Foolish Drake, you actually summoned a Kryptonian in the house, defying Father's orders!
Shut up!
A pillow flew out from Stephanie's room.
Damian swung his blade, slicing the pillow in half, leaving him covered from head to toe in down and coughing violently.
A new day, a new war has broken out at the Wayne household.
Author's Note:
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Thanks to 【Jinyu]'s rocket launcher, there will be another update this afternoon~
Chapter 10
Colt woke up at seven o'clock, Joseph had already left. Opening the Dream Station, he saw the Dream Messenger rolling over at the bottom of the progress bar.
[Fatigue Level: 71↑. Exhausted, but great.]
Colt was not feeling good at all!
In the downstairs restaurant, Birdie was pecking at the remote on the dining table, lying down in the exact same posture as the Dream Messenger.
Gotham News is reporting on the events that occurred at the harbor last night.
[The Diamond Princess cruise ship welcomes Batman; an enthusiastic citizen, Red Hood, reports that someone is using the cruise to smuggle and traffic Merfolk, inciting hatred between humans and Atlanteans; Mr. Sinis acted heroically to stop the auction, while the philanthropist Mr. Cobblepot was unfortunately caught up in the incident and rushed to the hospital.]
The host opened his eyes and lied through his teeth, launching into a passionate gossip session about the incident where Bruce's darling companion unexpectedly fell into the sea.
[Batman and Red Hood jumped into the water to save her at the same time. Since Mr. Wayne said he forgot to ask the beauty's name, we still do not know the name of that lucky person who captured the favor of both a vigilante and a tycoon. Gotham News will set up a hotline to solicit clues regarding last night's female protagonist from the general public..]
[The beauty had long blonde hair and a graceful figure. Her attire last night was that of a medieval princess, wearing a floral veil and a voluminous, layered princess gown.]
Timothy has become famous.
Colt thought.
The news of the cross-dressing Young Master Wayne being flanked by Batman and Red Hood on one side and Red Hood on the other would certainly be worth a fortune to Gotham News, but unfortunately, there were no photos taken last night to commemorate it.
Colt lifted the cover from the plate on the table, sighed at the slightly burnt toast, turned to open the refrigerator.
A note was stuck to the refrigerator handle.
[There is a file folder on the shoe cabinet in the foyer containing ten $250 Wayne Supermarket gift cards, which were Labor Day gifts from the company. I have prepared them in envelopes; give one to each subject teacher and two to the Dean of Students. Do not mail them; deliver them directly to the teachers' doorsteps.]
This isn't bribery, but rather a reminder to the teachers that such a person still exists in their class, so they might give him a little extra credit when grading.
There were still three shopping cards left, so Colt took out an envelope and included the art photography teacher as well.
Colt stuffed the envelopes into his backpack before taking out the leftover beef meatball soup from last night, boiling it and adding a handful of small green vegetables. Then, he grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds to refill Birdie's empty food container and sliced some fruit to provide the bird with vitamins.
Don't watch TV all the time, or the bird will get nearsighted. Go out and fly with your friends more, but don't fly too far; just stay near the house.
Colt stroked Birdie, causing a feather to fall off.
It's fine if you don't go out; birds should reduce their physical activity during their molting period. Parrot food contains additives, so don't eat too much of it. I don't have classes this afternoon, so I'll be back early. The mealworms and small crickets I bought for you will arrive today; eat plenty of them to get your protein.
Colt gave instructions over and over again, then checked the smart defense system at home to confirm that all surveillance feeds were working properly. Only then did he put on his Quantum Terminal, shoulder his backpack, head out on his skateboard.
He needed to first confirm the safety of the Vibranium.
The Iceberg Club, a famous money pit in Gotham, is a place where almost any luxury one can imagine can be purchased.
The Iceberg Club still carried the lingering excitement of last night's revelry in the morning. People with bloodshot eyes wandered out of the building like zombies, while the 24-hour casino remained deafeningly noisy.
Colt arrived just as he ran into Penguin.
Although everyone in Gotham knows that the Diamond Princess belongs to Penguin, legally, the Diamond Princess does not belong to him. Penguin was merely a guest at the masquerade ball; anything regarding smuggling or trafficking Merfolk had nothing to do with the guest, Penguin was acquitted immediately after being taken into GCPD custody.
