American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Xiu En had no intention of wasting his breath; his throat was too sore for him to launch into a long self-promotion.

In this greenhouse filled with dampness and the smell of decaying plants, he simply raised his right hand slightly.

An extremely pure beam of light pierced through the shattered glass dome in an instant.

Or it could be said that it completely ignored the roof's obstruction, vertically covering an area of ​​two meters around Xiu'en.

This light is different from the murky light of Gotham, which always smells of acid rain and is tinged with neon colors. It carries a coldness and sanctity that can only be seen in the stratosphere.

The dimly lit greenhouse was instantly illuminated as bright as day by this unreasonable strong exposure.

Joestar, who had been standing half a step behind Shuen, didn't even have time to close his eyes, but the tears streaming down his face from the bright light did not affect the smile on his lips at all.

Pamela Ivy's gesture to shoo them away froze in mid-air.

It wasn't because she was blinded by the light, but because her proud soldiers had betrayed her.

The giant mutated Venus flytrap, which had been poised to pounce and open its blood-red maw to bite Xiu En's leg.

The moment the light fell, it almost made a sound like a satisfied sigh from an animal.

Its serrated leaves abruptly stopped their attacking posture, and then, as if it had encountered a catnip addict, it desperately twisted its thick stem, even turning over the soil at its roots, just to squeeze its head into the circle of light.

Not just this one.

The entire greenhouse came to life in an instant.

The surrounding vines that were originally dormant.

Succulent.

Ferns.

They all began to grow at a rapid pace that defied common biological sense.

They stretched out their leaves wildly, with all the leaf tips pointing in the same direction.

The man who is raising his hand at this moment.

Even the poisonous ivy clinging to Ivy's feet was now tugging at her trouser leg, seemingly urging her to move closer.

Ivy's eyes narrowed slightly.

This is exactly what Gotham lacks most.

Somewhat annoyed, she shook off the ivy that was still tugging at her ankle and strode into the edge of the shadows created by Xiu En.

Here, the warmth from the sunlight can be clearly felt even without touching the body.

"Turn it off."

Ivy stared at Xiu En, her tone no longer carrying the disdain she had just displayed.

"If you don't want to overload photosynthesis and burn them all up, turn off this damn light pollution first."

Xiu En shrugged.

The light effect then went out.

The greenhouse fell into darkness again, with only the rustling of the plants whose leaves were still trembling with excitement after just tasting the sweetness of success.

Jeremy let out a long breath, only then realizing that he had been holding his breath the whole time.

Ivy walked over to the Venus flytrap, reached out and stroked its leaves, which had clearly grown a whole size larger, then turned to look at Xiu En.

"The security costs here are very high."

"I think I can afford the electricity bill. Ten minutes of free sunshine every day."

"That's too little."

Ivy answered immediately, without even needing to think for a second.

"Fifteen minutes. And if my orchids start to wither, you'll have to work overtime anytime."

"Once every two days, fifteen minutes each time. That's the limit."

Xiu En started rambling about his CD time.

"Unless you can fix my lungs, this light bulb won't last."

"make a deal."

Ivy then pointed to the empty space in the corner of the greenhouse, which was filled with fertilizer bags.

"You can sleep there. And tell your bodyguard to stay away from my geraniums. The way he knelt down just now broke three buds. If I see that again..."

A sharp, thorny thorn had appeared in Ivy's hand, which she gently patted.

"I had him do composting."

Xiu En sat on the fertilizer pile that had been smoothed out a bit, toying with a withered leaf he had picked off his trouser leg.

He cleared his throat, which was a little hoarse from the metallic aura, and began searching the knowledge base belonging to modern society, trying to find something that could help him strike up a conversation with the future eco-terrorist in front of him.

"Actually... about that mutated Venus flytrap."

Xiu En pointed to the large potted plant closest to Ivy and tentatively began to speak.

"They don't just need meat. This dark red color indicates a magnesium deficiency? I noticed you were trying to use nitrogen fertilizer to accelerate it, but perhaps adding a little magnesium sulfate in this enclosed greenhouse environment would help their digestive juices secrete more smoothly?"

He regretted it as soon as he said it.

This is like explaining to Einstein why one plus one equals two, or discussing with Leonardo da Vinci how to draw an egg.

Before his time travel, he was at most a balcony gardening enthusiast; his theoretical knowledge was more like empty talk than practical application.

Ivy stopped pruning, turned around, and gently put down the seemingly razor-sharp gardening shears.

"really."

She walked over to the Venus flytrap, her tone unusually calm, even gentle.

"Most people only know about feeding them meat, thinking that anything red will do. But you're right, the soil here is alkaline, which locks in the absorption of magnesium ions."

She gently touched the not-yet-fully-closed petals of the Venus flytrap with her finger.

"I tried neutralizing it with acidic swamp mud, but it didn't work very well. You're right, maybe I should just go to the pharmacy and shovel some Epsom salt."

"I thought you would tell me to shut up and say I was showing off my limited skills in front of an expert."

Xiu En relaxed a little, his back slumping as he leaned against the fertilizer bag.

"In Gotham?"

Ivy chuckled, a laugh devoid of malice, more of a self-deprecating tone.

"Here, there are only homeless people who want to burn them for warmth, tycoons who want to level them to build skyscrapers, or police officers who want to clear them away as roadblocks."

She casually plucked a slightly curled leaf, her movements as gentle as if she were caressing a lover's cheek.

"Besides me, you're the first person who isn't thinking about how to kill them, but is concerned about whether they're magnesium deficient."

Ivy looked at Xiu En.

"Regardless of where you heard that flawed theory, at least you know how to respect life. That makes you far better than 90% of the people in this city."

Joestar, who was diligently wiping a stain that only he could see with his sleeve, scoffed at the news. In his view, the greatest honor for these weeds was that they had just been bathed in the light of the great god; as for magnesium or not, if the god said there should be magnesium, then there must be magnesium.

"Life always finds a way out," Hugh quoted a classic line.

"Yes, it can even be squeezed out from the cracks in the cement."

Ivy seemed pleased by those words. She took a small, brightly colored berry from her pocket, which looked almost like a candy, and casually tossed it to Xiu En.

"This is the first special berry of the season. It's mildly poisonous, not lethal, but it tastes like a cherry with whiskey and can relieve pain."

She picked up the scissors again and spoke with her back to Xiu En.

"Consider this an extra rent rebate for you. It's up to you whether you accept it or not."