Chapter 22 A Subtle Misunderstanding

This sounds like an urban legend used to trick children into going to bed early.

But Bruce knew that this was probably the "curfew" Alfred had mentioned.

In order to get more information out of him, he deliberately put on a stern face.

Sure enough, the bartender noticed Bruce's "dissatisfaction" and said with a smile, "You have no patience. How can you expect to get just one sentence for fifteen dollars? If you didn't have anything interesting to say, I would have been beaten to death long ago."

"Go on."

"Gotham City's curfew is from 9 PM Washington time to 6 AM the following morning, which also follows the regulations regarding daylight saving time and standard time. You see, spending money to have a professional explain it to you is useful; those petty thugs probably don't even know what daylight saving time and standard time are—want me to explain Gotham's daylight saving time to you?"

“No need.” Bruce paused, then asked in surprise, “Curfew?”

“Yes, curfew.” The bartender smugly observed the surprised look on the out-of-towner’s face, a hint of superiority creeping into his tone. “During this period, Gotham strictly prohibits the use of firearms or other heavy weapons to engage in illegal or criminal activities.”

That sounds good, but...

What are the consequences of violating this rule?

"Those who don't hurt anyone get the lightest punishment—their weapons are confiscated. Those who injure someone with a pistol or rifle have a limb removed. Those who use excessive weapons or kill someone are thrown from a great height to their deaths—that's how your fellow countryman died. Those who go too far have their flesh sliced ​​off piece by piece." The bartender shrugged. "As for the discretionary aspects—how many bones to break, which limb to remove—that depends on the mood of those two birds."

"Two birds?"

“Owls and penguins,” the bartender said. “These insider tips are part of the DLC, and since you’ve already paid, I’ll tell you in a bit. Now, let’s get back to Gotham’s rules.”

Does the penguin refer to the Penguin Man, and the owl refer to the night owl that Alfred mentioned?

Bruce calmly analyzed the available information.

"Generally speaking, the Penguin will be less ruthless with the two birds. If you get caught by him and his men, it's fine; you can secretly pay them off. But if you get caught by the Night Owl and his gang of owl-like monsters, it's a disaster. There's absolutely no room for negotiation. These guys are like deaf people; you can't communicate with them."

How did this curfew come about?

"It's complicated and can't be explained in a sentence or two. In short, it started with Night Owl instigating infighting within a gang family, which later escalated into a large-scale shootout between several gangs. Night Owl kidnapped a few leaders and then reached a cooperation agreement with Penguin. That's how the two of them set up the curfew."

The thugs around seemed very interested in these things and moved closer.

Bruce frowned, while the bartender lowered his voice as if he were used to it, seemingly not wanting the person who hadn't paid to hear what he was saying.

How do you know so much?

The bartender gave a sly smile: "Didn't that kid just tell you? Penguin takes a cut. He specifically sent people to tell us this inside information, and the content may be updated at any time."

...

That unscrupulous businessman actually took money to spread the message he wanted to spread.

"These are the crucial rules. Other people's taboos don't matter. What's next is the current situation in Gotham."

The bartender enjoyed having someone listen to him. He leaned back casually on the bar and continued, "'Gotham's daytime belongs to Wayne, Gotham's nighttime belongs to Nite Owl,' it's that simple—okay, okay, just kidding."

Seeing that "Chicago Guy's" expression was off, he quickly added, "The other factions in Gotham have all fallen on hard times, leaving only Night Owl and Wayne ruling from dawn till dusk. It seems there's some grudge between them. Night Owl and Penguin assassinated many of Thomas Wayne's partners, while Thomas Wayne cut off a lot of supplies flowing into the Gotham market and also destroyed many of Night Owl's gangs."

Thomas actually made enemies?

Bruce remembered Thomas as autistic, avoiding talking and socializing whenever possible. His favorite thing to do was skip school activities to work on his experiments. And he even managed to make enemies.

Aside from the overly self-conscious Romans, who else could Thomas Aquinas have offended?

“Oh, Mr. Cobblestone is convinced that the Wayne family was behind his downfall,” the bartender said. “I’m not entirely sure of Night Owl’s reasons, but according to Mr. Cobblestone, Thomas Wayne killed Night Owl’s family.”

?

Who? Thomas?

Although Bruce thought it was unlikely to be true, he still added it to his investigation list for the sake of his brother's reputation.

"Anyway, they're having a pretty good time, blowing things up all the time." The bartender fiddled with a bottle in his hand, asking somewhat absentmindedly, "What did Ms. Carla Vitti send you to Gotham for?"