Penguin sat in a wheelchair with a cast on him. Even though the cruise ship had been seized, his face was still full of smiles.
Penguin didn't hate Batman for kicking his legs, after all, Batman had kicked him to save him from Black Mask's bullets. But Batman's decision to prioritize saving Wayne's female companion over capturing Black Mask left him feeling somewhat dissatisfied.
This slight dissatisfaction did not affect his good mood.
Penguin initially didn't believe the black market rumors that Black Mask had lost money. Black Mask had been quiet for nearly half a year, holding back to prepare for something big and secretly gathering funds. The amount was so large that even he was envious; if he really had lost it, Black Mask would likely go mad.
Now he believes it.
Penguin admired Black Mask; despite losing 3 billion, he hadn't driven a tank into the streets to ram the Batmobile. Having picked up a thousand kilograms of Vibranium, he was so happy he wanted to take an airship to the Bat-Signal and rain money down on Batman.
Penguin entered a complex 68-bit password, followed by fingerprint and iris scans, then pulled out a key.. passing through over a dozen gates, he finally entered the underground vault.
The unremarkable Vibranium lay quietly inside the display case in the center of the vault.
Penguin opened the display case, caressing the small metal pieces with fascination.
“What about Quinas?”
The assistant replied, "He wanted to escape to Metropolis with the Vibranium and had already contacted people to assist him, but we intercepted him on the bridge. He heard that his ex-wife had been in a car accident last night and his son had been taken away by people from the orphanage, so he voluntarily shot himself in the heart and jumped into the sea."
Penguin weighed the Vibranium; the heavy fifty kilograms required both hands and significant effort to lift. He carefully inspected the lab report again and asked his assistant, "Has the buyer for 43XL007 been identified?"
The identity is fake. This person was a former employee of Wayne Botanical Gardens, dismissed for selling rare plants on the black market, ended up in Old Town. He intended to start a home-based pharmaceutical workshop, but the thugs on that street feared he would steal their business; they injected him with an overdose and dumped him in the street. He died two months ago, his body was sold to the X Pharmaceutical Company's laboratory. Currently, only his heart remains intact, it has been donated to Gotham High as a biology dissection specimen.
Penguin nodded: "Notify the client for order 43XL007 and tell them the goods were damaged by Red Hood. As a legitimate and trustworthy businessman, we are willing to pay 5 million dollars in compensation, according to the amount on the insurance policy."
"Boss, are we really going to pay?" The deputy looked at Penguin in surprise.
Yes, as the most trustworthy black market merchant in Gotham, of course we must pay." Penguin paused, "Besides keeping an eye on me, has Black Mask made any other moves lately?
Our informants in the Masked Society have revealed that Black Mask has been in close contact with Hell's Kitchen lately.
Give him something to do, let Kingpin know that if he wants to do business in Gotham, he can only come to us.
Penguin personally closed the bulletproof glass cover of the display case.
Spread the word that I'm hosting an auction at the Iceberg Club. Keep the contents of the auction confidential, only notify high-net-worth clients with assets totaling at least one billion. Also, notify the people in Arkham to find a way to get Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, the Riddler, Killer Croc out to help me stall Batman and Robin. Don't involve the Joker; when the Joker goes crazy, he's liable to ruin everything..
The heavy vault door opened and then closed, the oxygen in the room was gradually sucked out.
The Quantum Terminal connected to the Iceberg Club's local area network, leaving an AI avatar within the surveillance system. When the position of the Vibranium changed, the AI avatar would send a signal to the main body via quantum entanglement.
Colt took one last look at Vibranium, then turned and left.
[Navigating via the fastest route based on the residential addresses of the instructors and the Dean of Students for this semester.]
Although high school teachers in Gotham belong to the middle class, the wealth gap within the profession is immense. Some live in villas, some in basements, some in low-rent housing provided by Wayne Real Estate, some in cramped, dilapidated apartments with families of four, others in luxury high-rise apartments with high-end cars.
.. Please tell Mr. Ghana that I will definitely do it; I will never let Mr. Sinis down.
The Biology Teacher smiled with enthusiastic flattery as he escorted a masked Black Man out the door.
