American comics farmer: start by adopting the villain savior.

Chapter 44 Bain, My Suffering
The dry land cracked in the cold wind, and in the blink of an eye it was already autumn 1998.

This year was surprisingly peaceful, so peaceful that Locke almost forgot Logan's warnings about the "life and death crisis".

Sometimes when he woke up in the middle of the night, he would touch the blue ladybug on his chest and even doubt whether those two future people really existed.

After all, what about crisis?

Locke stood on the roof of the barn, looking at the cracked fields in the distance and smiled bitterly.

The biggest crisis this year is nature——

El Niño phenomenon.

The abnormally warm current in the Pacific Ocean caused the entire Midwest of the United States to suffer a drought that was not seen in a decade.

"father!"

Dio's voice came from below. The blond boy was carrying two bags of seeds, his red eyes narrowed into thin lines under the scorching sun.

“I’ve already packaged the short-season soybean and sorghum seeds!”

Wise choice.

Locke jumped down from the barn and patted his son on the shoulder.

Short-season soybeans, a crop with a growing period of less than 100 days, are planted and harvested perfectly to avoid the water-demand period caused by the scorching heat in July and August, and have also avoided the disaster of plummeting corn and oat prices due to policies.

This made the Kent family the only farmers in the small town of Smallville who were not greatly affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

As for sorghum, Locke bought a few bags because it is drought-resistant.

He plans to plan a test field after the winter to try it out.

"Dinner will be just the two of us."

Locke ruffled Dior's blonde hair and said, "Martha left me a recipe for blueberry pie. Do you want to try it?"

Dio's expression suddenly turned horrified: "Are you trying to poison your only son?"

Locke's mouth twitched slightly.

Is that what he wants to do?
Just received news today that Martha's cousin passed away, and Jonathan's family rushed to attend the funeral this morning.

It will probably take a few days for me to come back.

Without the chef Martha, he had to cook for himself.

Otherwise, the father and son would have to go to old Bob's house for meals.

Time passes and the sun sets.

The kitchen is filled with ingredients purchased from the town——

Refers to the cakes from the bakery, the pre-made blueberry pie Martha left behind, and
Beef, pork, chicken, meat from all kinds of creatures.

"Dad." Staring at the mountain of meat on the counter, Dio's mouth twitched: "Should we change the taste?"

"Dio," Locke sighed and picked up the recipe left by Martha: "Do you think I don't want to make it?"

"."

The father and son looked at each other in bewilderment at the table full of raw meat. Finally, Locke slapped his thigh:
"Looks like I have to give you an early birthday present."

“What gift?”

"Three days in the metropolis!"

"On the third night after our fun, maybe we can come back and reunite with Jonathan and the others!" Locke pulled out a city poster like a magician. "But the most important thing is, we can eat at the Metropolis."

“Authentic Chinese food!”

Dio's eyes lit up instantly. He had been craving that restaurant for a long time.

And most importantly
Clark is away for the past three days!

Just leave.

The world and Star Platinum appeared at the same time, and the ingredients were quickly stuffed into the freezer.

But when Locke opened the door——

“It’s snowing? Dad!”

Dio looked at the snowy sky in surprise.

It really is.

Locke raised his eyebrows. This might also be one of the phenomena brought about by the El Niño effect.

But before he could speak,
Amidst the heavy snow, a hoarse voice suddenly pierced through the wind and snow:
"Locke! Dio!"

Summoning the Star Platinum and unfolding the Platinum-brand telescope, Locke followed the Stand's line of sight.

Um.
A ragged, weathered man walked slowly towards them, with white smoke emanating from the cigarette in his mouth.

This guy.
The twelve letters I sent out have received no response.

Locke thought Logan was dead.

He walked to the porch in two steps, and the snow on his boots fell off.

Logan took a deep drag on his cigarette, the spark flickering in the snow.

"Isn't today the little ghost's birthday?"

He grinned, revealing his white teeth. "I came all the way here."

"Of course, I have to leave tomorrow, just in case."

"."

Locke was silent for a while:

"Dio's birthday is in three days."

"."

"Hahahaha." Logan laughed awkwardly, "Is it okay to come early?"

"So." Locke's mouth twitched: "Why don't you write a letter and ask me?"

"Also, did you actually receive the letter I sent?"

"Of course." Logan nodded. "My friend, I've finished reading it, but I just don't have time to reply."

"Oh?"

Dio's red eyes flashed with a hint of amusement, "So what did Dad write in his first letter?"

The snow suddenly fell harder.

Logan's cigarette butt was extinguished by the snow with a sizzling sound.

"Well, uh."

The steel claws unconsciously extended and retracted. Logan said awkwardly, "I remember it was about... the recent situation on the farm?"

"The first letter." Locke held his forehead helplessly, "I asked them if they found you?"

"No." Logan snorted, "If it were that easy to find me, they wouldn't have hunted me for so many years."

“They are as efficient as ever.”

"Is that so?" Locke raised his eyebrows, "Then come in first."

"Dad!" Dio said helplessly.

"Don't be impatient, little guy. It's still snowing now." Rubbing Dio's head, Locke smiled and said, "Let's go tomorrow morning after the snow stops."

