It's unclear how much time had passed when Batman used the gentlest voice he could produce with his modulator to wake up the curled-up Baia and the cat sleeping in the passenger seat. His Robins had complained before about the cramped space in the passenger seat, but it unexpectedly suited the tiny Baia quite well.
The Batmobile's side doors lifted upward like the wings of a black bird.
Rubbing her eyes, Baia felt embarrassed as her eyes seemed slightly swollen from crying for too long today. After all, she was about to meet—how should she put it, her new landlord? A kind person?
When she saw the Wayne Manor gates, still dignified and imposing in the dim night, her heart suddenly tightened.
Batman's equipment all looked expensive, so he must have a friend who was rich enough, and this friend couldn't be too involved with Gotham's underworld. She should have realized it was Bruce Wayne.
Belatedly, she began to recall some of the information she had seen about the Wayne family.
Bruce Wayne had three adopted sons, the oldest one named—what was it again?
The system coolly replied: Richard Grayson. Congratulations, your wish came true.
Baia was struck dumb.
Belatedly realizing that although she had once seen information about the Wayne family, she hadn't paid much attention to it, and at the time, she had even had a thought—Dick Grayson had the same name as Wayne's adopted son.
After all, who would have thought that Bruce Wayne's adopted son would become a cop in Blüdhaven?
Nightwing knew Dick, Batman knew Wayne.
She vaguely felt she had grasped something important, but before she could dwell on it too much, the gates of Wayne Manor opened.
A well-dressed butler stood before them, speaking in an elegant British accent:
"Miss Baia, welcome to Wayne Manor."
Baia wished she could just disappear into the ground, even if it meant washing her face. It was late, and troubling an elderly butler to get up and greet her was embarrassing. She hesitantly curtsied, holding the corner of her blanket, and apologized, "Hello, sir, I'm sorry to trouble you so late."
The great detective stood tall beside her, like a knight guarding a princess, showing no signs of discomfort.
"Call me Alfred; this time of night is not uncommon for me to be working," Alfred quipped, glancing at Batman behind Baia, "Come with me, Miss Baia, we all hope you'll make this place your home."
Baia nodded, first picking up the great detective and then turning to him seriously, "Thank you for bringing me here, Batman."
Batman nodded.
With the great detective in her arms, Baia turned around and said earnestly, "Thank you."
Batman nodded again.
The great detective, now being carried by Baia, could only look displeased and stare at Batman.
Feeling like she had been provoked by the cat, the expressionless Batman closed the car door and left.
Perhaps he should have told Baia straight away that Batman was Bruce Wayne, so he wouldn't have to take a detour home in the middle of the night.
However, what he hoped for was that Baia wouldn't be involved in any dangerous nighttime activities, so it was best she didn't know.
Carrying the cat into the mansion, Baia couldn't help but look around. The mansion's interior was elegant and understated, with expensive furnishings that didn't seem out of place. Everything was just right.
The system, seeming inexperienced, followed along, exclaiming in excitement.
Another surprising thing for her was that at four or five in the morning, she could encounter Wayne's third adopted son in the mansion.
At that moment, Tim was wearing only a casual shirt with trousers, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his sturdy forearms, and his tousled hair softly falling on his forehead, looking very casual. But he also seemed a bit tired, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.
Seeing Alfred and Baia, Tim's first reaction was to hide the coffee cup in his hand behind his back—Alfred didn't know about this, but then he realized that this futile attempt to cover up was pointless. So he bravely took a sip in front of Alfred's gaze.
"Hello, Baia."
The teenage boy, not much older than Baia, turned his head and gave her a friendly but slightly distant smile.
This was already much better than Baia had imagined.
Actually, if Batman had told her earlier that her destination would be the Wayne household, Baia would probably have rejected his suggestion outright. But it seemed that despite the family's unusual status in Gotham, at least the family members were easy to get along with.
"Good evening, Mr. Drake," Baia naturally greeted, remembering Dick and recognizing the more prominent foster son.
"Call me Tim," Tim nodded.
At that moment, a majestic German Shepherd emerged from behind Tim's legs. It was a handsome dog, appearing calm and friendly, wagging its tail slowly as it looked at Baia.
"Oh, you're still awake," Tim said, petting the German Shepherd's head. "This is Ace, he's friendly, hope you're not afraid of dogs."
