Chapter 41 Sleep More
The Gotham underworld has been living in fear for the past few years.
First, Falcone was in chaos, and just as they were trying to get a piece of the pie, Night Owl, who suddenly appeared in Gotham, suddenly started his curfew era, wiping out all the gangs involved in arms dealing.
For some reason, Gotham's high society did nothing about this guy who was clearly disrupting Gotham's order.
Some gangs did plan to rebel against Night Owl, but the ways these people died were all bizarre. Over time, no one dared to directly provoke Night Owl. Even if they really had to use guns, they would do it on Penguin territory and prepare money in advance to buy their lives.
Then Thomas suddenly started acting crazy.
Everyone had high hopes for him because he was the only guy in Gotham who had offended both the Night Owl and the Penguin and was still alive and well. Many minor leaders who couldn't get to the core of the Penguin placed their hopes on him.
Then Thomas used the power of the state apparatus to plow through it again and again.
He didn't consider these guys trying to defect as partners at all. In his eyes, they weren't even his subordinates, but just piggy banks. He would smash them to relieve stress and take a few coins when he was in a bad mood.
Those who had already joined the Penguin were in a better position; at least they had some protection and could hire a lawyer. The gangsters who had originally planned to cooperate with Thomas were even more helpless.
Retaliation against Thomas himself is utterly impossible. First, he is extremely wealthy, making it impossible to bribe either side. Second, he rarely appears outside of his company and home, making assassination a complete fantasy. Finally, Wayne Enterprises does indeed have a legally armed security force.
Just a couple of days ago, Thomas went crazy and caused a huge mess, but apart from some unknown warrior throwing a useless bomb in his house and some idiot killing two aerial acrobats in revenge, the Gotham gang didn't react at all.
If things had continued like this, the Gotham gangs would have only faced financial difficulties at most, but now a serial killer has suddenly appeared who specializes in killing people, and he only strikes on holidays.
Faced with a survival crisis, they have no choice but to unite...
"So you suspect that the serial killer is Thomas...Wayne?" Robin added the last name under Batman's gaze to prevent anyone from realizing that the two of them had a close relationship with Thomas.
If others only referred to him by his name, it probably wouldn't matter. Thomas's social network was simpler than an elementary school math problem. He could count the number of people he was close to on one hand, making it easy for others to discover Robin's true identity.
"That's it!" The gangster, who had just been beaten black and blue, still had the energy to yell at Robin, "Who else could it be but that crazy guy from the Wayne family?"
“Tch,” said the Wayne Enterprises employee who had been robbed by thugs and then rescued by Batman and Robin. “Mr. Wayne would never do such a thing.”
"You have evidence? Thomas Wayne is a madman!" The thug's voice was full of energy, which made Robin hesitate whether to punch him again, in case he was just pretending to be caught and was actually planning a counterattack.
“Mr. Wayne is a very busy man, not a social outcast. He not only has work to do at Wayne Enterprises, but also his own businesses and private laboratories,” the employee said somewhat arrogantly. “He hasn’t had a vacation in a long time.”
...
It's true, Thomas goes to work every day, even on holidays.
Since he doesn't have any holidays, it's reasonable to assume he's a holiday killer.
"If he's so rich, couldn't he just hire a hitman?" the thug said angrily. "He's already hired so many people with guns to keep watch for Wayne Enterprises!"
"...We generally refer to the security team's work as lookout duty," the employee said meticulously.
"What's the difference!" the thug cursed angrily. "That Night Owl doesn't even care about his little..."
He seemed to have seen something terrifying, shut his mouth, took a few steps back, and lowered his head.
"His what?" Robin grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard twice.
But the thug kept his mouth shut.
"Night Owl." Batman turned around. "What do you need?"
“Say hello to any acquaintances you see while passing by,” Night Owl stood silently behind them. “By the way, I only interfere with illegal acts of carrying high-powered weapons at night. I don’t care about things that happen during the day or legal acts of carrying guns at night.”
The thug didn't open his mouth at all, determined to act like a sweaty statue in front of Night Owl.
Robin turned around and squinted: "An acquaintance."
Could that petty thug possibly have connections with a villainous big boss like Night Owl? Or is the employee next to him actually Night Owl's informant within Wayne Enterprises...?
"Good evening, D... um," Night Owl hesitated for a moment before asking, "What should I call you now?"
After a moment of silence, the cold evening wind of Gotham blew evenly over everyone.
"Are you talking to me?" Robin suddenly realized.
"That's right, because I know that Batman is standing next to you."
