Chapter 18 The Owls Grieve All the owls are grieving.
"Good evening, everyone. You can stay in your usual places as usual." The strange man dressed as an owl stood behind the podium, tapping the wooden platform that represented authority with his fingertips. "Don't worry, I assure you, as long as you listen to me, you will be in no danger."
Someone tried to turn and leave, but he slashed their neck with a boomerang.
"I'm sorry, but as I said, please stay where you are."
He caught the blood-dripping dart and watched as the rest of the Court of Owls frantically found their places.
“That’s right,” he said. “Obedience is better than anything else.”
Once all the owls had reached their places, the owl bent down, grabbed the Grand Justice by the neck, and nimbly leaped onto the Grand Justice's podium.
There was no bloodstain on the ground; everything was perfectly clean.
The owl watched the fear in the hearts of these Gotham "elite" men, seeing them huddled together in trembling fear.
“Let me make this clear first, don’t expect Claws to save you.” He said with a hint of sarcasm, “The guys in charge of managing Claws have all been ‘dealt with’ by me.”
No one spoke.
"I come from the future," the night owl said casually. "I am the chief judge of the future Owl Court."
No one dared to refute it.
Although everyone felt that this strange man was just trying to force them to nominate him as the Supreme Court of the Owls, no one dared to protest.
After all, the body of the former Supreme Court Justice is still in their hands.
“I know you all doubt whether I really come from the future.” Night Owl gave a dangerous smile, a smile that always meant someone was about to suffer a terrible fate. “Of course I would love to prove my identity, but unfortunately we don’t have time now. Gotham is about to be destroyed, the Council of Owls’ sacred plan has been completely thwarted, and Wayne’s bloodline has been completely severed.”
“And I am the Supreme Court Justice elected by Parliament,” he adjusted his expression, pulled down the corners of his mouth, and lowered his voice, “Parliament pooled its power to send me back in time, trying to prevent all of this from happening.”
Night Owl was quite good at public speaking; his voice was calm yet captivating, making people unconsciously convinced.
“It all stems from one man,” Night Owl announced. “Thomas Wayne.”
Upon hearing the name, a small disturbance seemed to arise in the crowd, but it was quickly suppressed spontaneously by the crowd.
Clearly, a dead Supreme Court justice is more intimidating than a living one.
“Thomas Wayne, a complete madman.” Night Owl waited for them to quiet down before continuing, “He learned the secrets of the Court of Owls from a traitor, refused to become the key to the arrival of our God, and found himself with nowhere to run.”
"Ultimately, before the ritual involving the five metals could begin, he chose to kill everyone in the Wayne family and then blow up the entire Gotham City."
Everyone watched this one-man show in silence. They might have had their doubts, but the Night Owl wouldn't give them the right to question him.
“Of course, it’s good to be cautious,” Night Owl said “reasonably,” “but the situation is urgent now. Thomas Wayne, that madman, has started hunting down members of the Court of Owls, and I don’t have time to build authority step by step, so I’m using a rougher approach.”
He shook the judge in his hand and threw him back to the ground.
"I prefer to kill people who might affect my establishment of authority."
One of the bolder members of the Owl Court stepped forward.
"Were you the one who stabbed Thomas Wayne?"
"Of course it's me."
The fact that Night Owl didn't attack the man seemed to encourage him, giving him the courage to continue asking, "Then why not just kill Wayne?"
“Very good question, and that’s exactly what I wanted to say,” Night Owl explained. “This madman tied his vital signs to a bomb underground in Gotham City for his own safety.”
"If he dies, we will all die, and that's how Gotham City will be destroyed in the future."
An awkward silence fell over the hall, which was clearly not the outcome Night Owl wanted to see.
"Now I will allow you to have a brief discussion, but for the sake of efficiency, only one person can choose to ask me a question."
Of course, those chosen by the crowd have more prestige and influence, and are the kind of people the night owl will prioritize killing.
The members discussed the matter quietly and orderly, and finally elected a young man to negotiate with the night owl.
This man was very bold, showing no fear even in front of the night owl. Instead, he asked a seemingly offensive question: "What makes you think we should trust you? What proof do you have?"
"What a pity, I thought you'd be smarter." Night Owl didn't answer his question directly, but instead asked, "The fact that your pitiful and fragile lives are all in my hands, and that I didn't kill you immediately, isn't that good enough evidence?"
In what year did Gotham City fall?
Nine years later.
"How did Thomas Wayne dodge the claws?"
"As far as I know, it's rapid freezing equipment and decomposition nanorobots."
What do you need us to do?
“Follow my instructions to complete the summoning ritual. I can’t be too explicit about it. Don’t forget there are traitors within the Court of Owls.” He paused. “However, for now, I need you to use every means other than the Claws to deal with Wayne Enterprises, while also trying to find and defuse the bombs inside Gotham City.”
"You don't know who the traitor is?"
