Bruce, although I may not be as experienced as you, I have been through enough," Timothy protested, the question itself representing a lack of trust. "I've been affected by Poison Ivy's pollen, been Alice to the Mad Hatter, accidentally drank poison equivalent to an aphrodisiac, even been cursed by a magician.. I can face a Succubus and distinguish whether it's true feeling or just being charmed.
Bruce stared him down. 'All I need is a yes or a no.'
“Yes. When I first met him, the sensation was so intense, it felt like being struck by lightning, so I gave myself a dose of Alertness Potion. When my mind was filled with his shadow for several consecutive days, I not only took psychological tests but also sought medical help to see if I had been hit by Charm, but in the end, only a blessing was found.” Timothy paused, then added, “On the fourth day of meeting him, I entered a deep sleep under the blessing of the Dream Sovereign, the connection between us deepened. That night, I remembered my memories regarding Colt. Before the Arkham riot occurred, I had many photos with him; although those photos have since become solo shots, you can still distinguish from the poses whether someone was beside me or not. I am certain he truly exists, he is crying out to me for help; I must reach out and grab him.”
Bruce offered a warning: 'You also need to rule out one possibility: Colt has always seemed to carry a magical aura around him since he was a child, one that can influence those around him. Your sudden, intense passion—could it be the result of his ability?'
Timothy protested again, "Bruce, Colt does indeed have some special abilities, but you can't deny that true love at first sight exists. I'm going through puberty and am influenced by hormones; it's normal to have occasional irrational impulses."
See, you really are being affected.
Bruce spoke with his eyes, then he turned on the computer in the study, connected to the Batcomputer, through several layers of secret commands, entered a hidden section to open a file.
The file was from Joseph and Alisa, containing Joseph's grades from his youth, as well as photos of Alisa when she was young.
Bruce turned the computer monitor toward Timothy.
Timothy looked over it carefully and didn't think there was anything wrong.
Bruce clicked the mouse. "This is from after Colt was born. You should cross-reference it, especially Joseph's papers from October and November nineteen years ago."
Timothy scanned through them quickly, his brow gradually furrowing.
In his memory, Joseph had always been a super genius. However, the papers Joseph wrote nineteen years ago were only at the level of an ordinary genius, whereas after Colt was born, his IQ seemed to have suddenly skyrocketed. Within a single year, he obtained doctoral degrees in engineering and materials science, even became one of the top three scholars in the world in the field of Quantum Physics. This could not be explained away by saying that "he got married, his wife became pregnant, he needed to earn money seriously, so he focused more on his work and finally reached a breakthrough."
As a retired cheerleader, everyone thought Alisa would become an ordinary housewife, but unexpectedly, she became even more beautiful after having her child, her health grew better and better. Just by practicing gymnastics as a hobby, she won an Olympic gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics; her life was simply like it had been given a cheat code.
Timothy shook his head. "This degree of gradual change doesn't break the limits of humanity."
“Don't deceive yourself. Bat Mite said our world is just a comic book in a higher-dimensional universe, that the so-called Edit can change the fates of people in the comic at any time.” Batman raised his hand to stop Timothy from interrupting. “I'm not saying Colt holds the pen that edits our fates, but his soul comes from a higher-dimensional world. He knows our destinies, he is born with the 【Edit】 ability. He will make the people around him gravitate toward the script in his heart.”
Timothy frowned. "Colt has never harmed anyone; he likes Batman, he likes every one of us."
Batman nodded. "Yes, he was an innocent idealist who came to Gotham with the dream of changing the world, trying to become the [Protagonist] who holds the script. He didn't know how to hide; he approached the [Characters] who were the focus of destiny, actively stepping into the darkness to gaze into the abyss, exposing himself to the eyes of fate."
Batman sighed, "Starting with Ratcatcher and Firefly, then Man-Bat, Scarecrow, Black Mask, Joker, the world's malice began to target him one after another. He was too young back then, his power had not yet grown, so he was erased from this world by Edit, vanishing completely."
