"Nightwing?" Moses felt his head hurt even more. There were subtle differences between the same people in the two worlds. He was sure that the person in front of him was the one he knew. "Why are you here?"
"You, Catwoman and Red Hood are all out of contact." Dick said, "Alfred sent me to S.H.I.E.L.D., and I saw Captain America and the others outside. Everyone was very worried about you. By the way, Chou...he mentioned something I didn't quite understand."
Isn't that a normal thing? Even if Xiao Chou is not crazy, it is difficult for normal people to empathize with criminals.
There are only a few ways that Xiao Chou can use to deceive people at critical moments that Dick would care about. Moses can guess three, four, five or six of them. He doesn't care much about this, but it is a bit difficult for him to imagine the situation in the outside world.
Think about it, a highly confidential information of a national government armed agency was discovered by the criminals in Arkham, and before the internal traitors were cleared out, the righteous people rushed in one after another like pulling carrots. In terms of stance, there are big problems within SHIELD, and Xiao Chou has big problems. In terms of thinking, the superheroes connected with SHIELD have some minor problems, and then Nightwing was also led astray.
Is this directed at me?
At a certain moment, such a mystery arose in Moses' mind.
If he had to reflect on himself at this time, Batman could write two pages even if he had a bad cold. He admitted that he had a problem with his mentality when facing Chou. In addition to the disease, he was also affected by "Harvey Dent". Batman tried his best to prevent things from developing in a bad direction, which made him lose his composure.
As for the photo of the death of Batman from a parallel universe in the SHIELD computer, Moses was calm after a brief surprise - who in this world has eternal life? All humans will die, and it is just a predetermined ending that will happen at an unknown time.
So he found it difficult to understand why people were so secretive about this.
"You know he's a lunatic." The man wiped the sweat off his shoulders with a dry towel and frowned. "There's no need to try to understand his logic. Think about Harley Quinn. She's still in the hospital."
Not knowing which word he said triggered the young man's fluctuating mood today, Nightwing's voice suddenly rose: "Because it's me - so it's unnecessary? If it's unnecessary, why can you always catch him? I can ignore any twisted reasoning he said, but what if he said you were dead?!"
Well, it's obvious that this is directed at me.
Moses was shocked by Dick's sudden outburst and felt helpless and confused. His head was buzzing and his fingers reflexively tightened the back of the chair, looking like he was angry. Adults always have to be more patient in front of minors, he warned himself in his heart. Xiao Chou is not a novelist, he can't make up a story with a photo without a beginning or an end and make it convincing?
"Whatever he said, it was a lie."
"I don't think it's fake." Nightwing said stubbornly, "Iron Man didn't answer my question. He also knows something. Why do you have to hide it from me? Because I am not an adult, or because I am not trustworthy? Then who do you trust? Someone other than me and Alfred?"
"No, of course not!" No matter how much he tried to calm down, this questioning was a little too much - Dick would rather believe Xiao Chou than his adoptive father? Doubts gradually turned into anger, and his breath was hot because of the high fever. Moses felt like an old dragon who had to restrain his fire-breathing instinct - the Batman in the parallel world was a little older than him. "What did he tell you? What was the story about me lying in the coffin in the SHIELD computer?"
"You—what?" Nightwing opened his mouth in shock.
“…”
Moses then realized that he had been tricked, and Xiao Chou probably hadn't had time to unfold much. No, in that case the problem is back to the beginning, it was just a photo! Do vigilantes still have to consider issues of good or bad luck these days? He and the young man stared at each other until hurried footsteps were heard on the stairwell, and the voice of Alfred in this virtual world came from afar: "Master? I heard you call Nightwing's name, but shouldn't he be in Bludhaven now..."
The butler stood at the entrance of the stairs, looking down from above, looking around solemnly, and finally fixed his eyes on Moses who was leaning on a chair and breathing heavily: "There is only one person here, and the communication device is not turned on. Who are you talking to?"
The Batcave was silent for about five or six seconds.
Then, in Alfred's eyes, the black-haired, blue-eyed man looked at the place in front of him in confusion, turned his head and said to him, "Can't you see it?"
**
After a chaotic process of taking temperatures and taking cold medicine, Moses was forced into a chair. Dick stood beside him and said with some schadenfreude, "He thinks you have a fever and are hallucinating - something like a blue robins visiting a lonely old father on Christmas Eve."
Come on. Moses ignored him and analyzed the current situation while holding the hot water.
It is known that the virtual space they are in is based on an unknown parallel world, and at this time in the parallel world, Nightwing should be in Bludhaven. So in the eyes of others, Moses is still "Batman", but Nightwing cannot be recognized and becomes a "ghost" without sound or shape, which only Moses can see.
The ghost himself had no idea that he had frightened others. Nightwing turned around and looked around: "According to Alfred, R stands for Robin. Interesting. I think this code name is not bad, but now it seems that it does not belong to me. So who owns this red suit? Where is he now?"
Batman didn't answer him, and his expression remained blank as usual. But Dick always felt that the side of the man's face with his mouth turned down looked annoyed, as if he was still annoyed by what he had just said.
