The soaking wet Red Hood was nearly freezing to death, yet he still maintained his cool demeanor: "Little Red Bird, this wheelchair of yours is more reliable than the flying motorcycle modified from the Armory; it actually has a Shield Protector to block the wind and cold. Let me borrow it."
Red Robin looked at Red Hood's feet. "Since you've been looking after my informant, I'll lend you the Healing Lamp to use as well."
Red Hood didn't even say thank you; he quickly figured out how to operate the wheelchair, then waved and left.
Their relationship seemed to be quite good.
Red Robin pulled two energy bars handmade by Alfred from his waist pouch, climbed up the wall, handed one to Colt.
Won't it be boring?
Colt was like a teammate who had been AFK the entire time, not saying a single word throughout the journey. Timothy lent the wheelchair and the Healing Lamp to Red Hood, Colt didn't stop him. It wasn't until Red Robin spoke to him that he finished his AFK state, took the energy bar, pulled Red Robin into the spring-like Ghost field.
“I'm calculating the time it takes for the snow to melt. The Upper West Side used a large amount of de-icing agent during snow removal, which will cause the water levels in the sewers of this area to peak around 4:00 AM. There is a 75% chance that the municipal authorities will take that opportunity to flush the sewers." Colt tapped the Quantum Terminal on his head and shared the light screen in front of him with Red Robin.
Red Robin carefully studied the Gotham map on the light screen, zooming in and out of the sewer routes marked by Colt, his expression turning serious.
There are two sewer refugee gathering points along that route. Places like the Upper West Side, the East End, the Diamond District, the Fashion District, the Municipal District, the Financial District are referred to by some as the Upper East Side. Since sleeping or pitching tents on the streets is not allowed on the surface, some homeless people refuse to leave and instead live in the sewers.
This is a problem that even Batman cannot solve. Although Wayne is willing to provide job opportunities, there are always people who either distrust Wayne or find the work too exhausting. After working themselves to death for a month, the money they earn isn't even as much as what one could get by scavenging through trash cans in the wealthy districts for a single day. Alternatively, they could just snatch a few wallets on the street and live a wonderful life for several weeks.
There are many, many people like this in Gotham, the trash from their lives often causes sewage blockages. At various banquets held by high society, one can frequently hear elite gentlemen dismissing the residents of the sewers as a cancer on the city, speaking casually about how they could turn people into slime.
Red Robin thought the 75% calculated by Colt was still too conservative; the possibility of the municipality using melted snow to flush the sewers was as high as 90%.
In fact, both he and Batman had taken this into account. It was just that in their calculations, the water level would rise tomorrow at noon; after all, the "responsible" municipal officials never worked overtime at night.
"Your calculations are very meaningful." Red Robin kissed Colt, then notified Oracle and the others to arrange for the early evacuation of the sewer residents.
Colt watched Red Robin busily working for the lives of others, sweating despite the freezing snow and ice, felt his own blood begin to boil with excitement. If reality were a game, a notification like [Sanity +10] [Passion +10] would probably appear above his head.
Colt understood the evil of human nature deeply. Oak Tree Manor had once been a community for the wealthy, even those big shots who weren't at the very top of the pyramid were never satisfied with ordinary luxuries. Some of them enjoyed consuming their own kind, while others loved making shoes and bags out of the skin and bones of their peers; they were less like humans and more like demons.
Colt feared that by seeing too much darkness, he would unconsciously come to view darkness as normal; he did not want to become an evil god who unknowingly sprouted tentacles from his throat.
Red Robin was like an anchor, stabilizing his mental will and preventing him from getting lost in the vast sea of darkness.
Colt stopped being a bystander and released his Spiritual Power to scan, searching for the wanderers hiding in the sewers. Every time he saw a scene that caused his SAN to drop, he would turn his head to look at Red Robin, allowing his sanity to recover.
Everyone worked busily until five in the morning. The flood peak in the sewers subsided, the mixed, unpurified torrent rushed into the Gotham River.
No one was discussing the pollution. In Gotham, pollution was merely the smallest of the problems.
Batman stood atop a Gargoyle and asked the Red Robin beside him, "Are you still going to Oak Tree Manor?"
"I'll be going home for the New Year." Red Robin waved to him and leaped down, his red cape unfurling in the air, only to suddenly vanish the next second.
Batman narrowed his eyes slightly: Ghost.
Within the Ghost field, Red Robin held Colt's hand as he leaped between skyscrapers, telling Colt the number of every Gargoyle. Every Bat had a favorite Gargoyle; Red Robin's favorite was at the northeast corner of the clock tower, with a flat beak, looking just like a Monster Duck.