Upon hearing this, Bruce immediately became alert, tensing up and ready to pounce and subdue the bartender at any moment, but his face remained expressionless: "Have the person behind you come and talk to me."

Carla Viti, the sister of the Roman, runs the Viti family business in Chicago.

He may have accidentally gotten involved in some gang affairs.

Without a word, the bartender swung a bottle and threw it at Bruce, while several thugs around him drew knives or daggers and pounced on him.

Bruce reacted quickly. He first dodged the flying bottle by sidestepping, then grabbed the wrist of a thug holding a knife, pulled it in the direction of the thug's force, and slammed his elbow into the back of the thug's neck, knocking him unconscious.

He then snatched the knife, released the thug, letting him collapse to the ground, leaned back to dodge another knife thrust at him, grabbed the second thug's wrist, twisted it, and threw him to the ground, then snatched the second knife.

With the two thugs blocking his way on either side subdued, Bruce finally had the chance to get up from the bar stool.

He was agile and held two knives in his hands, so the thugs didn't dare to approach him. The bartender had already disappeared without a trace.

Taking this opportunity, Bruce used his peripheral vision to search for a suitable escape route while quickly assessing the situation.

Holding the knife properly and lacking coordination, these thugs clearly lacked combat experience. This was probably not a trap, but rather a spur-of-the-moment decision to attack him for some reason. Their only use was probably to buy time.

Only two panicked thugs stood blocking the doorway, their hands gripping daggers tightly, devoid of any long weapons.

Bruce acted decisively, rushing towards the door, ducking to avoid the swinging blade, dropping the knife, grabbing the unfortunate thug's arm with both hands and throwing him over his shoulder, knocking down another thug blocking his way.

He seized the opportunity to leap out, only to be blocked by the bartender outside the door, who was holding a shotgun.

"Don't move, you damn Chicago guy." The bartender aimed at him. "If you move, I'll shoot. You'd better stand there and wait for Mr. Cobblestone to get here."

Bruce stood still, seemingly obediently withdrawing his hand, but actually ripped open the hidden pocket in his sleeve, letting the smoke bomb fall into his palm.

Just as he was about to let go and use the smoke grenade to escape, a flash of silver light appeared, and most of the barrel of the gun in the bartender's hand was cut off.

The bartender himself was grabbed by the back of the collar by a guy wearing owl armor and thrown to the ground.

This person is probably "Night Owl".

Seeing the sudden change in the situation, Bruce thought for a moment and ultimately decided not to leave and to gather intelligence.

"You had the Penguin call me over so you were planning to shoot me in front of me?"

The owl's voice was unreadable, but the bartender was clearly frightened and hurriedly explained, "This man is one of Carla Vitti's men."

"And then?" Night Owl retorted. "What does this have to do with you breaking curfew?"

“Mr. Coppert said that he should be notified immediately if there are any suspicious persons from Chicago.”

"so?"

"So I took the gun to carry out Mr. Cobblestone's orders! I... I just wanted to scare him..."

“I know you didn’t fire,” Night Owl interrupted him. “You’re alright, aren’t you?”

The bartender stopped talking and stood up abruptly.

Then, Night Owl turned to look at Bruce.

"You can go now."

Bruce left a hidden listening device, lowered his head and walked outside, but was stopped by someone.

...Why are you coming in waves?

“Who said he has nothing to do with this?” This time it was Penguin who came back, waving his umbrella angrily. “Arrest him.”

Seeing that things were not going well, Bruce threw a smoke bomb to the ground, dashed out of the bar, jumped into his second-hand car that he had bought on the black market, and sped away.

There was a listening device on the passenger seat, and Bruce turned it on while driving.

“…Recently, Carla Vitti has been acting strangely; she seems to be working with Sofia Falcone to try and capture Alberto Falcone.”

The one speaking now should be the Penguin.

“If they want it, then let them have Alberto. It’s perfectly legal to transfer a mental patient to the care of his elders.”

Clearly, it is the night owl who is speaking now.

“I believe that doing so would severely undermine our authority in Gotham, and Viti’s hand must never be extended into Gotham.”

"Of course, but that doesn't mean I need to shelter a fool who disrupted my plans, and I didn't order Alberto to kill his own brother or cut out his father's brain. You're the one spreading these false rumors."

(Footsteps)

"As a partner, I won't embarrass you in front of your subordinates, but don't overstep your bounds or try anything funny."

It seems that the alliance between these two is not a monolithic one; perhaps he can start from there.