Uh-oh.
As soon as the German Shepherd appeared in Baia's line of sight, Batman tensed up, starting to hiss like a spring. Given Baia's small frame, she couldn't restrain him. When the big cat's fur exploded, it looked as big as a dog, even though it was clearly smaller in size.
This might also be why Batman was so nervous.
"Batman!" Baia exclaimed, suddenly realizing how exhausting it was to deal with it when Selina handled it. "This is my cat, it's sometimes impolite, hope you can forgive it."
Tim almost couldn't control the corners of his mouth from lifting when he heard the name, but he didn't show any other reaction, just nodding.
The cat's ears were flattened against its scalp, and when Ace approached them friendly wagging its tail, Batman couldn't control himself any longer and roared out like a spring.
"In any case, that's what happened," Tim later described to Dick, "the cat launched a lightning attack, and then he and Ace fought from the first floor to the third floor, and then back to the first floor. Our little witch initially tried to secretly treat their injuries, but found that it only made them more daring."
"Oh, if it's that cat," Dick commented, "not to make excuses for the dog, but I guess it was Batman who unilaterally attacked Ace."
He thought Ace's temperament was still pretty steady.
"It's hard not to agree, but in the end, they both licked each other's fur."
Tim found it difficult to say the name "Batman."
Baia felt like her luck was about to run out.
On her first day living with someone else, her cat fought another person's dog, and the promising Mr. Drake had to intervene in the middle of the night to break it up.
But Alfred just smiled kindly and said it was okay.
Batman and Ace had disappeared by this point, and the old butler led her upstairs, briefly pointing out the location of the activity room, study, and the most commonly used living room before bringing Baia to the temporary bedroom door.
Although it had been a while since there had been a girl in Wayne Manor, Alfred had thoughtfully prepared everything, including a set of new pajamas for Baia to change into.
The bedroom was simple yet comfortable, with light brown and brown as the main colors, giving her a familiar sense of comfort like her previous apartment.
However, as she stepped through the door, a sudden wave of coldness rushed up her spine.
Baia froze in place.
"Are you okay, Miss Baia?" Alfred asked, concerned.
This feeling was all too familiar—being enveloped by waves of noise from all directions, making it difficult for her to hear Alfred's voice.
The same feeling of powerlessness she experienced when her system was activated.
She tried to call out to the system in her mind, but instead of the usual beautiful UI, the system was flashing with garbled code, with fragmented images flashing through.
Fire, explosions, two suns.
War, shouting, collapsing universes.
A vortex.
Unable to think, unable to breathe.
She couldn't see anything.
When Baia came to her senses, the cold sweat had soaked through her body. She almost used all her strength to control herself from screaming and stood still. However, this time it was very short, only two or three seconds at most.
Baia blinked. It seemed that everything just now was an illusion, with no subsequent effects appearing.
"I... I'm fine, Mr. Pennyworth."
She still politely used his surname, then stared at her new bedroom with some confusion.
But—
"I just wanted to ask, has there always been a crack in the wall?"
"This is indeed a very old house," Alfred said, turning his gaze to where the girl was looking, finding the wall clean and tidy, with no anomalies. "You should rest, Miss Baia."
Perhaps she had experienced too much tonight, and her mental and physical condition was too poor, leading to hallucinations. However, Alfred naturally knew that Baia was not an ordinary girl. After checking her body condition a little, he found that there were indeed no injuries that needed to be treated.
She was probably just running a fever from being too cold.
He took care of Baia, gave her some fever-reducing pills, turned off the light for the young girl, and planned to check her specific physical condition tomorrow.
Baia, obediently saying goodnight, couldn't fall asleep smoothly.
Although sometimes the system was very noisy, always startling and making a fuss, at least when it was there, it would accompany her and make her feel less lonely or afraid.
She kept calling out to the system, but never got a response. But when she tried to use her skills, she found that all her skills were still there.
They were even more powerful than before.
The swirling golden mist danced on her fingertips like tiny tornadoes, illuminating her weary face.
Her gaze went beyond the skill effects of the golden lark and straight to the crack in the wall. It wasn't large, only a few dozen centimeters long.
Even in the darkness of the night, that twisted crack, like a black smiling face, was still so conspicuous, as if something was about to burst out of it.