They were in no hurry to return home; instead, they squeezed together on the Monster Duck, whispering to each other, sharing occasional kisses, acting all clingy and affectionate.
Colt's gaze turned toward the east for the third time.
"Are you waiting for sunrise?" Red Robin asked.
Colt shook his head. "Red Hood drove the Batmobile into the Shipon River."
"Good question, the Batmobile is still underwater." Red Robin followed his gaze, his expression turning serious.
Colt turned to look at him: "The Flying Skateboard can dive; its load capacity exceeds 5 tons."
You need to get home before Joseph wakes up. It's 5:12 now; we have 48 minutes to salvage it and bring it back." Red Robin paused. "Don't use the Flying Skateboard; try using your Spiritual Power.
The two people, who had been strolling leisurely, stepped onto the Flying Skateboard and sped toward Shipon Bridge.
Colt found the Batmobile's crash site, his Spiritual Power spread out beneath the water, actually ensnaring the vehicle resting on the bottom. He looked at Red Robin in surprise, "Has your forgery technique evolved to the point where you can directly turn the Batmobile into yours?"
Red Robin cleared his throat. "Actually, I didn't buy that mine."
Clatter
The Batmobile, which had just been pulled from the water, fell down again.
Colt was expressionless. "I think my Hearing Aid is broken."
It's not broken. I wanted to buy it, but the other party refused to sell." Red Robin turned his head and smiled at him. "Colt, the fact that you can't touch it is a limit you've placed on yourself.
Why tell me?" Colt felt as if a veil had been shattered, his mind both clear and chaotic. "If I could pull things that don't belong to me into a Ghost field, I could steal, rob, kill.. I would become Red Robin's enemy and do very dangerous things.
You aren't an enemy; you are the one I love." Red Robin leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Don't belittle yourself; you won't become a villain. When you're bored, you only calculate the speed at which snow melts, rather than calculating how much explosive force is needed to make Arkham disappear.
Is it possible that I have 108 different plans to wipe Arkham off the map?
Colt didn't look at Red Robin, but instead stared at the rippling surface of the river, contemplating whether to break the rules and take the Batmobile away.
Red Robin suddenly opened the small computer on his wrist and cried out, "Colt, your dad woke up early; he just pulled open the curtains in the room."
"You can't point the monitor at my dad's room! If he finds out, he'll really beat you up!" Colt gritted his teeth. Upholding the fine traditions of thriftiness, honesty, stamp collecting, he temporarily abandoned his principles, using his Spiritual Power to swirl the Batmobile, dragging the vehicle toward home like a kite in the wind.
Red Robin tapped the screen of his small computer.
Colt sped back to Oak Tree Manor on his Flying Skateboard, parked Red Robin and the Batmobile in the backyard, turned to leave, but he paused when he caught a glimpse of what Red Robin was working on. He stopped and asked, "I saw Ghost's file, what did you check?"
"What I checked was that your development of spiritual power is less than one-tenth of human brain development." Red Robin closed the small laptop.
"Last time you said my development of Spiritual Power had reached 10%, now it has dropped to 1%?" Colt questioned the accuracy of the data.
You haven't regressed; it's that my overall assessment of your Spiritual Power has increased from 100 to 1,000." Red Robin winked at him. "Fantastic, Ghost.
"Drake, you'd better go take a nap right now; you've already prevented me from opening any treasure chests for two days." Colt rushed over and bit Red Robin's cheek.
He had wanted to do that for a long time.
It tasted wonderful!
Colt left a bite mark on Timothy's face and rushed back to the room joyfully. He quickly changed into his pajamas, rubbed his eyes, picked up the sleepy Birdie, then opened the locked door. Leaning against the railing, he greeted Joseph, who was walking toward the kitchen: "Dad, I don't want to eat bread. Make me some bone porridge."
Eating meat to supplement the shape, so bone porridge is for calcium, right? Last night, a video of Red Robin using a flying wheelchair to transport the wounded was trending on the Gotham forum, the energetic Little Red Bird didn't look like he was lacking calcium at all.
Joseph rolled his eyes. "How many servings?"
"Three." Colt gestured with his fingers.
"Come down, let's have a chat." Joseph beckoned.
"Two servings will do." Colt planted his feet firmly, while Birdie instead flew down.
Joseph snorted coldly, "The house isn't lacking for his little bit of rice."
