Chapter 1459

When Thomas rushed downstairs in his suit, he hurriedly took Damian, who was already fully dressed, from Alfred's hands. He stepped back two paces, looked over Damian's outfit, and said: "The shirt is not bad, but the suspenders... never mind, it's not our era anymore. Very well, that's it. Where is the car?"

"It is already parked in front of the door, Master..."

Thomas picked Damian up. Before leaving, he turned to look at Bruce, who was sitting on the sofa looking a bit dazed, and said: "You rest well. If you really feel uncomfortable, let Alfred take you to the hospital."

Then he scanned the others on the sofa and said: "All of you, study hard. I'll be back Friday night to check your homework."

After he hurried away, Red Hood spread his hands and said: "I think he probably won't have much time to check homework."

"He and Damian are truly a match made in heaven," Red Robin commented, then continued: "I used to think there wasn't a father in this world who could accept a child like Damian. I was wrong."

"Isn't the scarier part that he thinks Damian can be further cultivated?" Nightwing shook his head, quite helplessly, and said: "I really don't know to what extent they have to learn to be satisfied."

"But I'm sure he'll definitely ask the ballet teacher about your progress." Red Robin's single sentence made the smile on Nightwing's face freeze.

Nightwing just wanted to ask why, when Red Robin said: "In a big family, the most attention is paid to the eldest and youngest sons. Don't think you can escape just because Damian is here."

Nightwing was like a deflated balloon. He muttered: "If it weren't for the fact that Thomas will go to our universe to see Batman one day, I wouldn't go to any damn ballet class."

"Who wouldn't?" Red Hood said, crossing his arms: "I bet he's the kind of parent who, if we didn't write a single page of homework, would say we've never written homework in our entire lives."

"Hey, isn't anyone concerned about Bruce's condition?" Barbara sat opposite Bruce, leaning over to look into his eyes.

Logically speaking, this was an extremely offensive social distance, but Bruce seemed a bit slow to react, only leaning back after a long while to avoid Barbara's gaze.

At this moment, Alfred, who had seen Thomas out, walked back. He took many blankets from the cloakroom nearby and distributed them to everyone one by one.

The visitors were all a bit puzzled, standing there for a long time not knowing what to do, while several children had already put on blankets and walked toward the gate leading to the garden. Even Dick, who was incredibly sleepy, didn't go upstairs immediately, but trailed at the end of the line, swaying as he walked out.

Although Red Robin didn't know what they were doing, he followed suit and draped the blanket over himself, following behind the children's line and saying: "Where are we going? The garden? Is there some group activity to be held?"

"Better not be like last night." Red Hood deliberately swung his blanket over Nightwing's head from behind, messing up his hair. Watching Nightwing's stiff expression, Red Hood laughed.

When everyone arrived at the garden, Red Robin immediately noticed that there were some different things in the garden of this universe's Wei En Manor. A piece of land had been separately cleared in the southeast corner to build a small plaza, which had benches and swings.

Several children sat on the swings, so the rest of the people had to sit on the benches nearby. Looking at the remains of the bonfire in the center of the small plaza, Red Robin asked curiously: "Why are we sitting here?"

"You'll know in a while." Jason waved his hand impatiently and said: "Don't let your jaws drop later."

"What could make us..."

Before Red Hood could finish his sentence, a blinding ray of light flashed across the horizon. Immediately after, the halo grew larger and larger until everything before their eyes was illuminated in a bright white, and the outlines of all objects were blurred.

This light was actually not very bright, but if compared to Cat Getan's weather, it was simply like the first light at the birth of the universe. Even Lucifer, the source of the first light, had once marveled at this phenomenon and stated that he was far inferior to it.

Cat Getan's sky had brightened.

A few birds that had been traveling through the rainy night for a long time landed in the bright river bay. The long-lost sunlight made the water droplets on their feathers sparkle, and the wind passing through the drooping reeds dried the dampness on their temples.

For many years, people living on this land had to force their hearts to beat a little harder to pump more warm blood to survive one cold night after another.

