Chapter 840: The Children

Jason left the Blue Jacket headquarters building with a nervous heart. He did not take action, because he had more important things to do now.

Just as he had expected, the gangs were not stupid. Some people saw that this was a trap; although they might not have thought as far ahead, they were unwilling to see their influence diminished.

Jason knew that compared to killing, he had more important things to do now. He had to ensure that the renovation project could continue.

For the upper echelons of the gangs, this might cause their influence to decline and make their lives worse, but for these children, as long as the buildings could be completed, their lives would definitely improve. At the very least, the places where they worked in the future would no longer leak when it rained, and the chance of falling ill would also decrease.

It wasn't that Jason hadn't thought about rushing in to force them to reveal the location of the bombs, but this was actually harder than killing. Killing only took a few seconds, but if he tried to force a confession, it would very likely make noise and be discovered by other members, and then he wouldn't be able to leave.

From the words he overheard, he picked up on a more important piece of information: the Wei En Group had a way to ensure that everyone could live in suitable housing.

Although Jason didn't know what this method was, he was clear that since Bruce Wei En dared to say so, he would definitely be able to do it. Batman was not a person who liked to exaggerate.

Since that was the case, this meant that all the children could have a room. For this goal, Jason was willing to do anything.

He hurriedly returned to the base, then called all the children over and said to them: "Go quickly! Call all the other children's gangs up, let their bosses come here. I have something to say to them!"

All the children were confused, but over the past few days, Jason's actions had made them trust him even more. They hadn't been driven out by the gangs, but had returned to their own homes. The gang members were falling apart and everyone was in danger, yet they were still living well.

Therefore, the children trusted Jason very much and didn't ask too many questions; they all ran out. After a while, the sleepy-eyed bosses of the children's gangs all arrived. One of them rubbed his eyes and said: "Jason, what could you possibly have that can't wait until tomorrow morning? Why are you in such a rush?"

"It's really urgent. I have two pieces of news to tell you..."

"The first piece of news is good news. According to reliable intelligence, the Wei En Group has a way to let everyone live in the houses they are assigned. The gangs cannot interfere with us."

Instantly, the children below erupted. Some asked: "What? How is that possible?! How could he possibly do that? Does he want to go to war with the gangs?!"

"Even if the small gangs are gone, there are still the big gangs. Even if the big gangs are gone, there are still the Twelve Families. How could he possibly take on all the gangs?!"

"What way does he have to let us move in? What if the gangs use guns to force us? What do we do? We can't beat them either!"

"Is this really reliable, Jason?" one of the child leaders spoke up: "I know you don't like to lie, but this is really a bit too outrageous!"

"I'm not sure, but what if it were possible..." Jason didn't finish his sentence, but the whole room fell silent.

Jason saw a kind of light emerge in their eyes, exceptionally bright in the dim room.

Perhaps these children were not without hope for this world; they had just been disappointed too many times. But even so, after hearing such news, they still couldn't help but dream.

A warm house that didn't leak, a soft bed, a window that could catch the sunlight—no child could refuse such a dream.

"There is another piece of news, and it's bad news..." Jason's tone deepened. He said: "The gangs on Elizabeth Street don't want this project to proceed, so they have planted bombs near the foundation."

"As long as they detonate the bombs, the foundation will inevitably be destroyed. Once workers are killed, the Wei En Group will have to pay compensation, and the lawsuits surrounding this matter will last for years. The gangs can use this time to make the Wei En family sit down and talk, and they can regain the initiative and make the Wei En family hand over the arrangement of the properties to them..."

"And once they regain power, no one will care about us."

As soon as Jason finished speaking, he saw the light in all the children's eyes flare up again. But compared to the previous light, this time the light was filled with murderous intent, even stained blood-red.

Even children in their teens understood one principle: as long as there was any possibility of winning the life they dreamed of, they were willing to pay any price.

"Where are the bombs?" one of the child leaders asked. She said: "I have over 30 people under me. As long as it's within the range of these three streets, there's nowhere they can't search. No matter where the bombs are hidden, we can dig them out!"

"That's right, the little bastards in my gang have crawled through every dog hole here. They absolutely cannot detonate the bombs under our noses..."

"We didn't pay attention before, but they can't escape our eyes..."

Several child leaders looked at each other, and all saw confidence in each other's eyes. They were right; if the gangs were the local snakes here, then the children's gangs were the insects.

