Speaking consumes more oxygen, but without sound, despair would spread. Red Robin would occasionally share interesting anecdotes from night patrols, or even gossip about Batman, to lift the spirits of the trapped miners. A blonde youth who looked to be just reaching adulthood tried hard to strike up a conversation with Red Robin, nudging a companion who had closed their eyes to keep them from falling asleep.
"Will Batman really come?" someone murmured.
"He will, I've already received the signal, Batman is heading toward us.." Red Robin's voice suddenly cut off.
The blond man struck the ground with a stone and shouted, "Red Robin? Are you okay? Red Robin! Don't fall asleep!"
Red Robin did not fall asleep; he merely saw a shimmering radiance suddenly seeping from above his head. The radiance rushed toward him and enveloped him incessantly, turning him into a glowing cocoon and stripping him away from the real world. The massive boulders could no longer press down on him; instead, he was met by a light, gentle embrace.
Colt arrived a second later than the Spiritual Power. He gently embraced Red Robin, as if he were holding a piece of tofu, saying, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm back, you can sleep peacefully now."
Red Robin raised his hands, which were covered in blood and dirt, wanting to touch Colt's eyes as if he were speaking, but he couldn't bear to dirty them.
Wonderful, dear Reader, you've arrived just in time." Red Robin stopped pretending to be fine, gasping for the perpetually fresh air within the Ghost field, his voice sounding weak: "I've already bought this mine.
Colt stopped checking his injuries.
I bought this mine," Red Robin said, looking into Colt's eyes, "You can save them.
Yes, I can.
Colt gently took Red Robin's hand and looked toward the blocked passage. His Spiritual Power spread through the stone walls, locating Batman's position. Countless calculations flashed through his mind instantly, deriving all the parameters required for a stable passage. Once the plan was determined, his Spiritual Power cut through the stone as easily as cutting tofu, precisely carving out a path. The severed stone merged with its surroundings, undergoing molecular-level changes to create a new, high-density ore to reinforce the passage.
Colt's body swayed slightly.
Having just finished multiple jumps and then performing large-scale precision operations, his Spiritual Power was almost instantly drained.
Red Robin steadied Colt, opening a small pouch on the left side of his belt with one hand. After pressing it twice, a Spiritual Power supplement popped out of the pouch. He popped the cap with one hand and poured it into Colt's mouth. "Drink."
It wasn't bitter; it actually tasted like strawberry?
Colt licked his lips; it really was strawberry flavored, the speed at which his Spiritual Power recovered with one bottle was even faster than with two.
Red Robin asked, "The high-potency one? You only had one, how do you feel?"
Colt nodded, feeling that he could perform another operation like this in another half hour.
Red Robin breathed a sigh of relief. "Let me out. There are two trapped people who are severely injured and need immediate attention."
Colt looked at the thick, dark 99 ↑ atop Red Robin's head, then at Red Robin's trailing injured leg, but he said nothing. He simply withdrew the Spiritual Power he had left on Red Robin while opening the mine shaft, allowing Red Robin to reappear in reality. He never let go of Red Robin, instead acting as Red Robin's crutch and using his own skateboard to transport the wounded.
“The rescuers are here; you can call him Ghost. The passage has been cleared, so get the two wounded up first, the rest of you wait with me. Batman will be here shortly.”
In fact, just as Red Robin's voice had barely faded, light appeared at the end of the passage, Batman came running over carrying a glow stick.
"Red Robin, report!" Batman's low voice trembled slightly. His gaze swept hurriedly over Red Robin from head to toe as he pulled a communication headset from his utility belt and handed it over. Only then did he crouch down to examine the unconscious casualty, while simultaneously calling out to Oracle on the communication channel to notify the ambulance and doctors to be ready.
Red Robin put on the earpiece, reporting the situation to Batman while assisting him in loading the injured person onto the skateboard.
At its maximum setting, the hoverboard could barely accommodate one person.
"Ghost, send the injured person up and hand them over to the paramedics," Red Robin ordered.
Batman followed Red Robin's gaze for a moment, then issued an order: "Red Robin, hold your position and provide backup for Ghost."
Colt looked at Red Robin's injured leg and pursed his lips tightly, but he turned and left anyway.
..
The underground mines were interconnected, once out of the tunnel Colt had cleared, the paths became extremely complex.
Colt supported the hoverboard as he transported the wounded, encountering Red Robin along the way.
Red Robin could only see the hovering skateboard and the wounded person lying on it. He asked nothing, simply nodded, turned to start running.
“Keep up.”
The skateboard was moving faster than the person.
