Chapter 29 Owl Allergy is prevalent in owls, which are widely distributed...

Night Owl turned around and looked at Kelvin: "You can go now. Next time, remember to be more thorough in your planning and don't panic."

Why isn't anyone going to investigate his responsibility for directing Operation Claw without authorization?

Even fanatics are personified as capitalists.

Kelvin left, seething with anger.

The second person found him very quickly today.

Batman landed beside him.

A few days ago, the owl had lost his temper and wanted to kill, but now he had come to terms with it. He simply shifted his feet, making way for the dark bats.

He couldn't adapt to having a strong opponent of the same level standing behind him. Kelvin was alright, but he was weaker and had a bomb around his neck.

Batman stood cautiously and politely next to Night Owl, tucking his cape in. The two tall, burly caped figures stood on a small platform on a high-rise building, with a gap between them large enough to fit a large bucket of popcorn.

The two walked amidst Gotham's neon lights, heavy clouds looming overhead, a cold wind blowing, maintaining a long silence.

Night Owl didn't care. He had a bunch of honest and obedient subordinates. The Penguins... were barely capable of doing any work. The materials for the quantum bomb weren't ready yet, and he could be late for the Court of Owls or simply not go. He didn't have any work to do tonight, so he could happily waste his time.

Batman can't do that; he also has to patrol at night and doesn't have much time to waste. So he must quickly obtain the information he needs.

He was about to ask a question when Night Owl interrupted, "You want to know about the curfew?"

Batman didn't deny it; this was a good opportunity to get intelligence. The more he said, the more he could analyze. And coincidentally, Owl seemed more expressive than Thomas... Don't associate this owl-like monster with Thomas.

"Go ahead and ask. I have time tonight and I'm in a good mood, so I'll try my best to tell the truth."

It doesn't matter if you tell lies; sometimes a person's lies can better reflect their true self-inclinations.

Why are you implementing this curfew?

Starting with the cause, it seems Batman intends to use this opportunity to get to the bottom of things.

"Superficial cause or core cause?"

"I'll listen to everything."

"Firearms and other dangerous items, as tools of violence, are important elements in the operation, consolidation, and struggle for power. If I want to control Gotham City, I must control the circulation and use of these dangerous items. That's the superficial reason."

The logic is clear, and the language expression ability is also good... It can be inferred that this person has received a good education.

"What's the core reason?"

"Because I can do it."

"What?"

"Because I can do it, because I have the power to control other people and make them do what I want, so I can do whatever I want." Owl was in a really good mood, and he explained it to Batman again.

Clearly, this guy is inherently quite arrogant and self-centered.

How did you do that?

Batman was clearly asking about the process of his implementation of the curfew, but explaining those details would be too lengthy, so Owl deliberately misinterpreted his meaning and brushed it off: "The answer is the same as above."

Because he has the ability.

Lacking patience, Batman knew he wouldn't get any useful information and didn't dwell on the question. He bluntly changed the subject: "What are your plans for the future?"

"Let nature take its course. It's impossible to detain Gotham from the United States. After I die, other forces can do whatever they want, and it has nothing to do with me."

Pessimistic; the first thing that comes to mind when the future is mentioned is death.

Confident or arrogant, he firmly believed that as long as he lived, Gotham would never change.

"How do you plan to handle your relationship with Wayne?"

"Maintaining the status quo will prevent direct conflict."

He planned to continue disguising himself before the quantum bomb exploded, as this would benefit everyone.

They will answer irrelevant questions, seem not to value the rules much, and will adapt to their own needs.

These are all just superficial and uncertain speculations, which may be overturned at any time, but they are already a pleasant surprise.

Batman had originally planned that this meeting would be quite difficult, but it went surprisingly smoothly, almost eerily so.

Why are you telling me all this?

Even if Night Owl is a talkative chatterbox, he wouldn't be waiting here for a stranger to ask him a question, would he?

Moreover, Night Owl doesn't seem to like talking much. His answers are mostly brief and cursory, and he even deliberately misinterprets others' meanings in order to speak less.

"Because I also want to ask you a question."

"What's the problem?"

“Gun violence has become one of the leading causes of death for American children and teenagers,” he said. “So will you stop us when we’re killing those criminals?”

"An extremely dangerous guy," was the only judgment Batman was completely certain of tonight.

That short sentence contained more information than all of Night Owl's previous statements combined.

Putting aside the scarecrow fallacy and false causal relationships (the owl was definitely doing it on purpose; whether you answered yes or no, you would fall into his trap), the most terrifying part is...