There were places snakes couldn't reach, but ants, bees, and moths had been everywhere. These children were able to survive on the streets by relying on nooks, crannies, and secret tunnels.

They had felt every inch of this place, just to expand an extra inch of space for their own survival.

And at this moment, this became their sharp weapon. Gang members from other streets couldn't possibly be more familiar with this place than they were.

As one childish voice after another rose, one thin figure after another emerged from the ground, like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil after the first spring rain. They turned into streaks of light, searching every corner of the streets and alleys.

Whispering, ear-to-ear, coming and going, from all directions...

On this night when no one slept, for the first time, Jason did not feel angry and helpless. And all the child leaders felt a strange excitement; they had never united like this before.

Perhaps in the future, they would still become gang leaders in various districts, but they would eventually understand that the excitement in their hearts today came from the freedom to control their own destiny, from the rebellion of resistance, and also from the friendship of like-minded people working together to realize an ideal.

Clusters of small sparks were ignited, and when they were blown into the cold night by Cat Getan's night wind, whether they would condense into a larger flame or be extinguished, Jason did not know. He only knew that he would remember the thrill of this night forever.

Not two hours later, several children came to report. Some said the dirt in the corner had been dug up, some said there were strange lights near the construction site, and some said they had seen strangers recently...

They checked them one by one, and finally identified three problematic locations, basically all near the construction site.

The first was that strange tire tracks had appeared in the mud nearby, which didn't look like they were left by local vehicles.

These children's memory had reached the point where they knew exactly what the tire tracks of the local residents' and gangs' vehicles looked like; they relied on this to survive at the bottom of Cat Getan.

There was also someone who dug up shell casings not far from the construction site. They didn't look like the kind used by the local small gangs, but rather like the firearms of those big gangs.

The third was that on the roof of a building near the construction site, there were often strange shadows, as if someone was watching the construction site.

The children split into three groups to check these three different locations. Jason went to the most dangerous location, which was the roof of the building near the construction site. That was where they might run into the enemy head-on, while the other two places were just clues.

Familiar with the path, he arrived on top of the building. Jason didn't find any suspicious figures there, so he walked into the roof door and waited behind it, intending to see who exactly was coming here.

As the night deepened, Jason heard a slight sound carried by the wind outside the door, as if there were two sets of footsteps landing. Jason looked out through the crack in the door and saw two shadows, one tall and one short.

Watching, Jason felt that these two figures were a bit familiar, especially the tall shadow on the right. Wasn't that Batman?

Jason pushed the door open and walked out. Dick, who was beside Batman, turned his head vigilantly, but Batman didn't move, instead turning his head slightly to look at him and saying: "Jason, why did you only come now?"

"I've been waiting here for a long time." Jason walked up, stood beside Batman, and looked down. From this angle, he could see the children busy on various streets, all searching for something.

"You wouldn't allow anyone to plant bombs near your construction site, right? You wouldn't give them that chance, Batman." Jason said, but then he asked: "Then why don't you just protect the entire construction site?"

Batman shook his head and said: "You will protect it, won't you?"

Batman looked at the shining lights on the construction site and said: "Someone once told me not to pity them, not to bestow everything upon them like a god, but to let them strive for it themselves, to defend it themselves."

Jason stood at the edge of the roof and said: "Now, they have learned these things. Once they start to dream, they will never be able to return to that numb life from before."

"Once they start to imagine, to imagine the beautiful life they should have had, they will absolutely not allow anyone to destroy it, and will no longer be able to endure such exploitation..."

But Dick, who was beside them, was a bit confused. He didn't understand what Batman was saying to Jason. He wanted to join the conversation, but didn't know where to start. After Jason left, he asked Batman: "What were you talking about?"

"We were talking about a book we just read." Batman replied.

"A book you just read?" Dick frowned and said very doubtfully: "What did you read, and what was written in it?"

Batman turned his head to look at Dick, his gaze carrying a gentleness he himself hadn't realized.

Accompanied by the cheers of the children near the construction site who had found the bombs, a low voice drifted through Cat Getan's night sky, carrying a chill that did not belong to this season.

"The book told a story, a heart-shaking story that took place in the midst of heavy snow..."

"If you really want to hear it, go ask Alfred." ===== CHAPTER 841 =====