Chapter 32 Doomsday and Dishwasher [VIP]

386.

I returned to China and found a unique artifact within the Wanling Academy's jurisdiction—the "Doomsday Compound Eyes: Advance Edition." I'll skip the rather lengthy description. In short, it's a pair of eyepieces that allows one to see into the future, a future that would be like the end of the world for them.

Wanling Academy is very interested in it because Wanling Academy is good at Feng Shui, metaphysics, Yin and Yang, divination, spiritualism and other mysterious things.

Although Wanling Academy sounds high-class and seems to be gentle and refined, in fact, most of the people there love to listen to gossip and are the type of people who go wherever there is fun.

According to rumors, their previous leader risked his life to stalk the love story between the Saintess of the neighboring Hehuan Palace and the Buddhist disciple (or daughter) of the Little Leiyin Temple. The story was even serialized on a famous pornographic website, attracting countless followers and becoming a hit.

This current chief loves to write short stories: stories about a nine-tailed fox and the human who adopted him, a swordsman from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and his wizard friend who was exchanged with him, He Huan, a mortal who journeys across the mortal world, and the heir of the Medicine Valley who saves the suffering...

There are sour and sweet ambiguous temptations, lovely daily mutual redemption, and thrilling adventure stories...

In short, after graduation, they either follow others everywhere, or occasionally help rich people look at houses and ward off disasters to make money, or they are bored and set up a stall under the overpass to tell fortunes.

However, after I lent them the artifact for a day, they hurriedly returned it to me.

I asked them curiously what they saw, but they kept silent about it.

Huh? Is it really that scary?

I put on the eyepiece out of curiosity.

…

…………

Damn! Laughing Bat, Claw Wing, AK Bucket, Lonely Ti, Wheelchair Ba, War Fin, Ghost Card... How could I have such a dream?

387.

"It seems that this is a very dangerous strange object." I covered my aching head and said to the people from Wanling Academy. They nodded sadly with a wooden face.

This is horrible... Is this the future of our family? My younger siblings have embarked on this path of no return...

"Because the world lines of your world are chaotic, you may also be seeing the future of other worlds." The system said silently.

Really? I was saying, how could all those things possibly come together? If one Batman could destroy the world, then a bunch of Batmen could probably team up and enslave parallel worlds!

It’s better not to have such a terrible future...

388.

I put the rare item into the deepest part of my system backpack.

But after we got home, my brothers and sisters all clamored to see their own "doomsday". I couldn't persuade them, so I took it out and let them play with it again.

"Okay, let's take them one at a time." I sighed and placed the artifact on the table. "Remember, just take a quick look at it after you put it on. Don't get too obsessed with it, and don't even think about trying it on again."

"I'm the second oldest in the family, so I'll go first." Dick took the lead and picked up the eyepiece eagerly.

"I hope your 'end of the world' is being dumped by Starfire." Jason snorted, leaning to the side with his arms folded across his chest. "Maybe you'll cry for a few days because of this."

"Why do you always think I'm going to be dumped? It really makes me sad." Dick retorted dissatisfiedly and put on his goggles.

He was silent for a few seconds, then his expression suddenly became subtle. He suddenly took off the goggles and put them back on the table, his expression as complicated as if he had eaten a donut with mustard.

"What did you see?" I asked curiously.

"...I don't want to say it." Dick forced a smile, "But I can tell you, don't mess with Bruce."

"Hey, what do you mean?" Jason frowned. "Did your 'doomsday' mean being beaten by Bruce?"

"Why don't you try it on yourself and see for yourself?" Dick spread his hands, obviously not wanting to say more, turned around and strode away.

Jason sneered and grabbed the goggles. "Tsk, I want to see what can scare me."

After he put on the goggles, his expression gradually changed from calm to gloomy. Finally, he took off the goggles fiercely and threw them back on the table as if he had picked up a hot potato.

"Jason?" Tim asked tentatively.

Jason stared at the eyepiece for a few seconds and said in a low voice, "If I touch this thing again, I'll blow my head off!"

"Really?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "So exaggerated? Let me try."

"If you wear it, your nunchaku might get lost," Jason threatened grimly.

"Then I want to wear it even more!" Stephanie raised her chin and took the eyepiece and put it on before Jason could stop her.

Three seconds later, she slowly took off the eyepiece and gently placed it back on the table. She seemed to have been drained of all her strength and sat there in a daze.

"Did I accidentally destroy Gotham..." she murmured, "No, I think I destroyed the world?"