(silence)

After a short while, the Penguin spoke first: "Bruce Wayne is back."

"Um."

“I heard that that damn Thomas Wayne is throwing a welcome party in three days. This is a good opportunity.”

I don't think so.

Do you know any inside information?

"Wayne Manor has a very tight security system."

Bruce's heart tightened.

Has that Night Owl already probed Wayne Manor? That's not good news.

Do Alfred and Thomas know this?

Where are the weak points?

"Even if I told you, you still wouldn't be able to get in. You'd better not seek your own death."

"Are you allowed in?"

"certainly."

"Tell me, Night Owl, don't you want to..."

(silence)

(A loud, crackling sound of electricity)

The eavesdropping device was destroyed.

Bruce rushed back to Wayne Manor with a heavy heart. To stay out of the way, he changed cars midway, which meant he missed dinner when he arrived back at Wayne Manor.

"Good evening, Alfred." Bruce quickly changed his clothes. "Where is he? Is he working overtime?"

"If you're referring to young Thomas, he's gone back to his residence."

"Doesn't he live at Wayne Manor?"

“No,” Alfred placed the dinner on the table. “In recent years, due to the mass deaths of his partners, young Master Thomas has become convinced that it is better for the safety of the rest of the family to move out.”

-

The owl patiently listened to the penguin speak.

You should be glad that Lucius was the one in charge of Wayne Manor's defense system, not me.

As he listened, Night Owl lost his patience, crushed the bug on the ground, and casually replied to Penguin, "Gotham needs order, not chaos right now. Personally, I think that instead of attacking Wayne Manor at this time, angering Wayne, and causing another Gotham infighting that would benefit outsiders, it would be better to instigate Bruce Wayne and his brothers to fight for power and let them fight among themselves."

The penguin seemed thoughtful, and appeared to agree with his suggestion.

Seeing that he had finally calmed down and no longer wanted the "Wayne Manor defense map," Night Owl politely said goodbye and turned to leave.

For some reason, Night Owl started missing his "allies" in the crime syndicate.

Putting aside intelligence and such, at least the members of the criminal syndicate are mostly capable of fighting and relatively obedient.

The Penguins are considered some of Gotham's better "partners," at least they are smart, useful, and relatively stable.

The penguins share this sentiment, explaining that they haven't betrayed each other for the time being simply because they can't find a better "partner."

A few years ago, when the Penguin approached the Night Owl for a collaboration, he was just one of Falcone's men.

Many people sought cooperation with Night Owl, but he was clearly more astute than the others and successfully persuaded Night Owl to cooperate with him.

With the help of the resources and intelligence brought by the Night Owl, he quickly rose to the top of Gotham.

Then he regretted it, regretted cooperating with Night Owl.

Of course, Owl himself is top-notch in both strength and intelligence, and he gives Penguin face. At least in front of others, he will take the initiative to back down. From any perspective, he is a perfect partner. Even if he is a crazy person with an impaired mind and extreme methods, he is still the most suitable partner that Penguin can find in Gotham City.

But he's gone a bit... crazy.

After they had been working together for a while, the people at Penguin really realized this.

At first, the Penguin actually looked down on the Night Owl somewhat, seeing him more as a henchman and a stepping stone.

A curfew? That idea would require stitching together half a naive out-of-town fool and half a Gotham native madman. How could that possibly govern Gotham?

He believed that the so-called curfew was too unrealistic and not a long-term solution. It could only last for a few days at most, and it would end once he brought the situation under control.

It turned out that the owl was serious.

Penguin remembers the day he saw the true face of Night Owl. He had just returned home when he heard the phone ringing.

The caller was Night Owl.

"Good evening, Oswald. I hope I haven't disturbed your enjoyment of this wonderful evening."

What are you pretending for? You're clearly following me!

The penguin was obviously unhappy, but he didn't show the slightest bit of negative emotion: "Good evening, what's up?"

"I'll come to visit you right away. Do you have time?"

This lunatic who doesn't sleep in the middle of the night!

However, he currently lacks the strength to contend with the Night Owl, so he had no choice but to agree.

“According to traditional social etiquette, I should wait for the host outside your estate to receive me, but the situation is special now. For the sake of both privacy and efficiency, could you allow me to wait directly in front of your residence?”

"Yes, of course," the penguin said through gritted teeth.

This strange person insists on wasting time with a bunch of empty formalities. Clearly, their cooperation is all just for show, and both sides know perfectly well that the other might secretly pull some tricks at any time.

