【 139, 0, 255: Hey! Tim! You'll never guess what I saw! (Photo of a real Merfolk) 】
[139, 0, 255: I thought the mermaid show was just people in fish tails playing mermaids, but it turns out they're real Merfolk. For a hundred-dollar tip from the audience, you can even get in the water to interact with them.]
The noisy game room fell silent instantly.
Damian asked with heavy breathing, "Are the Merfolk in Gotham real merfolk?"
Timothy reclaimed his phone with a dark expression: "Mutants who can breathe underwater during summer vacation—even if the wages are low, the aquarium provides them with identity papers, insurance, employee dormitories, they're even allowed to take home the food left by tourists."
Dick murmured, "Aquaman is going to lose it."
"You guys continue, I'm going to take a look." Timothy walked out, grabbing a handful of Cookies as he passed Cassandra.
Bruce stood up and cleared his throat, "I'll go take a look too. The lead researcher at Wayne is right there; holographic virtualization, Super Battery, Quantum Teleportation were his past projects, room-temperature superconductors are his latest discovery.. He is the key to whether or not I can drive the Batmobile through interstellar jumps in the future."
"Father, I can help you." Damian's eyes lit up. His goal clearly wasn't to protect people, but simply to see if he could raise a Merfolk.
Dick rubbed his hands together: "So I'm responsible for making sure Damian doesn't kidnap any Merfolk?"
Duke looked left and right. "It's daytime now; it's Beacon time."
Stephanie pulled Cassandra: "We can assist the Beacon."
Barbara turned her wheelchair: "Alright, I'll head to the Batcave to provide you with information support."
The underground venue of the Gotham Aquarium.
Colt approached the large aquarium, using the Quantum Terminal to film the Merfolk wriggling its tail.
He didn't have any special feelings for Merfolk. If Timothy hadn't happened to dream about him turning into a Merfolk last night, if the morning gift hadn't also been a Merfolk and prince statue, he wouldn't have let Joseph agree when someone asked Joseph if he "wanted to see a real Merfolk performance."
Tickets for the underground Merfolk pool cost five hundred dollars. Spectators can buy jewelry for the Merfolk to wear; for an extra hundred dollars, they can go underwater for a close-up view of the Merfolk; two hundred dollars allows them to shake hands with a Merfolk for three seconds; three hundred dollars allows them to experience a Merfolk's hug for five seconds; four hundred dollars allows them to touch a Merfolk for ten seconds; and five hundred dollars allows them to kiss a Merfolk once..
There wasn't just one Merfolk, but a group of them, looking like a family.
Their hair was red, just like the mermaids in cartoons, though the luster was somewhat dull, their skin was very pale and equally lacking in sheen. They had fin-like ears and fins on their arms, with webbing between their fingers, their nails were neatly trimmed. Their upper bodies were adorned only with a few strands of necklaces, using gemstone-encrusted shells to cover their chests, while their fish tails shimmered as if coated in oil. The young merfolk had some mottled scales near the base of their tails, which even seeped thin streaks of blood when they twitched their tails.
Anyone could see that the Merfolk were being forced to perform, but most people were cheering frantically, some were even throwing money into the water, specifically wanting to interact with a particular Merfolk.
Photography and video recording were strictly prohibited at the venue; not only were armed security guards stationed at every entrance, but waiters with bulging waistbands also stood in every aisle of the spectator seating. These waiters provided service to the audience and would also escort suspicious individuals to side rooms for searches.
The interior was filled with a mist designed to create atmosphere, the air emitted stimulants that excited the central nervous system.
This is so Gotham.
Colt returned to Joseph's side.
"You think they're pitiful and want to save them?" Joseph's lips moved, his voice so low that almost no one in the noisy venue could hear it clearly.
Colt shook his head slightly, then nodded.
He could control himself from looking at the dark side of Gotham, but once he saw it, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Colt sent the intelligence to Timothy.
The latest news in the encrypted group was all intelligence he had sent. Timothy hadn't replied to him for some time, but the watch's location was rapidly approaching.