"Why are you so sure I would stop you from killing? And why do you think I would care about children and teenagers?"

Batman has only been back for a few days.

Night Owl figured out his stance.

There are only two possibilities: either the Night Owl's control over Gotham is deeper than he imagined, or he already knew him well and was quite familiar with him.

“Very well, I like people who think rationally rather than rely on emotions to judge everything.” Night Owl did not answer him directly. Batman scrutinized him, and he scrutinized Batman in return.

Choosing to ask a question instead of answering yes or no directly means that he tends to think independently and is less likely to fall into pre-set traps.

The fact that he specifically raised questions about murder and teenagers proves that he genuinely cares about children and teenagers and is unwilling to kill criminals.

This Batman is no different from that Batman; such a good person should never know about the quantum bomb plan.

The curfew isn't important; once it's lifted, it's lifted. Reducing direct confrontation with Batman is more crucial. Therefore, we can lessen Talon's control over the curfew and instead have the Penguin do more, escalating the conflict between Batman and the Penguin to distract him and conceal Night Owl's true plans…

What a troublesome fellow.

Both of them thought the same thing at the same time, frantically racking their brains for ways to deal with each other.

"You know me?" Batman asked Night Owl in a rather confident tone, trying to bluff him.

“Of course, I’ve known you forty or fifty years,” Night Owl replied.

...

You've mistaken me for someone else.

However, the world's greatest detective still tried to deduce something from it.

Judging from the owl's exposed chin, he should be young, with good skin, and is probably a pampered young white male.

So the statement "forty or fifty years ago" is either a lie, or it means that Night Owl possesses something similar to Lhasa Luchi.

However, it is unlikely that someone who maintains their youth for a long time would be so pessimistic and think of death as the first thing that comes to mind when considering the future.

Night Owl is a contradictory entity that Batman cannot fully understand for the time being.

The two parted politely. Night Owl abandoned the Court of Owls and went straight home to think about how to deal with Batman. Batman, after finishing his night patrol, stayed up all night... working on tables and devising a plan against Night Owl.

Excellent! How can this not be considered a brotherhood?

-

Gotham was quite calm on the second day.

Thomas openly suppressed the news of the Wayne brothers' abduction, forbidding it from being published.

Only C.C. Harry and Mr. Harry, the ringmaster of the Norton Brothers Circus, expressed their regret that the Wayne brothers, Gotham celebrities, did not have time to attend the first day's performance, and sincerely invited Bruce and Thomas to watch the final day's show, sending several tickets with them. The seats were all adjacent and had excellent views.

However, Mr. Harry was clearly not familiar with Thomas, and the letter was sent to Wayne Manor, not Thomas's own residence.

“I guess he’s trying to get another investment from me.” Thomas came all the way to Wayne Manor, opened the envelope, and said to Bruce and Alfred, “I admired their performance a few years ago and invested some money in them.”

During the performance, Thomas was hesitating about whether to kill Richard Grayson's parents and retract his claws. But he was still deceiving himself into "trying to be a good person," missing this golden opportunity and investing a huge sum of money in Harry's circus.

It's such a shame. If only he had known earlier that Bruce was Batman.

Are you planning to go see it?

“Go ahead,” Thomas replied. “By the way, I’m staying at home for the next couple of days.”

"What made you decide to stay here?" Alfred asked him. "Have you finally discovered you also have the surname Wayne, young Master Thomas?"

Clearly, Alfred was not completely appeased and was very unhappy with Thomas's decision to keep a dangerous individual as a bodyguard.

“Thank you for reminding me, Alfred,” Thomas replied. “But actually, it’s because my residence needs to have its security system upgraded, so it’s uninhabitable for a while, and Wayne Manor is more comfortable than my other residences.”

Actually, the main purpose was to reduce the connection between Thomas and Night Owl. Last night, Batman kept staring at Night Owl's exposed chin, which made Thomas feel a little uneasy.

Secondly, while some of the raw materials for the quantum bomb have not yet been found, he wants to take a break and get some rest. He probably won't have the chance to rest in the future.

Of course, Thomas also planned to install more secret devices at Wayne Manor in order to gather information about Batman.

"I'll probably be staying here for about a week."

“Excellent. Wayne Manor welcomes all polite guests, and also welcomes the host who insists on being treated like a guest—Young Master Thomas. Would you like me to clean out the children's room where you lived as a child, or prepare a guest room for you?”

“If you don’t mind, Alfred,” Thomas said, long since immune to sarcasm, “I can prepare a stairwell for you, I’ll wait for the owl to send me a letter…”

Bruce turned his head abruptly.

What? What owl?