Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 5798 - 4821: Home Alone (Part 1)

Greed reached over to turn off the radio by the window, but some of the noisy ambient sounds from the street outside still floated in. The figure who walked in wore a long coat, carrying an atmosphere that didn’t belong to this world, one of gloomy depth. For a moment, Greed almost thought it was another rainy night in Gotham.

The person who came was Arrogant.

However, he didn’t come alone; he was holding the hand of a little boy. Greed immediately recognized him—it was Billy, also known as Shazam.

"How come you have time to come here?" Greed was genuinely a bit surprised. He had been pondering how to persuade Arrogant to act in a movie, but unexpectedly, Arrogant walked right into the trap.

"It’s like this..."

Just as Arrogant began to speak, Greed interrupted him.

"Hold on," Greed said, "your speed and tone are just right for 1980s Gotham, but New York is a modern metropolis. Can you act more normal?"

"I heard the movie is about to start filming." Arrogant still maintained his calm and leisurely tone, but his enunciation was slightly modernized. He turned to look at Billy and then said, "Do you want to say it yourself?"

Billy sniffed, handing the scarf he took off to Arrogant, and awkwardly mentioned, "I’m a fan of ’Ilvermorny.’ I really like this movie. I was thinking... I..."

Billy hemmed and hawed for a long time, seemingly unable to express himself, but neither Arrogant nor Greed rushed him; they both listened quietly. After a moment of silence, Billy gathered his courage to speak: "Could I possibly visit the set? Like, when no one’s around, take a stroll inside the magical school. I promise I won’t disrupt the filming..."

Greed wasn’t surprised that Billy would be a fan of the movie, though this film hasn’t been shown in the neighboring world. Because Arrogant doesn’t want to be a movie star, nor does he want to be bothered by fans, but many acquaintances have watched it privately, like the Robins, and gradually growing up Aisha. As Aisha’s good friend, Billy naturally watched it too.

Billy is the type who really loves magical movies, even though he himself is a superpower user, he is still fascinated by the beautiful, mystical magic world depicted in films. The Friess couple supports this hobby of his, so they approached Arrogant to see if he could arrange for Billy to visit the movie set.

As to why they approached Arrogant, of course, because the school doctor is played by Shiller. Even if it’s not the same personality, it’s the same face, so naturally, he would know the crew members.

"No problem," Greed smiled and said, "actually, maybe you could play a small supporting role in the movie. Just one or two lines, but you’d get to show your face. Would you be interested?"

Arrogant gave Greed a look, which implied "What are you up to?" Greed returned a look — "Relax."

Billy’s eyes immediately lit up, he was excited to speak, but the words got stuck at the tip of his tongue again.

"Isn’t that not quite right?" Billy seemed very conflicted, "The movie is about to start filming, the script should be ready, and the cast finalized. If I join, I’d be taking someone’s role, right?"

"Even though filming is about to start, the script isn’t exactly finished." Greed sighed and said, "There may be a plot that needs major revision mid-way, it wouldn’t be difficult to add a small role there, it won’t take anyone’s place."

Then Billy looked at Arrogant, as if seeking his approval. Arrogant didn’t deny or encourage, he simply said, "It’s up to you."

"I’m going to be in a movie!" Billy cheered, "Awesome! What role will I have? A classmate of the protagonist? Will I get to meet Vetti? Or am I the big villain who fights with them?"

Billy muttered excitedly while Greed picked up the phone: "Mrs. Mason, could you prepare some afternoon tea and bring it up?"

Soon, a lady walked over with a tray of afternoon tea sweets. Greed glanced at Billy, and Mrs. Mason immediately carried the tray over: "Come over, sir, let’s have some refreshments."

Billy was a bit hungry, children love those nicely decorated and sweet snacks, so he obediently followed Mrs. Mason.

"If he wants to stay and act, you can’t just walk away." Greed finally exposed his true intentions, "How about staying for a segment too?"

"You’re coaxing Billy into acting just for this?" Though Arrogant wasn’t very surprised, he calmly said, "But there’s no need for effort this time, because I do have to stay here for a while."

"What’s going on?" Greed instead frowned slightly and asked.

"That lake." Arrogant sighed somewhat helplessly, "Brainiac can’t tolerate the conditions there anymore, he’s going to conduct a thorough excavation of the lake. Besides me, everyone who contributed to the lake’s water nutrients, also went out to lay low."

"Is it necessary to run so far? Can’t you go to your Prime Universe?"

"Brainiac has long started the Multiverse invasion." Arrogant said, "He wants to integrate the Multiverse Brainiacs into one, even though it’s different from the way organisms usually ascend, the ultimate result is the same."

"Will the Batmen agree?"

"Their attitude is quite ambiguous." Arrogant gently tapped the table with his finger. "After coming to the universe where I reside, Primary Universe Batman didn’t show a very aggressive opposition towards Brainiac. On the contrary, he believes this model is worth a try and exploration, though it should be monitored by Batman."