The Masked Man is a lackey of the Masked Society.
The Biology Teacher is one of Black Mask Roman Sinis's people.
Colt looked at the envelope in his hands and thought for a moment. He decided to recall all the gifts and instead drop them into the personal mailbox in the teachers' office. Since teachers' addresses are generally kept private, delivering them directly to the door would be equivalent to opening a private box; it would be treated as a threat and would only cause trouble.
Timothy skipped class on his very first day of school.
Colt sat at the very back of the classroom, his chin resting in one hand while the other flipped through his biology textbook.
High school biology textbooks are mainly designed to help students recognize, understand, develop an interest in the subject, so the content is relatively superficial. This semester, they are covering the human body systems, with the heart being introduced in the seventh lesson.
Colt thought of the heart donated to Gotham High as biological dissection material; perhaps by the seventh week, he would be able to see that heart being cut open with his own eyes.
Colt had met the owner of the heart; he was a botanist who frequently moved about the Wayne Botanical Garden, a familiar neighbor of sorts. Colt knew he was dead, which was why he had borrowed his identity.
In Gotham, death is nothing new.
The middle class in the Upper East Side may seem to live stable lives, but if they suffer injury, illness, or unemployment, leading to bankruptcy and an inability to pay their bills, they will quickly end up on the streets, then, because their homelessness affects the community's image, they are sent by the police to the chaotic districts.
The East End used to be the most chaotic.
After Red Hood appeared, he established a powerful rule over the East End, now no one in Crime Alley even dares to sell powder, causing many companies to move their business to Old Town.
There is absolutely no sign of law and order in Old Town; you could walk three steps and encounter two enthusiastic people offering free drugs. If a wound becomes inflamed, a doctor might tell you to take painkillers instead of antibiotics; blood donation vans brazenly display price lists for organ purchases, as if every pharmaceutical company in the world is setting up stalls here to recruit experimental subjects..
However, Old Town has its own ecosystem.
The street bosses protect those within their territory from being killed indiscriminately, those who live must pay protection money. Even selling blood requires a cut, the dead are, of course, also the property of the street bosses. In the black market, corpses are clearly priced at 200,1000 dollars based on their age and completeness; malformed ones are even more expensive.
All of Gotham knows that even if half of the street bosses in Old Town are subordinate gangs of the Masked Society, Black Mask is still a man of standing. Mr. Sinis has his own companies and factories in the Upper East Side, can even invite the mayor to dinner at any time.
Colt only wanted to study in peace; he didn't want to attract the attention of any villains and bring danger to his father.
The late Biology Teacher finally walked into the classroom ten minutes after class had started.
The Biology Teacher seemed very amiable; he didn't take attendance during class and allowed students to eat, sleep, kiss, or fight during his lessons. However, once he finished his self-introduction, the students all began to listen intently, because his lectures were extremely well-suited to the reality of Gotham.
The Biology Teacher pointed at the human anatomy model, teaching the students where a knife wound would not be fatal, where a punch to the body would cause death, what level of injury even Wayne insurance wouldn't cover but would cause enough pain to make one want to die, even going so far as to tell the students the market price of each organ.
Colt suspected that under the guise of teaching self-defense, the teacher was actually teaching the students how to harm others.
Timothy didn't come to class.
Colt thought too loudly, the Quantum Terminal pulled up Timothy's attendance record for him.
Last semester, Timothy's absenteeism was as high as two-thirds, he even missed several final exams. The school didn't make him retake the courses or attend make-up exams at the start of the new term, but instead made emergency arrangements for online make-up exams during finals week.
Hmph, the privileged class.
Author's Note:
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Chapter 11
Timothy was undergoing an examination at Titans Headquarters.
The test results showed that he wasn't cursed, nor was he under the influence of any nonsense magic, there were no tumors in his brain; instead, he had been marked. This mark was of a blessing nature, capable of improving his sleep and allowing him to have sweet dreams.
There is no malice; it feels like a blessing from the Dream God. Listen, Red Robin, it won't suddenly grant you clairvoyance.
The young Titan's expert in mysticism was full of excitement.
Do you read novels? There's a trope about soulmates that is very similar to you. For example, like how only I can see you, how you are always glowing in my eyes, how you turn my world from black and white into color.