The wind blew the old door panels, making a harsh noise that disturbed his sleep. When Bruce opened his eyes, the morning light shone in through the window glass with a corner missing.
Just as he was about to use his strength to get up from the ground, he felt a sharp pain coming from the junction of his neck and shoulders. Bruce held his neck and let out a short and low cry of pain.
Clark, who was sleeping next to him, woke up when he heard the noise and looked at Bruce with sleepy eyes. He woke up the next second and looked at Bruce with some worry and asked: "What's wrong? Did your wound open again?"
?”
Bruce shook his head slightly, lay back and said, "I feel like I have a stiff neck."
Clark sat up and sighed. He stood up and walked to the door, making some room for Bruce, and then stretched out his hand to pull Bruce up.
The room the two of them were in was a guest room in an old inn. However, there was no bed here. There was only a row of wooden shelves about a fist high, which were the kind of slats placed under the cargo box.
There was a worn-out mattress, with springs sticking out of the sides, scratching Clark's clothes.
Diana lived next door, and there was a bed in her room, but it was not the two men who showed their gentlemanly spirit and gave up the room to her. On the contrary, it was Diana who gave up the room with a mattress to ordinary people.
Man Bruce.
Diana's own room only had a bed frame and no mattress. Diana had to use the skills of living in the Amazon to make herself a hammock with plastic sheeting, so she could sleep for a night.
Latin America is actually not as backward as many people think, and there are still many decent big cities.
But the most terrifying thing is that there is almost no infrastructure outside the city, let alone water and electricity. Many places are not even connected by roads. This is the case where the Bruces and three people are.
That's right, this is not an abandoned inn. It's still in business and even has a lot of customers. More importantly, it's the only place within a few dozen kilometers that has a telephone line.
Hal asked the three of them to stay here and wait for him. He had to rely on his Green Lantern ability to search the mountains and plains for where Oliver was now, and then let the three of them pass after he found it.
Because the infrastructure is so backward, it is no joke that communication mainly relies on shouting. When he learned that the New Democratic Army of Guadalajara led by Oliver had relied on manpower and radio communication for a long time, Bruce III
I feel that there is nothing to complain about with such accommodation conditions.
Bruce, Clark and Diana gathered in Diana's room. The bed frame here could be used as a table. Clark used a heat ray to roast a few corns for breakfast. Diana asked the owner of the inn for some water.
After the three people washed up, they began to eat corn around the table.
"To be honest, the conditions here are indeed a bit beyond my imagination." Clark shook his head and said, "The only difference between this place and the original forest is that the resources are not as rich as the original forest."
Diana pursed her lips and said, "You may have some misunderstandings about the virgin forest. The Amazon has electricity and water pipes. We maintain the style of primitive life just because we are used to doing so and it can bring us tourism benefits.
"
"It's not that Amazon is incapable of modernization, it's just that modernization is of no use. We are not a resource-based country and cannot develop industry. Most of the economy relies on tourism."
"If it were similar to most cities in the world, no one would come to visit. Tourists like to experience the life of primitive people, so we will maintain this kind of life, but this is obviously not the case here."
"There are many slums without water and electricity in the more prosperous cities in Mexico, not to mention rural areas with deep mountains and old forests? Let's not talk about whether they have money to build. A few months ago, gangs were rampant here and drug lords were rampant.
Without actual control, construction is just talk.”
Bruce said as he chewed the corn. He chewed the corn kernels in his mouth and looked down at the corn cob in his hand in surprise. The taste of the corn was beyond his imagination and it was quite delicious.
Clark shook the corn in his hand and said: "Our family has also grown this variety of corn. It is especially suitable for eating directly after being cooked, or brushed with some sauce to make grilled corn, but the corn grown here is more delicious than the corn grown at my home.
, Mexico is indeed the country of corn.”
Diana nodded, obviously agreeing with what Clark said, but soon, a trace of sadness appeared on her face and she said:
"If we don't clean up the gangs, we won't be able to actually control these areas, and we won't be able to build. But the more we can't build, the more backward this place will be and can't provide an economy. Without an economy, there will be no money. The less money there is, the less money there will be."
The more we try to drive out the gangs, the more we have to rely on the drug economy, which is simply an endless cycle."
"Although Oliver has opened up some situations, how many of them have opened up in areas like Latin America? There is really a long way to go."
The three of them were gnawing corn while chatting about the current situation in Latin America. Soon, a green portal appeared in the room. Hal took Oliver out of the portal. Oliver's current appearance made people a little afraid.
admit.
When Oliver was living on the desert island, he did look very embarrassed and haggard. The years of surviving on the desert island had washed away the pampering and pampering of a rich kid, but his experience in Mexico during this period seemed to have reshaped his personality.
.
Oliver wore a dark brown short-sleeved shirt that Mexicans like to wear, a vest on his shoulders, and a faded pirated Yankees baseball cap on his head.
