them, like a butterfly flapping its wings.

…

Okay, now I understand everything. Red Hood silently put the emergency rope back in. This was the butterfly from the past finally coming back to take revenge on him. People still have to take responsibility for what they said in the past.

Compared to the stunned Holly, Aria also looked very surprised. After stomping her feet on the sea to confirm, she waved to Red Hood, made trumpet shapes with her hands and shouted, "I did it! Pretty cool, right?"

Not cool at all except that it reminded him of butterflies.

However, the farmer was eager to save the man, so he not only jumped down himself, but also urged Red Hood to keep up with his speed: "Remember what I did just now? Just jump down like that - can you swim? Because if you can't, you may have to swim back to the shore by yourself..."

Judging from Red Hood's equipment and size, his overall density is likely to be greater than water. If the bug fails, he is likely to sink into the water at a very fast speed. Since he cannot enter the water, if he cannot swim, the farmer will have to consider whether he can use a fishing rod to fish him out.

Fortunately, Jason Todd couldn't hear Aria's thoughts. Red Hood, who knew nothing about the plan to lure people, took a deep breath and decided to wade into this muddy water.

However, the situation on the other side was unclear, so it was best for non-combatants like Holly not to get involved. Therefore, before trying to sit on the stool like Aria, Jason warned her: "Don't follow me."

The woman failed to understand the concern contained in these words and became obviously anxious: "I, I can still help!" Selina is missing, and she is probably the most worried person in the world. If she can't do something, her heart is like being roasted on fire.

"Holly," Aria said seriously, raising her voice as she realized they were about to have an argument, "You can't go with us."

"Because I have a very important task for you."

Holly stood up straight, hurriedly tucked her hair behind her ears, and then became nervous: "What mission?" She would do her best to do everything she could.

The farmer pointed at the furniture he had placed on the dock and said, "Please take care of the dock chairs and don't let anyone move them. This is our only way back." If she couldn't get ashore, she would faint in the sea at two o'clock tonight.

To enhance believability, Aria took the liberty of adding some settings to the chair: "This is a very important magic prop, so please!"

"I will!" Holly quickly wiped away her tears. Because of Aria's words, she felt a sense of responsibility and could no longer care about being sad: "Selena is in your hands!"

Elsewhere, Red Hood followed Aria's lead and leaped down—thankfully, he didn't have to come into direct contact with the ocean. But the feeling of using the ocean as flat ground was undoubtedly strange—luckily, the nuns in downtown Gotham didn't see this scene, otherwise they would have hailed it as a miracle and caused quite a stir in the newspapers.

Thinking of this, Jason Todd couldn't help but look at Aria again - he had met all kinds of people, but there were very few people who had superpowers but didn't use them and devoted themselves to farming. It was hard not to be impressed.

Learning from their previous experience, Red Hood's question this time was much more sophisticated: "If not to save Selina Kyle, what did you originally plan to do with this skill?"

Aria lived up to expectations and gave a very farmer-like answer: "For crab pots and fishing."

really.

Jason's expression relaxed slightly beneath his cowl. He had suspected the farmer and her strange powers might cause problems for Gotham, but in a harsh environment where new and creative criminals appeared from time to time and bombs exploded from nowhere, this simple atmosphere was too precious to arouse any suspicion.

He estimated that if he ran into Aria a few more times, the next time they met, she would probably ask about the farm harvest.

But saving lives was the most important thing now; everything else had to be put aside. He estimated it would take him forty minutes to run from here to the island, considering his stamina. He only hoped the farmer, through years of hard work, had developed a similarly strong physique... or at least not fallen too far behind.

Thinking of this, Red Hood saw the farmer take out a cup of steaming hot coffee from somewhere, drink it in a few gulps, and then said "Let's go" and suddenly rushed out like a robot filled with gasoline!

Correction: We should be cautious about people with super powers like this in the long run, especially people like Aria who can do something and give him a big surprise from time to time.

…

According to the satellite images obtained earlier, they will land on the island from the western jungle.

Although they unilaterally announced that they would act separately, when they really faced the tangled jungle covered with green moss, Red Hood still took out his knife and walked in the front.

He had extensive wilderness survival experience and knew that the greatest danger in the jungle came from dormant poisonous snakes and insects. He used a stick to knock on the front while exploring the path, giving them time to leave while also protecting his life.

It's best not to blindly step over giant trees that have fallen halfway – blind spots can cause you to miss the other side of the tree, and you could easily step into a swamp.

Compared to Red Hood's cautiousness, Aria's attention was clearly elsewhere—this was all hardwood resources! After rescuing Selina, she would definitely return to this island to chop down as many trees as possible and pack a backpack full of resources.

But before that, farmers need to address the most urgent and pressing issue.

After passing through the jungle, Aria and Red Hood stood in front of a stone fortress that had fallen into disrepair in many places.

Why do bad guys always like to make their homes look spooky? And since they have the time to do bad things, why don't they clean up their homes as well?

Infrastructure player Aria: This is so tasteless, I can't stand it anymore...