No, you remember him, Joseph also remembers him, he didn't completely fail. I remember him too, he hasn't completely disappeared." Timothy pressed, "What exactly happened back then?
Bruce pulled up another hidden file: "After the explosion at the school, Colt realized he wasn't the [Protagonist]. He said he wanted to go back and burn down the **editorial office, hoping that someone would remember him. I was the one he chose; as long as I still remember, it proves he is still active. If I were to forget one day, it would mean he has failed completely. Then, he reversed time briefly, teleported Batman to another location, disappeared with the bomb beneath Gotham Elementary. Look at this."
Timothy leaned in to take a closer look. 'Neural structures.. the core code of an AI?'
Bruce nodded. "I thought the price of Colt's departure would be extinction on a rule-based level, but Joseph claimed to have seen Colt's Ghost at home, convinced that his son was waiting for him to save him in a place humans cannot reach. You know how much damage a mad scientist can cause for the sake of revenge; to appease Joseph, I told him that the intelligence from heaven is a power that can bring a Ghost back to the mortal realm and resurrect the dead. There have indeed been instances in history where the dead were resurrected through love, so Joseph believed it. We reconstructed a new identity for Colt to maintain his existence in a secular sense. A year later, the Batcomputer discovered a peculiar cluster of data."
Timothy's eyes lit up with increasing excitement: 'So this is the original Ghost!'
That's right, this is the prototype of Colt returning to this world. He forgot everything, became cautious, learned to hide himself. After a failed capture, he refused to return to Gotham for a long time, then he was picked up by Stark's intelligent butler.
Bruce curled his lip, very dissatisfied that Gotham's Ghost had been snatched away by New York.
Stark has been raising Colt like a little child under his own care. It wasn't until five years ago, when Stark attempted to create mechanical life and Colt almost vanished again while protecting Stark's smart butler, that Stark officially took him on as a student. Calling him a student is one thing, but it's more like he's his son.
Stark had even issued a warning to Batman on Colt's behalf, forbidding Batman from bullying his student in Gotham. In fact, the current cooperation between the company and Stark was even facilitated for Colt's sake.
Timothy carefully observed the mass of AI core code data that resembled a human brain, finding it more and more adorable the longer he looked at it. In front of Bruce, he copied and saved the file, then sent it to Red Robin Cloud.
Colt is still in action, he has allies, like the supreme cosmic concept that creates connections for us." Love made Timothy both fearful of loss and optimistic. His tone was light and full of expectation: "Colt's situation is improving, he's getting closer and closer to our world, proving that he isn't the one losing in the war.
"Is that all you can think of?" Bruce looked at Timothy with disapproval.
Timothy looked back disapprovingly: "Do you think Colt has fallen into a disadvantage? Or is the Dream Sovereign a henchman of [Edit], intentionally using the connection to pull him back to our world to expose his existence?"
“I agree that 'things are looking up',” Bruce said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The hope lies within yourself. You have to be his anchor, to hold him and stabilize him. I can't help you with that."
You can help," Timothy proposed with a final question: "Tell me about the existence of white lies. Who has died, yet is still alive? And who is alive, yet is already dead?
Bruce was considering it.
“I used to doubt you were talking about Colt, but on second thought, it probably isn't him.” Timothy's eyes clearly said, 'If you don't tell me, I'll search through every hidden directory in the Batcomputer.' Of course, even if he did say it, once Timothy realized there were still hidden directories in the Batcomputer that he hadn't accessed, Red Robin would find the time to thoroughly scour the Batcomputer once more.
Batman pulled up a surveillance video from a hidden sector on the Batcomputer.
At the intersection next to Boulder Plaza, a truck crashed a sedan into a boulder, crushing the car into a wreck. The driver died on the spot. The time.. April 16th, nine years ago, at 10:41 AM.