"I can understand him. Because the Multiverse of that world is too disaster-prone, those entirely uncommunicative, purely malicious existences are already enough to give Batman a headache. For those with shared interests, they’re more inclined to woo or stabilize first, and Brainiac is one of them."

"No matter how you put it, Electronic Life exists on the side of order. They don’t want the cosmos to fall into nothingness and chaos, on this point, they’re aligned with Batman. Moreover, the universe I reside in has proven that Brainiac’s rule and management abilities are quite decent."

"Modest," Greed commented, "far superior to the US Government of my universe, even today’s US Government."

"Because of Brainiac’s good performance, Batman temporarily won’t take overly aggressive measures regarding some of his actions. They’ll certainly keep an eye on him, but if he remains normal, he won’t get prioritized on Batman’s list."

"He’s got a point there," Greed said, "I fear no one wants Batman to know what’s really in the lake."

"Batman has some speculation. After all, the gate to Barbados’ Dark Dimension opened on that monster. As for why that thing can open the door, and how it opened the door, Batman will surely find out."

"The one who should be keeping a low profile most isn’t Bruce... oh, he’s already gone to the Origin Wall." Greed said after a brief thought, "It’s no wonder, though he manipulated things on that monster leading to the passage being opened. But if you look into how this monster came about, none of you will escape blame."

"So merely leaving Gotham isn’t enough, not even leaving the cosmos is enough, because other universes also have Batman. They’ve probably all come over to this side."

Greed laughed, "Being targeted by Batman is truly a terrifying thing. Though I don’t think Batman has any particular expectations of you, if you were the one who conjured this thing, he wouldn’t be surprised at all. But the issue is, while this thing appeared in the lake outside your home, it was not entirely your doing."

"That’s the crux." Arrogant sighed again, "I don’t want to be suspected of instigating, but it’s hard to explain why it was so coincidental."

"This is the only thing you didn’t do," Greed smiled, "Maybe it’s just karma."

"Speaking of which," Arrogant glanced at the sky outside, "Is Christmas coming soon?"

"Not quite," Greed replied, "The East Coast is colder earlier this year, and snow comes sooner. There’s still more than a month till Christmas. How’s Bruce doing?"

"He’s found himself a new job again. But Selina is worried he’s too lonely at the Origin Wall, so she brought Aisha over to keep him company. We jokingly call them Adam and Eve."

Greed’s attention was drawn to the "new job." Ever since Bruce graduated, he’s been adept at job hunting, never failing any position. If not for this, the Origin Wall wouldn’t have been crashed into a hole.

Now he’s found a new job at this juncture, likely hired by some entity outside the wall. Who could it be? Inverted Man? Might this be related to the mastermind behind the Manhattan Playground?

Greed almost immediately connected the two things, but currently, it’s just suspicion with no evidence. Thus, he didn’t shift the topic in that direction but said, "It’s not a waste of effort. Are you sure you want to act in a movie?"

"How else would you want me to pay the rent?"

"We are one person, how could I want rent from you?"

"Precisely because we are one person, I know if you don’t want the rent, you’d involve me in a string of big troubles. Far more troublesome than acting."

Greed frowned, looking somewhat displeased. He directly pulled the script from the drawer and handed it to Arrogant, then said, "You should look at the script before you jump to conclusions."

Arrogant picked up the script and started reading. It’s not that his reading speed is particularly fast; mainly, children’s movie scripts are written very simply, striving to avoid complex vocabulary to allow child actors to quickly understand and grasp. And for adults, it’s very easy to speed-read.

Arrogant merely skimmed it and couldn’t hold back, he said, "Who wrote the scene of Saphire reminiscing about the past? How did he live until modern times?"

Greed seemed to have found a kindred spirit, almost pounding the table as he said, "That’s what I’m talking about! You say he accepted Mephisto’s invitation and yet dared to show off in front of the Supreme Magician, it’s as if he’s afraid others can’t see through the facade. And then later, in the part where they lose their magic power, my goodness, I can’t even describe it with words..."

"Can’t you check the script before you take the part?" Arrogant also rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit troubled, "You’re not a professional actor in the first place, if you don’t sincerely agree with the concept, the performance would be quite awkward, right?"

Greed remained silent. Actually, he had expected that the villain in a children’s film wouldn’t be too formidable, but the first screenplay didn’t reveal much, the entire character’s aura was controlled by him. Unexpectedly, after the second film disclosed more, the villain’s aura drastically plummeted, making it difficult to perform.

"And there’s another problem," Arrogant continued, "In the first film, the school doctor didn’t appear so stupid. Or rather, our performance set the tone too high. If the second film uses this kind of plot to build the character, the audience will be quite disappointed."