35 · Chapter 35

Messiah tilted his head and looked into Bruce's gentle blue eyes. He didn't understand why Batman seemed like a different person and his attitude became so much gentler after taking off his mask.

Jason bravely answered Wayne's inquiry: "No, it's okay, we're fine."

Bruce smiled, looked up nonchalantly, and shrugged at the person in charge: "It was just an accident. Two innocent children... John, you think so too, right?"

The person in charge laughed dryly and nodded, "Of course, of course, it was just an accident. How could I possibly take my anger out on two children?"

After Bruce spoke, the attitude of the person in charge changed drastically in an instant. He forced a stiff smile at Jason and Messiah, and wanted to reach out and pat them on the shoulders, but his hand fell into nothing.

Bruce seemingly casually nudged Jason and Messiah's back, just enough to avoid the person in charge's outstretched hand. "Go ahead, kids."

"The dining cart is over there—if you want to get lunch." Bruce smiled sweetly, "If you want to apply for education funding..."

At this point, Bruce got stuck, and the uneducated playboy looked at the person in charge for help.

Apparently, Wayne Kluge had no idea what the project entailed.

The person in charge felt relieved instantly. He concluded that Bruce Wayne's so-called charity was just a pretense and his visit to Crime Alley was just a show.

Jason thought so too. He pushed away Bruce's hands on his and Messiah's shoulders and looked at Bruce with contempt.

A pretentious guy.

Bruce seemed not to notice Jason's contemptuous look and was still grinning at Jason and Messiah.

It's also another kind of pretense.

Messiah blinked his eyes, not hiding his curiosity. Bruce's behavior was so different from Batman, but why did everyone act like they were used to it and didn't seem to find it strange at all?

Is it normal for a person to exhibit two completely opposite personalities?

Robin's little class on superhero rules didn't leave any impression on Messiah's mind. Messiah had no idea that superheroes needed to hide their true identities and thought that everyone knew the true identities of superheroes.

After all, in the last world, the true identities of all the members of the Justice League were made public, and even Batman's true identity was revealed by Superman.

Messiah naturally assumes that everyone knows Bruce and Batman are the same person.

He looked at Bruce on the left, then at the person in charge on the right, and directly asked his question: "Why is B..."

Bruce instantly realized that the word Messiah wanted to say was "Batman". He "accidentally" stepped on a stone on the ground, and his hand was trying to find a support point in mid-air, but he accidentally grabbed Messiah's arm.

The clumsy Bruce Baby cried out and fell to the ground with Messiah, "accidentally" interrupting Messiah's speech.

Messiah lay on top of Bruce with a confused look on his face, and happened to meet Bruce's eyes as he lay on the ground.

Bruce just wanted to interrupt Messiah's speech reasonably and didn't want to hurt Messiah, so when he pulled Messiah down, he deliberately adjusted his position so that Messiah fell completely on him.

He smiled at Messiah, his face filled with confusion. "Something seems to have tripped me?"

The aho hair on Messiah's head drooped down. It turns out that Batman can also fall down due to his clumsiness?

The naive Messiah was completely fooled by Bruce's acting. He climbed up from Bruce's body, covered in dust and dirt, and shook his head vigorously at Jason who was rushing towards him with worry: "I'm fine."

Jason checked Messiah's arms and legs up and down, and after confirming there were no wounds, he glared at Bruce, who was lying on the ground, clutching his knees and screaming in pain, and cursed without hesitation: "***!"

Fuck Wayne, you cowardly and incompetent guy, he even dragged a child down with him when he fell down!

The person in charge hurriedly trotted forward and helped the clumsy Wayne to his feet: "Mr. Wayne, are you okay?"

Bruce leaned his entire body against the person in charge, using him as a crutch, and cried out in exaggerated pain, "It hurts... Where's my family doctor? I need to get out of this hellhole where the roads aren't even level."

The contempt in Jason's eyes grew even stronger, and he pulled Messiah away without hesitation.

Messiah's curiosity and questions were not answered yet. He looked back at Bruce after walking for a while, his little head spinning busily in the air, and then he left reluctantly, looking back every few steps.

Bruce withdrew his gaze from Messiah, pursed his lips, and covered his aching chest calmly.

There was nothing dramatic about his groaning and pain just now, except that the injury was not on his knee, but the place where the Messiah fell on him.

The pain was like being run over by a heavy truck, and Bruce almost thought that Superman fell from the sky and fell on him. His expression twisted instantly.

He didn't expect that the Messiah looked soft, but his physical strength was as strong as that of the Kryptonian in the Man of Steel. It was like he was punched in the chest by Superman.