They shared the information briefly while the butler was not paying attention. Now Moses' main goal is to sort out the movement trajectory of Batman in the parallel world, so as to find the "door" that the system said connects to the outside world as soon as possible. Dick can't help, so he wanders around looking for the difference between the two worlds.
Moses really wanted to stop him. He felt that if he continued to explore, something bad would happen. He had encountered enough unexpected situations today. But Alfred was standing nearby. If he spoke, it would sound like he was talking to himself. He would rather be considered dumb than crazy.
Then he realized that he was too optimistic, because it was impossible for Batman to use sign language with his companions all night.
The Dark Knight of this world is investigating Chou (Nightwing: What a coincidence). Although it is Christmas Eve, the vigilantes obviously do not enjoy statutory holidays and cannot apply for sick leave. Moses tentatively decides to proceed cautiously according to the course of events. First, he investigates a father and son who may be related to Chou's conspiracy. The father is similar to most of the lower-class people living in Gotham. He lacks the ability and courage to escape from this quagmire and can only choose to go along with the crowd. The child has not yet been exposed to the dark side of society, but rationally analyzing that if he grows up in such an environment, he will inherit his father's career of stealing and becoming a mud spot that is everywhere and difficult to wash away after the snow melts in Gotham.
However, neither Alfred nor Nightwing here agrees with his point of view. But they don't argue because Batman is still a patient.
"Move to the side a little." When Moses half-knelt on the tip of the eaves of Gotan's house and raised a telescope to try to get a clear view of the family of the target of investigation, the blue figure of Nightwing lingered in the corner of his sight, forcing him to speak up and remind him.
The young man could not persuade him to stay in the bat cave to recuperate, nor could he change his investigation target, so he had no choice but to move away obediently and squat beside him: "You don't think the 'door' is in the mirror of his toilet, do you?"
Can you learn something from Red Hood? A late rebellious phase? Moses began to miss the Nightwing who seemed a little reserved and nervous in front of him.
He didn't answer, so Dick said to himself, "I think the Gotans in each world are pretty much the same, don't you? Except for some minor differences, like the clothes in the Batcave, Robin, and Wayne Manor."
"I looked back when I left the Batcave just now. The geographical location and architectural structure of Wayne Manor are similar to our world. But -" He pinched his fingers to make a rice-sized gap, then pointed to the old newspapers pasted on the wall outside the newsstand. The photo of the Graysons with their arms raised and cheering was squeezed in the lower right corner, and the main space was occupied by a black-and-white photo. The young man in the photo looked somewhat like Bruce Wayne. "When I was a child, I never heard of Thomas Wayne's name, nor did I know about the Wayne Group. But they are very famous here."
"..." What is coming will eventually come. Moses had expected it the moment he saw Dick, unless he was asked to find a time machine to bury Xiao Chou and the undercover agents in SHIELD. This problem is not easy to explain, but he should be able to come up with an excuse to fool around.
He raised his hand to rub his temple and tried to think. The key point was that Alfred was still listening, so in case things became more complicated, he'd better not say anything.
When he gets angry, even drinking cold water will get stuck in his teeth. Nightwing is like an undercover agent sent by Arkham, and he doesn't want to let his old father go.
"Do you know who my parents are? You seem to have never discussed this with me." Dick's voice overwhelmed the buzzing in Moses' head and became the main melody in the silent snowy night. "I thought you should have investigated it before, just like you investigated those crazy people in Arkham. But when was it? The day you first met me, or before that? Alfred in this world knew Dick Grayson, and 'I' am still a member of your family. So let me analyze the cause and effect. This is still the way you taught me to solve the case - I asked you why it was me (see Chapter 14 for details). Now it seems that this is a coincidence, or did you know that 'Batman' would adopt 'Nightwing'?"
Batman put down his binoculars, made a pause gesture, and looked at him disapprovingly. He mouthed: We can talk outside.
At least after Moses is burned out, we can find out what this group of people are concerned about and adjust our thinking to the same channel.
But his eyes had limited killing power at this moment, and Nightwing was sure that he would not speak: "Wait until you get out and think of an excuse?!" The young man stood up angrily and paced on the eaves, "Xiao Chou said you deceived everyone! Can you stop treating me - everyone else except you as a fool!"
This is what Moses cannot understand the most and is the most angry about. Why does it seem that everyone shares the same script with Xiao Chou, but he is the only one who is unaware of it?
The authorities are confused, and Batman doesn't think there is anything wrong with his understanding of the city of Gotham and the villains. The appearance of the Dark Knight when he first debuted is too far away for this body. As the butler once said, he is used to taking responsibilities rather than sharing them. And if you walk too long and too far alone on a bumpy road, it is difficult for you to realize that you are different from others.
"I told you, ahem, don't take Xiao Chou's words seriously!!"
After Moses let out this growl, he realized what had happened.
After a while, the snow fell silently, the Christmas carols over the city were cheerful and melodious, but Batman seemed to be frozen. There was an awkward silence, and the butler's voice came from the earphone: "Master? Are you still awake? Excuse me, but you and I both know that avoiding the problem cannot solve the problem. If you still want Master Dick to return to Gotham after Jay and he leave us, why not just tell him directly?"