"If you like, you could clear out your home's swimming pool to raise fish. It's a pity the lake in the residential community was blasted out by dirty bombs, so the water quality has always been terrible; the delicate Merfolk probably wouldn't be able to adapt," Joseph said as he took off his wristwatch and unscrewed his cufflinks. Maintaining a posture of looking straight ahead at the Merfolk performance, he kept his hands low and used the watch and cufflinks to assemble a miniature handgun.
Timothy's location was getting closer and closer.
Colt looked around and found Timothy, who had been led away by the security guard, at the entrance.
Timothy had swapped to an ordinary face covered in freckles, sporting medium-length blonde hair, a hooded sweatshirt, ripped jeans, studded boots. He also wore diamond studs over a centimeter in diameter and held his backpack tightly against his chest, looking left and right with curiosity, appearing like a wealthy young master who had come to Gotham to see the world.
"I'll go cause a disturbance. While they're busy relocating the Merfolk, you follow them and find their hideout." Joseph's expression was as fanatical as the people around him. He pulled out some cash to summon a waiter to purchase the hand-feeding fish add-on, only to turn around and find that his son hadn't followed him.
Joseph pretended to toss a coin into the fish tank, but instead tossed five cents at Colt.
A coin hurts more than chalk.
Colt withdrew his gaze from Timothy, picked up the coin, followed Joseph.
Screech
A piercing sound suddenly rang out through the underground venue, like something hard scraping against a blackboard. The sound wasn't loud, yet it was enough to cause discomfort and ringing in the ears, leaving people clutching their ears and cursing under their breath.
The water in the fish tank surged, in the next second, the ten-centimeter-thick multi-layered tempered glass shattered, water came rushing out.
The security guards fired warning shots into the ceiling.
People stopped swarming toward the exits, moving toward higher ground in a chaotic yet orderly fashion, clearing space for the waiters to move the Merfolk. Although this was the Upper East Side, protected by rules and laws, the street gangs were formally known as corporations, the henchmen of the elite preferred killing when problems arose. This was because killing only required paying a settlement to the relatives, whereas leaving someone alive meant dealing with long-term medical expenses and potential lawsuits, which was far too much trouble. Some people skillfully crouched down with their hands over their heads, while others reported their connections to the waiters in hopes of receiving special treatment; no one protested.
The cheapest thing in Gotham is human life; only Batman cares whether the people of Gotham live or die, right now, it is daytime, it is not yet time for Batman's night patrol.
Wrong, Gotham has a daytime Batman.
A golden figure leaped from the light, drawing waves of shouts.
Who is that?
I think his name is Beacon!
A new Bat-themed vigilante with superpowers, primarily active during the day!
Beacon hasn't been active for long, so he hasn't reached the level of being known by everyone in Gotham.
Immediately after, a blue figure flashed into view. Nightwing, wielding his escrima sticks amidst arcs of electricity, knocked down several armed security guards.
Ah, Nightwing!
Red Robin is here too! Red Robin is in the pool!
Jester and Orphan are here too!
The scene went from chaos to even more chaos. Once the armed security guards were all knocked down, the audience acted like starstruck fans, rushing toward the Vigilante Forum members and treating them like a Merfolk performance to be watched.
Some people were chatting with Jester, asking if Red Hood really had something going on with Jason Wayne, while others took the opportunity to grope Nightwing's buttocks, some even tried to shove dollar bills into his arms.
Bang
A few heavy gunshots rang out. Red Hood landed on the platform where the host stood, his gun slung over his shoulder, as a dull electronic voice emitted from him: "Quiet. Let me see who's screaming."
The person who had just asked Jester about Red Hood's relationship status covered his mouth, the person who had been grabbing Nightwing's buttocks also withdrew his hand, the person who had been stuffing money in also sucked back the saliva at the corner of his mouth.
The scene became extremely orderly.
Everyone obeyed the instructions and evacuated, though some were still muttering questions under their breaths.
Are you all here for a team-building exercise?
What about Batman?
Why didn't Red Robin come?
The Orphan didn't say anything, Jester chuckled, "Red Robin is on a date."
Colt was slowly following behind Joseph when he heard Jester's voice, he peered curiously at Timothy, who was hiding behind a pillar.
Red Robin went on a date.. Who is he going on a date with..
