As soon as they walked into the courtyard, they saw a large pile of miniature interstellar battleships clashing there. The nobles of the Shi'ar Empire were also quite startled. They had long heard that Earthlings were valiant, but they didn't expect that even such young children had begun interstellar warfare training.
Indeed, such scaled-down model ships and simulations of the cosmic environment usually only appear in the military academies of the Three Great Empires, where they learn how to conduct interstellar warfare.
This is actually very necessary. Most carbon-based life forms grow up on the surface, and adapting to the cosmos requires practice. To them, many things in the universe defy common sense. Without simulation practice, misjudgments are easy to make.
The cost of their simulation training cabins is very high, and they are very sophisticated, needing strict maintenance. This is because simulating various cosmic environments is not easy. They don't achieve simulation by editing cosmic parameters; instead, they laboriously create certain harsh conditions, which naturally requires more effort.
However, Franklin directly took out a pocket universe, indistinguishable from the real cosmos, with parameters that could be modified at will. Whether simulating a galaxy or a black hole, he could create them indistinguishably from the outside with just a thought. In his pocket universe, he is the creator.
Little Thomas is also heavyweight. Not only can he control dark matter in the real world, but he can also affect Franklin's pocket universe. The two of them can perform a combo to simulate all cosmic environments in this world, and even create an environment similar to the antimatter universe.
Little Morgan is no slouch either. She has even started learning about information streams from Stark, and at such a young age, she's already brushing against the correct boundaries of observing the cosmos. She can also perform a combo with Franklin, helping the two of them adjust the most suitable cosmic parameters.
The twin brothers are not willing to lag behind. One of them can edit emotions, which means they can help Franklin create real emotional life in the pocket universe—not puppets controlled by their will, but beings with autonomous consciousness, with their own sentiments leading to joys and sorrows.
Billy, coincidentally, possesses the Olympian Gods' strength, which is divine power, and can assist Franklin in creating a God Clan in the pocket universe, as well as other energy beings similar to a Cosmic Sorcerer.
In short, these little ones together are equivalent to a God, performing a Genesis combo, unraveling the mysteries of the world and the evolution of the cosmos right before their eyes.
The nobles of the Shi'ar Empire didn't even have time to eat; after a glance, they hurriedly ran away.
Greed was a little regretful. He had prepared a table full of good dishes, wanting to hear feedback from the aliens and add it to the Crux tavern menu. They ran off without taking a single bite.
Everyone had a blast all morning, and with empty stomachs, they devoured all the dishes. In the afternoon, they took a walk with the children on the hillside and even went boating on the sea.
News came from Chris' side, saying the script was mostly finalized and didn't differ much from the previous plot, allowing Shiller to simply play himself. Greed was relieved and began memorizing the new script.
However, he still altered quite a few lines. After some back-and-forth with Chris, most of the changes were accepted. The main reason Chris refused some lines was due to the intense pressure, fearing it would scare the children.
As the evening approached, the study door was pushed open. Greed looked up to see Arrogant walk in.
"Where have you been?" Greed looked back down at his script. Arrogant hadn't shown up much in the past few days as if he was busy, but Greed had no idea what there was to be busy with around here. Surely he wasn't going out in the middle of the night to investigate cases?
Arrogant sat down beside him, quite satisfied, and said, "Brainiac has re-assessed the Ivy League plan, which is no longer just a Sports League, but a whole new comprehensive ranking of East Coast schools."
Greed raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what's Gotham University's rank?"
"Unfortunately, it's nineteenth," Arrogant sighed lightly. This ranking was incredibly low, almost unbelievably so.
"How could that be?" Greed was shocked as well. In his impression, Gotham University was akin to New York's Columbia University. If it was just an East Coast ranking, it shouldn't be so low, right?
"The entire psychology department has only me as a professor," Arrogant said. "The physics and chemistry departments lack not only professors but also teaching assistants. Gotham University's number of students is one-third that of Metropolitan University, and the number of professors is even one-tenth. This ranking simply can't go up."
Greed thought for a moment; he assumed this might be a historical issue. After all, not many dared to go to Gotham before. Having so many people already was quite good. Gotham has only been improving for a few years; it's still far from being widely acknowledged, so naturally, they can't recruit more people.
"So, what are you going to do?" Greed asked.
"The most urgent task is to recruit more professors," Arrogant said, "but with the heavy teaching load, insufficient pay, and low promotion potential, it's really tough to find people."
"Wait," Greed suddenly remembered something, "you're not thinking of looking for people here, are you?"
Arrogant nodded. Greed was left speechless for a moment, then said, "Because Gotham's reputation is too poor to lure people from your side, so you come over here to prey on them?"
"It's not exactly preying," Arrogant paused before saying. "I also didn't intend to recruit people from the Central Universe. After all, they are following procedures, each with their tasks, and with better conditions than over there, they probably won't follow me."
