The passage was so dark that Bruce even thought it was similar to the bat cave he had fallen into as a child.

No, it's still a bit far off.

There wasn't a single cub in the bat cave that was giggling excitedly and rumbling around.

Energetic little kids.

Bruce rolled his eyes.

Why is he starting to experience the pain of having a child now?

Little Hope touched the wall for a while, and then probed his brain at various forks in the road. Bruce heads the ground to stop the imps from picking at the walls.

The entire passage reverberated with the footsteps of children and the sound of excited laughter.

Young Master Wayne looked at the child with short legs flying fast, and felt that he had been dispelled from the idea of having children and raising children.

He swore that he would never have children in the future. Never.

After not knowing that he had set up a flag that was destined to be slapped in the face, the little master grabbed Hope's collar again.

Little Hope is a sensible child, yes, but he's also a curious cub who can't control himself.

This passage should have been built for a long time, but it was recently reactivated.

Bruce noticed the old, last century-popular sconces and lampholders on the walls, as well as the dust-free pavement.

Little Hope was indeed as excited as he was coming home now, because there were so many secret passages like this in Daddy's castle that he could play in all day.

The kid, who is good at playing peek-a-boo with his dad, is super flexible, and Bruce can only clutch the strap of the child's bib pants in fear.

Like a Samoyed.

Hope Puppy is desperate to rush forward, and he wants to explore with his father. This is also a game that father and son love so much!

"Daddy! Hurry up, hurry up! This way! ”

At only fourteen years old, Bruce has unconsciously accepted the title of 'Daddy' calmly.

And he himself does not even realize this now.

"Hope, don't run around!" Bruce looked around and whispered, "We don't know if there's any danger here!" ”

I don't know if there are any enemies.

Little does Hope be unaware that his new dad is under serious investigation.

Still, he reached out and covered his mouth.

Bruce rubbed the child's slightly sweaty head.

It's like the manor passage that the old-fashioned aristocrats of the last century used to hide some shady wealth or a tryst with some shady people in the middle of the night.

Therefore, the secret passage is built like a rat hole.

The kid quietly walked quietly beside Bruce for a while, and then he somehow stopped in front of an empty wall.

"Are you tired?" Bruce crouched down: "Do you want me to hug you?" ”

Bruce glanced at his watch by the light of a flashlight, and it was already early in the morning. It's not good for a child to go to bed so late.

Little Hope hesitated, Dad looks very weak now, can he really hold Hope?

"Hope can go by himself," the child was sensible, "but can Daddy show that to Hope?" ”

Hope's vocabulary was not rich enough to describe the wall-mounted bronze lamps of the last century, and he could only stick his little finger to the mottled shadows on the wall and say, "Hope wants that!" The one with the legs. ”

Bruce was just a kid and was interested in new things.

He reluctantly picked up little Hope.

"See if you can, don't touch it." Bruce admonished.

The child nodded, and sneezed oversized into the dusty wall lamp.

"Ahh

Ahh

The empty passage echoed with the sneeze of a child. The dust on the copper lamp was blown off by the child.

Bruce calmly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the child's nose with some unskillful movements.

He felt that he should feel helpless, but he had a hunch that there might be more such scenes in the future.

Otherwise, don't be helpless now, and keep it for later.

Hope held his head high and was obediently taken care of by his father.

"Do you want to see it?" Bruce asked little Hope to hold up a flashlight and awkwardly wiped the dust off the child's face at some point: "You're like a little dirty cat rolling in the grass all day." ”

"Woo-woo," the kid blushed from Bruce's slightly rough brushing, but his attention was quickly drawn to the ash on Daddy's face, "Daddy is a big dirty cat!" ”

The child's fingers rubbed against Bruce's face.

Dad Wayne looked at the ash on the child's fingers and stopped thinking about the dirt on his face.

"Daddy, I want to take a shower!"

"I'll wash it when I get home."

There was silence in the passage for a moment.

The child continued to chat with his father.

