"Okay, thank you, Alfred," Gwen said softly into the phone before hanging up.
At this moment, Gwen was in the underground safe house where Arcana usually lived.
After hanging up, Gwen subconsciously looked at everyone present.
Arcana was holding a velvet cloth, meticulously wiping the telescope on the table.
As if sensing Gwen's gaze, her movements paused slightly.
Giovanni, meanwhile, was sipping tea, observing his female disciple who seemed lost in thought.
Zatanna sat nearby, her eyes full of curiosity, her gaze flitting back and forth over Arcana.
Perhaps uncomfortable under Zatanna's scrutiny, Arcana frowned, impatiently glanced at Zatanna, and asked in a stiff tone, "Why are you staring at me? What do you want?"
Zatanna was not at all intimidated by Arcana's attitude; instead, she said with admiration, "You really look exactly like Brucey!"
Immediately, veins pulsed on Arcana's forehead, and her hands clenched tightly around the telescope, her knuckles turning White from the force, as if she was about to lash out at any second.
It wasn't like she wanted this.
Just as she was about to erupt, Gwen timely interjected, "Xiao Qian, that telescope is twenty thousand U.S. dollars."
Hearing this, Arcana quickly suppressed her anger and solemnly placed the wiped telescope on the table.
Seeing this, Gwen nodded in satisfaction.
Hmm, a good child who is diligent and thrifty.
It's only so much money, why be so flustered?
Giovanni's gaze was deep as he quietly watched everything unfold.
If he remembered correctly, the girl in front of him, called Xiao Qian, was the fake Brucey he had captured back then.
He never expected Gwen to keep her.
However, more than that, he was now more concerned about what Gwen intended to do next.
He looked at Gwen and was the first to break the silence in the room: "Gwen, why did you ask me earlier if I had a spell to fake a corpse?"
Gwen pondered for a moment, deciding it was time to reveal her plan to everyone. She looked at Giovanni with a determined gaze and slowly said, "I want my parents to fake their deaths."
"Fake their deaths?" Giovanni asked, full of confusion, "Why?"
Helpless, Gwen had no choice but to explain the Court of Owls to Giovanni from the beginning.
After explaining, Giovanni stroked his chin and asked with a puzzled expression, "You mean... this organization is formed by prominent local families of Gotham, has immense power, and is deeply entrenched in the dark corners of Gotham?"
"Yes, Teacher."
Giovanni pondered for a moment and pressed, "So, the Wayne Family is not part of this organization?"
"That's right," Gwen confirmed with a nod.
Giovanni thought for a while longer, then asked, "And what about the mob Boss, Falcone, whom you mentioned to me? Is he not among them either?"
"He's not either," Gwen again gave an affirmative answer.
"So, this organization has neither the Boss of Gotham's underworld nor the Boss of Gotham's legitimate businesses; it's made up of other people in Gotham besides these two, right?"
"????"
Gwen was stunned by the question; it seemed to be true.
However, that being said, Gwen had read the comics and naturally knew that the Court of Owls was not that simple, so she still needed to explain a bit.
"These people have controlled this city since Gotham's inception. For years, the Wayne Family has been fighting against them, never stopping. They are truly terrifying."
"You mean, a group of them has been fighting against one family, the Wayne Family, for centuries, and still haven't won?"
"..." Gwen was silent for a long time, finally slowly uttering one word: "Yes."
Suddenly, the scene fell into silence.
Seeing a hint of embarrassment flash across her disciple Gwen's face, Giovanni scratched his head and simply changed the subject: "Gwen, since we plan to have the Wayne Couple fake their deaths, how exactly should we go about it?"
Gwen cleared her throat twice, her expression becoming serious again, and she said methodically, "First, Arcana, you need to constantly observe the Wayne Couple's movements, paying close attention to the Park Row area. If any suspicious individuals appear, report it immediately."
Arcana nodded upon hearing this: "Understood."
Gwen then looked at Giovanni: "I've contacted reliable people and arranged for a van and relevant personnel. At the appropriate time, they will appear and cooperate with us to complete the plan."
Giovanni frowned after hearing this: "Reliable people? How reliable?"
A slight smile appeared on Gwen's face: "The Boss of Gotham's underworld, is that reliable?"
...Inside a top-floor luxury office, the decor was extremely lavish, with Italian imported marble floors reflecting like mirrors, and priceless classical paintings hanging on the walls.
Falcone stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the bustling traffic below, seemingly lost in thought.
Just then, he felt his pocket vibrate gently, indicating a new message.
He instinctively reached for that pocket, then paused.
Two years ago, the Wayne Group had already launched its nine-grid keypad phone, virtually replacing most of the older brick phones.
Falcone naturally had one for daily use, but... it wasn't in this pocket.
The phone in this pocket hadn't received a message or call from anyone in several years.
Falcone had charged it and put it in his pocket, simply thinking that this World of his was not so simple, and there were many things he didn't know.
He took out the phone, which had a Bat symbol on the edge of its Home button, from his pocket and carefully read the messages on it, his eyes involuntarily narrowing... "I will personally go to retrieve the bodies, to avoid any unnecessary accidents," Gwen said seriously, "But I am the eldest young lady of the Wayne Family; if I appear at the scene, it will definitely attract the attention of the Court of Owls."
"So I cannot show my true face, Teacher. Can you help me disguise my identity?"
Giovanni looked Gwen up and down, then shook his head: "I can disguise your appearance as someone else, but you are still too short. If I were to disguise you as an adult, there would definitely be a sense of incongruity."
Gwen heard this and a confident smile appeared on her face: "Don't worry about that, I have a way to handle it."
...In another hidden corner of the city, a van was parked quietly under a dim streetlamp.
A group of burly men stood around the van, idly chatting.
"Why are we assigned here? What are we supposed to do?" one burly man asked, scratching his head, his face full of confusion.
Another burly man shrugged and pouted: "How would I know? Boss told us to come out and wait for instructions."
Just then, a figure slowly approached from not far away.
Everyone's gaze was drawn to him, and as the figure drew closer, they were surprised to find that the newcomer was a short Dwarf.
"You're our leader for today?" one burly man looked the Dwarf up and down, a hint of doubt in his tone.
The Dwarf chuckled, a sinister smile appearing on his face, which looked especially eerie in the dim light: "That's right, it's me."