Chapter 90: Ge Tan Under the Night (Revised)
Tim: “Are you kidding?”
Dick: “—I’m kidding.”
They stared at each other in silence for a moment.
Nightwing shook his head: "Just pretend I didn't say anything. I'll go around the city again. Remember to contact me if you have any new information."
He put his weapons and some small props back on his waist, and hesitated for a moment when he passed Damian - he noticed the boy's unusual silence, but everyone was in a gloomy mood at the moment.
"Damian." He called the man by his first name. "Can you promise not to sneak out before I come back?"
Damian didn't reply.
He threw aside the bat dart he had been playing with, jumped off the chair and went upstairs without looking back.
To be honest, this figure from behind does look a bit like Bruce. The power of genes is indeed strong.
"Alfred and I will keep an eye on him," Tim promised, "but you have to be careful not to do anything out of line."
"Okay, I'm used to it." Nightwing said casually, "He's always like this. It's okay this time, at least he left a tracking device behind."
"What...Oh, the information collector, that was on the killer. I haven't been able to confirm whether they are in the same location. There were some mission files in the chip, but Bruce deleted them all. I will try to restore them to confirm whether there are any clues we need."
Tim is nervous.
Dick suddenly realized this.
It's normal to be nervous. The young master of the Drake family is young, smart, handsome, and has almost no shortcomings from personality to family background. He is also hardworking enough. Although Batman has not directly praised his growth, the tacit understanding and effectiveness of their cooperation are in everyone's eyes - Batman does need Robin, although Bruce has never been willing to admit it.
Bruce thought Tim's choice was wrong.
Dick thought that he looked at himself like a curse. Only when he kept a distance from others could he be sure that he would not bring harm to others and others would not hurt him. Sometimes Bruce could realize this, and sometimes he could not. This character defect had been integrated into his personality, making correction a luxury.
Just like the more dangerous the situation, the more Batman will conceal his whereabouts. He refuses others to help him, lest it causes him to lose something important again.
Just as he could never fully understand and believe that they - Tim, Jason, Barbara, even Damian, who had just arrived in Gotham, and Dick himself - had gained far more here than they had lost or were about to lose.
Tim has a certain personality similar to Bruce, and he doesn't think he is good enough to be Batman's assistant. When Bruce is present, this self-doubt is actively or passively concealed. But now, Robin's excellent reasoning and analytical ability allow him to realize the crisis, which is precisely related to his mentor.
Dick knew he had done the best he could, and if Tim's brain had a CPU, it would probably be fried by now.
The fact is, they can still do their jobs when Bruce is not around, but there is something extra...something about the ego that makes everyone look different than they normally do.
Dick knew he had to fix this.
Without Batman, he is the oldest family member besides the old butler.
"Leave the outside world to me," he assured, his expression unchanged from the past. "You know, when I was working in the circus, my father - my real father - told me not to look down when you're in the air. If you look, you'll fall. Just close your eyes, remember your training, and trust that your partner is there waiting for you."
He didn't explain exactly why he was saying this at this time, nor did he say who the 'partner' was, but Tim seemed to understand.
"good."
They clapped their hands.
Nightwing took two steps back to make sure he hadn't missed anything, then drove a motorcycle out of the garage and hurried out.
What he didn't tell Tim was that right after the Claw leader called out Grayson's last name, the other party left him an address without anyone noticing.
This is an invitation from the court.
Dick had not intended to keep the appointment, but now he has changed his mind.
"I knew you would come." The other party's voice still sounded strange behind the mask, "whether it's for your family or for your adoptive father, Bruce Wayne."
They stood in a dim attic, surrounded by candles. On the table were several photos, all of which were group photos of people wearing masks.
Nightwing drew out his short stick and took an attacking stance: "Your invitation is impressive."
"You can't defeat us now, Richard Grayson, don't waste your energy." Claw said, "The previous battle was exciting enough. It seems that even out of the control of the court, you have still grown exceptionally well. Batman made the right decision to choose you, but it was a mistake for you to choose him."
His matter-of-fact tone immediately hit upon Dick's unspoken concern - for Bruce. Anger rose in his heart, but an interested smile appeared on his face: "Why do you say that?"
Claw calmly turned his back to him, walked to the table, picked up a photo, and raised his hand to sweep away the dust on it: "The Grayson family has belonged to the court for generations. You have the same blood as us. Come and get to know your ancestors..." He threw the photo over, and Nightwing caught it. "If Batman knew about this, what would he think?"
Dick couldn't figure out the purpose of the claws, so he held the photo and observed it for a moment.
To be honest, it would take Jesus Christ to tell who is who among the masked people above. Besides, even if Bruce knew, what would happen? He was sure that Batman would not care, so he simply crossed his arms and waited for the next step.
"Before I take action, tell me something useful."
"You don't even care about your own parents?"
Nightwing's expression darkened.
He was implying that Dick's parents were also pawns of the court.
But that was impossible—Dick had seen them both leave this world, and leave him. Claw's vile assumption was an insult to his past.
Claw pretended not to notice his anger and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't care about them, but what about your adoptive father?"
“…”
The anger was extinguished by the sudden turn of events.
