Chapter 12
Colt checked the Dream Station every three minutes.
The progress bar didn't light up even once.
Stop looking!
Colt warned himself: the progress bar wasn't Schrödinger's cat; it would only light up once Timothy fell asleep, wouldn't change just because of observation.
Three minutes later, Colt took another look at the Dream Station.
At 12 o'clock, Drake was not asleep.
Colt returned home, saw Birdie lying in a pile of sunflower seed shells, turned off the television that had been playing for six hours.
Birdie turned her head to look at him, then at the black television screen, then back at him, let out an obvious sigh.
"Good afternoon, Robin Bird," Colt said, clapping his hands to greet the bird.
Birdie flapped its wings, but instead of taking flight, it hopped onto the ground, wiggling its plump body as it waddled step by step toward Colt's feet, jumping onto his shoe and looking up.
“Cheep, cheep-cheep!”
The bird doesn't like to move, but its voice is very enthusiastic.
Colt changed Birdie's diaper and cleaned up the mess she left behind.
Hungry? Dad just sent a message saying he sent something back. Let's go see if there's anything to eat.
Praise the conscientious capitalist!
Inside the glass cubicle, Colt opened the Quantum Teleportation blind box and unpacked two preservation containers specifically from Wayne. One contained warm rice with tomato and egg, the other contained grapes and blueberries.
There were no strawberries, but the grapes and blueberries were quite good.
Colt collected samples for testing, while waiting for the data results, he used a small dish to give Birdie some rice, quickly scarfing down his lunch.
The rice at Wayne was even more delicious than the imported rice bought online. The scrambled eggs with tomatoes didn't have that lethal amount of sugar often found in Gotham's Chinese restaurants; instead, they were sweet and sour with a perfect texture. Every single blueberry was larger than a thumb, sweet with a faint floral aroma, the grapes also carried a hint of rose.
Colt counted the blueberries, one for you and one for me, Birdie, then we shared the grapes, one cluster for you and one for me.
Robin Bird has many friends, she eats the larger cluster.
Birdie pecked at a blueberry, tilting her head to watch Colt divide the fruit. Her small, black-bean-like eyes darted around, looking at this cluster of grapes and then that cluster, before she hopped over to the smaller one, carrying the blueberry in her beak.
People love birds and want to give the best to birds.
What a coincidence, the bird thinks so too!
Colt helped Birdie deliver the fruit to the bird feeder in the courtyard. After listening to its chirping as it called out to its feathered friends, he returned to the basement to fill out the data receipt report.
12:50, Drake did not take a nap.
Colt entered the basement.
The first basement level is a renovated workshop shared by father and son, the second basement level is Dad's laboratory, the third basement level is the energy center housing the small-scale reactor, the main server room where the Quantum Superbrain is located.
In the main computer room, a virtual Earth rotated slowly in mid-air, with a virtual light screen floating beside it. This was the "Earth Simulator" sandbox map that the Quantum Superbrain had been running for a long time, at the very top of the light screen, the bolded and enlarged "Comprehensive Prosperity" was displayed as 69.
Colt paused, remembering that the prosperity level was still 73 the day before yesterday.
The prosperity level suddenly dropped, most likely due to another major event such as a natural disaster, a war, or an alien invasion.
Colt didn't pay much attention to it.
When Ghost first discovered the Quantum Superbrain, the Earth Simulator was already running.
Over these nine years, many major events involving sudden natural disasters that caused the Earth to reset have occurred. The serial number of the virtual Earth has been updated to 1729, the highest comprehensive prosperity level has only reached 88.
The more information the Quantum Superbrain processes, the more accurate the results become. In a sense, unexpected occurrences are quite normal in a virtual Earth, which is like a parallel world heading in a different direction.
Joseph's desire to explore parallel universes and higher dimensions was likely because he wanted to find a world where his mother was still alive.
The operation of the Earth Simulator did not affect the normal use of the Quantum Superbrain. Colt sat before the circular console, skillfully pulling out a light screen to log into the Vigilante Forum.
The Vigilante Forum is a semi-official website, supervised by the Justice League and the Avengers, designed to guide and protect young people who imitate superheroes; it is more like a superhero fan forum.
Colt's nickname is Ghost; he is an equipment designer who, after two years in business, is still in the stage of operating at a loss just to build a reputation.
This was normal; wealthy superheroes generally crafted their own equipment, while those without money could only wear pajamas, even if design sketches were provided to them for free, they couldn't afford the materials to build them.
Colt opened the private message and replied to the client.
The first private message is from Beacon Duke Thomas.
Beacon: [Can the boot's flight system be upgraded with an automatic activation feature when danger is detected?]
