In the library of Wayne Manor, Bruce stacked various books on a table, while Dick, with a ladder much taller than him, was still searching amongst the bookshelves.
After the "click" noise of the ladder scraping against a bookshelf, Dick exclaimed, "Oh! Here's another book that I hadn't noticed before!"
Then, from between two bookshelves, he took out a very old book, blew off the dust on the cover, and turned to the first page.
He then ran in front of Bruce with the book and said, "Mr. Wayne, look at this one, it's a bit strange."
Bruce took the book and found that it described the nursery rhymes passed down in Gotham.
Every city has its own folk tunes. While Gotham may not be ancient, its history is complex, giving birth to a unique musical atmosphere. Although, in recent times, the dominant style in Gotham's music market is gangster rap, in the past, hymns and nursery rhymes were widely known.
This book discusses a variety of nursery rhyme tunes, their lyrics, and the origin stories of the lyrics.
Most nursery rhyme lyrics around the world are simple, often involving a repetition of two or three lines. This aids children in remembering the key parts of the lyrics.
However, one nursery rhyme in this book is extraordinary: "Court of Owls, always watching your way…"
Yes, the nursery rhyme is exactly titled "Court of Owls, always watching your way". Even the title is long, not to mention the content.
In this nursery rhyme, each line is different and there isn't any repetition. Singing it from beginning to end feels more challenging than reciting poetry.
Yet, according to the book, this nursery rhyme once was the most widely circulated rhyme in Gotham. At that time, almost every child was singing it.
Looking at the lyrics, Bruce seemed to see children in the rainy alleyways of a Gotham night, singing "Court of Owls… always watching your way…" with numerous pairs of owl eyes lit up behind them.
Although Bruce had a keen sense of the issue here, he passed the book to Dick and asked, "Can you sing this song?"
Dick accepted the book, his brow furrowed as he looked at the long string of lyrics. "I'll give it a try."
Then, focusing on the book for 20 minutes, he plodded through singing the nursery rhyme, stumbling and hesitating multiple times.
Besides the complex lyrics, the tune of the song is also weird. Everyone knows that nursery rhyme melodies are generally higher than standard songs, suiting the fact that both boys and girls have higher pitched voices prior to their voice changing. Though, this song's tune is extremely low, difficult for both Dick, whose voice is in the process of changing, and for adults.
After spending some time together, Bruce felt that he had a good understanding of Dick. Despite being a bright kid who learns quickly, he struggled while focusing for 20 minutes on mastering this nursery rhyme. What about the other kids in Gotham?
Those children had no patience to learn a song. In a situation where survival is an issue, no one would concentrate on art.
But this book stated that for a long period, this nursery rhyme was popular among Gotham's children. This was indeed a very strange phenomenon. Such challenging songs being passed down among children feels unnatural.
Bruce thought more deeply. Perhaps, Gotham's darkness goes beyond the surface. Some forces have been influencing the people living here since their childhood. The City of Darkness, Gotham, is constructed by these people influenced by the dark power.
Noticing the potential issue with the nursery rhyme, Bruce started searching for more books about Gotham's art history, which gradually led him to broaden his view to all cities on the East Coast.
The most important city on the East Coast is Metropolis, which has much more historical documentation than Gotham. Bruce originally only intended to glance at the history of Metropolis, but he suddenly found another nursery rhyme in a book covering the local culture of Metropolis.
This nursery rhyme didn't mention any owls or darkness, but it shared the same characteristics with the other nursery rhyme – a difficult and unpleasant tune, complex lyrics, but widely circulated at some point.
Bruce suddenly realized that he might not be facing only the darkness in Gotham. As far back as when he was ignorant and unawakened, the roots of this enormous thing had already spread throughout the country.
Discovering the possible traces of the Court of Owls in Metropolis, Bruce immediately looked for Shiller.
Since his manor was bombed, Shiller had moved back to Gotham University. The manor needed some time to be repaired. During this period, he was either helping Victor in his lab, adjusting the condition of Victor's wife, or writing papers in the library.
Bruce found Shiller in a corner of the library and explained why he had come. However, unlike what he had expected, Shiller didn't give him any clues about his investigation.