"I can't let you wear anything you want." I patted her shoulder. "Okay, next."

Tim hesitated.

Ten seconds passed and he still maintained it.

"Hey, Tim, what did you see?" Dick couldn't help asking.

Tim slowly took off his eyepiece, raised his head, and said with a calm expression that made people creepy.

"How complicated is it?"

"It's so complicated that I may need to survive." He said it very seriously, then lowered his head, took out the notebook he carried with him and began to write and draw quickly.

"Well, Baby Bird, he'll definitely be working on AZ's plan tonight." Jason rolled his eyes.

Finally it was Kashan's turn. She looked at us and put on her goggles.

After a few seconds, she took off her eyepiece, raised her head with a faint smile, and then gently patted my hand.

"What did Kashan see?" Stephanie couldn't help but ask.

Kashan didn't answer, but just shook her head slightly.

"Hey, everyone, don't worry about it." Dick stood up and stretched. "Just think of it as a scare tactic. Go back to your room and sleep. You'll forget about it in a couple of days."

"No way!" Jason glared at him. "Stop pretending to be calm. I noticed your hands are still shaking."

"At least I'm calmer than you." Dick was not willing to be outdone.

I watched them arguing and silently put away my eyepiece. "Alright, everyone, stop thinking about it. Go to bed early tonight and stop studying this."

"Sister Leona, don't you want to try it?" Tim asked, looking up.

"Me? Forget it." I waved my hand. "I've already seen it... I swear I won't watch it again."

After saying that, I picked up the eyepiece and turned to walk towards my room, locked it tightly in the cabinet, put a talisman on it, and set up a formation around the cabinet.

Hmm, I have a feeling something will definitely happen tonight.

389.

That night, I released my spiritual consciousness and slept soundly for a while. Sure enough, I was awakened by a rustling sound in the middle of the night.

"I just felt that you would come." I rubbed my eyes and pulled out the sword from the bedside.

After using a trick, I climbed out of the window and came back in quietly. Sure enough, I saw a few sneaky figures at the end of the corridor.

Tim took the lead, squatting in my room, using his array plate to suppress the surrounding formations. Barbara's remote guidance isolated the spells. As for the rest of the physical work, Tim was studying my cabinet lock with a dagger. Jason stood nearby, his arms folded, a lollipop in his mouth. Stephanie and Dick provided cover from behind, while Cassan was on guard duty.

"What a united and friendly family action." I leaned against the wall and shouted, scaring them so much that they almost jumped up.

"Sister Leona!" Tim quickly hid the tools and looked at me innocently. "Uh, we're just...checking if the cabinet lock is loose."

"Yes, to prevent thieves." Stephanie nodded repeatedly, "Look how thoughtful we are!"

"How thoughtful of you to stay up late at night and steal my things?" I raised my eyebrows and raised the sword in my hand. "If you don't tell the truth, I'll show you what true anti-theft security is."

"Okay, it was Jason's idea." Dick immediately raised his hands to betray his teammate and took a step back. "He said you must have hidden something here."

"Hey!" Jason glared at him angrily, "Who told you to betray me?"

"You dragged me here, okay? I'm not interested in it at all." Dick retorted righteously.

I sighed, held my forehead and looked at this group of naughty kids, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"I just want to take another look at that eyepiece," Tim muttered, a bit unwillingly. "I feel like I haven't seen enough."

"I think so," Stephanie agreed. "I only took a quick glance last time, but I want to take a closer look this time."

"What about you?" I looked at Dick and Jason.

"Jason dragged me over here to join in the fun," Dick said, hastily distancing himself from the matter. "Anyway, I've already seen it. It wasn't my own initiative."

Jason was frank and shrugged, "I wanted to confirm it again. I didn't quite understand it last time."

"Okay." I nodded, unsheathed my sword and waved it in front of them. "You can either sleep or look at the sword. Choose one."

They looked at each other, and finally silently chose the former, returning to their rooms in dejection.

After they all left, I put away the sword, returned to the room, and threw the things into the system backpack with satisfaction.

My younger brother and sister are so fun. I’ll play with them again next time.

390.

The next morning, Ah Fu prepared breakfast as usual.

"Ms. Leona," Alfu said with a hint of teasing as he watched me walk into the restaurant, "Did you sleep well last night?"

"It was fine," I said, picking up a piece of toast absentmindedly, "except for the fact that I was almost woken up by a burglar in my house in the middle of the night."