“You can call me Robin.” Dick tapped the “R” on his uniform.
Night Owl glanced at Robin's uniform with a complicated expression.
Batman stood guard between Owl and Robin, asking warily, "What are you trying to do?"
I didn't do anything special. I just learned from Talon that Batman decided to go out and do something serious during his night patrol. On his way to the lab for some fun nighttime activities (referring to going to the secret lab to create the quantum bomb), he ran into his two younger brothers (I mainly recognized them by their laughter, Batman's invisibility is too good), and I was just amazed by their amazing outfits.
He was initially shocked and spent a long time carefully examining the figure upstairs. Then he carefully landed on the ground and observed it from behind. Finally, through Bruce, he confirmed that the bright yellow bean standing next to him was Dick.
When Dick turned around, Thomas felt a sense of suffocation.
Red, yellow, green... Bruce and Alfred's aesthetic sense would never be like this.
That can only be Dick's own aesthetic sense.
What's going on?! Is it because the Claw uniform's color is too monotonous that they're not joining Claw?
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the technology in the uniforms worn by the two individuals was not very advanced; at least, it did not utilize the full capabilities of Wayne Technology.
Nite Owl did indeed observe the clothing and equipment of the multiverse Robin.
But now, with Robin himself standing right in front of him, he was still shocked.
Bruce Wayne and Batman, you're wearing this with your kids?
Without thick armor, without Wayne Enterprises' newly developed exoskeleton power system, and especially Dick, he didn't even have a pair of trousers!
The thought that beneath that flashy uniform was a living, breathing Dick made Night Owl dizzy.
And Batman. Owl originally thought that the thin, tight-fitting suit he wore a couple of days ago was to reduce his threat and have a friendly conversation. Why does he usually dress like that?
Although this fabric is quite strong, we can't just use something else, can we?
What has Lucius Fox been doing all these years?! I've even open-sourced the power armor technology to you, how could you still turn it into something like this?!
Night Owl hesitated for a moment, then finally reminded him, "...Robin, if you ever want to change jobs, you can come to me."
Then he left, coming and going inexplicably, as if he were truly a neurotic owl.
"Aren't we going to chase after them?" Robin asked.
Batman pulls out a listening device.
"When did you put it on?" Robin leaned closer.
Batman activates the eavesdropping device.
"Can you hear me? I'm sorry, I have some important business to attend to tonight," the owl's voice came through. "Keep it away from your ear, I'm going to crush it."
...
Batman's lips drooped slightly.
“I’ve known you for over forty years, Batman,” Owl continued. “In any case, don’t try to use these devices against me.”
(A loud electrical noise).
“I don’t remember when we met such an eccentric friend,” Penny said to the two on the channel.
silence.
Robin began to examine Batman's chin.
“Since we’ve brought this up, let’s talk about Wayne’s basic information. I think you probably already know,” Batman interrupted Robin’s thoughts. “Thomas Wayne is twenty-one years old, and Bruce Wayne is twenty-five.”
Therefore, I would never have known such a person forty years ago; there was absolutely no possibility of that happening.
"Mr. Bruce Wayne is actually the older brother?" The staff member next to him was slightly shocked. "I always thought Mr. Thomas Wayne was older."
Robin then looked at Batman.
Batman simply remained silent; he was Batman, and there was no need for him to defend Bruce Wayne's age.
-
The next morning, the four people, who had barely slept, gathered together for breakfast.
The most energetic one was Alfred. Not only did he help Batman find Robin who had sneaked out last night, but he also got up very early to make breakfast.
He is a living legend.
Thomas and Bruce are doing alright, especially Thomas. He slept well the past few days and has someone helping him with his work (thanks to the early setup, now someone helps him with both day and night's tasks), so Thomas is in relatively good spirits this morning.
Bruce has mastered effective sleep methods, but he is slightly sleep-deprived, so he is a little listless. Fortunately, he doesn't have to go to work for a while, so he can take a nap after dinner while Thomas is not home.
The most tired one was Dick. He was still a child, a child who hadn't slept well for two days in a row, a child who had to go to school soon, and a little devil.
He was so sleepy he almost fell over and got his hair into the baked beans he was eating, but luckily Bruce caught him.
"Oh, sorry," Dick yawned, "I didn't sleep well last night."
Thomas hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to subtly remind him: "So you've discovered Bruce's true identity?"
-----------------------
Author's note: I'm about to scare the mice while practicing for my driving test. There are trucks driving incredibly fast all around me.
-
The owl is outwardly friendly with his brothers (not really), but he's actually been heartbroken for a while.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
