Joseph took a half-step back, leaning against the bookshelf, his voice dropping. "Why?"
This conversation should have happened much sooner. But you never answer my calls, your text messages show as unread. When I come to find you, you always say you're very busy, tell me to speak to Tim if I have something to say, then just transfer money to my card." Colt looked at Joseph seriously. "Dad, are you afraid to see me? What is it that makes you feel so guilty toward me?
"I.." Joseph didn't dare look his son in the eye.
Colt walked up to Joseph. 'I know everything,' he said.
I know you know everything," Joseph murmured haltingly. "Colt, I never wanted to recall that terrible day. I remember dying, yet I am still alive, while you and Alisa have left forever. Then, a new level suddenly appeared in the basement, a mass of translucent white energy spat out a radiance that wove into a phantom image of Earth. I knew it was you; I knew it was you the moment I touched it. You said, 'A gentleman's revenge is never too late'; that you had a grand plan, that you wanted me to wait ten years, then Alisa would return. But there was no place for yourself in your plan. You said we were never meant to have children, that you were someone who shouldn't exist. You said you still had a home, that you would return to that home.
Your home is right here. I watched you grow from an embryo into an adult; how could you not be our child? I attacked you, turned you into a Ghost, stripped you of your memories. But that's for the best—I will become whatever kind of father you desire. Everything is progressing perfectly; you are getting closer and closer to being a living person. You are growing up, you've even formed new connections with others. Then, Timothy told me something happened to you. A parallel world's timeline regressed fifteen years, you collapsed before the Earth Simulator. I saw my counterpart in that world, I knew you had reclaimed your power, that you were rebooting your grand plan..
Joseph pressed his hands onto Colt's shoulders, his eyes filled with madness: "Colt, I'm sorry for leaving you, but I have no regrets. You are my child, I must keep you. If you leave, Alisa will surely be angry with me when she returns."
Mom won't be angry," Colt said, hugging him. "I won't leave; this is my home.
Joseph's eyes cleared: "What do you mean, you won't leave?"
Colt told him, "Tim went to London to find angels and demons to ask about the specific mechanics of True Love Magic. His counterpart told him that True Love Magic could lock my soul and keep me in this world."
Oh," Joseph said skeptically. "You're not lying to me just to keep me steady, are you? After all, once you pull the timeline back and restart the world, you'll just walk away with a wave of your hand, leaving nothing but a blank slate without even leaving us our memories, I won't even be able to hold you accountable.
Colt had indeed planned it that way at first.
I'm not lying to you, I have really decided to stay. Even if you don't believe me, you should believe Tim.
Joseph suddenly blurted out, "Are you two going to get married first?"
Colt didn't understand why the conversation had jumped from a serious topic to pressuring them to get married.
Eighteen is an age for learning, not an age for starting a family.
Joseph's expression was very serious: "The old grandmother in The Little Mermaid once said that only when someone loves you, lets the priest place his right hand in yours, promises to be faithful to you forever, whether in the present or the future, will a Merfolk possess an immortal soul."
It seems that was why he gave Tim the picture book of The Little Mermaid.
Colt looked at Joseph with a gaze that said, "You've also been poisoned by 'True Love Magic'," and changed the subject: "I have more reliable scientific methods, but Dad, are you sure you want to use your current look to welcome Mom home?"
Joseph rubbed his face and made a phone call to have his assistant schedule an appointment with a hairstylist and a beautician for him.
"I can make you look ten years younger directly," Colt said.
Joseph hung up the phone: "You'd better conserve your strength and not waste it on me."
Colt drank his coffee unhappily, sticking out his tongue at the bitterness, even complained in his dreams that night that Joseph didn't trust him.
Timothy said gloomily, "I suspect you're lying to me, too."
Colt looked up, realizing Timothy wasn't joking, immediately cried out in his own defense.
How could someone as honest and trustworthy as him suffer such a total loss of credibility in the eyes of someone important!
Since you aren't lying, then why won't you research True Love Magic with me?" Timothy said righteously. "Don't say anything about feeling that idealism is unreliable; your own power is the evidence of idealism's existence. Furthermore, it was you who personally sabotaged the high-dimensional exploration experiment, forcing me to abandon reliable science and choose to pursue unreliable magic.
"Do you all know that it was I who cut the signal and sabotaged the experiment?" Colt asked cautiously.
Timothy nodded, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
Colt buried his head in Timothy's chest and groaned, "Tony is going to scold me to death; I don't dare go see him anymore."