Alfred raised an eyebrow and glanced at Tim, Jason, Dick, and Stephanie. They all lowered their heads, pretending to concentrate on eating. The atmosphere was eerily quiet.

"I want to know what gave you that sudden idea last night?" Ah Fu asked calmly, putting a plate of fried eggs on the table.

"Curiosity," Dick said first, his voice still a little weak. "It's human nature, right?"

"Yeah, and we didn't really do anything." Stephanie nodded hard, trying to get back to the topic. "At least we didn't even open the cabinet, and Leona was already threatening us with a sword."

I narrowed my eyes and slowly turned to Stephanie, "Can you tell me again?"

"I mean..." Stephanie swallowed and quickly picked up a piece of bacon and stuffed it into her mouth. "Today's breakfast is really delicious. Thank you, Alfu."

"Smart." I smiled and put down the toast. "But, from today on, you will stay at least ten meters away from my room. If you violate the rules, you will be punished by washing dishes for a month."

Tim's hands trembled slightly. "But we have a dishwasher at home..."

"The dishwasher needs cleaning." I stared at him, my lips curled up slightly. "I remember someone mentioned last night that they like a challenge. Why not start with cleaning the dishwasher?"

Tim was silent, lowered his head and began to chew the toast seriously.

"That's what I learned from experience." I nodded with satisfaction. "If you want to peek through that eyepiece again, go face the wall yourself."

"Don't worry," Jason said coldly, "I'm not interested in looking at that crap anymore."

"So what were you doing last night?" Dick shot back immediately, "You were the first one who said you wanted to see it!"

"I'm just trying to make sure Leona's safe!" Jason said seriously. "If there's something wrong with that thing, of course I have to confirm it first!"

"Come on, your mouth is smoother than the pearls in bubble tea." Stephanie rolled her eyes. "You were the one who started it!"

Seeing that they were about to start arguing again, I sighed, "Okay, shut up and eat."

Kashan silently handed me a piece of freshly fried egg, as if to compensate me.

"Kashan is still the best." I touched her head, took the egg, and couldn't help laughing, "See, this is a role model."

"Cassandra's goodness isn't for you to use to attack us!" Dick protested dissatisfiedly.

"Then you should behave yourself." I shrugged and picked up the egg. "If you guys learned from her, I would have been much more relaxed a long time ago."

The meal was a chaotic one, but the house was still bustling with activity.

Bruce came in last, glanced around, and asked calmly, "What happened last night?"

"Nothing serious," I replied nonchalantly, "It's just that someone at home almost tore my room apart."

Bruce was silent for a moment, then raised an eyebrow, "Dick again?"

"Why am I always the first one to be suspected?" Dick exploded. "I'm the one who always follows the rules!"

"That's because they haven't learned your tricks yet." Bruce gave him a meaningful look, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Ha!" I laughed out loud and took a contented bite of toast. "Today is indeed another beautiful day!"

391.

After breakfast, I leisurely prepared to return to my room, and pretended to check whether my cabinet lock was still intact.

As I reached the stairs, I heard Dick bargaining with Alfred behind me: "Alfred, I really think we can upgrade the dishwasher. Its cleaning efficiency is really not keeping up with the times."

"The master has invested in the most advanced cleaning technology, and this dishwasher is already the top of the line," Ah Fu retorted calmly, but with his usual elegant smile on his face.

"Then... can we add an automatic classification function to it?" Dick asked persistently, "Like one that can distinguish between ceramics, glass, and metal? Last time, Jie Tao put an iron pot in it and it almost broke!"

"This is improper operation, not the equipment." Alfu glanced at Dick. "I warned you long ago that iron pots are not suitable for putting in the dishwasher."

"Tim put that in the pot!" Jason poked his head out from behind the sofa and accused righteously, "And once he actually stuffed a milkshake cup right in there, and it ended up spilling all over the place!"

Tim, who was flipping through a thick file, retorted without even looking up, "That's because you were yelling at me to 'hurry up,' so I didn't check to see if the cup was empty."

"Okay!" Jason put down the magazine in his hand, stood up and walked towards Tim. "You made a mistake on your own, and you dare to blame me?"

"I'm just stating the facts." Tim finally looked up, an innocent look on his face. "Don't you think this is exactly why we need a smarter dishwasher?"

"Don't change the subject, Tibo!" Jason put his hands on his hips and stared at Tim. "You should apologize to the dishwasher at home."

"Perhaps it's your turn to try out the cleaning equipment," Ah Fu calmly interjected. "Wash a few dishes yourself, and you'll appreciate the technology we have now even more."

