Chapter 147 Gunshots in the Alley

In Wayne Manor, Chen Guang and Thomas never talked about money.

The two chatted about wine tasting, art, and even exchanged knowledge and opinions about the world, and even Thomas's political leanings, which he never revealed easily outside.

But what we talked about the most was, of course, about the children.

Martha likes Karl very much, and Karl also likes Martha very much.

This sensible child, just as he never took the initiative to ask about the family's financial situation in the past, he never had any doubts about his mother.

He always hides all his sharpness, making himself like soft cotton, afraid of hurting anyone, even his seemingly powerful father.

However, Thomas looked at Martha, whose smile gradually became gentler during the contact with Karl, and couldn't help but ask: "Excuse me for talking, I don't know Karl's mother..."

Thomas didn't like poking scars on people, but he was sure that the man named Chen Guang would never be hurt because of this incident. Thomas even doubted whether there was anything that could change the color of this man who had always been calm and calm.

He has been dealing with people for decades, and can easily tell whether a person is pretending to be strong, or whether he is truly confident from the bottom of his heart.

Chen Guang thought for a while, and since Thomas was asking about Karl's mother and not his wife, it would be better to tell the truth.

"She left... because of a natural disaster, she went to another world." Chen Guang said calmly.

Thomas was silent, and Karl, who was outside the door, suddenly stiffened, and his originally high interest dropped almost visibly.

At this moment, Thomas suddenly realized something.

Could it be...that this is the reason why this man has been working conscientiously as a firefighter for these seven years?

Could it be that his wife died in a fire?

Thomas sighed secretly. Sure enough, no matter how strong a person is, when facing the departure of a loved one, he will feel uncontrollable pain in his heart. Even after seven years of resolution, is he still unable to let go?

So he patted Chen Guang on the shoulder in a more approachable manner than before, and said apologetically: "She must be an excellent woman."

Chen Guang thought about it and found out that Carl's parents were both high-ranking officials of Krypton and scientists, so they were indeed outstanding.

So he nodded and said: "Yes, she is very smart, knowledgeable, and far-sighted. She gave all her hopes for life to her children. It's a pity that her boundless love never had the opportunity to be conveyed directly to Karl."

In the face of crazy opposition from other Kryptonians, he secretly sent Superman to the earth. He was the taller among the dwarfs. It was indeed a visionary move.

Even though Bruce had a wonderful childhood, Carl almost never spent a day peacefully with his parents on Krypton in any parallel world.

Karl's eyes in the manor were gradually filled with tears. He didn't know why his hearing was so sharp and he could hear his father's conversation clearly, but this little thing didn't matter.

What's important is that this is the first time he talks about his mother from his father.

All those vague guesses before became clear.

He now knows that he was not abandoned by his mother. On the contrary, his mother loves him deeply. She is an excellent and strong woman, just like his father.

It's a pity that an unstoppable accident took away his mother's life... Carl, like Thomas, instantly had a blissful spiritual enlightenment.

No wonder my father wants to be a fire alarm despite being so rich...

He probably never wants another innocent person in this world to be swallowed up by an accident like his mother.

Karl clenched his little fists, and in his heart, the same goal rose.

In the future, I will also become a hero who protects innocent people!

Thomas felt that it would be impolite to continue talking about this topic. Just as he was about to change the subject, Alfred, the butler, suddenly opened the door and walked into the living room. His spine was straight and he said respectfully: "Master, there is a guest who wants to see you. He has no appointment, but he calls himself

Charles Sionis, congratulations on your decision."

Thomas frowned slightly, obviously he had heard of this name. Chen Guang was not very familiar with this name, but it seemed that it happened to appear in the comics he had read, so he quickly thought of it.

The surname Sionnis... seems to exist among Batman's villains.

A second-tier gangster, Roman Sionis.

He has a more familiar nickname, Black Mask.

Chen Guang raised his eyebrows, Black Mask's father came to see Thomas? Interesting.

Thomas confessed to Chen: "Sorry, excuse me, it won't be long."

After saying that, he left the living room and went to the main entrance of Wayne Manor to greet the guests.

Chen Guang didn't need to follow him, he could hear Thomas's every move clearly.

He came to the back garden of the manor and looked at Karl, whose eyes suddenly became determined, feeling a little baffled.

When Charles, a lean man, and Thomas came to a certain reception room in the Wayne Mansion, he took off his tall hat by the fireside, greeted the owner here, and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations.

You, Mr. Thomas, I heard that you declined the invitation from the Court of Owls? I have to say, this is definitely a wise decision."

Thomas raised his eyebrows and said with a plain polite smile: "Thank you, but I didn't expect that such a trivial matter could reach your ears? It seems that you are very well-informed."

Charles chuckled, put on his black top hat again, leaned on his cane and shook his head: "If I were really well-informed, I wouldn't have heard about it a month after you rejected the Court of Owls."