And when the sunlight draped a warm coat over them for the first time, that overheated blood would leave them hovering on the edge of spontaneous combustion. Blood rushed from the heart to the brain, and then they felt dizzy.

Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Barbara all stood up from their chairs, foolishly looking up at the patch of azure sky revealed amidst the rippling clouds and the bright sunlight shining through the holes in the dark clouds.

That surging heat coming from within their bodies made them crave rain. No one would fall in love with rainy days in a city that was perpetually overcast and rainy, unless they knew that one day it would be sunny here.

Sunlight was not scarce. Nightwing had walked on sunny beaches during countless days in Blüdhaven. At those times, he would think of Cat Getan's rainy nights, but he had never felt the joy of escaping the rainy night to enjoy the sun, only deep sorrow and longing.

They were all the same, because they all knew exactly who was guarding one rainy night after another in the cold and dark city. Every longing made them understand the greatness of the Dark Knight.

And today, Cat Getan's sunlight made them understand that the Dark Knight in this universe was even greater.

Nightwing looked up at Alfred, who was serving hot tea. Red Hood hugged himself and rubbed his arms. Red Robin stared intently at the outermost ring of light in the cloud gap. Barbara turned to admire the bright spots of light between the tree shadows.

They were all using the same way to cover up their true thoughts. In such great light, how could they not think of the darkness that had been missed a thousand times over?

The birds that had landed in the bright river bay still felt that this was not home. They rested in the reed marsh for a while, letting the sunlight dry their rain-soaked feathers until they were fluffy and soft.

On another sunny day, they bid farewell to the river bay and the reeds. These soft, fluffy birds, like tufts of flying catkins, hid the remnants of light in their warm down, and then took off again, crossing mountains, rivers, and seas, flying through lightning and storms, just to bring the same warmth to the dark caves under the rain clouds far away.

"Batman..." Nightwing uttered a name, his tone full of complex emotions and that obvious urgency.

"He should have come here," Red Hood said more bluntly. He said: "Look at this kind of miracle."

"Or we see it for him," Red Robin added.

"Oh my god, we should go back and tell him! Does anyone have a camera? Let me take a picture!" Barbara shouted loudly. She said: "No matter what, I'm going to send this photo back now! And give one to my dad; they will definitely be very happy."

Not one of them lingered in the warmth of the sun; instead, they all turned back, wanting to find something to record this scene and then take it to Batman. It would be best to take it to him as soon as possible; perhaps they could even see a look of surprise on his face.

But just then, Dick's exclamation came from the bench nearby: "Bruce... Bruce! What's wrong with you?!"

Several people looked back and found that Bruce had actually collapsed beside the bench. Red Robin, who was closest to Bruce, rushed over in a flash to help Bruce up, but Bruce grabbed the armrest of the bench and stood up on his own.

He covered his forehead and shook his head, saying: "I'm fine. The action logic conflicted. It's already fixed."

"You don't look like you're fine at all!" Red Hood said loudly: "I know Batman wouldn't go to the hospital, but you fainted!"

"I just need to... debug a bit..." Bruce said somewhat stiffly, but the next second his arm seemed to suddenly lose its strength, and he collapsed beside the bench again.

Now everyone rushed up to help him. Nightwing said with great concern: "Should we call an ambulance? This looks a bit like a cerebral infarction..."

"Didn't Thomas say he has a mental illness? Could it be neuro-epilepsy?" Red Robin, who had a medical background, speculated, then frowned and said: "If that's the case, we can't do anything. Let's hurry and take him to the hospital."

"But Batman probably wouldn't..."

"He is not the Batman we know!" Red Robin let go of Bruce and walked toward the manor gate. Alfred was already standing by the telephone waiting. Red Robin walked over and saw that the numbers for the hospital and private doctors were already prepared.

After hesitating for a moment, Red Robin decided to call the hospital. Mental problems were troublesome to deal with; sometimes sedatives might be needed, and a private doctor couldn't solve this kind of problem.