Timothy tousled Colt's hair into a bird's nest and hummed, "You're actually only afraid of him scolding you, not afraid of breaking my heart."
“Because I know you won't get angry with me; you'll only wonder where you failed to be thorough enough, thinking I had no choice but to do this.” Colt wrapped his arms around Timothy's waist and kissed Timothy's heart through his clothes.
His heart rate quickened.
Timothy slowly smoothed his disheveled hair with his fingers and asked softly, "So, what is the reason you had to do this?"
Colt buried his head even deeper. "My hometown is just an ordinary world. I can't reveal its location, or it might allow the gods and demons of this world to infiltrate it."
So you promised me you'd wait for me in my hometown, you were lying." Timothy gave a light snort. "Your credit score is bankrupt.
Deduct a little less, don't let me go bankrupt." Colt looked up, looking pitifully at Timothy. "I got perfect scores on both my ACT and SAT, I still want to go to university. Can you leave me a little bit of credit, please?
Timothy was very strict: "No, Gotham University also accepts students with zero credit scores. Having a bankrupt credit score won't affect your college enrollment."
Colt used his fingers to push the corners of Timothy's serious mouth upward. "But having a credit score of zero requires donating a building. My money is hard-earned; I can't bear to give it away."
Timothy stepped on the Golden Mountain beneath his feet. "Such hard-earned money indeed."
“Gold is gold, money is money.” Colt kissed Timothy's chin. “Would you really let me take the gold you worked so hard to dream of and exchange it for money to donate to the school?”
Timothy pondered, "I'll donate a building for you instead."
“Your money is my money too; you can't just donate it recklessly.” Colt bit Timothy's chin. "Plus points."
"No." Timothy remained unyielding.
Colt pushed him down and sat on him, grinding his teeth against his chin: "Are you going to add it or not?"
Timothy yielded, but with a condition: "If we celebrate our birthdays together, then it's a double score."
Colt released his chin, gave a comforting kiss to the teeth marks on it, then kissed his lips, negotiating, "Your birthday, my birthday, two birthdays mean double the points."
Okay." Timothy took off the ring made of purple gems and slipped it onto Colt's middle finger. "This is the proof.
Colt looked at the ring on his hand, then at the nervous Timothy. He kissed the power stone on the ring, then plucked a golden blade of grass, twisted it into a grass ring, put it on Timothy.
Colt said, "Two vouchers, we need to maximize the points."
Timothy looked at the ring, his voice hoarse: "Okay."
"Jack and Janet fighting shouldn't cost me points," Colt said softly, adding a condition.
Timothy said nothing.
Breathe, Tim." Colt blew air toward Timothy's chin. "You'll wake up suffocating if you lack oxygen in your dreams.
Timothy took a deep breath: "We can't restart time; that is Batman's bottom line."
I know, the New World Project modifies the existing underlying code. Clear debuffs, add buffs. According to the laws of conservation of cosmic energy, the debuffs in Gotham could replace the entire Milky Way; resurrecting a few humans is just a drop in the bucket." Colt was more worried about another point: "Jack married someone else after Janet left; what happens if a family war breaks out after they are resurrected?
They are adults; they can resolve their own conflicts." Timothy hugged Colt tightly. "I want to see your resurrection list.
There was a list, but it's void now." Colt struggled to push Timothy away, his hands pressing against his shoulders as he stared into his eyes. "I have a new plan.
Timothy's heart sank.
Colt said, "I will use Bruce's parents as the nodes to resurrect everyone who died of non-natural aging or non-suicidal causes within the last thirty years."
You're crazy!
Timothy murmured, "Do you know how many people that is?"
Colt nodded seriously. "I've calculated it. Accidental deaths are about 80 to 100 million, homicides are about 12 to 15 million, war deaths are about 5 to 8 million. Because the death registration systems in some countries are imperfect, I've taken the upper limit and added another 20%. The total is approximately 150 million."
Thank you for notifying me in advance." Timothy took a deep breath. "Tell me the reason why you want to do this.
"If only a few people are resurrected, they will have to live under assumed names, constantly hiding. If enough people are resurrected, it becomes a miracle, people will simply think they are lucky." Colt understood the house-demolition effect well.
Timothy asked doubtfully, "You're going to modify everyone's memories to make Bruce the President, so can't you just directly erase the death records of the Resurrectors?"
"The deaths of the Waynes are written into Batman's underlying code, just as the deaths of the Starks are written into Iron Man's underlying code, Superman's father.. they can die and be resurrected, but not experiencing death would be illogical." Colt expressed that he didn't want all that trouble either.