Colt's spirit jolted. Duke had been adopted by Wayne recently, so as the adopted son of Gotham's richest man, he certainly wouldn't lack money.
Ghost: 【Sure, I'll give you the revised plan tomorrow. 】
Beacon: 【Thank you so much! Can you keep recording the debt? My family only gives me 5 dollars in weekly allowance; I'll work as a driver for my younger brother to pay you back! 】
Is the Wayne family so stingy with their children?
Colt instinctively glanced at the Dream Station.
Would Timothy dream of a bed made of dollar bills? Or a bed made of gold? Cash is inconvenient to use; in the black market, gold is the real hard currency.
14:05, Drake didn't take a nap, but Colt began to daydream.
Colt agreed to let Beacon keep running up the tab.
The design plan only requires mental effort and computing power; he can still afford such things that don't cost any money.
The second private message was from Dax, also a former member of the disbanded Teen Titans.
Dax: [I want to order a Desert Eagle with infinite ammo.]
Ghost: 【I am not the omnipotent Lord of Terror. 】
Most importantly, Dax was so poor that he needed to sell blood just to pay his rent.
The third private message also came from a former Teen Titans member.
Robby: [Donation request from Sunshine Orphanage; the orphanage has recently taken in three infants, two of whom need heart surgery.]
Colt did not touch the 50,000 in living expenses his father gave him; instead, he transferred the remaining 207 dollars in his card into the Sunshine Orphanage's account.
He hoped that a mountain of gold would drop down for Timothy tonight.
Colt wished for that.
Armory: [The flying motorcycle has been modified. I'll let my brother take it out for a test run tonight and provide you with the results.]
Ghost: 【Pray. 】
Colt replied to each private message one by one, then browsed the forum posts, looking for sales opportunities.
The public area of the forum was a mixed bag, filled with posts about fangirling over idols, shipping couples, asking for homework help, showing off merchandise, baiting discussions. The hidden area was by invitation only, requiring an invitation from two or more vigilantes certified by the Justice League, was significantly quieter.
Tony's intelligent butler, Edwin, is a forum administrator, Colt entered through Iron Man's back door.
As for Gotham, Beacon warned that the Mad Hatter had escaped from Arkham, while Red Hood was betting on the outcome of the war between Black Mask and the Penguin.
Colt believed the ultimate winner would be Batman.
As expected, upon checking the odds, the odds for both of them entering Arkham—with Batman taking it all—were far ahead of the rest.
That is the reputation of Gotham.
In New York, Spider-Man was live-streaming his adventure in Hell's Kitchen, while his partner Daredevil looked like he needed a magic eye. Colt liked science, but he also knew a thing or two about the magical world and was willing to act as a middleman.
Halfway through Spider-Man's livestream, Iron Man appeared and shut down the stream!
Colt was a bit nervous.
Spider-Man is a potential client that Colt has his eye on.
Although Spider-Man is currently so poor that he can only work in pajamas, Colt believes that Spider-Man will definitely become a billionaire. He even gave Spider-Man a pair of smart goggles for free during the summer vacation, Spider-Man promised to definitely seek him out for custom equipment once he has money!
What is Iron Man doing here?
Could it be that Iron Man wants to learn from Batman how to raise a sidekick?
..
Colt sent a message to Iron Man's butler.
Edwin, has Tony been keeping an eye on Spider-Man?
Yes, the gentleman started keeping an eye on Spider-Man right when he first debuted. Although the gentleman hasn't said it, you can think of Spider-Man as a brother.
It turns out it wasn't Iron Man who was trying to raid his nest, but rather that he had accidentally cast his "bait" into Iron Man's "nest"!
That pair of smart goggles cost him five thousand dollars just in materials!
Colt's heart bled.
The next second, Edwin sent him a set of exam papers, along with a message from Stark: [Kid, instead of spending your time watching live streams online, you'd be better off doing some practice problems.]
15:35, Timothy was not sleeping.
The problems Stark created were very challenging.
Colt was addicted to solving problems, the more he did, the more he wanted to play with a real particle collider—the kind Tony envisioned that could collide to produce high-dimensional particles.
19:30, Timothy was not sleeping.
Colt went upstairs to have dinner, maintained his skateboard, then used his mental power to scroll the progress bar up, checking it over and over again.
The Dream Messenger blew air bubbles half-heartedly: 【85↑, Puzzles make me happy, hee! 】
Colt was not happy, certainly not giggling.
21：00
Colt was doing his biology homework in the study when he heard the rustling.
In a quiet world where only his own breathing could be heard, the rustling of leaves in the wind was as distinct as thunder.
Colt held his breath.
The progress bar of the Dream Station lit up, the little Robin Bird flapped its wings, struggling to fly forward: [86 ↓, ZZZ……]