The first explosion at Gotham Elementary was at exactly 11:00, the four-hands performance by Timothy and Colt was also at exactly 11:00. They began waiting by the side of the stage at 10:55, Colt turned to leave while he was waiting. That means the time after the reversal was 10:55, the car accident had already occurred.
Timothy was calculating the time in his head.
In the surveillance footage, blood flowed from the crushed sedan. The truck driver got out of his vehicle to check the situation, called someone, then drove away to escape. This section of the road was cordoned off, with no vehicles or pedestrians passing through for several dozen minutes.
It wasn't an accident; it was premeditated murder.
The time was 10:55, there was nothing unusual at the scene. After another five minutes of silence, at exactly 11:00, the image jumped like a skipped frame in a film; the crushed car became intact, through the car window, Joseph could be seen slumped over the steering wheel.
Joseph raised his head; it was a living Joseph.
Bruce said, "Joseph refused to manufacture weapons for the Black Gang, coincidentally, the bulletproof car he uses daily had its braking system sabotaged on this very day. He borrowed a car from a colleague, but he still met with a car accident."
If Colt can modify reality, why didn't Alisa come back to life?" Timothy didn't understand. "As far as I know, Colt had a deeper bond with his mother.
Bruce had long studied this: "This is why I named Colt's ability 【Edit】; his ability is limited by his own perception. Alisa and Joseph were his closest family members, the people most deeply influenced by him, having been thoroughly permeated by his ability. He knew of Alisa's death and believed it to be true, so death became a fact. But Joseph died in a place he could not see; he denied the existence of death, so when he departed, the power remaining within Joseph erupted, reality was modified."
"He lost Alisa; when he fully remembers, he will surely be devastated." Timothy began to feel sorrow on behalf of Colt.
Bruce sighed, "Even if I said that love is less stable than family or friendship, it wouldn't change the fact that you want to defy the rules for him, would it?"
When I reach your age, I might find myself sighing just like you. But for now, I still have enough courage and drive to love someone; after all, he is my dream partner." Timothy patted his pocket, pulled out a green apple lollipop, handed it to Bruce. "Batty Candy that Colt made by hand; it's a bit melted, but it still tastes great. Consider it a thank-you gift for today.
Bruce swirled the lollipop in his hand and let out another sigh. "I'll notify Alfred to start planting the flowers for the wedding venue."
Timothy smiled with pursed lips. "Thanks, but I haven't confessed my love to him yet."
Bruce's eyes widened suddenly, putting on a performance of being utterly stunned. "You're declaring at home that you're going to marry someone before you've even confessed?"
It's quite normal. He has been alone for too long, forcing himself to become an introverted and reserved person, he is very conservative regarding emotions. Too much enthusiasm might lead to his discomfort or even avoidance," Timothy spoke as if giving an academic report, while Bruce acted like a supervisor reviewing a thesis. "I plan to take it step by step, slowly infiltrating his life. Once he has adapted to me, grown accustomed to me, becomes unable to live without me, I will confess my feelings to him. He will have no other choice, then everything will fall into place naturally. We will get married. He will look forward to being with me forever.
Oh," Bruce let out a meaningless grunt, "Tim, while I love you and wish you happiness, I'm going to give Joseph a heads-up about his son's emotional state.
That's terrifying! He actually applied detective thinking to romance!
Go ahead, Joseph is a hurdle I will overcome sooner or later," Timothy said with absolute confidence. "Right now, I am the only one by Colt's side; I am the whole world in his eyes, he has no other choice. In the future, even if Colt possesses the entire world, I will occupy his heart, he still won't have any other choice.
The terrifying Timothy!
Chapter 43
Colt sat on Bruce Wayne's private jet. To be precise, he had an anti-loss safety leash tied around his hands, with the other end tied to Joseph's hand, sitting on a suitcase as it moved along with the plane.
Joseph said that doing it this way would allow him to hitch a ride, saving him a lot of effort since he wouldn't have to fly alongside the plane himself.
In fact, it wasn't easy at all.
