The sounds from the laboratory were intermittent, and Brucey strained to catch them, only getting the general gist.
"Are you sure?" a slightly worried voice asked.
"Is this the only way?" another voice followed, this one belonging to Father.
"Yes..." It seemed to be Gwen, but her voice was a bit soft.
"This... isn't this too cruel?" This sounded like Mother's voice, as if she was worried, even with a hint of a sob.
"Brucey is..." It felt like Gwen was arguing with everyone; could it be about her?
"Don't... can't..."
"I... only have... her..."
These vague riddles made Brucey even more confused.
Just as she leaned forward, trying to hear more clearly, the door was pushed open.
Brucey stumbled and fell to the ground.
The laboratory door was actually quite sturdy, with a decent thickness.
Brucey was able to eavesdrop because Martha wasn't familiar with the door and hadn't closed it properly.
And that improperly closed door couldn't withstand Brucey leaning her full weight against it; she naturally fell flat on her face.
The four people in the laboratory heard the sound and turned their heads in unison.
For a moment, everyone froze, and the air seemed to solidify instantly.
Brucey looked up and saw Father, Mother, and Gwen standing there, their expressions gradually changing from surprise to complexity.
Then Gwen sighed, "Never mind, the plan is canceled. Just be more careful."
Then the Wayne Couple exchanged glances, nodded, and helped the bewildered little Brucey to her feet. Two years flew by in an instant, and the sky over Gotham City remained shrouded in gloom, with streetlights casting a dim, flickering yellow light.
Gwen stood at a school entrance, watching the Wayne Couple waving excitedly at her and her sister from the car, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh, her eyes filled with bewilderment and confusion.
Recalling two years ago, in order to prevent this World's history from following the normal DC history, Gwen had once suggested that the Wayne Couple fake their own Death.
Simply put, it involved arranging for someone to shoot the Wayne Couple, but with special equipment made by Grey Matter, the Wayne Couple wouldn't truly die; it would only create the illusion that they had passed away.
They were discussing the details that day when Brucey unexpectedly pushed the door open and walked in.
Out of helplessness, the plan had to be put on hold.
Later on, Gwen simply abandoned the plan.
She could only say that in such a World, she somewhat believed that such a coincidence must have some meaning.
Just as they were about to discuss the Wayne Couple's faked Death, Brucey overheard the general idea from outside.
This set off alarm bells in Gwen's mind.
She realized that if she truly intended for the Wayne Couple to fake their Death, then everyone involved, both in planning and execution, except for herself, had to be unaware.
But it didn't matter; even if they didn't actively fake their Death, the Court of Owls would make their move at any time.
She waited every day, waiting for the Court of Owls to open the Batman instance.
In these two years, to draw out the Court of Owls, Gwen had the Wayne Couple take her and Brucey through Crime Alley countless times.
Logically speaking, not to mention in Crime Alley, but in Gotham, robberies and brawls were common occurrences. Being suddenly robbed was an everyday event.
But strangely, despite so many visits, the criminals seemed to have vanished into thin air, not even a Shadow to be seen.
Thus, days passed in waiting, and in the blink of an eye, Gwen and Brucey reached school age.
Due to the local schooling system, the five-year-olds had to attend kindergarten before going to elementary school.
Unlike China, America's kindergarten system was only one year long, after which children could advance to elementary school, and elementary school here only had a five-year system.
However, for Gwen and Brucey, this one year of kindergarten life was quite uneventful.
On the first day of enrollment, if it weren't for the fact that both children were the Wayne Family's young misses, the kindergarten teachers would have wanted to offer money for them to attend kindergarten elsewhere.
While other children were playing with simple toys and immersed in childish games, Gwen and Brucey each held a book.
Brucey, a 5-year-old girl, was reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" at this time.
Even in China, it was a bit too early for a 5-year-old to read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Generally, it seemed people started reading it around 8 years old, let alone here in America.
As for what Gwen was reading... [For example, some criminals, during their growth, lacked love and proper guidance from their families.]
When the kindergarten teacher saw Gwen reading the content of this book, her entire face turned White.
Who would let such a young child read this kind of book?!
Just as the teachers all thought the books these two students were reading were a bit extreme, the dear Miss Gwendolyn Wayne told them the cruel truth.
Children, what's so extreme about reading a book? Let me show you what extreme really is!
On the second day of enrollment, a male teacher in the kindergarten named Maer was taken away on the spot by the Gotham Police Department on suspicion of child molestation.
And before leaving, the leading Sergeant Harvey even ran over with a fawning expression to greet the Wayne Family's young miss.
This scene sent shivers down the spines of the kindergarten teachers present, making them deeply feel that Gotham seemed to be tightly controlled by an evil pair of hands.
Regarding this, Miss Gwendolyn, who had actually discovered Teacher Maer's inappropriate behavior towards little girls, only felt very wronged.
After discovering Teacher Maer's inappropriate behavior towards little girls, Gwen followed him for two days, collected conclusive evidence, and then anonymously reported him, successfully sending Teacher Maer to the police station.
Facing the teachers' over-interpretation, Gwen merely shrugged helplessly.
Right, right, Gotham has an invisible evil pair of hands. I have a nursery rhyme here; please recite it for a moment.
After the Teacher Maer incident, whether it was rumors spread by the teachers or not, the entire kindergarten knew that the two Misses of the Wayne Family were not to be casually provoked.
During recess, the children gathered together, whispering, their eyes occasionally glancing towards Gwen and Brucey, filled with awe and curiosity.
Brucey was greatly troubled by this.
She wasn't aware of the strange rumors, as the other children were all afraid of her; every time she tried to approach and talk to them, they would shy away in fear.
So, in her opinion, it was Gwen's powerful aura that made everyone keep their distance from her too.
Although the reason those classmates didn't dare to approach her was indeed as such, her words were not false.
The feeling Gwen gave to the other children was less like a peer and more like how the other teachers in the kindergarten made them feel.
No, even scarier than the teachers.
Normally, Gwen would always sit quietly in a corner reading, her red hair casually tied back.
When the teachers were not present, as long as Gwen was in the classroom, the entire class would not be very noisy.
But if Gwen took leave for some reason, even with a teacher present, the class would not be that quiet.
Upon learning of this, a teacher from another class had a sudden idea: whenever she needed students to be quiet and watch cartoons while she was away, she would borrow Gwen.
After the teacher left, the previously quiet classroom immediately became noisy.
But when Gwen, sitting on the podium, looked up and scanned the room, the classroom instantly fell silent.
The children hurriedly sat properly, exchanging glances, afraid to make even a tiny sound.
In reality, Gwen had only looked up slightly to see what the commotion was about when she heard it; she hadn't intended to manage what these children were doing.
One could only say that, for some inexplicable reason, Gwen dominated the kindergarten.