"Damn it"

Dio stared at Logan, who had ruined his good deeds, with a gloomy look in his eyes.

"Sigh~"

Logan shuddered, took a breath, and turned his head quickly.
I saw nothing but Dior with his head down. Am I overthinking it?

Wiping the sweat that had appeared on his head, Logan breathed a sigh of relief.

Scare yourself.
-
The next morning, Logan stood on the porch and stretched.

He burped loudly, and the smell of blueberry pie and whiskey condensed into a white mist in the cold air.

"belch--!"

"Locke, your cooking is much better than the prison food." He grinned and patted his bloated belly.

Leaning against the door frame with his arms folded, Locke stared at Logan unhappily.

"Cough cough!"

Pretending not to notice, he turned around and ruffled Dio's blond hair.

The boy was about to explode when he saw Logan waving his hand and striding towards the forest.

Dio felt as powerless as if he had punched cotton!
"Kid, keep an eye on your dad."

"No need to say goodbye to your Uncle Logan!"

"Remember to call me if you have anything!"

"I've written the number on a slip of paper and left it on the table for you."

"Shh!"

The old wolf's footsteps left a series of deep footprints on the snow, which were soon buried by the snow foam blown away by the wind.

Locke looked in the direction where the figure disappeared, until Dio tugged at his sleeve unhappily.

"Dad, if we don't leave now it's going to snow again."

"I got it, brat."

Locke chuckled, nodded, turned around and took Dio to the pickup truck buried in the snow not far away.

Um.
The pickup truck is in a bad condition.

After brushing off the snow on the hood of the pickup truck, Locke froze when he opened the door.

The tire had sunk into a half-meter-deep snow pit.

Squatting down and poking at the frozen snow, Dio sighed and said, "How about we just pretend we've been there?"

"That won't work."

“Dio.”

"Remember." Locke showed a mysterious smile, "We are Stand users."

As soon as he finished speaking, a purple shadow appeared behind Locke. Star Platinum's arm muscles bulged, and he grabbed the bumper and lifted it up gently!
The entire car was lifted out of the snow pit like a toy and placed steadily on the hard road.

“?!”

Dio blinked, and the world flickered in the morning mist.

But when the golden stand-in tried to lift the rear end of the car, the tires just spun twice comically on the snow.

"This is not fair!"

The boy's cheeks flushed red from holding back his anger, but he heard Locke's hearty laughter echoing across the snowy plains:
"What's the rush? You're only ten years old."

“There’s a lot of room for growth.”

Amid the roar of the engine, Dio pressed his face against the cold car window.

In the rearview mirror, the smoke from the farm cottage gradually turned into a thin line, and at the edge of the forest farther away, there seemed to be a black dot.

Is that Logan?

He was just about to point it out to Locke, but the centrifugal force of the turn made the entire snowfield spin in his field of vision, like an overturned sugar jar, filled with dazzling sunlight.

Forget it, a mere homeless person is not worthy of Lord Dio's words.
-
On the snowfield.

The black spot that Dio had ignored suddenly expanded, and a tall figure slowly stood up from the snow.

Snow slid down its broad shoulders.

He was wearing a pure white mask, and beneath the mask, a pair of cold eyes were staring at the departing pickup truck through a telescope.

The image of the pickup truck moving inexplicably just now lingered in my mind.

He had been tracking the wolf for three months, but he never expected
Press the phone.

"."

"It's you." A low laugh came from the other end.

"one?"

"."

The phone was silent for a few seconds, and then seemed to realize what the man meant.

"certainly."

"You know, most of the mutants in the United States died in that riot and the subsequent mutant crimes."

"Aside from that one wolf, we haven't heard from any mutants in ages."

The man silently lowered the binoculars. The man addressed as "Sir" paused for a moment, then smiled even more deeply, "As long as they're mutants, it's fine."

"You're going to hunt wolves for me, isn't it because all the mutants in the world are dying and there's only one wolf left?"

"If you can bring back something else, I'd certainly welcome that."

There was no response, the man just clenched his fists, but this did not prevent the voice on the phone from continuing:

"I need to study Gene X."

"And you want your wife and children back, don't you?"

Hearing this, the man's breathing stagnated slightly.

"I heard the kid's name was Bane, right?"

"It was clearly the father who committed the crime, but after the government exiled the father, they still wanted the son to atone for his sin."

"Oh, how pitiful."

"But it doesn't matter." Mr.'s voice was lighthearted, "As long as you bring back even one mutant for me."

"I can get your wife and children out of jail and bring them back to you."

"."

"Okay." He finally said, his voice hoarse.

"Then I wish you good luck. Show your courage in resisting the conquering army! Our King Cobra, the Devil's Agent—"

"Mr. Edmund Durance!"

After hanging up the phone, Durance looked in the direction where Logan left, then turned to the pickup truck that Locke and Dio were driving away. A trace of struggle flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.

It's all about Bane...

My son who suffered because of me.

Taking a deep breath, Durance stuffed the telescope into his arms and turned to walk towards his car.

His footprints were heavy on the snow.

Behind him, the snowfield was still silent and the sun was still shining brightly.

Next episode:

【Grandma Di enters the metropolis.】

(End of this chapter)