Gotham, night.
The night mist enveloped the entire city tightly.
On the streets, an eerie fog swirled, and neon lights flickered in and out of view, adding a mysterious and dangerous aura to the city.
Suddenly, a rapidly moving Shadow, accompanied by black lightning, streaked across the night sky, with faint blue light interspersed within.
The Shadow moved swiftly and agilely, like an arrow shot from a bow, rushing towards its destination.
Along the way, the Shadow skillfully avoided crowded areas, choosing small paths without cameras or with blind spots.
Relying on his familiarity with Gotham's terrain and his superhuman speed, the Shadow, like a ghost hidden in the dark night, silently evaded most surveillance equipment.
Even when he occasionally encountered unavoidable surveillance, due to Gotham's limited technology at the time, the surveillance footage could only capture a blurry Shadow with a blue glow.
In less than a minute, the Shadow arrived in front of a door.
This door was hidden at the bottom of a descending staircase, and the walls beside the steps were covered in mottled moss, exuding a decaying scent that added a grim and terrifying atmosphere to the surroundings.
But the problem is that most of Gotham looks like this; if you bring the style from Metropolis here, it would actually stand out.
The Shadow quickly descended the steps and arrived at the entrance to the Underground Room.
This door, ravaged by time, had peeling paint and a rusty doorknob, complementing the dilapidated environment.
The Shadow first tapped lightly on the door, the crisp sound echoing softly in the silent night, followed by a barely perceptible 'click'.
The Shadow lifted his hand and flipped the old lock upwards, revealing a small yet extremely precise mechanical lock beneath a seemingly ordinary lock face.
This mechanical lock was made of special metal, with delicate surface textures and faintly visible circuitry; every detail exuded a quality far beyond Gotham's current technological level.
The Shadow's fingers danced across the mechanical lock, inputting a password. In an instant, a red light flashed around him, accompanied by the faint sound of gears turning, and Gwen, now in her girl form, pushed open the door and walked in.
The Underground Room behind the door had no windows, but it was brightly lit.
Its layout resembled a suite with several rooms and two halls, spacious and orderly.
The warm yellow light of the Underground Room flowed along the walls, and Gwen, familiar with her surroundings, walked lightly through the rather cozy living room and corridor, heading straight to the inner room.
She reached out and pushed open the wooden door, which let out a soft 'creak'.
Inside, a sandbag swung rhythmically, and a girl was concentrating on throwing punches, sweat soaking the wisps of hair on her forehead.
Hearing the door open, the girl abruptly turned her head, her gaze meeting Gwen's.
This girl was strikingly similar to Brucey; at first glance, they looked like twin sisters, but upon closer inspection, there were many differences.
Her skin was much paler than Brucey's, as if she had never seen the sun.
Brucey's face always radiated the ease and happiness appropriate for a child her age, while her face held only confusion and indifference, as if shrouded by an invisible gloom.
Seeing the girl turn to look at her, Gwen's lips curved into a gentle smile, and she softly asked, "Why weren't you waiting for me in the classroom?"
The girl paused at her words, her gaze lingering on Gwen's face for a moment, and she said earnestly, "It was a bit stuffy."
Gwen raised an eyebrow, tentatively asking, "Do you want to go out for a walk?"
After hearing this, the girl fell silent again. After a moment, she slowly shook her head, her voice as flat as still Water: "I've been here for several years, and even before that, I lived in places without windows. I... I'm used to it."
That's right, this girl was the previous Fake Brucey.
Looking back, Gwen had originally thought the Court of Owls would act quickly.
She planned that once the Court made its move and she had resolved everything, she would send this child out of Gotham, keeping her away from herself and Brucey.
After all, this child looked remarkably like Brucey, and she worried that if she handled it improperly, a mix-up between the real and Fake Brucey would be troublesome.
What would happen if Thomas Elliot's spotlight was stolen then?
Oh right, Thomas Elliot.
Thinking of such a character, Gwen couldn't help but find it a bit amusing.
This name might not be familiar to everyone, but he is actually a famous Batman villain, Hush.
In the original story, he was friends with Bruce Wayne since childhood.
But he always envied everything Bruce possessed.
He later murdered his parents in a car accident, inherited their billions, and constantly observed and imitated Bruce Wayne.
Finally, he underwent plastic surgery to look like Bruce Wayne, wrapped his face in bandages, and called himself Hush.
Gwen had met Thomas Elliot in this World, and he was a boy.
The thought of him envying little Brucey and then undergoing a sex change to look like little Brucey made her feel like laughing, almost unable to hold it in.
Cough, cough, cough! Back to the main topic.
Gwen was now eight years old, and news from the Court of Owls remained like a stone sinking into the sea, with no movement.
Left with no choice, Gwen had to keep the child by her side.
Initially, the Underground Room Alfred bought was empty.
After all, long-term residence wasn't considered at the time.
But after Gwen visited a few times, for safety and future considerations, she transformed it into a safe house.
And initially, upon hearing the Fake Brucey say that the Court of Owls had a secret base.
There, they adopted a large group of orphans, subjecting them to brutal training from a young age, raising them to be Talons and reserves.
Upon learning this news, Gwen was greatly moved.
From her perspective, a future Gotham overrun by villains wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Aside from the useless Joker, everyone else's unique skills could benefit Wayne Enterprises.
After all, if you randomly picked one of these people, they would be high-IQ criminals.
It would be an outrage if such people weren't put to work for the basic family.
So in the future, the entire city would surely be crazy and chaotic.
If she could acquire a group of private soldiers—no, bodyguards—who had been trained but not heavily brainwashed from a young age, the future should be much easier.
Thus, Gwen began her search, practically scouring all of Gotham's orphanages, trying to find relevant clues.
But she found nothing, as if this secret organization of the Court of Owls had never existed.
Gwen speculated that the Court of Owls likely collected infants from orphanages in other cities, then secretly trained them elsewhere, bringing them back to Gotham when needed.
However, by that time, they would usually have already been trained into Talons.
He just didn't know if the Talons in this version were living or dead.