Chapter 12: My brother's not here, so I'm switching to power-saving mode and not acting anymore. ...
"Young Master Thomas, please wait a moment."
When Alfred called Thomas back, Thomas had just straightened his cashmere coat and was about to leave for work at Wayne Enterprises. His tasks for the day mainly involved tormenting the company's executives, completing the investigation into the location of the Gotham City Owl Court headquarters, and most importantly, adding a freezer to his office.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Alfred?" Since Bruce left, the two had rarely had formal communication. Out of respect, Thomas politely turned around and looked directly into Alfred's eyes.
...At least his intention was to express respect.
"There have been some strange rumors circulating in Gotham lately, about young Master Thomas." Alfred, true to form, was quite accustomed to the owl's gaze.
"What rumor?"
"Regarding your plans to challenge Gotham's dark world alone, to change Gotham's evil order, and to start with the Falcone family... allow me to ask, you don't have such grand and dangerous ideals, do you?"
“Of course not.” Thomas denied without hesitation; he had planned to start with the Owl Court.
Moreover, Thomas doesn't need to challenge Gotham's darkness; he himself is the greatest darkness.
A simple denial would have been enough, but Thomas was curious about what gave Alfred this illusion. Did he possess some kind of righteous spirit?
So he asked Alfred in bewilderment, "How could anyone think that?"
Alfred could tell that Thomas was not lying; Thomas's denial was open and aboveboard, and his doubts and confusion were equally genuine.
“It’s just some trivial rumors. I’m glad you don’t have any such intentions.” Alfred breathed a sigh of relief, but he still cautiously added, “You know, I’ve dealt with danger a lot in the past.”
"Of course, you are the best agent."
"If you encounter any problems that are difficult to solve, you can contact me at any time."
“Okay, Alfred,” Thomas replied without hesitation. “I’m off now, see you tonight.”
"See you tonight, young master Thomas."
That's enough, Alfred thought.
Thomas has always preferred to handle his own affairs, and too much interference makes him uncomfortable, so Alfred does not intend to forcefully intervene.
Alfred believed that young Thomas Jr. refused Falcone's invitation because he had his own plans. Young Thomas Jr., with his deep understanding of human nature and familiarity with all the dark laws of Gotham, was sure that with his intellect and experience, he could see through the situation in Gotham at a glance and find the best solution, easily escaping Falcone's malice…
He believed it too early.
If Thomas wanted to, he could certainly win the favor of anyone, and he could easily win over Falcone with his eloquence.
He can even convince a criminal syndicate that creating quantum bombs can lead to world domination, so what can't he do?
But if Thomas had no interest in feigning, his behavior could only be described in four words—
Somewhat understanding of human nature.
Things were a little better on Earth-3, back when he still had Claws... Even after Claws died, he barely had a goal of destroying the multiverse. But after his rebirth, Night Owl's nihilism reached its peak, and he was only clinging to life by his promise to Bruce.
Extreme nihilism and madness would seep out from Thomas’s every word and action, either slowly and steadily, randomly frightening an unlucky soul, or suddenly erupting, giving everyone a big shock.
At this point, it would be extremely difficult to get him to pretend to be "like a normal person".
Clearly, the Romans were not worthy of Thomas's disguise.
Therefore, there is only one reason why Thomas will not attend the banquet—
He truly despised the Romans, without any plan, only pure and simple contempt, so much so that he ignored all the Romans' emotions.
Thomas didn't like the style of the Falcone family's banquets, so he planned to use the time to sleep in.
The reason is that simple.
His long-term life in a position of power made him completely unaware—or rather, too lazy to realize—that such behavior might offend Falcone.
So Thomas didn't realize that the freezer installer was a Roman soldier until the worker suddenly sprang into action and was about to fire a burst of bullets at Thomas, who was standing in front of the freezer.
Thomas assumed that some Wayne Group executive had suddenly developed a bit of guts and, after the thrilling and intense bungee jump, had some extra courage left to hire an assassin to deal with him.
However, although Thomas didn't feel that life had any meaning, his arrogance wouldn't allow him to die at the hands of such a nobody.
Thomas instinctively kicked the assassin to the ground, breaking several of his hand bones. He then bent down, lifted the assassin, and slammed him onto the chairman's office desk. He then pulled out the assassin's own dagger and pinned the assassin's other good hand to the desk.
Thomas's movements were fluid and highly entertaining, ending the fight swiftly and decisively before the employees outside even noticed.
Fortunately, the assassin had some backbone and didn't scream, otherwise Thomas might have really snapped the assassin's neck because he found it noisy.
Ignoring the killer's rage, he walked to the phone, dialed 911, and said to the operator, "Hello, I want to report a crime. Someone is trying to kill me..."
Perhaps it was his unusually calm voice that made the operator think he was joking. She confirmed with him several times before telling him, with some skepticism, that the police would be there soon.
For once, Thomas decided to show a glimmer of humanity. Although the injury was minor and not life-threatening, he added to the operator, "Send another ambulance. The suspect isn't in good condition."
"No." The assassin was in so much pain that he was sweating profusely, but he still firmly refused Thomas. "I have no money and no insurance. I can't afford the medical bills."
He was already being generous by not killing the Romans since he hadn't completed his mission; he didn't want to burden his family with debt again.
Thomas hung up the phone and calmly said to him, "You're overthinking it. This office is going to be left to my brother after I die. He's timid, and we can't leave him someone who's been killed."