He mocked disdainfully: "Those guys in the Court of Owls are all sanctimonious hypocrites. They actually require each association member to hand over 15% of their property when they die. Such a greedy organization actually claims to know how to accumulate wealth.

, let wealth flow from generation to generation? Bah! If this continues, within a few generations, those who are stupid enough to join the Owl Club will be hollowed out by them!"

Thomas looked at Charles calmly and said softly: "I can feel your anger. Although our starting points are different, we are both dissatisfied with the Court of Owls. So, what is the reason for your trip today?"

Charles' voice lowered, and he looked at Thomas with a pair of vulture-like eyes. When he smiled, there was unconcealable greed in the folds of his skin.

"I'm here to invite you to join our 'Masked Parliament'. Unlike those guys, we don't have any compulsory requirements. All members voluntarily hand over donations to the organization..."

"That's enough." Thomas interrupted in a deep voice.

Charles suddenly looked unkind, but before he said anything, Thomas finally couldn't suppress his disdainful smile: "The Masked Parliament? A white racist association that has been accidentally active for a long time? I heard that all of you are wearing white skulls.

mask?"

Thomas stood up, with a contemptuous curve on his lips: "Why do I feel that your parliament sounds like a parody of the Court of Owls? I heard that you kept applying to join the Court of Owls a few years ago, but...

You failed, and then you turned around and found a poor imitation? You are really not picky."

Charles frowned deeply and said in a deep voice: "Don't be too arrogant! Thomas, our member..."

"Your members are old and tired, and the Court of Owls is recruiting new blood every year. The only thing you have in common is that you are all a bunch of stupid white supremacists."

Thomas pressed forward step by step, with the same expression on his face and said: "I will never allow my child to have the slightest involvement with you dirty fools. This will bring shame to the entire Wayne family!"

In the end, Charles left Wayne Manor in embarrassment, while Thomas returned to the hall as if nothing had happened, and the banquet had already been prepared by Alfred.

"Father, have you finished your work?" Little Bruce said happily when he saw his father coming back.

Thomas gently touched Bruce's hair and sat next to him.

The previous conversation between the two was overheard by Chen Guang, which suddenly made him interested in the so-called Court of Owls.

In other words, Thomas rejected the invitation of the Court of Owls a month ago, and was killed in an alley a month later... Could things be such a coincidence?

————

It was a pleasure to be a guest at Wayne's house, mainly because Carl was very happy.

Chen Guang refused the car Thomas sent to take him home and chose to walk back slowly with Karl.

Of course, it doesn’t mean walking the whole way, but it means transferring to the subway or bus and walking back.

When the two got off the last subway train, Carl happily told his father about Bruce's novel toys. Chen Guang picked him up and said with a smile: "It's all my fault. I never thought that the living environment would be so bad."

You little one has caused stress, you can buy whatever you want from now on."

"Really?" Carl's eyes flashed with stars.

But after thinking for a while, Karl scratched his head and said shyly: "Actually... I don't really want anything, and if I really want to play, I can just go find Bruce."

Chen Guang had no objection to how his children used their pocket money, but at this moment, Carl suddenly turned his attention to a homeless man covered with a newspaper at the Gotham subway entrance.

Public facilities in the United States have always been famous for being dirty and messy, but Chen Guang was still willing to let Carl come into contact with these real scenes.

The lives of rich people can be built entirely with resources and money, so the lives of rich people are colorful and varied, and everything depends on the ideas of the person who controls the resources.

The lives of the poor are filled with compromises and games everywhere. Who owns how much space, who can decorate it, and who needs to take the bus at what time a day. They all choose the one that is not too bad among various bad options.

Just one.

This homeless man was able to rest at a subway entrance where there was a lot of traffic, but he didn't know if he had fought with several other homeless people to compete for this place.

In any society, the life of the poor can be said to be atomized, or it can be said to be a whole with you and me. This is the true face of the world and human society, and it is also one of the reasons why Chen Guang bought a middle-class apartment in the city.

He neither wanted Karl to live a difficult life, nor did he want Karl to be blinded by flashy illusions.

Chen Guang has always believed that one should be sincere when treating children, trying not to create additional suffering for them, but also showing them the truth of things as much as possible.

Karl hesitated for a moment and tentatively said, "Dad, can you put me down?"

Chen Guang bent down and placed Carl on the ground. Carl carefully approached a tired and sleeping homeless man. He noticed that the homeless man had lost his right arm and there was a cardboard in front of him.

It reads: I used to be a worker, but I lost my arm due to an accident. The construction company filed for bankruptcy and I had no money to buy insurance. In the end, I lost my home and job, and now I have nothing. Please kindly ask

Help.

Carl's little eyebrows knitted together as he looked at it. He took out a small frog-like wallet from his arms, opened the frog's mouth, and took out the change inside.

But before putting the hat in front of the homeless man, he couldn't help but raise his head and look at Chen Guang, his eyes seemed to be asking.

Chen Guang nodded, and Carl put the money in the homeless man's hat. Then he seemed to be relieved and ran back to Chen Guang.
To be continued...