Besides Joseph, there was the flight crew and a research team consisting of about a dozen experts on the plane. Colt had to perform micro-operations on his Spiritual Power, ensuring he covered his luggage that he couldn't show to others, while also controlling the tension of the leash to maintain his connection to reality and prevent pulling Joseph into his own Ghost Field.
Joseph hoped he would focus on practicing his Spiritual Power micro-manipulation and have no time to think about anything else.
Joseph's plan was excellent, but Colt was not the same Colt he was a month ago. In order to hold hands with Timothy in public, Colt had been practicing his spiritual power micro-manipulation intensely. He had already mastered how to maintain the pull of spatial overlap without pulling the person into his own Ghost field, all while multitasking to use his phone.
Colt wanted to send Timothy a message for the eighteenth time, only to delete it eighteen times.
He thought of that kiss from this morning again.
It must have been a kiss, after all, since a tongue was used. A normal person wouldn't use their tongue to disinfect someone, especially when the other person's wound is in their mouth.
What was Timothy thinking about?
Does he like him?
He probably should, because no one would hold hands, hug, or kiss someone they hate.
Colt carefully recalled every little detail of his relationship with Timothy since they met; the ambiguity seemed to have begun when Timothy started calling him "Ghost classmate."
Timothy seemed gentle, but in reality, he carried a natural sense of detachment when interacting with others. Aside from a standard handshake, he rarely had physical contact with his classmates, yet Timothy always liked to get handsy with him.
Colt felt a sense of closeness and restraint in Timothy, but whenever he tried to grab Timothy, Timothy's hands would proactively reach out to him.
Hugs were the same, as were kisses.
Timothy ran forward, taking ninety-nine steps, then stopped right in front of him, leaving him the choice to step forward or step back.
Colt naturally had only one choice, so he took a step forward and was caught; Timothy never let his expectations go unfulfilled.
This morning's kiss was the same.
When saying goodbye, he should have kissed her again. Timothy would have definitely kissed him back, making it two kisses.
Colt buried his head in his arms, feeling as regretful as if he had lost two hundred million.
Joseph glanced at him, his brow furrowed, let out a cold snort.
The group of experts discussing nearby stopped, someone asked cautiously, "Doctor, is there a problem?"
Although everyone in this group of experts held a doctorate, Joseph was the only one they addressed directly as Doctor.
Colt turned his head.
Joseph looked at his son's watery, shimmering eyes and his face, which was red all the way down to his neck. His mouth twitched as he suppressed the urge to hack into his son's phone to snoop. "It's nothing, I just remembered the vegetables we planted at home; if left alone for a while, they'd be eaten by wild boars."
Colt didn't understand.
The green onions and lettuce grown at home are all kept on the second-floor terrace, where wild boars cannot reach them at all. Most of the lettuce is harvested by him to be made into dehydrated lettuce, the rest is sent to the neighbors along with the green onions, where Timothy helps with watering and care.
The experts began to gossip.
Does the Doctor grow vegetables too? I have a specialized greenhouse for vegetables at my house; the children love eating the fruits and vegetables they grow themselves. I wonder if the arrangements in New York are for apartments or detached villas. If it's a villa, I want to clear a patch of lawn for a vegetable garden. The water and soil in New York are relatively clean, so the vegetables grown there should be healthier than those in Gotham.
Don't even think about it. New York isn't as free as Gotham; growing vegetables in your yard is illegal and you'll be fined.
Exactly, I heard that raising chickens, ducks, or rabbits, even using containers outside to collect rainwater, is illegal.
I heard that companies in New York don't hire people with criminal records either.
Why is that? Millions of people can't find work; aren't you afraid they'll take to the streets with guns to protest?
Maybe people with criminal records in New York are in the minority.
That's nothing, New York companies won't even hire people without a fixed address.
My god, even the street Black Gang provides room and board when recruiting! To reject someone outright like that, it's too dark!
Gotham is still better.
Exactly. I heard the taxes New Yorkers pay are equivalent to twice what people in Gotham pay.