"Lucien must be super angry today, Dad, let's go home quietly through the window, okay?"

Alfred would definitely be angry, too, Bruce thought.

"There won't be any cookies to eat when you go in through the window."

“…… Then Dad, go and confess your mistake to Lucian. ”

Bruce almost laughed at the childishness.

"You're also an accomplice!"

Bruce hesitated before entering the secret passage. But the secret passage was opened by Hope, and Bruce thought seriously for five seconds...... It doesn't feel like there's any danger inside.

- That's Hope baby who scares off the penguins.

Besides, he always had to figure out who wanted his life.

The child obviously also knew that they should wait obediently in the room and not run around.

Hope glanced at his father with a feeble look.

Bruce stood up, holding the child's hand and preparing to move on. He wondered where the road leads.

The copper wall lamps that have been blown clean of dust shimmer with a metallic sheen in the light of the flashlight.

Bruce's eyes swept uncontrollably over the sconce, and he earnestly recalled the history of furniture he had studied.

The style popular in the 16th century is full of luxury and refined beauty.

There is also a line of small characters carved under the lampholder.

[Dumas]

Bruce leaned the flashlight closer and reached out to wipe the dust around him cleaner.

Next to the delicate italic letters, an intricate family coat of arms is carved with a cuckoo.

Bruce felt familiar, the surname Duma seemed to he'd heard before, but he couldn't remember it.

In Gotham's high society, there doesn't seem to be a single family crest with a cuckoo pattern.

"Dad, what are you looking at?" The child looked up at his father curiously.

Bruce came back to his senses and glanced down at Little Lucky Star.

"Nothing, just that I probably need to go home and read."

Maybe there's a record of it in Wayne's library. Bruce read the letters and family crest several times and memorized them.

Then he took the child and walked on.

Fortunately, the secret passage was not very long, and the two quickly came to an end.

At the end of the passage is a wall. It's like they're in a dead end. Maybe this is just a place for the owner of the villa to store supplies?

Do you want to go back the way you came?

Bruce hesitated.

There is a square recess in the wall with several movable stone slabs.

Bruce stared at the slate for a few minutes, and the patterns on it seemed familiar to him as well.

The slate was split into several pieces, and the cuckoo on one of them looked at Bruce with a haughty expression.

Cuckoo again.

Truth be told, Bruce doesn't like this bird very much, and they often lay eggs in other birds' nests and push them out.

Bruce cautiously reached out and tried to move the slate.

Nothing happened.

Looks like he needs to restore the pattern on the slate.

Fortunately, he played tangram when he was a child, and he also played Huarong Dao.

Bruce struggled to remember the family crest he had just seen on the sconce.

Left-Right-Up-

Little Hope stood next to his father expectantly and cheered happily: "Dad, is there a treasure!" Hope wants! ”

He stood on tiptoe trying to see his father's movements.

Bruce picked up the child on his shoulder, and his right hand was still fiddling with the stones: "If there is really a treasure, how much are you going to give to Dad?" ”

"It's all for Dad." Hope said.

Bruce was a little moved, and he remembered that when he first met the killer, the kid had been trying to comfort him and tell him not to be afraid. He also said that he would protect himself.

This kid really loves his dad.

Bruce was a little distressed.

"Then Daddy can take it and buy ice cream for Hope!"

Bruce put the child on his shoulders with a blank face, thinking to himself that he had just been touched in vain. Dad is obviously not as important as ice cream.

"Dad, I can't see it!"

The child was carried by Bruce with his head down.

In order to keep the child from running around, Bruce chose to trap the cub in his arms.

If there is a mechanism here, who knows what will happen when it is opened.

Bruce felt that he should be a little more careful, and he would run away with Hope in his arms.

"You can't forget your ice cream, can you?" Bruce's hand kept moving: "Your share of today's harvest is gone, you have to have diarrhea if you eat it again." Don't cry when the doctor gives you an injection! ”

What is a doctor?

