Chapter 1446: Flying Birds and Returning (VII)

After calling out Dick's name as a conditioned reflex, Thomas was stunned. How did Dick grow up so much overnight? What did he miss?

Then he reacted. This couldn't be Dick, at least definitely not the Dick he knew.

Thomas retreated two steps at a very fast speed, lifted the hem of his suit with one hand, took out a Batarang from behind his waist, stared coldly at Nightwing, and asked: "Who are you? Why are you in Wei En Manor?"

Seeing Thomas's familiar reaction, Nightwing retreated a distance out of conditioned reflex, stretched out two hands in front of him, and said: "Wait a minute, Batman, I am..."

Nightwing's voice stopped abruptly. He realized what he had said, and then he looked at Thomas's face in shock. Thomas looked too much like the Batman he knew.

Those who understand the Flashpoint universe should know that the old man Thomas in the Flashpoint universe is exactly the biological father of the main universe's Batman. Their appearance, height, and body shape are very similar, so Nightwing mistook him for the Batman he was familiar with in the main universe for a moment.

Although Nightwing felt that the Batman he met before who was about the same age as him was a bit hard to accept, this Batman in front of him was a bit too old.

Two Batmen in Cat Getan City?

Just thinking about this made Nightwing feel his head buzzing.

The Batarang in Thomas's hand was already gripped tight. Nightwing saw him pose for an attack and immediately wanted to explain, but Thomas was obviously the kind of Batman who wouldn't listen to explanations. Just before he was about to throw the dart, another figure walked out of the room swaying.

Thomas looked at the Dick he was familiar with, who was leaning on the railing with his eyes half-closed, looking very sleepy. He loosened his hand holding the weapon, and then heard Dick, who was holding a pillow, say: "Didn't Bruce tell you? This is the Bat-family from another universe, that is, us from another universe."

"Oh, by the way, I read that letter the professor wrote. He said that the Batman of that universe is your biological son, and these people are his good assistants and good partners."

Thomas's movements paused. He recalled the cause of the Flashpoint world that Barry Allen told him and the completely different stories in another universe.

They came from the universe where little Bruce became Batman?

Thomas's expression remained unchanged, still staring strictly at Nightwing, but he put away the weapon in his hand, straightened his suit, and walked quickly to the sofa, sitting down.

He first waved at Dick and said: "You go back to sleep first, you have to get up for class tomorrow morning. By the way, put your French homework on the table, I'll go check it later."

Dick was instantly stiff all over. His sleepiness flew to the nine heavens, and he rushed back to his room in a panic.

Then he pointed at Nightwing and said: "You, come over, sit down."

"But I want to go..."

"You can't go anywhere." Thomas looked at his face and said calmly: "The moment I touched the Batarang, all the airports, train stations, and passenger bus stations in Cat Getan stopped operating. You can't go anywhere."

Nightwing stood there looking at him, and it wasn't until more than ten seconds later that he walked over reluctantly and sat on the sofa.

"Name."

"Are you interrogating a criminal?"

"Answer my question, otherwise it will be."

"Dick Grayson."

"Legal name."

"Richard Grayson."

"You don't have the surname Wei En?"

Dick pursed his lips and turned his head to the side, saying: "To commemorate my deceased parents, I kept my surname."

"Are you Batman's foster son?"

"Sort of."

"Is it or is it not?"

"I am his Robin."

"Okay, let me ask another way, is he your legal guardian?" Thomas stared into Nightwing's eyes and asked.

"We don't have any legal relationship, and we don't need that."

"Why doesn't he legally adopt you?"

Nightwing opened his mouth, but still emphasized: "That has no meaning, and the conditions don't fit. According to New Jersey law..."

"He is surnamed Wei En, does he still have to care about New Jersey law?"

Nightwing could have firmly refuted him, but some messy thoughts troubled his heart.

He looked back at Thomas's eyes and still couldn't help but ask: "The Dick of this world, he... I mean, his parents are alive, why would Batman adopt him? And why would he change his surname to Wei En?"

"Of course it's to let Dick receive a better education. I, Bruce, and the Grayson couple all agree on this point. What good schools and teachers are there in Blüdhaven?"

"Of course there are!" Nightwing instinctively wanted to defend his hometown, but then said with a bit of lack of confidence: "Although it may not be as good as Cat Getan's, it's definitely not a bad school. The children there are very sensible, and the teachers are also very friendly."

"Happy education, huh?" Thomas let out a cold snort from his nostrils.

Nightwing wanted to open his mouth to ask again, but Thomas leaned back on the sofa chair and said to Dick: "You care very much about your surname?"

Although Nightwing felt a bit ashamed for being seen through his mind so quickly, he still asked eagerly: "Batman changed Dick's surname, did his parents agree?"

"I had this question when I first came here." Thomas took the hot tea from Alfred's hand. He lowered his head and took a look, finding that there were some medicinal herbs he didn't quite recognize soaked in it.

But he still took a sip and continued: "I don't hope Bruce goes to snatch other people's children. However, he convinced me."