Colt immediately acted just like Birdie, pouncing toward Joseph's side and hugging Joseph's left arm, resting his head on Joseph's left shoulder: "Daddy, I love you so much."
"Don't learn that smooth-talking style from the Waynes; they say they love everyone they meet." Joseph held a stereotype of Gotham Sweetheart.
"Calling people 'darling' is just social etiquette," Colt tried to defend.
"That's because they forget other people's names." Joseph knew the manners of high society all too well.
"Bruce might forget a female companion's name, but Timothy certainly wouldn't," Colt said, defending Timothy.
Joseph raised his voice: "He dares to bring a female date to a banquet while in a relationship with you?"
How should I put this? Sometimes Timothy even has to pose as Bruce's date!
"I don't have a choice about being his date, do I?" Colt hoped Joseph could be a bit more magnanimous; there were always some banquets that were inconvenient to attend alone.
So you're positioning yourself as a female companion?" Joseph focused on the word "female," his teeth clenched. "I remember raising a son, not a daughter.
"Dad, we are all boys." Colt was certain Joseph was looking for trouble.
“I know you are both boys. Since you are both boys, with your abilities, you could easily pull him into your own spatial domain. Then suppress him, leaving him completely unable to fight back,” Joseph instructed.
Why would we fight? I don't like fighting." Colt paused, "No matter what you say, we aren't breaking up.
I'm not forcing you two to break up," Joseph said, looking seriously at his son, "Have you two slept together yet?
"I only started dating him after I came back from Asgard, so things didn't develop that quickly!" Colt's face turned red.
He walked toward the kitchen with stiff, uncoordinated steps and started washing rice to cook porridge for himself.
Joseph breathed a sigh of relief and took out the ribs to defrost, while simultaneously catching his son up on the important lessons he should have learned during middle school.
Listen, Colt, having sexual relations with a partner is normal; there's no need to feel ashamed. Although you have lost some years, your body and mind might not be fully developed, Daddy believes you can learn to handle emotions more maturely and take on more responsibility through this relationship. Daddy needs to praise you—you were right to choose a gradual approach. Daddy hopes you can continue to maintain this and treat sex with caution..
Joseph took the opportunity to give Colt a lesson in sexual health: ".. You aren't lacking online instructional videos, but I've bought a book and placed it on your desk; remember to read it when you have time. There is a box of sanitary products in the cloakroom; regardless of which one of you is the TOP, you must use a condom."
Colt's face looked as red as if he had been boiled. "I'll be careful."
Joseph pressed further, "Are you a TOP?"
Colt lowered his eyes, "I think being a BOTTOM sounds good too."
Joseph's expression darkened instantly.
Colt tried to please him, "Dad, I'm not going anywhere today. I'll be your lab assistant."
"No need. I have to go out today, so you can go back and get some sleep. I can see your dark circles clearly from twenty meters away," Joseph drove him out of the kitchen.
"Your eyesight is truly amazing, Dad," Colt said, giving a thumbs-up in praise.
Sigh, his skin was so pale that even the slightest redness or bruising on his face appeared incredibly prominent. Colt began to understand why Timothy used makeup; it was truly a case of "one becomes like those they associate with." He really needed that drawer full of concealer that Timothy had right now.
Timothy did not catch up on his sleep; he brewed himself a cup of coffee using coffee beans produced by Dreamscape.
One day, he would install the same kind of coffee machine from Dreamscape in every single Safe House. Truly fully automatic, just like a water dispenser, where one could get a perfect cup of coffee just by pressing a button!
Timothy took a sip of the bitter coffee and felt instantly refreshed.
As expected of the dream coffee, setting aside its taste, the refreshing effect is exceptionally fast.
'I love Colt!'
Timothy raised his glass, looking contentedly out the window at the pure white grass and the clean road.
'Wait, a clean road surface? When I came over last night, the snow was still half a meter deep, but now the snow from the entrance to the road has actually all been cleared!'
Surveillance footage showed Joseph standing at the intersection at midnight, remotely controlling a snowplow.
'My God, so this is what being a father is like!'
Timothy rubbed his face, deciding to work hard and turn Joseph's patent into a money-printing machine as soon as possible.
His plans to work overtime during his vacation soon went down the drain.
At seven in the morning, a low-profile black armored vehicle blocked Timothy's Aston Martin at the intersection. Joseph rolled down his window and said, "You'd better go home and wait for half an hour. Eat the breakfast Colt sent you, then let him get a good sleep. But don't touch him, understand?"
Timothy nodded very obediently, "Understood."