American comics farmer: start by adopting the villain savior

"The helicopter ran out of fuel halfway."

Locke blinked innocently. "I crash-landed on a beach in Metropolis. And I was just hungry."

"."

Dio stuffed Sarafiel into Locke's arms unhappily and turned to walk into the house.

"Where to go?"

"Catch up on some sleep!" the young man said without turning his head.

Looking at his son's angry back, Locke smiled and shook his head:

"Remember to get up and have lunch later!"

"Sorry, Miss Magician."

Locke turned around while holding Sarafiel and chuckled, "This child is a bit clingy. If she doesn't see me for one night..."

"?"

Zatanna didn't seem to respond to his explanation. Her gaze, drawn by a magnet, remained fixed on Sarafel. Within the depths of her emerald eyes, a strange glint seemed to flicker, a trace of inquiry and indescribable focus.

"Miss Magician?"

Locke called out again, with a barely perceptible hint of alertness in his tone.

"Ah! Sorry."

The girl seemed to be awakened from some immersive perception and stuck out her small tongue shyly. "I just felt a very... special power from this child."

She chose her words carefully.

"?!"

Locke's muscles tensed instantly, and his arms around the child subconsciously tightened a little: "What's wrong?"

"It's okay, it's okay! There's absolutely no danger!"

Zatanna waved her hands quickly, twisting her fingers awkwardly, and the lace on the cuffs of her costume was wrinkled by her.

"You might find it strange to tell me this, but this feeling is really similar to the thrill I felt when I first learned magic as a child. I feel like this child and I have a wonderful connection."

She suddenly clasped her hands together, her emerald eyes sparkling with anticipation, and leaned forward slightly.

"Mr. Locke! Can I book him as my future magic teacher?"

"I thought."

Locke's tense nerves relaxed, and he almost let Star Platinum knock out the magician lady in front of him.

After a long sigh, Locke frowned in confusion, "Teacher?"

He looked down at Sarafiel in his arms. The baby was chewing his fingers with relish.

"Ms. Magician, look at Sarafiel's age."

"Yeah!" Zatanna's eyes lit up, "I just wanted to inform you in advance, so that later--"

"Sorry, Madam Magician."

Locke shook his head and interrupted, he smiled helplessly:

"I can't make decisions for him. Whether it's magic or the path he takes in the future, it's his own choice."

“If you really want to be a teacher”

Looking into Sarafiel's azure eyes, Locke said calmly:

"Wait a few years, and when the child has his own ideas, you can ask him in person."

"Well"

Her shoulders visibly slumped, and Zatanna's bright eyes dimmed a little, like a popped balloon.

She kicked the pebbles at her feet in frustration and muttered softly:

"Okay. You're right. I came too early."

After saying that, she didn't plan to stay any longer. She turned around and prepared to leave, with a hint of loss in her back.

"Hey!"

Looking at her dejected figure, Locke laughed dumbly: "Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?"

"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Locke."

The magician girl stopped walking in surprise, turned around and smiled at him. The moonstone earrings reflected tiny spots of light in the sunlight, which reflected on her face, but seemed unable to dispel the slight loneliness.

"But I have to go back. I have a performance tonight and some things to prepare."

The girl seems to be trying to make her voice sound lighter?

But does magic also require props?

Locke was a little confused, but after seeing the loneliness in the girl's eyes that she tried hard to hide but still flashed across her face, he wisely swallowed his words, nodded, and turned around.

Just as he was about to enter the house with Sarafiel in his arms.

"Mr. Locke."

Zatanna's voice came from behind again.

Locke stopped and looked back at her in confusion.

"This is for you." The girl threw an emerald brooch. "If that monster comes again, point this at it. The anti-speech magic will banish it back to that dimension."

"Of course, you can use it on other creatures as well."

"."

So you still don't have confidence, right?!

Locke's mouth twitched, but he still freed one hand to take the brooch.

"One more thing, Mr. Locke."