"What did he say?" Nightwing leaned his body forward and asked.

"The surname Grayson or Wei En indeed cannot shake the relationship between the two of them, but it will change how others view Dick."

"If Dick cannot produce a connection that others can see at a glance in terms of appearance, surname, and legal significance with Bruce Wei En, then everyone will only see Dick as a little pitiful person picked up by Old Man Wei En. They will feel he is not valued and think that maybe one day he will be kicked out of the door."

"But if his name is Richard Wei En, then regardless of whether he has a blood relationship with Bruce, as long as he is surnamed Wei En, others must give him the respect Wei En deserves, otherwise it is contempt for the Wei En family. Not many people in this world can afford such a price."

Thomas put down the teacup and sighed, saying: "Dick is not a Gothamite to begin with. Outsiders will not be accepted in any environment in the first place. To quickly obtain the status he deserves in a strange circle, Dick needs help and guidance."

Thomas keenly discovered that when he finished his last sentence, Nightwing's hand clenched tightly, but soon relaxed again.

"Let's talk about you." Thomas opened his mouth at the right time.

"Talk about me? What is there to talk about?" Nightwing seemed a bit nervous. This atmosphere, which clearly looked like a chat, became like an exam because of his tense facial expression and stiff body language.

Thomas felt that such a state was not conducive to conversation. The defensive psychology was too heavy, which would likely result in no results from the conversation. So, he planned to relieve the tension and start from daily life.

Thomas looked Nightwing up and down, estimated his age based on the body size gap with Dick, chose a topic that a boy of this age might accept most easily in his heart, and asked.

"How is college life? Do you have a girlfriend?"

Nightwing blinked. He answered instinctively: "I didn't go to college, and I don't have a girlfriend."

Thomas frowned immediately, but he tried hard to restrain his emotions, not showing it too obviously, but said intentionally: "Oh? Did Batman hire a private tutor for you?"

"Uh, he has been tutoring me..."

"Regarding the business of the Wei En family?" Thomas's expression eased slightly, and he asked with some concern: "Bruce is relatively conservative in terms of business strategy, so I guess... fourteen?"

Nightwing seemed surprised, but Thomas asked himself: "What was the first industry he let you practice on? Chemical industry? Construction industry or logistics industry? It wouldn't be the military industry, right?"

Looking at Nightwing's expression, Thomas's eyebrows frowned slowly again. He said in a quite unhappy tone: "Don't tell me he let you go to Wall Street to mess with those young kids in finance? I remember I repeatedly emphasized to him when he was young that the real economy is the foundation of the Wei En Group. He wouldn't have listened to nothing at all, would he?"

"No." Nightwing answered instinctively. He hurriedly wanted to explain, saying urgently: "He didn't teach me these, but some, some means of fighting crime, just like Batman. I am his assistant, you know?"

Thomas didn't seem to understand, so he asked more specifically: "Then what exactly did he teach you? How many languages do you know? How are your grades in Latin and Arabic?"

Nightwing suddenly felt a big head. He said in a low voice: "Arabic??? Tim wouldn't even know this, right? My god, spare me!"

Thomas finally felt that something was wrong. His face sank, and Nightwing immediately felt the dark atmosphere of Batman shroud the entire Wei En Manor.

"Let's start from the beginning." Thomas said this: "Did you go to a church school or a grammar school?"

"I think you might have misunderstood something. I have been following my parents to perform everywhere before I was adopted..."

"I'm asking about after you were adopted!"

"Uh." Nightwing also keenly discovered that Thomas's tone was a bit wrong. He woke up a bit from this series of interrogations, looked at Thomas, and asked: "Who are you? Why should I tell you?"

"I am Bruce Wei En's father!"

Nightwing opened his eyes wide in shock, his mouth wide enough to stuff an egg. Thomas leaned forward, his momentum aggressive.

Nightwing looked at his face that was very similar to Batman's, and didn't even have the courage to run away. He explained in a dejected tone: "Batman adopted home education..."

"Then who is your home tutor? Professor Rodriguez? Dr. Fries? Is it a professor at Cat Getan University? Or a full-time tutor from the Seminary?"

"It's Batman." Nightwing answered.

"Then what exactly did Batman teach you?"

"I already said, he taught me the means to fight crime!"

"So what are those means?!" Thomas supported his knees with one hand, asking in confusion: "Does a physically sound adult still need others to teach him how to pull the trigger?"

"Batman doesn't use guns." Nightwing defended in a low voice.

"You don't even know how to use a gun?!"

"I haven't used it much, but I know how to pull the trigger..." Nightwing's tone became less and less confident: "He also taught me close-quarters combat, driving and rope techniques, balance, as well as tracking skills."

Thomas stared at him and asked: "Criminal investigation? Reasoning? Information and data collection techniques? Communication science? Mechanical engineering? Medicine? Law?"

Looking at the clear stupidity revealed in Nightwing's expression, Thomas's fist hardened. ===== CHAPTER 1447 =====