This sentence immediately made Jason shut his mouth tightly.

"Stop pushing the blame." I leaned against the stair railing with my hands folded. "How about this: From now on, our whole family will take turns cleaning the kitchen. How about that?"

Dick immediately waved his hands. "No, no, no. The last time I cleaned, I almost drove Alfu crazy. He said the way I cleaned the cups was like polishing a rough stone."

"Me neither," Tim said seriously. "I still have several unfinished analysis reports."

"Don't make excuses for your laziness." I stared at Jason, who quietly stood up and prepared to run away. "You're not going to run away from home because of this, are you?"

"No," Jason said stubbornly, "I just feel like I've been at home long enough. Maybe it's time to go on an adventure with Bizarro."

Just as we were at a stalemate, Bruce came down from upstairs and overheard our argument. He frowned slightly and asked, "Why are you all arguing like this?"

"Washing dishes." Ah Fu answered concisely and clearly.

"Washing dishes?" Bruce glanced around at us and said, "Then develop a new one."

"Bruce," I was the first to protest. "You can't always indulge them like this. Alfu works hard too, okay? It's time to let them know just how hard cleaning the kitchen is."

Of course, that includes you, Bruce. Do you know how hard it is to clean up the kitchen after you cook with your fatherly love? And the bathroom, that's also a major disaster area.

Bruce ignored my protest and picked up the tablet at hand. "In fact, Wayne Technology has been developing a new dishwasher for a long time."

We were all stunned.

"I solved the problem, didn't I?" Bruce said nonchalantly and walked straight to the restaurant to get a cup of coffee.

Dick, Tim, and Jason looked at each other and gave Bruce a thumbs-up in tacit understanding.

I rolled my eyes at them.

392.

"Just spoil him." I rolled my eyes and went upstairs.

As I reached the door of the room, I suddenly stopped and a terrifying thought came to my mind.

That's not right. Didn't Bruce always advocate for 'self-discipline' and 'responsibility'? Why did he just resort to 'throwing money at everything' in this case?

Uh... although he also said that his superpower is money... but, someone must have whispered something to him.

I used a concealing gesture and slipped away quietly.

Sure enough, the three little ones were whispering around Bruce, and Tim had a page open on his tablet that looked like a "Smart Kitchen Equipment Encyclopedia".

"You guys..." I crossed my arms and slowly walked over, "What are you plotting?"

They fell silent like schoolboys caught doing something they shouldn't. Tim quickly flicked off the tablet, Jason whistled nonchalantly, and Dick forced a less-guilty smile.

"No, nothing!" Dick was the first to speak, his tone relatively calm. "Just checking out the latest technological developments, just chatting."

"How could a casual chat get so heated?" I raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, how did Bruce fall for your roundabout ways?"

"He was acting entirely on his own judgment." Tim pushed up his nonexistent glasses and spoke in a serious tone. "As the head of the family, he naturally understands the importance of allocating resources properly."

"If you say one more word, I'll go get the truth talisman." I stared at him with a light tone.

"Sis, stop using those immortal cultivation methods all the time!" Jason was the first to jump up. "Isn't it okay if I confess? It was Tim who convinced Bruce!"

"Hey!" Tim immediately glared at Jason, "Why did you sell me out?"

"Then who do you think she'll test the truth charm on first?" Jason asked confidently.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Hmm, leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist. Jason does a great job of that. But, Tim, what did you tell Bruce?"

Tim sighed helplessly, "I just reminded him that every time the family quarrels over washing dishes, they are actually wasting precious time. This time could be used to accomplish more meaningful things, such as upgrading the security system of the Batcave, or improving Gotham's crime data analysis..."

Tim spoke eloquently about his plan.

“… Stop, stop!” I sighed, shaking my head. “You’re talking exactly like Batman right now.”

It's smelly and long.

"Thank you for the compliment." Tim gave a proper smile.

I'm not praising you at all...

"Alright, whatever you want." I waved my hand. "But we've got a deal. After the dishwasher is upgraded, who's responsible for kitchen hygiene? ...Ah, don't tell me we need to buy a robot for this?"

The three little ones were speechless for a moment and began to look at each other.

Bruce added lightly as he passed by with his coffee, "I thought Leona would use her magic to clean up the kitchen."

"...Impossible." I rolled my eyes and retorted, "My lovemaking skills aren't for this! Hiss, but Jason and Steve majored in this..."

I looked at Jason thoughtfully.

"...My Cloud and Rain Technique is not meant to be used here, okay?!!"