Bruce suspected that some of his ribs might be broken. He took a few deep breaths and calmly felt the severe pain in his chest. After confirming that no broken ribs had pierced his lungs, he felt relieved to continue acting.

"Where's the driver? Why hasn't the driver come yet?" Wayne said something incoherently. "My knees hurt so much. I definitely need to take a two-month leave. No, three months."

The spoiled Wayne grabbed John's hand and said with his dying breath, "John, I'm going to stay home to recuperate. I'll leave the Crime Alley work to you. I believe you can handle it..."

"Of course." This was the first time the person in charge thanked Wayne for his pampering. He controlled his smile and replied eagerly, "Trust me, Mr. Wayne, I will take care of everything for you."

The person in charge nodded and bowed as he watched Bruce get into the car weakly. After the Wayne family's car completely drove away from Crime Alley, he finally laughed out loud.

"Hahahaha, the so-called Wayne is nothing more than this."

After laughing, the person in charge thought of the care Bruce showed to Messiah and Jason. He didn't think that rich Wayne could be so kind as to forgive the two kids from Crime Alley who ran into him.

Jason's black hair and blue eyes, coupled with Messiah's delicate face that couldn't be concealed even with a mask, prompted the person in charge to think of some gossip in the tabloids.

After Bruce Wayne adopted Richard Grayson, many people maliciously speculated that Wayne had some special hobby that led him to adopt a circus boy. Even though the Wayne Organization took many people to court, the rumors persisted.

Now that I think about it, it can’t be true, right?

The person in charge's eyes rolled around a few times, and an idea came to his mind naturally.

If he caught those two kids and sent them to Wayne, perhaps today's "mistake" of free lunch could be completely resolved.

——After all, Wayne doesn’t lack the money donated to Crime Alley, and doing charity is just an act.

After Jason took Messiah to receive the free lunch, he hesitated for a moment and then took a flyer from the Martha Charity Foundation.

The staff of the foundation said that the Wayne Group's sponsorship of free medical care and free education is indefinite, and unless Bruce Wayne stops investing money, they can apply for educational funding assistance at any time.

So, he had plenty of time to consider whether to apply.

Jason originally wanted to apply directly, but after this encounter, Bruce Wayne left him with a very bad impression, which made him doubt involuntarily.

Is Wayne really that kind?

But Wayne did donate money to Crime Alley, and they did eat the free food donated by Wayne. And rumor has it that it was Wayne who funded Batman and Robin, so Batman and Robin were able to keep fighting crime in Gotham.

Jason hugged the white bread and milk in his arms tightly, his expression becoming even more hesitant.

Messiah knew nothing about Jason's dilemma. He was still thinking about the problem that was bothering him, and even added a new question.

How does Bruce Wayne manage to fight crime despite being so clumsy? Is it just luck, or does Batman's armor have some special effects?

Jason took Messiah's hand and walked back. Both of them had serious expressions and were concentrating on thinking.

Therefore, Jason didn't notice someone falling far behind them, while Messiah did notice the person but didn't take it seriously.

To the Messiah, humans are beings that he can crush into ashes at will. They are fragile creatures that can be destroyed and disappear at will, so they naturally don't care about being followed.

On the other side, Bruce returned to the Batcave and lay bare-chested on the medical bed with a chest strap and splint wrapped around his chest to fix his ribs.

"Five broken ribs and a cracked sternum."

Alfred cut the bandage and said slowly and calmly, "It's a high price, but Master Bruce, who thinks he's also the Man of Steel, seems to have a different opinion."

"...Afu, I just didn't expect it."

Under the oppressive gaze of the old butler who had taken care of him since he was a child, Bruce reluctantly told the truth: "He discovered the connection between me and Batman. I wanted to stop him from saying it... but I didn't expect his physical strength."

"It was my mistake."

Bruce frowned and stood up from the medical bed, clutching his aching chest and taking two tentative steps: "At the moment, it seems that the impact is not significant."

Alfred raised an eyebrow and looked at Bruce who was heading straight for the Batcomputer. "I'd rather my guess be wrong. No injured person would wear a Batsuit if their ribs could move and pierce their lungs at any time."

"No, you're right." Bruce spat out a few characters. "Apart from the ribs moving around, the splint is secure enough that they won't budge."

Bruce pulled up the surveillance footage he had newly installed in Crime Alley, and it showed several men wearing masks and sunglasses who had stopped downstairs of Jason and Messiah's apartment building after they entered, and hadn't left since.

"Someone is targeting them because of me." Bruce said in a heavy tone, "...It's my responsibility."

【Author’s words】

How can a person be so unlucky... Last night at ten o'clock, I was returning home. The neighborhood was dimly lit, and I fell down on one knee...

My knee is swollen.