He had lost a lot of weight, and it seemed like only his skeleton was left in his body. His eyes were sunken deeply into his eye sockets, and he was a little tanned. He looked like he was ten years older, but at the same time, his eyes exuded a certain energy.
An astonishing brilliance.
When Oliver and Bruce saw each other, they were both stunned.
Bruce's appearance also had some changes. He went to the slums of Gotham and lost a lot of weight. Although he later strengthened his muscles through nutrition and fitness, he was still different from when they first met.
Oliver became more energetic, but Bruce became more relaxed and lazy. The changes in the two of them seemed to go in opposite directions, but it was more like reaching the same goal by different paths.
These two American playboys, famous young masters, after going through a thousand hardships, when they saw each other again, they actually read a trace of the vicissitudes of the right path in the world from the sympathy in each other's eyes.
flavor.
Oliver and Bruce didn't say anything, but they seemed to have said everything. The two stepped forward and hugged. Oliver glanced at Clark and Diana. It was obvious that Hal had already told him.
Several people walked into the portal together, and when they reappeared, Bruce found himself in a village. The village was small and could be seen from the south to the north at a glance, but it was quite neat and orderly.
The villagers who come and go are basically dark-skinned, wearing dark short-sleeved or plaid shirts, and sun hats on their heads. Their clothes are not new and are a little gray. Their eyes when looking at outsiders also seem a bit unfriendly, but everyone
They had something to do, so they just glanced at Bruce and they left.
Oliver pointed to the south of the village and said: "That's a tributary of the Ameka River over there. This is a camp we recently opened up, borrowing a corner on the edge of a small village that was originally here. It is also the hometown of one of our members.
"
After speaking, he looked around and shouted a few dialects at the entrance of the village. A lean young man hurriedly ran over.
He is a brown-skinned Latino, skinny and skinny, so he appears to have a big head. However, it can be seen from the tight muscle lines of his arms that he must have been engaged in manual labor for a long time, and there are many traces of wind and sun on his face.
But it can still be seen from his facial features that he is not very old.
The amazing thing about a Latino's appearance is that when he is not smiling, he makes people look very fierce, but when he smiles, he carries the unique passion and unrestrainedness of Latin America.
Oliver patted the young man on the back and said, "This is Gonzales. Well, there are about six Gonzales in the whole village. This surname is too common here. You can just call him Xiaopu."
The young Mexican boy showed a shy smile and shook hands with Bruce. He said in less proficient English: "Welcome to Vicara, this is our new base."
Oliver continued his words: "Weikala Village is one of the 26 villages in this land that we currently control. Although it is not the largest, it has the best geographical location and the most farmland around it."
"I selected a large area of land on the west side of the village near the Ameca River as an experimental field. More than half of the area there was previously controlled by the Guadalajara gang and was used to grow poppies for them. Now I plan to switch to growing food.
."
As Oliver spoke, he led a few people around the village. He lowered the brim of his hat and said: "We are actually not short of food now, but we must plant this land well, because we want to demonstrate to everyone, no
You can only earn money to support yourself by listening to the gangsters' instructions to grow poppies, and you can grow food as well."
Oliver stopped, looked back at a few people and said: "Actually, many people who follow me don't believe this. For a long time, the Mexican government no longer supports agriculture, and they and the gangs
The tug-of-war has damaged the interests of many farmers, causing them to lose both their people and their land."
"Now that I propose to grow food again, they doubt whether I will follow the old path of the Mexican government. We must come up with an effective plan, not only to grow, but also to grow well, not only to produce, but also to be able to
sell away."
Oliver spread his hands and said: "It is useless just to kill drug lords or occupy their land. It is not difficult to eliminate the drug industry. The difficult thing is how to find a new industry to replace it."
"Only a brand-new industry that is better than drug manufacturing and trafficking can gain a foothold on this land and solve the problem of evil from the root."
"I uprooted the poppies on this land and restored the land to its ancient appearance. But if new seeds cannot be planted as soon as possible so that the people here can fill their stomachs with longer and sustainable labor, it will be a sin.
The flower never really disappears."
Following Oliver's words, Bruce looked into the distance.
The high blue sky is intertwined with blue and purple, as clear and translucent as gems, and the golden morning light shines through the clouds, silhouetted against giant trees and cacti. The original style of this ancient land does not need any modification, and its beauty is shocking.
The farmers carrying farm tools set off one after another. Taking advantage of the faint morning light, they stepped across the field ridges. Their rough hands passed through the wind in the fields and grabbed a thread, leading them to use their labor to create a simple life.
Wishes are like holding a cloud.
There is no piece of land in this world that is evil, Bruce thought. The land unconditionally nourishes every seed and the person who plants the seed. Whatever you plant, you will reap the fruits. This is a rare fairness in the world.
The so-called cursed land is just the unwilling slander of those sins that have been purged. The land does not hate anyone and will always welcome the next spring with hope.
Standing on the ridge of the field and looking at the fields, Bruce realized that spring was really coming when he felt a glimmer of hope in his heart.