As soon as Night Owl entered, seemingly wanting to exchange pleasantries, he was interrupted by Penguin: "What do you need, Mr. Owl?"

“You can just call me Night Owl,” he said, pulling out another envelope.

Why would two people standing face to face need to write a letter?

The penguin smiled dismissively, waiting for this lunatic to offer some profound insights.

The envelope was thick, with the penguin's address and name written on it in beautiful cursive script, and even thoughtfully printed with stamps depicting polar scenery.

The penguin's smile froze.

He had a bad feeling.

"You're trying to drag me down with you, Night Owl."

These words were practically squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Excuse my bluntness, Mr. Cobblestone," Owl said, unconcerned about Penguin's rage, "you've been in here for a while now, or rather, you've chosen to dig up some grave goods from Gotham's rich graveyard. If I were you, based on pure rational analysis, your best option would be to open that envelope and do exactly as instructed."

The penguin gripped the umbrella handle tightly, ready to attack the night owl at any moment.

"If I don't? You'll kill me?"

“Open it and you’ll see.” Night Owl sliced ​​open the envelope with the blade of his fingertip. “It contains my entire plan, Oswald. We’re allies.”

An ally, an ally who is always ready to take lives, an ally of unequal status.

Damn it.

The penguin trembled as he pulled out the few sheets of paper from the envelope and read the entire letter at a glance.

Ignoring the flowery, ceremonial language, the central idea of ​​this letter is singular—

Let the Penguin deal with his men who violated the curfew.

Damn it.

"You don't want to, do you?" Night Owl looked at him and asked with some doubt.

Would I be willing? These people are all my subordinates!

Reducing his subordinates means weakening his own power, not to mention that he has to give the order himself. What will his other subordinates think?

Seeing that the penguin remained silent, the owl revealed a dangerous smile: "We are allies."

"Allies? Cooperation?" Penguin sneered. "Your so-called cooperation is nothing more than making me completely submit to your orders, Night Owl."

“Is that so? Is that what you think?” Night Owl looked at him. “Oswald, I respect you more than anyone else in Gotham. I respect your free will, I only give you advice, and I have never really forced you to do anything. I have always treated you with the etiquette of the old Gotham family, haven’t I?”

...Indeed, the emotional value provided by Night Owl is quite substantial.

The Penguin, who prides himself on being a model gentleman and an aristocrat of Gotham's upper class, naturally appreciates such trivial and traditional etiquette, even though he knows that there will inevitably be a considerable price to pay behind the Nite Owl's "respect".

Night Owl uses a similar approach to deal with the crime syndicate: superficial respect and the "optimal solution" he arrives at based on purely rational judgment. In this way, he can easily manipulate his arrogant and reputation-conscious "partners," extracting what he truly desires from them.

“It’s the same now. I didn’t directly deal with your subordinates; instead, I left the decision to you,” Night Owl continued. “I simply judged that this plan was the optimal solution for the current situation and suggested that you do it.”

"This does me absolutely no good..."

"How could that be? Of course there are benefits. Haven't you noticed that your subordinates don't actually respect you much?"

"...What do you mean?"

"We are allies. Since you say you respect me, why not grant me some special privileges?"

"Of course you can, but is this a privilege you 'demanded,' or a privilege your subordinates forced you to 'demand'?"

The penguin immediately understood the subtle difference.

"Regardless of what we discuss in private, you've always been on my side on the surface—and that's an order you gave yourself," Night Owl added. "And your subordinates, risking offending me for you, for whom?"

"Aren't you going to become the King of Gotham? Are you going to let your subordinates turn against you? That's not a good sign. Can you really keep your subordinates in check?"

“A man like you,” Night Owl asserted, “loses his life without authority.”

He's right.

Unlike the Night Owl, the Penguin doesn't have the strength to single-handedly crush a bunch of gangs; he can only follow the path that Falcone took.

Now they're tied to each other.

“I knew you would make the right choice,” the Night Owl said to him. “I know you’re a smart man, Oswald.”

Reason is a shackle on behavior.

Intelligent people? These intelligent people are the most easily manipulated by reason.

That's the Night Owl. He gives people the freedom to choose, but in reality, they can only walk the path he has drawn.

Having achieved his goal, Night Owl's attitude became much more perfunctory. He maintained only the minimum level of courtesy that a penguin could accept: "Since we have reached an agreement, I will take my leave now."

“Wait a minute,” the Penguin called out to him, “you know this so-called ‘curfew’ won’t last long, right?”

