Chapter 90 Birds... Birds Don't Like Birds
"So you think Night Owl has a connection to Batman?"
“Obviously,” Thomas replied, taking a leisurely sip of the tea Alfred offered him before reaching for the sugar bowl. “So I think we should start with people connected to Batman.”
Under Alfred's disapproving gaze, Bruce quietly reached out and moved the sugar jar closer to the table.
Thomas Jr.'s touch came up empty.
What do you think we should do?
If all else fails, Bruce will have to do what Dick did and try to summon night owls by firing his gun at night.
“I don’t know,” Thomas put down his teacup and said matter-of-factly, “I haven’t been able to do anything to him all these years, and you actually think I could come up with any good ideas?”
After saying that, he reached out again, trying to grab the sugar jar, but Bruce beat him to it and grabbed nothing.
“I thought you would come up with some solution no matter what, since you currently have the most clues about the Night Owl.”
“If you insist on saying,” Thomas Jr. held out his hand to him, “I know how to detect the reaction energy of a quantum bomb and can also make a device to show its location.”
Bruce quickly understood what he meant and put the candy jar back into Thomas's hands.
“Very good, so our next step is to destroy that bomb.”
“That’s right, all of Night Owl’s plans were built on that bomb,” Thomas said, adding only two sugar cubes to his tea with considerable restraint despite Alfred’s disapproving look. “And a bomb capable of destroying the world is definitely not something that can be easily made.”
“And the location of the bomb is very likely to be Night Owl’s base, fantastic, Tommy,” Bruce struggled to maintain his naive rich kid persona. “I’ll pass that on to Batman. When can you probably get the test results?”
He really wants to ask Isaiah Thomas, in Batman's voice, why he didn't bring out this technology sooner.
"At least next month."
"Isn't a month a bit too slow?" Bruce imagined himself as a naive rich guy who knew absolutely nothing about technology, and pressed Thomas, "Do you think spending more money can speed things up, Tommy?"
...You're overdoing it, Mr. Bruce.
Alfred tried to avoid looking at the two men, a little worried that he might make a sarcastic remark.
"I have to ensure the accuracy of the device and also ensure that the Night Owl is completely unaware of it; this is the limit."
"Do you need my help?" Bruce asked. "At least I can lend you a hand, and there's absolutely no way I'll leak the information to Night Owl."
Thomas Jr. looked at Bruce speechlessly.
Do you still remember that your current persona is supposed to be that of a lazy, clumsy, empty-headed, naive playboy who is interested in everything but not good at anything, Bruce?
Bruce maintained his smile.
Given the urgency of the situation, it's already a miracle that I can maintain my public image at home; don't ask for too much.
“Sure,” Thomas said, looking away from Bruce’s face. “Do you know any special welding?”
Batman certainly can; specialized welding is child's play for him...
“No,” Bruce replied naively. “Is there anything I can help with? Preferably something low-tech… Can I just throw money at it?”
Alfred let out a rather strange cough.
You really don't need to pretend like this, Mr. Bruce. Right now, only three audience members don't know your identity.
“You can help me transport materials, all you have to do is spend money to buy things. There are a lot of moles in Wayne Enterprises, and I will try to avoid using Wayne Enterprises’ resources. But you are different, Bruce,” Thomas thought for a moment, “mix a small amount of truly useful things into a large amount of materials that have nothing in common, and tell the outside world that you want to try to invent something and want to prove your talent.”
“Sure, for something more technical, you can contact Batman,” Bruce added. “I think he would be very happy to help.”
The two quickly finalized their next plan.
"So when can we go for breakfast, Alfred?" Thomas looked at the clock. "Well, when is lunch?"
“I feel like breakfast has been missing from Wayne Manor for a whole week now.” Bruce also looked at the clock.
“Actually, three people in this house have had breakfast, Master Bruce, for a whole week.” Alfred put away the sugar jar on the table, clearly unable to resist the sarcasm in the end. “Lunch may have to wait a while, Master Thomas and Mrs. Martha haven’t gotten up yet.”
A mysterious coughing sound came from the other side of the stairs.
"Okay, I'll go prepare lunch now."
Alfred went to the kitchen.
Old Thomas and Martha walked down the stairs hand in hand, followed by Dick and Jason, who at least looked quite well-behaved and honest.