Red Robin grit his teeth, lunged forward, grabbed the edge of the skateboard, using the wind-assisted board to guide the way. On the road, they encountered Red Hood and Nightwing again; Red Hood charged ahead with his head down, while Nightwing drew fluorescent directional arrows on the ground. Behind them, GCPD police officers with headlamps were busy installing battery-powered lights on the walls.
The emergency responders on the ground were already prepared.
As soon as the skateboard came to a halt, the doctors rushed over to place oxygen masks on the injured, then transferred them onto stretchers, pushed them into the ambulance, connected various life-support devices. Someone muttered, wondering if the skateboard was Batman's latest flying stretcher.
Red Robin glanced at the oversized skateboard following behind the doctors and explained, "Wayne will cover their medical expenses."
Colt knew that Batman would not let the survivors go bankrupt due to medical bills, so he spoke through the skateboard's speakers: "There are more injured people below."
Soon, two doctors carrying medical kits and oxygen tanks sat trembling onto the skateboard, following him down into the mine. The skateboard was incredibly stable and equipped with a Shield Protector; while the wind roared loudly in their ears, they felt only a gentle breeze brushing against their faces inside.
Going down was even faster than coming up.
Everyone who was still alive was rescued. Batman provided his cape to serve as a stretcher, while Nightwing and Red Hood each grabbed a corner of the cape to carry the person. Red Robin's leg received emergency treatment; he didn't try to act tough by moving on his injured leg and worsening the injury, but instead behaved himself and let Batman carry him on his back.
Batman ordered Red Robin to rest, but Red Robin refused to close his eyes.
Colt used the skateboard to transport the last wounded person back, after looking at Red Robin slumped on Batman's back, he chose not to approach any further. He wasn't Robin, but he knew that no Robin could refuse the chance to be close to Batman; Batman's precious warmth would become the motivation for the Robins to persevere.
Red Robin, however, beckoned to Colt, his voice almost a whisper: "Come here, Colt."
You can't call someone by their name while they're in uniform.
Colt thought to himself and moved the skateboard a little closer, but still remained several steps away from Batman.
Batman paused, stepped forward, gently placed Red Robin on the skateboard, entrusting him with a serious tone: "Ghost, please take him back to the Batmobile. Penny will meet him there in a moment. Thank you."
The skateboard made a sound: "You're welcome."
Colt grabbed Red Robin's raised hand, while his other hand covered the eyes obscured by the Domino Mask, as he leaned down to kiss his forehead.
"Goodnight, sleep well." The voice from the skateboard speaker dropped several degrees.
The next second, a pleasant rustling sound rang out, Red Robin finally fell asleep.
Nightwing looked moved, while Red Hood felt a sense of cringe.
The skateboard quickly disappeared from their sight. The blonde man being carried twisted his neck and asked in confusion, "Is Ghost also a Gotham Vigilante? Is Red Robin a pair with him?"
"Shut up. If you have enough energy to talk, then get down and walk on your own," Red Hood threatened.
I can walk down myself. Red Robin is injured, he even left water, food, oxygen for us.." The blond boy pouted, stealing a glance at Red Hood, his voice dropping even lower: "I didn't expect the message left for Timothy to put Red Robin in danger as well.
Red Hood did not leave him behind.
“You did the right thing,” Nightwing said to the blond, easing his mind. “Your name is Bernard, you're a classmate of Timothy Drake, right? You sensed you might be in trouble and messaged a classmate who has the ability to help you; that was the right move. You saved yourself, you saved a friend's father, too.”
Red Hood poured cold water on the situation from the side: "Did nobody tell you that you can't just go around doing market research in Gotham? Especially research involving ore; there are far more corpses buried in those mines than there are living miners. You were just lucky that Drake could find Red Robin in time, otherwise, by the time the police arrived, your bones would probably have rotted into mud.."
Colt touched his ear and lowered the range of the assistive hearing aid, Red Hood's voice quickly faded away.
For some reason, seeing that blond-haired guy named Bernard made Colt feel a sense of annoyance. It wasn't just today; during the first Socioeconomics class of the semester, when the blond guy tried to sit in the empty seat next to him, he couldn't help but fan himself with a magazine to scare the man away. Perhaps it was because the guy was blond, was named Bernard, was also a classmate of Timothy.
Colt sent Red Robin to the Batmobile, when Penny invited him to the Batcave, he refused.
Colt's current state was very strange. Ever since he had concluded through self-reflection that he could not lose Timothy, he had been maintaining a strange kind of calm, as if he had touched some emotional mechanism.
Colt did not hesitate when he let go of Red Robin's hand, his heartbeat remained steady as he watched the Batmobile drive away; his brain was even running through calculation formulas for how long it would take the Batmobile to reach the Batcave.
