In the living room of Wayne Manor, when Alfred put the tea cup on the table, he glanced sideways at the young man sitting on the sofa.
It was incredible. He looked exactly like Bruce Wayne. Alfred went through the entire process of meeting and parting with Thomas Wayne in his mind, but he couldn't find the slightest clue that he had an illegitimate child.
possible.
Martha gave birth to one child, and there was no possibility that one of the twins would be lost. How could this Bruce who suddenly appeared look exactly like Master Bruce?
After Alfred sat across from him, he looked at Bruce carefully again. He found that if he looked carefully enough, he could still find some subtle differences.
For example, this Bruce's body is slightly thinner, especially the muscles in the neck and shoulders, which are not as swollen as the Bruce he is familiar with, his eyes are bluer, and most importantly, his expression is more vivid and his temperament is more lively, making him overall
The man looked younger than the Bruce Alfred knew.
Alfred had served in the British Navy when he was young. He could determine the basic age of a person from his bones. He thought that the Bruce in front of him was exactly the same age as the Bruce sleeping upstairs, and they were in the same stage of growth and development. So they
The difference in age shown should come from the difference in temperament.
Alfred narrowed his eyes. Of course he knew why Bruce Wayne's temperament was so gloomy. How could a child become cheerful after losing his parents when he was young and spending half his life in loneliness and despair?
?
So if this Bruce is really from another universe as he said, why is he so sunny and cheerful?
Bruce took a sip of tea, looked at Alfred with his blue eyes and said, "I was entrusted by someone to solve the troubles in this city. Perhaps you have discovered that a group of madmen who do not belong here have arrived.
"
This just hit Alfred's heart. The green-haired madman who appeared on the big screen that day gave him a very bad feeling. The soldier's crisis intuition for many years made him understand that this was not the end at all, but just
A beginning.
It's a pity that Bruce Wayne is not equipped to deal with such trouble.
As Bruce's butler, Alfred knew very well that the young master in his family had too much ambition and little ability, too much anger and too little sense.
A cruel fact is that even if Martha and Thomas are still alive, they can only cultivate Bruce into a relatively outstanding person at the public level, that is, a standard ordinary person who has received an elite education from a wealthy family.
Such people can hold on to the Wayne Group and then invest their energy in educating the next generation, but if they are expected to take another step forward, this step will be as difficult as a natural chasm.
Alfred knew better than anyone how talent determines the upper limit of a person's social level. A good background gives a high starting point, but mediocrity is like calm water, and one cannot swim in the sea.
The fish at the front of the school tried hard to break through the calm water and jump into the air, only to be suffocated to death.
So Alfred doesn't think Bruce Wayne can fight crime as Batman at all. He has always been opposed to this. Bruce has been frustrated several times before. Alfred thinks this can make him see reality clearly and accept his mediocrity.
Facts, don't make unnecessary delusions.
But after the green-haired madman appeared, Alfred knew that the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind continued. Even if Bruce wanted to give up, someone would force him into despair.
This made Alfred feel desperate, because he understood that even if a mediocre person was forced into a desperate situation, he would not be able to unleash his potential, and those instinctive struggles due to the desire to survive would only prolong the pain of death.
"Do you think you can solve these troubles?" Alfred asked tentatively. He actually hoped so in his heart, but he had no hope.
There’s no way the Bruce Wayne of another universe happens to be a genius, right?
"I watched the news." Bruce changed the subject while holding the teacup and said, "Now all the news media are broadcasting news that is unfavorable to Bruce Wayne, which is very regrettable."
"But before I judge this situation, I hope you can promise me something."
Alfred put his forearms on his knees, clasped his palms together and groped for a while, raised his eyes to Bruce, and was silent for a while before saying, "Go ahead."
He thought Bruce wanted compensation, but this was reasonable. Even if he did nothing, sitting here as a scapegoat had its value. This face that looked exactly like Bruce Wayne was enough for him to make a very high offer.
.
"I want you to think of me as Bruce Wayne and say that to anyone, and I'm the little Wayne you know and project everything you say and do about him onto me."
"I don't understand." Alfred shook his head. He didn't know why Bruce asked him to do this. He went on to say: "Your appearance is more trustworthy than my words. If I say you are not, you won't."
Some people believe it."
"I just hope you can help me solve some of the troubles in life." Bruce looked at Alfred with sincere eyes and said, "I may be very busy in the next period of time, and there are many things in life that I can't take care of.
Yes, as childish as it sounds, I hope I can have some hot food after I'm done."