The girl stood in the sunlight, her fingers unconsciously twisting her magic wand, trying hard to maintain a smile on her face. She took a deep breath, as if mustering up courage, but her voice was so low that it was almost like a whisper in the ear:

".Can I hug you?"

Without waiting for the stunned Locke to answer, she added quickly and a little embarrassedly:

"The way you spoke just now, and that feeling, really resembles my father."

Locke was silent for a moment, his eyes fell on the face that was full of hope and a little anxiety, then he looked down at the ignorant and curious baby in his arms.

".Sorry, Miss Magician." His voice was not cold, but it also had a clear sense of boundaries: "No."

"and"

Locke gently shook Sarafiel in his arms and said, "It's not very convenient to hold the little guy now."

"The most important thing is, I'm not your father."

He apologized.

The girl was stunned and felt a little lost.

But she still managed to put on an extremely bright, even dazzling smile, as if the request had never happened:

"Then we'll meet again someday."

She took a few steps backward, waving her magic wand, "Elvemos is back!"

"I wish you and your children good health in the future."

Before he finished speaking, his figure had already become blurred in the dim light.

"Thank you, and I hope you can find your father soon, Miss Magician." Locke said softly.

but

No one should be able to hear it except Sarafiel in his arms.

"Crack~"

She opened the door and carefully placed the sleeping baby on the bed.

The warm sunlight shone through the gauze curtains onto the baby's pink cheeks. Locke stared at it for a moment, and after confirming that there was nothing unusual, he tiptoed back to the living room.

"call--"

Sink into the sofa and be enveloped by soft leather.

Only then did Locke realize that his muscles were always tense.

Tired?

That's not tiring.

The mysterious power brought by Sarafiel made him full of energy, and he would not feel tired even if he stayed awake for several days. At this moment, it was just a mental fatigue that surged over him like a tide, as if countless tiny grains of sand were piling up under his eyelids, threatening to crush him.

He casually picked up the flip phone on the coffee table, and the blue light from the screen reflected the furrows between Locke's brows.

The top of the communication record still shows——

'Lionel Luthor (Missed Call)'

The other party doesn't seem to have any signs of calling back?

"strangeness."

Locke rubbed the edge of his phone.

Given Lionel's personality, even if he were on a business trip to Mars, he would probably call me back immediately to ask me a few questions.

But now.

Are the rich guys too busy?

Locke thought about it and sent a text message:

【If you need help, just let me know】

A moment later, just when Locke was about to snore comfortably.

"Ding~"

The keypad phone vibrated.

Nothing. Busy.

-

Asia and Africa, crystal mine laboratory.

Artificial cold light illuminates the huge underground laboratory as bright as day, and the cold air is filled with disinfectant and the subtle hum of precision instruments.

Lionel closed his flip phone and stood before the huge observation window. His gold-rimmed glasses reflected the faint blue light of the screen. A holographic projection hovered before him.

Forecast of the world economic trends over the next eight years.

And

"Boss, the preliminary data is in." A researcher in a white coat approached cautiously, handing over a tablet computer. His voice trembled slightly. "We've run simulations based on… the ideas it provided and those key points. The results are highly consistent. These methods… are indeed incredibly feasible."

Leone held out his hand and took the tablet.

The cold screen reflected his expressionless face.

After quickly scanning the shocking data and conclusions, he nodded slightly and waved his hand casually.

The researcher bowed and retreated immediately as if he had been pardoned. The sound of his footsteps was particularly clear in the empty and silent laboratory until they disappeared behind the heavy alloy door.

The basement was empty.

"There's no such method on Earth." Lionel was silent for a long time before speaking to the empty, cold air: "The price? Unknown aliens."

"Price? Mr. Lionel, that's too heavy a word."

A voice that only he could 'hear' sounded directly from the depths of his consciousness. This voice was neither male nor female, with a strange, flat rhythm.

It sounds like a precisely modulated electronic synthesized sound, but it also has an indescribable... antiquity?

The owner of the voice was calm and even had a bit of hypocritical gentleness:

"You only need the next eighteen years."