Chapter 28 What are interpersonal relationships?
Bruce had a lot of questions for Thomas.
Anyone who has been away from home for years would feel...suffocated if they came home to find their autistic younger brother in this state.
Would a normal person put a bomb in their subordinate's neck? Even the Gotham gang wouldn't do that; it's just too perverted.
His hesitant manner was so obvious that Thomas snapped his fingers while the light was red to draw his attention, and then pressed the button in Kelvin's blind spot.
Nothing happened; the bomb didn't explode, and Kelvin remained unharmed in the back seat.
“I lied to him,” Thomas said in lip reading.
It was definitely a lie; there was a bomb, but they didn't use this method to control it.
If all the bombs Thomas planted in Gotham were remote-controlled, he wouldn't even have enough TV remotes to carry around.
This bomb is unlocked via voiceprint.
Bruce breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked Thomas, "Are you planning to send him to the GCPD?"
“What does this have to do with the GCPD?” Thomas countered. “Of course, it’s to go straight back to Wayne Manor. I need to change my clothes.”
"Then he..."
"Find your own way back. Gotham has plenty of taxis."
?
So, putting aside whether or not to call the police, if the intention was to release Kelvin directly, why tie him up, put him in the car, and take him for a spin in front of Wayne Manor?
“Because I originally wanted him to drive, but now you’ve taken the driving job,” Thomas replied. “You were the one who kidnapped him; if it were just me, I would have let him go.”
What kind of logic is this?
Bruce suddenly felt that there was a generation gap between him and his brother.
"So why didn't you call the police and take him to the police station?"
"Call the police? Why would you call the police? This is my subordinate. Do you know how hard it is to find a subordinate who doesn't want to kill me but can still handle the job?"
How many Claws are there in total? There are very few of these rare elites. Claws are not needed for trivial matters such as carjacking. Usually, it is the lower-level members of the Court of Owls who do it.
"Even if you want to keep this, then what about the others?"
“Those are all my reserve subordinates,” Thomas said casually. “They’re capable, but not very bright.”
Bruce nearly choked on his breath. What kind of nonsense was this?!
"They just orchestrated a kidnapping, and he's an undercover agent for some other organization! You actually want him as your bodyguard?"
How long can a fake bomb fool people? What if it gets exposed?
"I knew it all along. The fact that they didn't kill me is already a great thing."
Thomas's words reminded Bruce of something else: Thomas had just emphasized that Gotham didn't have many forces that didn't want to kill him.
Exhausted, Bruce asked Thomas, "What have you been doing all these years? How did you offend so many people?"
These past few days, he's been saying bad things about Thomas Wayne to every Gothamite he meets, even in front of his brother (Alfred, of course, doesn't count, as Alfred is British).
Even Romans weren't that unpopular.
"I didn't do anything."
"to be honest."
“Maybe it’s because Wayne Enterprises has expanded a bit too fast in recent years,” Thomas said. “I really don’t understand why my reputation is worse than Nite Owl’s.”
He has worked hard to maintain his image, even bribing most of the influential media outlets in Gotham.
Thomas at least did charity work; when he was a night owl, all he did was kill and beat people.
So, is it because I didn't deal with enough enemies when I was Thomas? Living enemies are a nuisance.
"Really?"
“It’s nothing serious.” Thomas crossed his arms, assuring everyone that he had never broken any laws other than traffic regulations when he was Thomas.
The illegal acts were all committed by the Night Owls. What does that have to do with me, Thomas Wayne? Of course not.
"...I just want to know who's targeting you."
Although the world's greatest detective could tell from Thomas's slightly guarded body language that Thomas was a little guilty, he did not intend to press Thomas for answers.
Oh, that's what it is.
I thought I was going to be interrogated.
“Mainly the Night Owls and the Penguins,” Thomas said. “Wayne Corporation’s rapid expansion has also attracted some enemies.”
It seems we won't get anything out of Thomas.
Bruce began to think about how to uncover Thomas's secret. He had no choice but to get involved. Even the forces that "least wanted to kill him" had started with kidnapping. What would happen if the opposing forces came?
“Oh, right,” Thomas suddenly remembered something, “how are you going to explain this to Alfred?”
...
It's over.
Under the intimidation of Thomas's bizarre and twisted interpersonal relationships (making enemies everywhere) and management policies (keeping someone who could betray him at any time as a bodyguard), Bruce completely forgot to tell Alfred that they had escaped and left directly. Judging by the time, Alfred should have already arrived at the deserted crime scene.
It's over.
-
“I’m glad you had a memorable experience,” Alfred said sternly, “but this event didn’t take care of the poor hearts of the elderly.”
Batman sat carefully in front of the Batcomputer to avoid triggering Alfred's sarcasm again.
He was now the only target left in the entire Wayne Manor.
They should have grabbed Thomas to draw the fire earlier. Thomas changed his clothes and left, running faster than the Penguin who saw the money. Even Alfred couldn't catch him.
"What exactly has Thomas been through these past few years?" Batman asked the Batcomputer. "He seems to have had a 'colorful' life these past few years."
“Let me remind you, Master Bruce,” Alfred said, “that while the Batcomputer’s voice recognition system is quite sophisticated, its built-in AI is not intelligent enough to automatically hack into Thomas Jr.’s personal computer just because you ask a question.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Alfred.” Batman, seemingly unaffected by the slight sarcasm, asked, “Do you know any leads regarding Thomas’s reputation?”
“You’re clearly changing the subject. We’ll talk about security later,” Alfred replied. “Frankly, I don’t know why his reputation is so bad. Young Master Thomas has been behaving quite normally, restoring Wayne Enterprises’ past high welfare levels and increasing its philanthropic contributions.”