After a while, the ambulance from the New Arkham Psychiatric Hospital arrived. Several Robins hesitated before getting into the ambulance. Red Hood looked at Red Robin and said: "What are you thinking? Sending Batman to Arkham Asylum?!"

"In this universe, Batman is not Batman, and Arkham Asylum is not Arkham Asylum," Red Robin sighed and said: "Otherwise, do you have a better way?"

Red Hood glanced at Bruce, who was being lifted onto the stretcher, and sighed deeply. At this moment, Nightwing had already stepped into the ambulance and waved to the two of them, saying: "In any case, he helped the Batman of our world, so we should also help him. This is the creed of the Bat-family."

"I know that, of course," Red Robin climbed into the ambulance, looking at Bruce's somewhat pale face, and said: "He hasn't had time to have his own Bat-family yet, so this is naturally our responsibility."

Red Hood also got in and said: "Even if someone fainted on the street, I would send them to the hospital... Barbara, don't come up. Stay at Wei En Manor and watch over them and the Batcave!"

Soon the ambulance doors closed, and the three of them arrived at the hospital's clinic with the New Arkham Psychiatric Hospital ambulance. Dr. Brand checked Bruce's condition and then made a diagnosis.

"It could be limb dysfunction caused by mental confusion," Brand said, frowning: "What did he do to his own brain? How can he not even have simple limb reflexes?"

"I mean, you have to save your strength to protect me in the dangers we might encounter later."

Damian broke into a cold sweat. He grabbed Bruce's sleeve tightly and turned to look at him. That serious expression showed he wasn't joking.

Batman needs someone to protect him? This was simply the most ridiculous joke he had ever heard, but soon he couldn't laugh anymore.

The lights were on in the last room they passed in the corridor. Damian, held in Bruce's arms, was just the right height to see the scene inside the ward through the window—

The silhouettes of three human limbs hanging on hooks were clearly visible: two male legs and one female arm. They were still dripping blood constantly. A burly figure stood with his back to the window, facing the hospital bed, as if cutting something.

The rich smell of blood almost made Damian's sense of smell fail. The dual stimulation of sight and smell made his heart beat faster and faster. At this moment, Bruce's embrace became his only source of security.

Contrary to his previous struggle to break free, Damian hugged Bruce's arm tightly, leaned into his ear, and asked in a trembling tone: "... What is going on here?"

"Don't be afraid, we'll leave after we get the things, nothing will happen." ===== CHAPTER 1450 =====

Guilt spread in the silence. The thing Robins hated most was becoming a burden to Batman. The stronger Batman was, the more they hated themselves for becoming a weakness.

Just then, Bruce suddenly woke up. He swallowed hard a few times and said intermittently: "Come here... help me... help me..."

"Do what?" The three of them immediately gathered around, and even Red Hood, who had the least patience, pricked up his ears.

"I have things... help me..."

Bruce repeated a few words vaguely. Neither Nightwing nor Red Hood understood what he meant. Red Robin looked at the other two as if he had suddenly realized something and said: "Do you remember what he told Damian he was going to do next?"

"Oh, meet demon clients, attend hell weddings, deliver cats and dogs, and go to Diana's to get things? He wants us to help him do these things?"

Bruce nodded forcefully, then passed out again. Instantly, the three of them looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes.

Red Hood patted his chest and said: "Leave it to me. Helping any Batman is still helping, right?"

And the moment Red Hood and Nightwing looked at each other, they both found surprise in each other's eyes.

A great Batman who brought light back to Cat Getan chose them when he needed help. Wasn't this the deepest affirmation and the most special praise?

"Let's go, back to Wei En Manor, hold a war council!"

Nightwing took the lead, guiding the other two out of the room. After they left, Bruce on the hospital bed slowly opened his eyes, sat up without any obstruction, and walked steadily to the window.

Through the window, Bruce watched the three young men's ambitious backs disappear outside the gate of the New Arkham Psychiatric Hospital, and a smile appeared on his face.