Bruce was somewhat perplexed. Shiller had always shown great interest in the Court of Owls, and Bruce thought Shiller was also investigating this organization and had more clues than him.
Shiller sat across the table in the library and said to Bruce, "If you are going to investigate, I suggest you seek out someone."
"Who?"
"Godfather Falcone."
That night, it rained again in Gotham. It surprised no one. However, the rain fell particularly hard, its pelting against the glass windows masking the steps of an uninvited guest.
Godfather Falcone was dozing in his study chair when a shadow gradually spread across the window pane. Following a crack of thunder, the sudden burst of light highlighted the silhouette of the intruder more clearly. It had two pointed ears at the top.
As if expecting Batman, Falcone remained seated. Batman observed Falcone silently. Despite their prolonged absence from each other, the Godfather did not seem any older. Time appeared to stand still for him. From a corner, Batman asked in a low tone, "What do you know about the Owl?"
"I know a lot..." Falcone folded his hands on his lap, eyes still half-closed as if he were about to fall into slumber.
"I assume you've already discovered the darkness I mentioned before— the one continuously dragging our city into the abyss."
"It is steadily creeping in, through the economy, politics, culture, and art; they're everywhere."
"The fallen members of the Court of Owls are merely a fraction of the whole. As long as the darkness remains hovering above this city, chaos will never cease."
"Is Gotham the only city with the Owl?"
After Batman asked the question, Falcone straightened up in his chair. After a moment's pause, he leaned back again and spoke: "You've hit the nail on the head, Batman."
"I don't know if Alfred has ever told you: when he came to serve the Wayne Family as a butler, it wasn't our first encounter. In our younger days, Alfred, Father Daniel, and I crossed paths."
"We went on a bizarre adventure for a monster's egg. In the end, we decided to leave this unmanageable egg beneath Metropolis. Can you guess why we did this?"
Batman remained silent, prompting Falcone to answer for himself: "While investigating my son's affairs, I encountered a pervasive dark power. I recognized then that Gotham was neither the first city implicated nor would it be the last."
"In those days, law and order in Metropolis weren't as established. I made some friends and learned a few things."
"As I've told you before, I didn't know they were called 'Owls,' only that a murderer lurked within Gotham. I wasn't confident I could wipe them out in one stroke, so I dared not probe further."
"However, with this power in Metropolis, I had fewer reservations. I placed the egg there to lure the Owls of Metropolis into researching it and letting them bring ruin upon themselves... "
"The Owls of Metropolis..." Batman looked out at the rain-soaked night, echoing thoughts that were really meant for himself.
At this time, the thunderstorm outside intensified. Through the veiling rain, a train departing Gotham wound through the dark hills and slithered into another bustling city. In such a night, the lights from countless households in Metropolis became a beacon on the East Coast, burning through the night without end.
In an alley untouched by the city glow, two figures climbed over the wall. One of them crept towards the shadow at the end of the alley, crouched down to examine the traces left there, and said, "We found them... those two who impersonated us were dumped here."
His companion, a woman, stepped forward. She slipped off her glasses and, under the reflected light, revealed the face of the female doctor who had exchanged information with Kira that day. She glanced back down the alley and declared in Russian,
"Valeria informed me that the two men holding the Philby Medals weren't agents of the special security department."
"You should know that ever since Benjamin, the head of the CIA's Metropolis outpost, died, Valeria has taken over his position."
"She has access to a list of the CIA's agents in and around Metropolis; she also has the authority to investigate the special security department's personnel list. However, she has not found these men on either list."
However, the man replied in English, "This implies there's another power lurking here, apart from the KGB, the CIA, and the special security department."
"The Philby list most likely ended up in their hands." The female doctor gasped, hugging her arms around herself, "The medal has returned home. Regardless of whether the list is still useful, legendary agent Philby's lifetime effort must be returned to Moscow."
The man stood up, looking at the mud on his fingers. He pinched it lightly with his thumb and forefinger, and it disappeared with the rainwater.
"This place is crowded enough, we don't need any mysterious organization creating more chaos, so... "
His blunt and straightforward Russian echoed in the dark alley:
"Find them... and wipe them out."