“Good morning,” old Thomas tried to recall how he used to talk to his son, then realized his memory was unreliable. He was unlikely to pick Bruce up and spin him around and take him to play ball in the yard, so he could only make small talk, “Did we have guests this morning…”
He then received a stealthy blow to the ribs from Martha, who was holding hands with him, so no one else present knew what was happening.
“Yes, it’s Oswald Coppert.” Bruce stood up from the sofa, walked around it, and stretched out his arms to them.
“My dear…” Martha immediately released old Thomas’s hand, hugged Bruce with some emotion, and exclaimed again, “My God, you’ve grown so tall these past few years…”
“So, should we go and pay a visit to Cobblestone? We seem to have a pretty good relationship.” Old Thomas stepped closer, and Martha released Bruce, smiling and glaring at him.
If you don't know what to say, don't try to make small talk and ruin the atmosphere!
“No, forget it. Tucker Cobblestone is dead now, and as for Oswald, he’s a gang leader now, involved in shady dealings… I just hope he doesn’t cause us any more trouble,” Bruce sighed slightly. “If only he had used the energy he would have spent causing trouble for Wayne on something else.”
"Make trouble for Wayne?" Old Thomas looked slightly puzzled.
“Yes,” Thomas explained, “the Penguin thinks our family is responsible for the Cobblepot family’s downfall, so I don’t think there’s any benefit to working closely with him.”
This statement is a bit hard to understand.
Everyone else present looked at Thomas.
"Don't look at me, I don't know what he's thinking either. I only know that he told his men that he and Wayne have a grudge."
“This is really a shame. I never imagined he would turn out like this,” Martha tried to steer the conversation away from the Penguin. “Tommy, what are your plans for today?”
Thomas nodded, putting on a rather natural smile with great acting skill: "Alfred found a lawn at Wayne Manor where we won't be photographed by anyone. We can go on a picnic."
“Jason and I are going to get the picnic blanket,” Dick said, pulling Jason toward the storage room. “I know where it is.”
"So where have all the servants at Wayne Manor gone?" Old Thomas looked around. "I think I only see Alfred."
Although there are no servants here either, this place is much cleaner than his Wayne Manor.
“Most of them were laid off, and Alfred would only hire some temporary staff for important occasions,” Bruce explained, “mainly because, well, Tommy was worried that someone would bribe the servants to harm people.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Thomas Jr. admitted expressionlessly.
“So smart, Tommy,” Martha said, seizing the opportunity to praise her child.
Isaiah Thomas almost couldn't keep his smile, but he managed to hold it in.
"Am I not smart?" Bruce asked, feigning ignorance.
“How could that be?” Martha tried to pat his head, but it was a bit difficult; Bruce was too tall now. “You are all the smartest people in my eyes.”
Bruce obediently lowered his head.
-
Around the same day (ignoring time errors caused by trans-universe signal transmission), in another universe's Gotham.
“No matter what, Red Robin, you shouldn’t do that again,” Batman tapped on the keyboard. “Contact with the multiverse is extremely dangerous… Did you get a thorough disinfection and medical check-up?”
“I did it, don’t worry, Batman. I’m not like Thomas Wayne from that universe.” Red Robin stood behind him and looked at Batcomputer together. “And I’ve made some new discoveries, like regarding Thomas Wayne. He was clearly not a very suitable partner, but we should be able to work together.”
What is the reason?
“From all the details… even without careful observation and reasoning, it’s clear that Thomas Wayne Jr. is a completely indifferent antisocial personality. As for the possibility of cooperation…” Red Robin joked, “Considering his unwillingness to distinguish between his counterparts in the multiverse, if we cooperate with Bruce from another universe, we’ll have two Bruces on our side, while Nite Owl only has one. We can always win him over.”
Batman didn't offer his opinion, but simply took out a gadget he had found on Red Robin.
“The signal converter, I knew it was in your hands now,” Red Robin explained. “I made an agreement with Thomas Wayne from that universe that we would use this to communicate if we were to take the next step in our cooperation. There’s also a hidden door I left on it that can transmit partial images unilaterally, but it’s probably out of power now… I should have added more batteries.”
Batman plugs the adapter into the Batcomputer and reads its contents.
-----------------------
Author's note: I was taking a shower today, and two bathhouse attendants were talking about autopsies, like putting the body in the tub to thaw and then cutting it open on the bed...
There was no problem, but I was lying in bed while my aunt scrubbed my back.
It's strange that the corpse was substituted in ( ).
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