Colt looked down at his hands, not the one that had just shaken hands with Red Robin's, but the one holding a small, empty vial and a cap stained with a bit of sand.
Spiritual Power is useless to ordinary people and must be stored carefully; even a tiny vial takes up an entire waist pouch. Red Robin knew full well that he wasn't on Earth, yet she still carried such a cumbersome item with her, it truly proved its worth.
Colt tightened the cap on the bottle, shoved it into his pocket, skated his way back the way he came.
He fished the standby Knowledge Explorer from the seabed and brought the massive hunk of metal back home. Even in its curled-up state, the mecha was still over eight meters tall, the garage simply couldn't fit it. Colt decided to dismantle the mecha into parts to make future repairs easier, then began organizing his luggage. The container holding the mecha parts was submerged, but the interior remained unaffected; he left the crate in the garage so it could be used during repairs. His personal belongings were placed in the cockpit and were well-preserved, though Cole Duck needed a cleaning. Items that required special handling, such as the Mars stones, were brought to the basement and placed inside radiation-proof cabinets..
Only after finishing these tasks did Colt remember to use the Quantum Superbrain to let Joseph know he was safe.
Joseph and Tony had already discovered Colt's message and learned from Heimdall that he had crossed the Bifrost. The two were currently arguing over whether to search for him in space or return to Earth to find him.
Having received his safe communication, the parents were still shaken from the fright; one scolded the other for failing to teach their child properly, while the other scolded the other for being unable to keep an eye on their child.
Colt pushed the light screen aside and looked at the quietly rotating Virtual Earth, glancing at the Earth Simulator's control panel.
The Earth has restarted again.
Earth Simulator restarts are the norm, the Virtual Earth's serial number has already reached 1735. The vigilantes on this Earth are all still very young; Timothy hasn't become Red Robin yet, is currently roaming Gotham with a camera to capture photos of Batman and Red Robin.
Colt Drake wasn't there to accompany him.
Colt dragged the light screen back, scrolled the message progress bar to the very bottom, sent a trio of apologies: "I'll remember," "I was wrong," and "Not again," before adding, "I'm so sleepy, I haven't eaten yet."
The parents stopped scolding him; one said to go to sleep immediately, while the other said to eat before sleeping.
Colt chose to eat some compressed biscuits, check the shield protector, check his inbox to handle bills, take a shower, change his bedsheets and pillowcases, then go to sleep.
He had also stayed up for quite a long time; it was time for him to sleep.
In the Dream Station, Little Red Bird was flapping her wings happily as she watched the progress bar climb. [76 ↓, a good day.]
To call it a good day after being injured is a joke!
Colt lay on the bed and closed his eyes. As his body gradually detached from some kind of mechanism, his suppressed emotions surged up, his heart beating faster and faster, it felt as if comic book pages were flipping through his mind, with countless images flashing by.
..
Bernard!
Damn it, it's that blonde!
Colt snapped his eyes open and flipped off the bed.
Sleep? Timothy is going to be snatched away by that blondie!
Colt paced around the bedroom, dropping his hearing aid three times before finally getting it on. He put on his Quantum Terminal, then stuffed his backpack with a charger, a phone, a tablet, a computer, as well as fruit and snacks from Asgard, even some Divine Realm hay for Birdie's nest..
Colt put on his bulging backpack, glanced at the location on his watch, rushed toward Wayne Manor on his skateboard.
Timothy didn't go to the hospital; he was receiving an IV drip in his own room.
Colt leaned in to take a look at the prescription Alfred had written. It consisted mainly of anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving medications to promote wound healing, combined with glucose and saline; he would likely be on an IV drip until the middle of the night.
Birdie was sleeping in its nest by the window, which was lined with soft silk. Its feathers were glossy and sleek; it was clearly being very well cared for.
Colt stroked the bird, which hadn't lost any weight at all and instead felt even sturdier, then sat on the edge of the bed with his backpack, acting as a caregiver for Timothy.
Rustle.. rustle..
The sound was too hypnotic, Colt's consciousness gradually drifted away.
Colt dreamed that he had turned into an ugly duckling, working incredibly hard to grow into a beautiful white swan, only for a Little Red Bird to fly over and ask him, "Want to date? Like, the marriage kind."
He nodded without hesitation. In the next second, the scene jumped to the wedding venue, where the officiant announced, "The grooms may now kiss." Just as Colt was about to lean in for the kiss, Timothy's beautiful eyes grew further and further away.
“You don't love me, you're just using my eyes as a mirror,” Timothy said sadly, even pulling his hair, intending to turn him bald.
Colt was awakened by the pain of his scalp being pulled, he opened his eyes in a daze.