“Of course I understand what you mean,” Night Owl replied. “I know that once I die in a few years, this thing will definitely not be able to continue.”

"In a few years?"

“Yes, I’ll be dead in a few years,” Night Owl replied, turning to him with a voice as calm as still water.

This is very strange. A person in power who is in the prime of his life would say something like he should die in a few years.

"You know that your death will inevitably trigger a resurgence of crime in Gotham, and will also attract those unscrupulous outsiders to come and claim territory, right?"

“I know,” Night Owl said with a smile, “but why should I care about Gotham’s future security?”

“I hate this place. I will drag Gotham down to hell with me. This will be my grave, and Gotham will be my burial goods.”

Night Owl left, politely closing the door before he went to keep the cold night wind from hitting the penguin-man, who was clearly not as adapted to cold environments as real penguins.

But the penguin felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

This madman is actually sincere...

Damn it! Why can't this madman who's always spouting lies? Why does he have to say something so true? Is he trying to cause trouble for the model citizens who love Gotham?

In short, after that, Penguin unusually suppressed his vanity, lay low and accumulated strength, always ready to betray Owl.

To this end, he certainly made a lot of effort. He gathered up many small factions that Night Owl was too lazy to pay attention to, and used the "privilege" of fines given to him by Night Owl to win people's hearts... Even when he had the bartenders spread information, he would not put his own name first, but rather push Night Owl's name to the forefront, setting Thomas Wayne's name against Night Owl's, hoping that the endless stream of madmen in Gotham City would use the two biggest madmen as targets.

His efforts have clearly been very effective; in recent years, the Penguin has almost completely controlled the gangs in Gotham City from behind the scenes.

This brought him a small but big problem.

In Bruce's eyes, the combination of the Night Owl and the Penguin is certainly not righteous.

Of the two, Night Owl seems to have the upper hand, but his whereabouts are unpredictable and he is difficult to find.

The Penguin, on the other hand, is more like the mouthpiece of the Night Owl, responsible for conveying messages that the people of Gotham want to spread, while also holding a certain position in the Gotham underworld... which seems to be a better entry point.

So that night, one of the penguin's windows broke, and a long, dark shadow was cast on the penguin.

He turned around and saw a strange man dressed as a bat.

...Although this guy and Night Owl were both wearing strange battle suits, he was definitely not Night Owl. Night Owl cared a lot about some seemingly useless formalities.

Well, even penguins care about these trivial formalities.

"What can I do for you, sir?" the Penguin asked first.

Are you willing to spend your whole life subservient to the night owl?

“Oh, sowing discord.” The Penguin said calmly, “Are you going to kill Night Owl? I can tell you everything about him, and we can work together for Gotham.”

?

There's no need for coercion or bribery, nor for persuasion based on reason or emotion.

“No doubt about it, I’m a true Gothamite, and that madman Night Owl wants to destroy this place.” The Penguin yawned. “I hope every ambitious and knowledgeable Gothamite will focus their energy on thwarting Night Owl’s plot.”

"What conspiracy?"

"It's like blowing Gotham to the sky. For years, I've been controlling the smuggling channels of the Gotham gangs and I've discovered that the amount of gunpowder and bombs flowing into Gotham every year is terrifying, while the number and severity of explosions are ridiculously small, completely incomparable to a few years ago."

"The timing of this set of abnormal data is roughly the same as the time when the owl appeared, so I have reason to suspect that he wanted to do this."

Very good, very scientific.

What do you know?

Since communication was possible, Batman was unwilling to waste time. He wanted to get the information first, regardless of whether it was correct or not, as he could verify it later.

"Judging from his appearance and speech, Night Owl's real age is probably around thirty; he has a lot of high-tech equipment, including an almost completely invisible aircraft and very strong armor; he has a lot of combat experience; he comes from a good family, and is most likely a native of Gotham..."

Batman took notes and then asked the Penguin, "You're saying all this, and Nite Owl doesn't care?"

"He doesn't care. As long as you don't deliberately offend him, he won't care about anything."

That madman seems to care only about his ridiculous curfew. Even Thomas Wayne, that big shot in the legitimate world, knows to bribe congressmen, support mayors, and promote police chiefs! He's done all the work we were supposed to do.

“In fact, I say the same thing to every guy who breaks into my mansion.” The Penguin poured himself a glass of red wine. “Anyone who can break through the defenses and get in must be capable and have something to do. Excluding Falcone’s gang of mad dogs, most intruders would rather get information about Night Owl from me, after all, he is elusive and mysterious.”