"But there are many scientists from other universes who aren't doing well. Like Connors with a broken arm, Ethan on the verge of death, Banner expelled from Earth, or Otto defeated by Spider Man. They are all quite good scientists, and teaching at my place is better than being treated as villains."
Greed opened his mouth but found himself speechless. The Central Universe doesn't follow interventionism; even if they intervene, they may not save them. Sometimes, these scientists' persecution comes from an entire universe's problem over there, and they simply can't be saved.
However, if Arrogant intervenes at the right time, saves them, and lets them teach at Gotham, it's indeed a good choice.
Take The Hulk, for example. When the Illuminati expelled him from Earth, it wasn't just The Hulk being expelled—it was Bruce Banner as well. And Banner was quite a decent scientist. If someone had reached out to him then, he probably would have joined them.
And the Marvel Universe is an Infinite Universe, containing an infinite number of universes. This means that in quite a few universes, Bruce is experiencing this scenario. As long as we can find one and bring him back, we'll have one more physics professor.
"So you're going to save him?"
"It's still in the planning stage," Arrogant said, "but I've reached out to scientists in the Central Universe, and they all agree with the plan."
"Who did you contact?"
"Pretty much everyone. Doctor Connors, Dr. Ethan, Dr. Banner..."
"I knew you'd be good at dealing with them," said Greed. "You guys should form a super scholar organization and call it 'Mad Doctor.' How about that?"
Arrogant shook his head and said, "They're doctors because PhD is the highest degree humans can attain. In reality, they each have several doctoral titles. 'Mad Doctor' still sounds a bit modest."
"I inquired about their life experiences," Arrogant said. "Without a doubt, each of them has had very difficult times. Although they're quite satisfied with their current status, they'd welcome some small twists at those moments."
"I've persuaded them to contact their counterparts," Arrogant said. "Some already communicate with their counterparts, while others can do so through different people. In fact, we already have a few targets."
"When do you plan to start?"
"Let's finish filming the movie first," Arrogant said. "Aren't we in the opening scenes? Once that's done, we'll start the inter-dimensional talent recruitment program."
"Who do you plan on approaching first?"
"Ethan."
Greed seemed a bit surprised: "Why him?"
"The others are just temporarily troubled, but he could lose his life," Arrogant said. "Besides, he's a medical doctor, and Gotham University's medical school is short-staffed. He's been in the battlefield and can adapt better to Gotham's environment."
"That makes sense," Greed continued, "Then, next should be Connors, right?"
"Right, both of them can join the medical school. Actually, I really want to recruit Xavier for the psychology department. But if we get him, we'd have to bring Lensherr along. Although most Magnetos have physics PhDs, how they obtained their degrees is questionable."
"How we obtained our psychology department degrees is also questionable," Greed couldn't help but quip. "Are you planning to teach from elementary all the way to PhD?"
"Even if Professor Xavier comes, he couldn't teach basic courses," Arrogant shook his head and said, "By your analogy, I'd teach elementary, and he'd teach university."
"At least it would ease your burden a bit," Greed said, "And you don't have to save them during their times of hardship. Your universe itself is more suitable for mutants because it's more vast."
"Your universe doesn't have the Three Great Empires, and the Lantern Corps is steadily declining. There's ample space for mutants to develop."
"But Batman..."
"He'll agree, don't forget Darkseid," Greed said, looking at Arrogant. "Darkseid has become the unique singularity across the Multiverse, losing a few avatars means nothing to him. He will surely return; someone must be there to hinder Apocalypse Star's development. Mutants are the best choice."
"Their superpowers come from their genes and aren't affected by the universe's differences. With a sufficient number of them, they can develop into an interstellar civilization. Among their leaders, Professor X has a moral baseline that's trustworthy, making him the perfect tiger to drive wolves away. Batman has no reason to refuse."
"What did Bruce catch outside the Origin Wall?" Arrogant asked, "That's your plan, you should know, right?"
"I know. But he's not making any moves for now. Batman's next step will definitely be to eliminate Darkseid, the visible major threat. This is the best chance for mutants to enter."
Greed paused for a moment and then said, "Don't forget the Fusion Universe. I think you can first check out the development of mutants there. If Batman intends to bring in external forces, that universe is also the best choice. He will definitely start probing from there."
"I am quite impatient with all this," Arrogant sighed and said, "It's making teaching seem interesting."
"Doing this is for better teaching," Greed laughed and said, "Sounds even more despairing, doesn't it?"
"Don't think of asking me to go," Greed preemptively interrupted Arrogant, "If Batman knows I'd intervene, he might reconsider bringing in forces from here. Driving away wolves with tigers is fine, but inviting wolves into the house is a no-go."
"Looks like I'll have to go myself."
"Good thing I've been prepared." Greed fondled the gray ring on his hand, "Remember, we still have a Saint Heir."