“…”

The scene was very embarrassing for a while.

After a while, Moses explained, "This requires complicated procedures. Your age is over the limit, and generally speaking, you have to live together for at least two years."

He didn't get to finish the rest of his sentence because Dick was glaring at him with his arms folded.

"Of course, there is still room for resolution."

"Batman always has a solution, right?" Nightwing said. "So why?"

"Why do you think that?"

The man, who still looked young but had a mature and experienced temperament, pondered for a moment and said in a tactful and calm tone: "First of all, I am not trying to stop you or blame you, Dick. You chose to take a difficult path without any help, and you have done well so far."

He paused and hesitated for a moment, then continued, following the vague emotions in his heart, "I may not do better than you."

Bruce was a little more talkative than when he was wearing the Batman mask. And he actually used the past tense, which Dick thought would never be brought up.

A person's experience cannot be hidden in the mist forever. But Dick found that he couldn't imagine this, as if Batman was omnipotent from the beginning - the tragedy of the Grayson couple created Nightwing, so what created Batman?

The president of the Wayne Group is familiar with the rules of the upper class and plays the game brilliantly, while Batman is proficient in various fighting skills and always lurks in the shadows and dances with prisoners. They seem to have nothing to do with each other. Hell can create madmen, but what kind of soil can breed heroes?

At this moment, Nightwing felt the same doubts as Alfred.

"Do you think it's possible that Batman already knew the kid?"

Half a night ago, the housekeeper said, "Although we have known each other for a short time, he has never been a hesitant person. Perhaps I should say that this is one of the old man's... I don't know if it is one of his strengths or weaknesses, but he is quite willing to give trust."

The old man who had also been on the battlefield shook his head, unwilling to think about what kind of experience shaped his character, and continued to the young man who was still ignorant, "But I will never ignore that he trusts you and me like his family. He also tried to take care of the child you met today, even though the result was not satisfactory."

"Maybe he's just being responsible," Dick said, but he quickly remembered the peaceful conversation he had had with Bruce in the Batmobile, and the easy familiarity that had probably been one-sided.

"Perhaps," said Alfred, "but I don't want to disappoint any possibility. What do you think of becoming the Wayne family's adopted son?"

He said it so naturally that it took Dick two seconds to react before he pointed at his nose and said, "Me?"

Perhaps his micro-expression at that moment gave away the clue. The butler, who saw the big picture from the subtle details, smiled easily and said, "It seems that I don't have to worry about your getting along. Maybe the Wayne family will welcome a new member soon."

"But that's impossible. Batman won't agree to that."

"He will invite you. I don't bet on minors, Mr. Nightwing, but please accept the advice of an experienced old man and give this matter proper consideration."

Dick came back to his senses from his memories before going to sleep, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly: "Bruce, I..."

Moses was following up on what he had just said: “But sometimes you can do less than you think, and need to do more.”

"Bruce," Dick said, "I know what you mean. You can't let Batman approach a middle school student in a neighboring city. Only Wayne has a chance to help me, guide me, or sponsor me in a legitimate way."

“This is not charity,” the elder pointed out.

"I know." Dick blinked his eyes. They seemed a little sour for some reason. He tried his best to suppress the emotion that suddenly surged up. "I didn't say I was unhappy. On the contrary, I was very happy. But you can't use the words 'the more capable, the more work' to perfunctorily deal with me. Why me? Why not others?"

"...I thought you took the initiative to get in the Batmobile."

"Okay, you know we are not talking about the same thing!"

Moses couldn't help but adjust his posture. How to properly communicate with young people is simply a topic that every self-proclaimed mature adult will always have a headache about.

"Because -- for reasons you don't understand now."

I think the Batman in other worlds should never have encountered such troubles. After all, as far as Moses knows, the Wayne family has existed in those worlds since the beginning, so Bruce Wayne's childhood experience is probably well known. Perhaps because of the fusion of souls, although he still has no memory, he can still give an answer based on his feelings: everyone's past is tragic, so Batman feels the same.

But please forgive the self-esteem of an adult, he really didn't want to say it directly and cause a lot of questions about "time, people, and place".

Even though he knew Dick meant well.

"Because I know how hard it is," he finally said dryly, "I can't just watch."

They stared at each other in the silent hall.

Until Alfred came back and broke the silence as if nothing had happened: "Aren't you going to investigate the smugglers? Or are you going to the Wayne Group today? Lucius will be touched."

Moses came back to his senses and took over the high ground of his mind again: "No, I have to go to the Bat Cave, and I have a lot of things to do."

"Me too," Dick said venomously. "We have to fight sometime, Bruce. You said you would teach me."

Young man, you have courage.

Moses recalled Nightwing's movements and said as he evaluated the teaching plan, "No need to find time, just now."

Half an hour later, after warming up, Batman sat back in front of his computer without moving, leaving Dick alone to hammer the floor in anger, his mind still reverberating with the former's physical exhortation.

Anger is one of the driving forces of human progress, and Moses had no regrets about it.

He spent some time to restore the seal he got from the gang leader, and then pondered the Hydra data he had found. This was an armed organization that once belonged to Nazi Germany during World War II. It had a long history, and its origins were not yet known. For a long time, people thought they had successfully overthrown this evil group, but it was obvious that it was just the wishful thinking of decent people. Hydra's tentacles were spread in many more corners than imagined.

This made Moses think of the German smugglers mentioned by the Gotham Police Department today. They were mainly active in Star City and had recently tried to expand their business network to Gotham. From this perspective, it was reasonable and convincing to falsely accuse the Wayne Group of being their client.

If they succeed, this will become a very effective blackmail channel. They may have a backup plan in the Gotham Police Department. It's not that Moses doesn't trust Chief Gordon, but the corruption inside the police department is extremely common and well known to the world. The rectification since the chief took office has been very effective, but there are still many fish that slip through the net.

But why do they think they can succeed?

Moses was briefly puzzled.

Bruce Wayne is a mediocre man with no major flaws or advantages except that he is more diligent in changing his female companions. Everyone knows that he is just a mascot of the Wayne Group. If you want to frame him for some high-end conspiracy, you have to consider the victim's IQ and whether others believe that Young Master Wayne can do it. You can't expect that a young man will succumb to evil forces just by scaring him a little, right? That would underestimate the brain of the nouveau riche and over-praise Batman's acting skills.

In the evening of the next day, his doubts were answered.

At that time, the chairman of the Wayne Group was attending a formal business cocktail party, accompanied by a model he had just met. During the party, Moses took a glass of wine and went out to the garden temporarily on the pretext of breathing fresh air, intending to find a place to pour out the wine or find a way to change it. All the communication and socializing went smoothly before... until a hard metal weapon suddenly stretched out in the dim environment and pressed against his lower back.

"If you don't want to get hurt, don't move or shout, Master." His female companion said softly, "Our leader wants to see you."

Moses' mind raced, and after a few seconds he pretended to be startled, his fingertips trembling, and the goblet dropped to the side.

"Who is your leader?" he asked in a voice that was still a little unsteady, trying his best to conceal it.