Several days had passed since the news about the Court of Owls was received.
In the early hours of the morning, Gwen, crouching low, silently made her way through the Wayne Family garden, intending to sneak back to her room like an agile night owl.
But when she climbed the wall to the second-floor balcony of her room, Alfred was already waiting there.
Seeing her butler standing there without a word, Gwen was startled, then immediately composed herself, forcing a smile and asking casually, "Alfred, it's so late, why aren't you resting yet?"
Alfred raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze sweeping over Gwen like a searchlight, his tone calm but with that characteristic British sarcasm: "Miss Gwen, you've been coming home quite late recently, so of course, I must wait for your return; otherwise, the Wayne Couple would worry."
Gwen's heart sank, her smile froze on her face, and her eyes began to dart around unconsciously as she stammered, "Uh... I was reading in the library, got lost in it, and didn't notice the time."
"Reading can make you smell like a sewer? That's a truly unique literary experience."
Watching the old butler's serious sarcasm, Gwen was at a loss for words.
The two stood in a stalemate for a long time, and eventually, Gwen couldn't hold back.
She sighed helplessly, knowing she could no longer hide it from the old butler, and could only tell the truth: "Alright, Alfred. Actually, I'm investigating the organization that's impersonating Brucey."
Lately, she had been going to the sewers of Gotham every day.
She didn't want to go to that dirty, smelly place either, but regarding information about the Court of Owls, all she remembered was that their headquarters were hidden in the sewers, and that the ultimate goal of their organization was a bit of a Joker.
Not the one from future Gotham City, but the one on their ID cards.
Their grand assembly, the Court of Owls, believed that by opening a channel for Barbatos, the Bat God, they could rule the multiverse together with this Loki.
Gwen was certain there were no Chinese people among these tentacles.
Anyone who had heard of the classic scam, "I am Qin Shi Huang, send money," would never believe Barbatos's claims.
Even if not, watching some anti-Japanese war dramas would be better!
Which of the collaborators in those dramas ever came to a good end?
To find traces of the Court of Owls, Gwen had almost turned Gotham's intricate sewers upside down, yet, let alone their underground headquarters, Gwen found nothing suspicious.
Oh, no, it wasn't entirely fruitless.
She did find a considerable amount of military-grade explosives, assault rifles, and other combat equipment in some dark corners of the sewers.
But apart from that, she found nothing else.
These things would signify an anomaly and the impending occurrence of something major if found anywhere else.
But this was Gotham; were these things suspicious in Gotham? Not at all.
Besides searching herself, Gwen had also been hoping that someone would actively contact Brucey.
After all, no one knew that the Fake Brucey's identity had been exposed by her.
But unfortunately, days passed, and no one came to find Brucey.
This made Gwen feel very helpless, and at the same time, a strong sense of crisis spread in her heart.
Fake Brucey had said that those people would actively seek her out after she inherited the Wayne Family.
And inheriting the Wayne Family, if nothing unexpected happened, would likely not be possible until Brucey was at least 18.
Moreover, even by then, the Wayne Group couldn't be Fake Brucey's one-woman show.
The Wayne Couple had retired, not died.
It would be impossible for the Fake Brucey to mess things up.
Unless... when Brucey inherited the Wayne Group, the Wayne Couple were no longer around.
Combining other information learned from outside, Gwen's heart tightened, and a terrible conjecture surfaced in her mind.
If she were not on this timeline, the secret replacement of Brucey would still happen.
However, at that time, it would no longer be her looking for her, but her solving this crisis with her own intelligence.
To prevent themselves from being exposed, the Court of Owls would try to make the Fake Brucey disappear and create the illusion of a child babbling, saying something like, "Another me replaced me."
Immediately after, the Crime Alley tragedy would occur, the Wayne Couple would be murdered, and they would then find an opportunity to completely replace Brucey.
But once the Wayne Couple died, all the spotlight would focus on this poor child.
At the same time, Alfred was always astute, making it difficult for the Court of Owls to find an opportunity to act.
Next came Batman's training period, during which Brucey began to travel the World, searching for ways to save Gotham.
And the impression given to the Court of Owls was that this child was completely terrified and disappointed with Gotham; he would not return.
They thought this, but they didn't expect that Brucey, who had finally mastered his skills, would suddenly make a high-profile return.
During the day, on the surface, he was a playboy... a top patron at a male escort club.
But by night, he would transform into the nemesis of evil, Batman!
At this time, the identity of Brucey alone would put him in the newspapers every now and then due to scandals, making the Court of Owls even more hesitant to act rashly.
Moreover, from the comic plot, if Bruce wasn't planning to demolish and rebuild Gotham, the Court of Owls might not have been so eager to kill him.
In summary, although Gwen's intrusion changed some of the plot's direction, the Court of Owls' intentions remained unchanged.
Kill the Wayne Couple, create the Crime Alley incident.
The difficulty of all matters lies in not knowing what the enemy wants to do.
Now that Gwen knew, solving the problem became much simpler.
But before that... "Alfred, I was wrong, please forgive me."
"I hope, Miss, you truly understand your mistake."
...The next day, in the afternoon.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the stained-glass windows, spilling into the spacious hall of the Wayne Family mansion, coloring the marble floor a golden hue.
Brucey finished her day of studies and hummed a tune as she left her room.
She didn't know what her sister was doing before, so she was happily catching up on her own progress.
But as soon as she came down from upstairs, she felt a strange sensation.
Usually, at this time, the whole family should have been in the living room, but why was there no one now?
Father, Mother, sister, and Alfred were nowhere to be seen.
Father and Mother might have gone to the Wayne Group, which wasn't strange. Her sister should be in the lab, but where had Alfred gone?
After a moment of hesitation, Brucey decided to go to her sister's laboratory first to look for her.
But upon reaching the laboratory door, just as she was about to knock, she faintly heard voices coming from inside.
Listening to the voices... it sounded like there was more than just her sister, seemingly others as well.
Her curiosity was thoroughly piqued, and she tiptoed to the laboratory door, pressing her ear against it.