The light of humanity isn't shining on you; don't be delusional.
This authentic anthropomorphism truly has a Gotham vibe.
But the assassin suspected that Thomas Wayne Jr. was insane.
The Wayne family is almost wiped out, so how could he possibly have a younger brother?
But the task the Romans had given him still had to continue, so he gritted his teeth and said threateningly, "Ha, you don't really think your brother can inherit the Wayne Group properly, do you?"
Regardless of whether this younger brother is human or demon, threaten him first! The Romans sent an assassin to kill Thomas, and if Thomas begged for mercy, they would tell him to come before the Romans and apologize. Now that the mission to kill him has completely failed, if Thomas can't be made to go to the Romans, he's finished.
The threat worked; Thomas paused, turned, and looked at him.
“You’ve offended the Falcone family… How many Wayne men do you think are still alive?”
Thomas did not take the assassin's ridiculous threats seriously.
He'll take care of the Roman gangs before Falcone reaches out to Bruce in Gotham, which won't be difficult at all. There's something more important to do before that...
"Offended Falcone? Offended? Falcone?" Every word in that sentence was ridiculous. Thomas leaned closer to the assassin, barely managing to recall the old man's face from his memory. "Is this how you see things? In your eyes, that old Roman is actually superior to me, is that it?"
What else? The Romans were the underground rulers of Gotham.
Is Thomas Wayne really crazy?
Although the target seemed to be a lunatic, the assassin still threatened with unwavering conviction: "Tonight, go and apologize to the Romans—you know the consequences if you don't!"
Please, if you don't go, my whole family is doomed.
Tonight?
Okay, there's no rush with the Owl Court.
On the contrary, the Gotham gangs have been getting too bold lately, so it's good to take a night to teach them a lesson.
-
The GCPD officers arrived very quickly. No matter how annoying Thomas is, that's a matter for Gotham's "elite" class, and the GCPD has always been quick to respond to the demands of the "elite."
They rushed in anxiously, and the police found Thomas frowning as he drank room-temperature Coke, and the half-dead killer pinned to the table.
?
Who is the suspect?
A young police officer with a strong sense of justice was the first to step forward: "Who called the police?"
“It’s obviously me.” Thomas didn’t even look at him, put down his Coke, and opened a bottle of mineral water. “The suspect obviously doesn’t have a spare hand to call the police.”
"The money is in the bag by the door. The lawyer and the surveillance footage are in the lounge next door. Please make yourself at home."
Thomas was incredibly savvy, almost too savvy.
Even among the GCPD, a den of snakes and rats, it's rare to see such an oddball doing "this kind of thing" so openly and honestly.
But the snake and rat from the GCPD didn't care at all. Everyone crowded around the bag, wanting to grab a handful of money to take home, but the two of them remained unmoved.
One was Gordon, an old acquaintance of the Wayne family, and the other was the young policeman who spoke first.
Since Gordon and Bruce knew each other, Thomas decided to conceal his true nature somewhat.
“You’re bribing them,” the young policeman said indignantly.
“Wrong, I’m buying justice,” Thomas said, taking a sip of water. “These are assassins sent by Falcone.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the people who had been grabbing the money stopped, as if the eyes of Washington on the banknotes had suddenly emitted heat rays that burned their hands, and they threw the banknotes back to the ground.
“See?” Thomas shrugged. “That’s Gotham for you. Might makes right.”
Just then, medical staff burst in. After a few words with the lead detective, they took the killer, who had been pinned to the table, away.
After all, he's one of Falcone's men; we can't just let him really die, can we?
The assassin's lips had turned white, but he still said to Thomas, "Tonight we'll apologize to the Romans!"
GCPD is destined to return empty-handed today. After all, one of the two people present is Falcone's subordinate, and the other is the chairman of Wayne Group, who is also someone the Romans specifically requested to see. It would be inappropriate to take either of them away.
They came in a hurry, but couldn't do anything; it was all like an absurd comedy.
So they simply left Gordon to smooth things over, since he was the only one who could be associated with the Wayne family—though not a good one.
Gordon looked at Thomas with mixed feelings; the boy had left a very deep impression on him.
The boy who was covered in blood and calmly declared to all the detectives that "only blood can wash away blood debts" has grown up. He seems more worldly-wise, but also more cynical.
In the end, Gordon only asked him, "How did you offend Falcone?"
Thomas looked at him suspiciously and asked, "I offended Falcone? It's clearly Falcone who offended me."
Gordon took a deep breath in exasperation: "I will try my best to help you get justice."
“I don’t need it.” Thomas put the water bottle aside.
In Gotham, might makes right... and I will be the most mighty force.
Gordon, however, seemed to be imagining things, staring at Thomas with a rather nauseating look and sighing, "I know the GCPD isn't worthy of your trust yet, but I will try."
"There is hope here."
A note from the author:
----------------------
This chapter is written a bit too... anthropomorphically.
-
It seems like Owl really likes sweet drinks? There's a scene in the LEGO DC Super Villain series where he's drinking a pink sweet drink (I suspect it's a strawberry milkshake), which is pretty cute, so we used that setting. Anyway, Owl is an American, and Americans can consume as much sugar as they want, regardless of age or occasion (I don't care, LEGO makes me happy).
-
A little angel caught a lot of bugs... I haven't had time for my practical training these past two days, but I'll fix it as soon as I have time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