Colt subconsciously searched for a blonde head near Timothy. For some reason, he always felt that if Timothy were in a relationship, whether it was with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, they would have blonde hair.
Joseph moved the microphone of his headset to his mouth, pretending to be on a call: "Colt, I've run into a friend, you should head home first."
Colt nodded, glancing at Joseph's friend Match Long. He felt the man looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before. Colt activated the deep scan function on the Quantum Terminal, matching him to Bruce Wayne in the database.
He understood; this was Batman's secret identity.
Dad, have a great date." Colt's mind worked too fast, he realized his mistake only after the words had left his mouth, so he hurriedly corrected himself: "Sorry, I mean, you can go grab a coffee with a friend, I'll head home after the Merfolk leave.
Joseph didn't say anything, he just snorted in his heart, suspecting that his son was getting too caught up in the idea of going on a date with someone! He currently found everyone in the Wayne family unpleasant to look at, especially Bruce Wayne disguised as Match Long; the child was poorly raised and even dared to confiscate his miniature assembly gun!
Colt drifted in a circle around the entire area.
He wasn't on a skateboard today, his movement speed was only slightly faster than a mall escalator. By the time he landed beside Timothy, the area had been almost entirely evacuated.
Is your team-building activity rescuing Merfolk?" Colt sent a voice message, noticing that Timothy's communication channel was a bit congested. "Are you discussing the action plan? Sorry, Nightwing and the others are within my reception range, I accidentally overheard some of it. They are looking for Code V, but the Beacon couldn't find him even by using superpowers to travel through dimensions.. Do you have any other intel regarding Code V?
Timothy didn't know how to answer.
He couldn't exactly tell Colt that the V in Code V stood for Violet, as in violet eyes, the color of your eyes.
Are you going to help them find themselves?
Chapter 41
Timothy said nothing, only lightly touching Colt's hand.
Colt hurriedly hid his hands behind his back and drifted a little further away.
Timothy looked at him with disapproval.
Colt looked at the busy Bats in the arena and shook his head again: [You will be pulled into the Ghost field.]
Timothy signed: Your father touched you and didn't disappear.
That's because my Spiritual Power is an active skill with Joseph, but it's a passive skill with you.
Colt drooped his head.
Tim sighed softly, flipped his palm, held a cranberry white chocolate muffin in it, bringing it to Colt's eyes.
Colt looked into Timothy's eyes, then at the small cookies in his palm. He carefully picked up a cookie and took a bite, his eyes instantly lighting up.
Timothy whispered, "The healthy, low-sugar version Alfred made today—is it more to your taste?"
Colt nodded heavily, his eyes curving into a slight smile. He might still be too lonely; he rarely smiled normally, but he couldn't help but laugh whenever he was with Timothy.
Red Hood's head suddenly popped up, reaching out to drag Timothy out from behind the pillar: "Look what I found, a little young master all alone! Are these earrings made of glass? They're real? Tsk, such a huge diamond, I thought you were wearing your cufflinks in the wrong place!"
Sir, your name, please." Jester, who was in charge of evacuating the audience, tapped her tablet lightly and spoke with great seriousness, "We need to check whether you have purchased any packages that involve harming Merfolk.
Timothy also pretended not to know them: "Gary Grant, a freshman at Gotham University."
"Very good. You only bought a ticket. Next time, please be careful not to accept any invitations to 'see an exciting show,' Mr. Grant," Jester reminded her seriously.
Timothy replied calmly, "Thanks for the reminder, Jester, but your utility belt is crooked."
"Hi, Mr. Grant. The Merfolk will be sent away soon. Do you want to take one last look at them?" Nightwing crouched on the back of a seat in the audience, tilting his head toward Timothy with a suggestive look.
Timothy glanced out of the corner of his eye at Colt following behind him. If he were alone, he would have introduced the real Merfolk to Colt, explaining how they differed from the ones in his dreams, much like one admires a beautiful flower. But now, he was surrounded by a bunch of troublesome siblings. Especially Jason and Stephanie; they could stir up trouble even when nothing was happening, when something was actually going on, it was even worse. They would appear by his bedside in the middle of the night, one chanting classical opera in his left ear while the other sang rock in his right, until he went mad.