Alfred's eyes widened. He had never heard Bruce say that. Whenever he asked Bruce what he wanted to eat, Bruce would always answer "I'm busy, Alfred, you decide", or even "
Don't do anything, Av, I'm not hungry and I don't have time to eat."
Although Alfred would cook it for him in the end, Bruce almost never showed his need for food. It seemed that as long as he completely gave up the enjoyment of material life and made ascetic efforts, he would be rewarded.
From the perspective of a bystander, Alfred knew that he couldn't. Even he could see that most of Bruce's efforts were in vain. He was very busy, but he was not busy at all.
In other words, the process of pretending that he is busy has exhausted all his time and energy. He is even unable to stop and review the staged results and test the direction of his efforts. Summoning the courage to press forward is all he can do.
All done.
And Alfred looked at Bruce in front of him, and saw a great confidence in him, as if I could have fun and enjoy life, and get things done easily, and I would do it quickly.
, it was done very well and everyone was satisfied.
Where did he get such confidence?
Alfred soon knew, because he nodded and said: "If you don't mind, I'll go prepare the afternoon tea now, sir."
"No, just call me Master." Bruce replied.
Bruce's corrective words made Alfred frown. This was actually not etiquette, because now Bruce is the patriarch of the Wayne family, how can he still be called young master?
But he didn't think much, stood up and turned towards the kitchen. To his surprise, Bruce followed him to the bar in front of the kitchen and sat down on a high chair, and took the bucket with finger biscuits.
come over.
He reached for a finger biscuit, broke it into pieces and stuffed it into his mouth, and said vaguely: "Then I think you can listen to my opinion on this matter."
"What about those news reports?" Alfred said without looking back while checking the refrigerator. He felt that this Bruce didn't care much about the negative news. He wasn't depressed and depressed enough, and he didn't seem to be good at self-denial.
"You know this is not the point. Reporters are all hyenas who have heard the news. Their opinions are not unimportant, but it is too easy to change the direction of the media and manipulate public opinion. This is not the focus of dealing with troubles."
Before Alfred could laugh at Bruce's arrogance, he heard Bruce speak shockingly.
"I bet that the real Anderkin is not dead. Not only is he alive and well, he must have witnessed all this under the supervision of the Joker."
"I know this guy called the Joker very well." Bruce broke off another finger biscuit and sighed: "He will create a very obvious trap and cause you enough harm to make you think this is
That’s all.”
"When you want to hide in the lair and lick your wounds, you will find that his greatest malice does not lie in this. His torture to a person is never-ending, not to anyone."
"If Anderkin was really the only ray of light for little Bruce in his difficult years, it would be impossible for the Joker to treat him as a disposable consumable and let him die so easily."
Bruce showed a sneer and said: "He knows the value of life better than anyone else. He can let anyone die cruelly and coldly, but they must die where they deserve to be."
"This is a kind of arrogance based on madness. If this society is completely disordered in my eyes, then I have the right to severely punish anyone and anything here according to my wishes."
"At the same time, he is a genius, calm and rational, and pursues perfectionism, so in the process of ruling, he wants everyone to fall into the bag exactly according to the process he has preset."
"Being treated as an inconsequential consumable to stimulate Batman and die in front of the public is obviously not the ending that the Joker wanted to give to this important character, Underkin, so he must still be alive."
"The clown's brilliance lies in this. He wants Underkin to see that the child he once tried to help still doesn't trust him, still complains about him, and won't save him even when it comes to life and death."
"Did Bruce let go on purpose? It doesn't actually matter. The clown will make Underkin feel that if he is really hung up, he will die as miserably as this consumable."
"Human beings will never be immune to the fear of death. The Joker can easily use this fear to guide Underkin, making him think that Bruce deliberately let go in order to retaliate against him. Bruce is going to kill him. If Bruce knows that he is not dead,
, will definitely use other methods to kill him, Bruce wants to kill him, wants to kill him..."
Alfred stood stunned in the kitchen, and the plate with vegetable leaves in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, shattering into pieces.
He followed his instinct and bent down to pick it up, but he felt a hand supporting him. When he looked up again, he saw Bruce's concerned expression. Bruce looked at the lettuce that had fallen to the ground with some regret, shook his head and said.
"The clown is good at breaking others up like this, and then putting them back together into what he wants according to his own wishes, so that he can move to the position he designed in the posture he wants."
Bruce looked at Alfred who was close at hand and said: "Fighting such a madman is destined to be long and difficult. I need your help, Alfred."
Looking at the pair of blue eyes so close at hand, the violent sea of emotions inside followed the intersection of the eyes and rushed into the blood flowing in that old and gray heart.
At this moment, Alfred felt light-headed and dizzy.