"I don't know. This person is very well hidden. Wayne was still able to get our plans until Gotham was destroyed."
Will you protect us?
"I will protect the part of you that I want to protect, the obedient part."
How can we contact you?
"We don't need to keep in touch. I'll come here if I need anything."
“We noticed you were in Gotham City a month ago. Why didn’t you come to the Court of Owls first?”
“Because I need to make a lot of preparations.” Night Owl’s voice was a little impatient. “I’ll make an exception and explain to you. This month I’ve been busy building a base, gathering intelligence, planting spies, and improving equipment. If it weren’t for a bunch of idiots who voted to execute Thomas Wayne without any preparation, I wouldn’t need to confront Wayne directly now.”
“I’m still too much of a comrade,” Night Owl declared in the end. “I could have killed you all to gain Thomas Wayne’s trust, infiltrated Wayne Enterprises, and completed the ritual with the five metals.”
He was already quite blunt.
“One last question,” the chosen owl asked. “I’m sorry, this may be offensive, but I must ask: could you please remove your mask? We trust your abilities; since you were able to stab Thomas Wayne and escape unscathed, there’s nothing to worry about…”
“No, child, because I’m not stupid.” Night Owl interrupted him. “It seems this is the result of your discussion: to use me to figure out some information, then kill my past self, and use the time paradox to get rid of me, this dangerous element.”
The hall fell silent once more.
Surprisingly, the Night Owl didn't suddenly kill; he simply remained silent for a moment, then asked the other members of the Court of Owls:
"Are there any claws that haven't yet undergone the ritual?"
-
Thomas disappeared for three days.
These three days have been absolutely chaotic.
Within Wayne Enterprises, some people were making trouble while he was away, keeping Lucius as busy as a raven in autumn.
Outside Wayne Enterprises, Alfred and Gordon were not reassured by the message Lucius had given them. The two of them turned Wayne Enterprises' chairman's office upside down but found no secret passage.
As for Bruce, he was unaware of the news. Before leaving, Thomas specifically instructed Alfred in his message not to tell Bruce about it, and that he would be back in three days.
After Thomas was injured and went missing, the Gotham media were the most active. They scrambled to report anything about Thomas Wayne, and every newspaper wanted a piece of the story.
For the past month, Wayne Enterprises' media management has been impeccable; all news about Thomas Wayne has been mysteriously suppressed. Now that Thomas has disappeared, everyone is frantically sending all sorts of random things into the newspapers. Publications about him are seeing a surge in sales, after all, Thomas is wealthy, has a fascinating backstory, and generates considerable discussion…
Of course, most importantly, he has a face that is quite appealing, even surpassing many popular movie stars, which readers can savor before and after meals without feeling disgusted.
The prototype of the Night Owl and Thomas pairing was born at this time. Wayne executives, caught in the middle between Thomas and Night Owl, fueled the flames behind the scenes, sponsoring numerous risqué speculations about Thomas's attack, including boldly suggesting whether there was some unspeakable secret between the attacker and Thomas…
Now, even if Thomas suddenly reappears, he can't be held accountable. This is a celebration, a collective celebration of Thomas's victims' alliance. The law doesn't punish the masses... right?
In short, the party only lasted three days. When Thomas Wayne, with a cast on his leg, suddenly appeared at Wayne Enterprises, Gotham immediately returned to calm, as calm as a child secretly playing on their phone but hearing their parents' footsteps.
Some apprehensive Gothamites were waiting for Thomas's wrath, but they were overthinking it.
Because Thomas himself is facing the combined wrath of Alfred and Bruce.
"I can't believe it, young master Thomas!" Alfred's tone was unusually excited. "I only learned about your attack from the newspapers and then saw the Wayne Corporation press conference on TV to find out you were back!"
"What happened that you can't tell us?" The voice on the other end of the line was heavy. "I only found out today that you were attacked again."
“It’s time to replace Wayne Enterprises’ telephone handsets with lighter ones,” Alfred said sarcastically. “Have they become so heavy that you can’t even lift them…”
“One more time,” Bruce declared, “one more time like this, Thomas, and I’ll be back in Gotham right now, give you a good beating, and send you to the monastery. I mean it, Alfred is my witness…”
Thomas's left ear was now filled with Alfred's sarcastic remarks, while his right ear was trying to catch the sounds coming from the receiver. He also had to respond appropriately to both sides to avoid adding fuel to the fire.
The double attack left Thomas dizzy and confused; even with his performance-level emotional intelligence, he couldn't cope.
Damn court of owls.
Thomas was somewhat dejected; this was probably the most humiliating moment of his two lives.
So the next day, several more people died in the Court of Owls.
He had no way to deal with those two, so he could only take his anger out on the owl.
A note from the author:
----------------------
I'm feeling down... Typing is so tiring...
But the cover photo I requested is out! [heart emoji] I'll change it to this one in a bit! [doge emoji with rose emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