The child was stunned for two seconds, then thought of the picture in Lucian's library. Overcoats made of grease cloth, long gloves and hats, and long masks like beaks.

"Doctor, doctor!" The doll in the child's hand was hanging on Bruce's back, and now it was being dangled by the excited Hope, which made Bruce itch a little: "Dad, I want to see a doctor!" ”

Doctor Bird's Beak looks very similar to Dad, super cool!

Bruce:......

It's his fault, he forgot that children are not normal people.

"Don't move, Dad will put it together in a moment." Bruce was silent for a moment, and finally reacted: "...... Am I already a dad? ”

As long as Hope called Daddy firmly enough and often, Daddy couldn't run.

Bruce, the teenage father, gently patted Hope's little ass with vicissitudes and complicated feelings.

The child kicked his legs in confusion and accidentally kicked on the bird-shaped relief next to the stone slab.

The bird-shaped relief slowly recessed, and Bruce heard the sound of the mechanism again.

"Huh?" The child looked back in confusion.

Bruce:......

So that damn slate is a deceptive mechanism, isn't it? He is really stupid when he seems to solve the problem seriously!

Bruce reached out and slapped the kid twice on the ass with a blank face.

"Daddy?" It didn't hurt, but little Hope, who got this treatment for the first time, was a little confused.

……

The first thing Oswald Copot did when he returned to his home turf from GCPD was to celebrate with his younger brothers in the villa.

Probably drunk, the penguin man always felt the cackling of the little devil Hope echoing in his ears.

"My dear friends, please raise your glass!" Although the wound was split open again, and his stomach and buttocks were still sore to death, it was clear that Colport could not let go of this good opportunity to establish his authority and subdue his men: "Just a few hours ago, His Excellency Falcone decided to withdraw from our world, he has dedicated his life to Gotham, and it is indeed time to retire!" ”

The younger brothers below exchanged a few secret glances with each other.

"And poor Lady Fish Mooney," Colbert could not help but smile at the corner of his mouth, "but she accidentally fell off a cliff, what an unfortunate tragedy, let us mourn for her!" ”

He bowed his head in obsessed form, as if he was really mourning for Fish Mooney who had died at his hands.

This was followed by a festivities. The younger brothers enjoy the rich food and sexy beauties with Copote, the strippers wander among the crowds, and the wine is squandering as if they don't want money.

Cobot accepted the congratulations with satisfaction.

"Have a good time, everyone!"

Sitting in an ornate high-backed chair with his back to the fireplace, Cobott felt like a king at this moment.

He finally realized his ambitions.

Of course, he has just taken over everything here, and his subordinates are always a little restless. But it doesn't matter, he'll take care of them.

“B…… BOSS……”

Butch, who was sitting on the side of the penguin, was also a little drunken and hazy at this time, but he felt that the fireplace behind the boss seemed to be moving.

Fireplace? Move?

Butch rubbed his eyes.

Copote followed Butch's gaze and turned his head.

The fireplace made a clickal-rata sound, as if some kind of trap had been triggered.

The penguin man bounced out of his seat in an instant, almost pulling the wound again.

He took two steps back, drew his gun, and stared warily at the fireplace.

The lively and chaotic celebration scene behind him instantly fell silent.

The tooth-aching sound finally stopped after a few minutes.

The fireplace cracked a huge passage. Bruce appears in the eyes of the penguin man with little Hope in his arms.

Little Hope put his arms around Bruce's neck and greeted the penguin man obediently: "Snake bitten ......"

Bruce covered the child's mouth and smiled awkwardly but politely at Copote.

Copote's eyes widened at the sight of his trademark blonde hair, and the wound on his body began to hurt unconsciously.

The King of Gotham stood there gasping for breath and his mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something that started with F or greet someone's whole family or something. But in the end, he didn't succeed in uttering a single word.

Bruce watched as Copote's eyes rolled upwards and fell straight back.

Little Hope sat in his father's arms and looked at the cat, his eyes showing sympathy: Hey, it looks so painful.