Even in this serious situation, Nightwing is still speechless that they insist on discussing Bruce and Batman separately.
And this development is particularly familiar. I always feel that the court intends to use a hostage to death if it catches him.
But you don’t even know who you caught!
He had a vague premonition and asked, "What did you do to him?"
"He's fine, for now. It depends on how far you're willing to go for him."
**
When Moses woke up, the back of his head where it had hit the glass was burning with pain, but the bleeding had stopped. The wound on his shoulder had been hastily bandaged to a level that would cause inflammation but not kill him immediately.
The Owl Court found him useful, but didn't care whether the hostages were intact?
Or perhaps, considering the abnormal physical condition of the previous Claw Killer, the court may be particularly confident in its own means of survival.
System: “They haven’t had time to do anything yet.”
“I won’t give them a chance.”
Since ancient times, the methods of interrogation and teasing prey have been the same. Batman has no bad taste, but he knows how to intimidate and torture his opponents. So when Moses saw the surrounding environment, he had a clear idea of the purpose of the court.
This is a huge building with a high dome and a very complex internal structure, like a dark underground maze. In the center stands the only light source - a several-meter-high owl statue. At the foot of the statue is a fountain pool with clear water that reflects the owl's sharp beak and claws.
How long can humans survive alone in a maze with no exit and no food?
"They put me down next to the water," Moses told the system. "They probably didn't expect Bruce Wayne to survive more than three days."
After all, if you want to maximize your profits, the right way is to throw him in any corner of the maze.
He carefully observed the spring water for a moment, without touching it or drinking it. After carefully observing the surrounding environment, he tentatively groped towards the higher ground.
The round eyes of the owl statue stared at him silently under the miserable white light.
"The natural enemy of bats, huh?"
"What are you going to do?" the system asked. "I know you left the information collector behind, but that requires comparing a huge amount of information. If the claws are sent somewhere else, the workload will increase."
"If they wanted to kill me, I would have died long ago. 'Bruce Wayne dies tomorrow', what day is tomorrow?" As Moses spoke, he took off his shirt and rewrapped himself. The air in this place was damp and cold, with a kind of Gotham smell that Batman was familiar with.
"If they are trying to control me and make me submit, then there must be something else in this maze besides statues."
"Where do you think this is?"
"In a building in Gotham, no doubt. This group of birds has inherited the owl habit of building nests in other people's homes."
The courts may be behind the obstruction of urban renewal plans.
If they hide like cockroaches in the shadows of abandoned buildings, they certainly don't want anyone to disturb the foundations of the court.
But this is not the main purpose of the court taking him away. They want to find Batman more than Bruce.
System: "...You know that Gotham is not your city in the legal sense, right?"
Moses only raised an eyebrow in response.
"Okay, proceed as normal." The system said, "I can contact the Justice League for you. Although I can't explain how Superman got the news, you can just make up a reason."
"No."
"Are you sure? You don't even have a bat belt."
In the darkness, the man accurately grasped the metal cuff of the shirt and pulled it off.
There are also shoe soles, the inner lining of suit belts, tie cuffs...
The system is silent.
"I had anticipated this situation a long time ago, so I asked Lucius to build some gadgets while developing the technology for the bat armor." Moses thought back and gave the exact date, "It was the first weekend after I arrived in Gothan."
"You just said it casually."
"But I'm the boss of the Wayne Group, and whatever I say will be done. You won't forget this, System. Computers are much better than human brains at remembering things."
“…”
"Don't worry, I'm not insisting on not getting help. It's just that the time is not right yet."
A few hours or half a day passed.
Without a clock or the sun, Moses's perception of time was gradually dulling. His body was accustomed to high-intensity work, and as long as his mind was still there, he would not fall down.
As for fatigue, hunger, pain... these cannot be used as criteria for judging time because they always exist and are deeply rooted.
There are some rooms in the maze, where tall and heavy stone slabs record the opponents and minions eradicated by the Owl Court from ancient times to the present; there are also rooms full of red coffins, on which are placed photos of orphans who were transformed into claws by the court.
They showed their strength in this way.
The irony is that most of the time, no one understands the feeling of showing off.
I think every time a prey is released into the maze, it is the most exciting moment for the people behind the scenes. Their grand plans and great achievements that cannot be seen in the light can only be shared with the outside world at this time. In order to carefully savor this hard-won and short-lived sense of accomplishment, there must be countless eyes silently watching Moses in the dark.
Sure enough, when he suddenly turned around, he saw several people wearing white masks and of different heights, weights and bodies standing at the end of the road, looking silently ahead.
"Mom," one of the shorter girls said as their eyes met, "Is he going to die?"
The adult grimly responded, "He will."
"I like him, Mom. Can you keep his body intact? I want to use it for taxidermy."
"Of course, dear. But not now. We still have a use for him."
"What for?"
"It may attract a more ferocious beast," the woman said softly. "Of course, he'd better pray that the beast will come to rescue him, otherwise your lovely and beautiful specimen will be chopped into pieces."
After saying that, in the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the spot.
Moses walked over quickly and stared at the floor beneath his feet: "An outdated trick."
He said to himself, "You want Batman? Let me give you a Batman."