Batman immediately grasped the key phrase: "Acting perfectly normal?"
"...We all know that, by worldly standards, young Thomas can hardly be considered normal."
No, it's not quite normal even by conventional standards.
Few of Gotham's mentally ill would dare to use fake bombs to fool hostile forces into doing their bidding.
What about interpersonal relationships?
"It's a complete mess. Young Master Thomas is too lazy to socialize. Most of the invitations he receives are thrown directly into the trash can."
What about the rest?
"He goes there, and then all sorts of accidents happen to the host of the banquet. Some Gothamites therefore believe that he is the incarnation of the devil."
What the hell is this?
Batman tried to remain calm and think: "Night Owl and Thomas, are they really not related?"
Alfred paused as he poured the vegetable juice for him, looking at Batman in disbelief: "You don't actually believe those ridiculous collections of stories that disregard the facts, do you? I thought you remembered that young Thomas didn't have many friends (to be conservative, he didn't have a single one).
Wait, that's not what I meant!
Batman quickly added, "I heard from the Penguin's henchmen yesterday that Thomas and Night Owl have a blood feud..."
“Most people in Gotham think the Penguin is lying,” Alfred seemed reluctant to finish his sentence. He took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally. “They think that if Thomas really had a grudge against Night Owl, it wouldn’t make sense for him to have survived this long. Night Owl managed to get Gotham’s citizens to obey the curfew in just over a month, something even the Gotham City government couldn’t do.”
“If you really believe this, it means that either young Thomas has a trump card that even the Night Owl fears, or there are two people…” Alfred took another breath and quickly finished the last few words, “…whose relationship is deeper than that between parents and children.”
That's right, the two poor birds worked hard to spread the story of the owl and Thomas's enmity, only to end up benefiting Owl-Tooth, becoming part of Owl-Tooth's selling point, and in the future they will turn into boomerangs to fiercely attack the poor owl.
Help.
Batman stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on the Batcomputer's data loading screen, pretending to be very busy looking around, but refusing to look at Alfred.
I don't want to choose either of these.
However, a good detective should make judgments based on objective facts, not personal likes and dislikes, so he should go to Night Owl to verify the authenticity of these messages...
This was torture, a vicious mental attack! Embarrassment crept up from the back of his feet, all the way to his scalp, making him restless and uncomfortable all over.
Alfred clearly knew how disturbing this idea was (especially since the two of them had spent a lot of time with Thomas and knew how withdrawn Thomas was), so he quietly took Thomas's strawberry milkshake away. After all, it was impossible for someone to suddenly pop out of the ground and stop all of this.
"Thank you, but no need, Alfred. I need a strong body to fight crime, and drinking milkshakes at night is unhealthy."
Actually, it was an excuse. He needed the vegetable juice to keep his mind calm and clear his head, rather than to keep himself healthy.
But for some reason, Batman now realizes he simply cannot imagine what it would be like for Thomas to have a normal relationship with a normal person.
What's wrong with this world?
-
"Is there something you need from me?"
Night Owl didn't know how abstract his story would become, but at least for now, he didn't need to think about it. Clearly, he wasn't the one overthinking things tonight.
“I learned of Thomas Wayne’s secret plan,” Kelvin, dressed in a Claw suit, reported to him, “but he has a sensor bomb strapped to my neck that will explode if I tell him.”
“I will help you find a way to defuse the bomb, but I personally advise you not to leak the information to anyone else in the Court of Owls.”
In an instant, Kelvin found the fanatic leader more agreeable.
...No, don't fall for PUA. Wasn't Thomas deliberately letting you go on his mission?
Why do I have to choose between fanatics and psychopaths? Doesn't Gotham have any good people capable of standing up to them...?
It seems there really isn't.
"Why?"
"Obviously, the others aren't as easy to talk to as I am; they're more likely to try to force you to reveal Wayne's plans."
Why don't you do that?
"Once the summoning ritual is complete, nothing else matters; there's no need to waste time stopping him."
...As expected of you, leader of the fanatics.
"Let's put that aside for now, it seems we have a guest coming soon."
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Author's note: Sorry, I didn't consider the reading experience of HarmonyOS users and audiobook listeners. I've changed the reverse order.
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Personally, I feel that Night Owl's interpersonal relationships are really twisted, but they're delicious. On the family side, he kills his parents and younger brother when they disobey him, and when he wants his younger brother back, he snatches one back. The relationship they've developed is rare, and he wants to be honest with each other, but because of that honesty, his partner dies.
The Syndicate trio is also incredibly appealing. As someone who's been a pure love advocate and a believer in two-person friendships my whole life, this is the first time I've found a story about three people so captivating. It's the kind of story where three people can create four separate groups – that's the authentic flavor! It's clearly just a story about three people, but it feels like there's more than one third party involved… Although there's no romantic pairing in this story (and I don't believe Night Owl has any romantic feelings for anyone; the way Supergirl kissed him felt like a forced kiss).
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Let me briefly explain the setting of this story (to avoid making it too abstract and causing misunderstandings). From Claw Wings' perspective, Night Owl actually knows what genuine family affection is like, and he's even willing to become a better person for the sake of family (by revealing the truth to Claw Wings). After being reborn, he discovers his brother is very good to him and, influenced by Batman's words, begins to deceive himself, hypnotizing himself to try to be a good person. Then, he discovers his brother is Batman, and his broken, selfish, and yandere nature awakens, causing him to clash with normal people's concepts of family affection. Ultimately, a nihilistic outburst occurs, and he starts messing around with the Quantum State Bomb again…
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