"No other reason?" Timothy pressed.
Colt spoke the real reason: "Well, I think it's unfair to only resurrect Alisa and not the other victims of the Joker. It's unfair to only resurrect the victims of Gotham and not the victims elsewhere on Earth. If so, the victims of Super Villains are pitiable, but what about the victims of ordinary crime?"
“Even God doesn't meddle in everything like you do.” Timothy was going crazy.
"Ah, you think it won't work?" Colt frowned, his shoulders slowly slumping as his entire being deflated.
It's not impossible," Timothy said, rubbing his forehead. "But have you considered the consequences?
Bruce is the President; the consequences are something he needs to consider." Seeing Timothy soften, Colt began to reveal his true plan: "According to the settings of the underlying code, a Resurrected person must meet four basic conditions: their soul must not carry sin, villains do not receive resurrection vouchers; there must be people in the living world who remember and miss them, for longing serves as an anchor; they must themselves be willing to return, with the deceased's will forming the gateway; and their soul must not carry resentment, as pushing away the gate of return is considered a voluntary signing of a treaty to let go of resentment, allowing both body and mind to be baptized and gain the mental strength to look forward.
Timothy realized the situation wasn't quite as dire as he had feared, the furrow in his brow gradually smoothed out. 'Do you honestly think that if you told me you were going to tear the roof off first and then settled for just opening a window, I’d actually agree to it?'
Colt asked, "Do you agree?"
Timothy did not refuse.
Not refusing is the same as agreeing.
Colt pulled Timothy to patch up his plan.
Although it was said that "the consequences are something Bruce needs to consider," they couldn't possibly leave Bruce with such a mess.
After passing through the screening of four basic conditions, the number of slots for resurrection is approximately 50% remaining. Even at 75 million, it is still ten million more than the total population of the UK. They could not possibly manage the placement of every single person with precision; they could only use low-level code to settle them in batches.
Nostalgia serves as an anchor; the deceased will be resurrected directly beside the friends and family who miss them. To prevent the living from being startled by the dead, a dream should be arranged as a prior warning, ideally allowing them to bring the person back directly from the dream. For ordinary families, one or several members without identities might cause an economic crisis. Since the New World Project will modify human memories on a massive scale, allowing Bruce to become President and letting the Earth Simulator run for a bit longer, could it not also ensure that everyone has a job?
Colt looked at Timothy, who had proposed this idea: "Am I crazy, or are you crazy? Do you really think this is the closed beta for the Earth Simulator?"
Timothy pointed out, "You're the one who started it."
Colt protested, "But you're Red Robin, you should have stopped me."
I told you, I'm on your side. If you do something wrong, I'll be the one to clean up your mess.
This isn't cleaning up a mess; this is aiding and abetting a villain.
No one will be harmed, except for Batman's blood pressure; Thomas and Martha would embrace him.
Colt thought it made a lot of sense and began playing the Earth Simulator game seriously.
..
The final days of the countdown.
Joseph worked hard to take care of his body, attempting to make himself ten years younger within a week.
Colt and Timothy traveled everywhere hand in hand, sketching out the blueprint for the New World Project.
During the New World Project beta test, they used dimensional strikes to crush the forces hindering global development—be it the Court of Owls, Hydra, Squid Group, the Military-industrial complex, or the Medical-industrial complex.. They prosecuted those with legal basis according to the law, for those without a legal basis, they legislated and prosecuted based on moral and ethical standards. By purging the corrupt high-level officials and selecting honest, righteous, like-minded individuals, they were building a management team for Bruce.
They radically overhauled infrastructure across the globe, turning the East End into a steel garden of skyscrapers without Red Hood's permission, simply because the East End had the highest concentration of Resurrectors in Gotham.
Colt upgraded technology trees everywhere, making humanity turn its gaze toward the starry sky. He transformed the environment of Mars and moved Blackgate Prison to Mars, effectively reducing the frequency of criminal prison breaks.
Timothy accidentally turned the New World Project beta test into a game of Monopoly, making money not just for Wayne, but for Drake and Colt as well.
He not only helped earn pocket money and acquire real estate, but he also took the newly issued Little Reed medical license and ran it through the New World model. This allowed Joseph to become the owner of a large-scale pharmaceutical and medical device company. Wherever Wayne Hospital was located, Little Reed would be there, with Treatment Pods and affordable medicines being sold all the way to Mars, ensuring the Little Reed family would be financially free from then on.
..
Time was gradually running out in the Earth Simulator game.