“And for you, Night Owl, being defeated will only benefit you,” Bruce pointed out the Penguin’s purpose. “If Night Owl loses, you will be a hero; if Night Owl wins, you will at least not suffer any physical pain when you break into your family’s intruders; if they are both injured, you will use the power and connections you have accumulated over the years to take over Gotham, and the winner takes all.”

“Of course, I’m not some moral paragon, so of course I want to get as much benefit as possible for myself.” The Penguin spread his hands at him. “But I really mean it. Night Owl is a complete madman. One day he will give everyone a ‘surprise,’ and then it will be too late to say anything.”

“I understand, I will try my best to stop him.” Batman nodded, promising the Penguin, no matter how bizarre the scene was.

“But remember, Mr. Cobblestone,” Batman added coldly, “no matter how much you’ve contributed to the fight against Night Owl’s criminal activities, you yourself continue to engage in illegal and criminal activities, including some heinous incidents and even murders.”

He solemnly promised: "If I find out that you are still engaging in illegal or criminal activities, I will definitely stop you."

The Penguin gave a mocking smile, seemingly disbelieving that this dark, tight-fitting monster could possibly get away with anything.

"Oh, okay, you can give it a try."

Batman ignored the Penguin's provocation and turned to slip out the window.

The moonlight in Gotham was beautiful tonight. Batman used his cape to glide through the night, taking down several knife-wielding criminals and saving a few people.

Clearly, Night Owl's curfew policy failed to significantly improve Gotham's security. Or to put it another way, he valued "order" more than "life."

But Batman is different from him; helping the weak and fighting criminals brings him true peace and satisfaction.

He leaped into the night sky, gliding freely through the air on the Gotham evening breeze...

The next day, at the dinner table, Bruce nearly collapsed.

“You’re back too early today, Master Bruce,” Alfred said, holding the breakfast tray. “Your shift ends in the afternoon.”

That's right, Bruce returned to the Batcave as the sun was rising. He had to get up early this morning to attend a press conference at Wayne Enterprises, and even the most effective sleep method couldn't save him.

"Thank you, Alfred. Breakfast is... a cucumber sandwich..."

Clearly, he was so sleepy that he couldn't even hear Alfred's sarcasm.

Bruce nearly fell into the plate again, but his years of training had clearly paid off. He regained control of his muscles before he could kiss the cucumber sandwich with the tip of his nose and straightened up abruptly.

"Black coffee, Master Bruce."

"Thanks." Bruce took a big gulp, finally sobering up a bit. "Seriously, can't I just be a playboy? I think Tommy is doing a great job. Wayne Enterprises has him, and Wayne is more than enough. Anyway, I don't care about the money."

As he spoke, he closed his eyes again, put the cucumber sandwich in his mouth, and decided to rest a little longer.

"Today is an exception. This interview is about the reputation of the Wayne family and is intended to clear up the rumors of discord between you and young master Thomas."

That is indeed quite important.

"The press conference was scheduled for noon, but it's 7 a.m. now."

"Given your nighttime activities, I think you'll need a professional makeup artist to help cover up some things, like your dark circles and injuries. You wouldn't want someone using this as an excuse to fabricate ridiculous rumors like the Wayne brothers got into a fight, would you?"

Bruce remained silent.

Of course, Alfred still felt sorry for him: "The makeup artist will be here in a bit, and you can sleep for another hour after the makeup is done."

"Thank you so much, Alfred."

Bruce hurriedly stuffed the sandwich into his mouth, swallowed it with black coffee, and then lay down on the table to catch up on sleep as fast as he could.

He has to go on patrol tonight.

Night Owl… what exactly does that Night Owl do during the day? If those rumors are true, why does he always seem to have the energy to cause trouble…?

Bruce was asleep, and Alfred draped a coat over him.

Bruce couldn't figure out the answer to this question in the short term.

But Thomas himself knew very well that he mainly survived by slacking off at work and drinking iced cola.

To ensure he had enough rest, he delegated some of the night patrol duties to Claw and outsourced others to the Penguin. He assigned some of the Wayne Enterprises' work to Lucius, and some less impactful and simple tasks to Kelvin…

He didn't even patrol all night yesterday; to avoid giving himself away in front of Bruce, Night Owl returned to his quarters before 11 p.m.

This greatly shocked him when he heard the report from the Court of Owls.

A strange man dressed as a bat broke into the Penguin's territory and spent the whole night fighting crime.

Thomas had a gloomy face.

Damn multiverse.