Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 302 27. Gotham's Secret. Owl Legend

The battle in the front field ended after more than ten minutes. Merlin took some time to wipe out the group of dangerous batman warriors, and helped Elsa to deal with all the defected warriors hidden in the stadium.

This girl vented her dissatisfaction, and the price was that she had a few more stab wounds on her arm.

This shows that Elsa is still a little immature in combat. If she is more skilled and tries to solve the problem with long-range and assassination, maybe she won't be injured.

But after the battle, Merlin encountered a very bad problem.

"Robin, your father...I mean, where's Batman?"

Merlin took Elsa out of the stadium, and saw Damian standing on the side of the road, a little anxious, and Dr. Douglas who was knocked out beside him.

It looks like Damian and Bruce have done their job perfectly.

But Bruce was nowhere to be seen.

Facing Merlin's question, Damian pointed to the field in front of him, and said in a dissatisfied tone:

"When we rescued the doctor, an unplanned guy jumped out, father... Batman asked me to take the doctor away, and he stayed there to block that weird person. But now he hasn't come back, and the communication has been blocked. Cut off, I was going to find him."

"Odd people?"

Merlin savored the word, he looked at Damian, and he asked seriously:

"How weird?"

"When I left with this burdensome doctor, I glanced behind me."

Damian stretched out his hand and made a gesture on his face. He said:

"He's wearing an owl mask, a gray hunting suit from the last century, and he's carrying a knife, like a theater actor."

"You mean, he didn't run afoul of Batman?"

Merlin asked again.

"No, at least not when I left."

Damian said affirmatively:

"But that guy is dangerous, I can feel that he... how should I put it, he doesn't look like a normal person."

"You take the doctor back."

Merlin says:

"Elsa and I will go and have a look."

"I'll go as well."

Damian stepped forward and said:

"You know my relationship with him, although I don't like him very much, but he is... I'm a little worried."

"Don't worry, kid."

Merlin stretched out his hand and put it on Damian's shoulder. With his other hand, he gently drew a triangle shape in the air. Under the effect of the Axi sign that can affect the mind, Merlin's voice became more gentle:

"No matter what happened to him, I will bring him back safely. Go back and rest, get a good sleep, you look tired."

Damian has been in contact with the water of the Salaru Pool since he was a child, and the magic power of the Sangongmo transformed him, making him resistant to magic.But only the magic released by Merlin is an exception.

Merlin is the son of Sangong, his magic power is in the same line as the pool of Salaru, the spell that can only play 5 points for others, can almost play 15 points for Damian.

Almost instantly, Damian changed his mind abruptly.

He yawned and lazily said to Merlin:

"Okay, then I'm going back to rest, you must bring him back... I admit that he fights very well, but he is too indecisive, he let me down, I have to find a way to educate him."

"Go back, little one."

Merlin patted Damian on the head, and the latter dragged the doctor who had been knocked out by him all the way to the path near the stadium. A moment later, with the roar of the engine, a cool black car with a bat-like appearance The sports car quickly disappeared at the end of the road.

After Damian left, Elsa, who had been watching the scene, stood beside Merlin with her arms akimbo, and she said:

"The seal of Axi is good, Merlin. How many things have you concealed from me... When did you learn the seal of the witcher? Who did you learn the seal from?"

"Whistler taught me."

Merlin looked back at the stadium, he said casually:

"But that's not the priority right now, we have to find Batman...how he disappeared suddenly, it doesn't fit his style at all."

"After this matter is over, you have to tell me the truth, Merlin."

Elsa said dissatisfied:

"I'm your companion, and I'll accompany you through life and death. You shouldn't keep these things from me."

"I try my best."

Merlin doesn't want to say too much about these things. The existence of the White Wolf is related to the entrustment of Master Ulysses. Elsa's father will not let Merlin disclose his news to Elsa. This is from Elsa's father. The request was to protect Elsa from being involved in more dangerous matters, and Merlin could not disobey him.

"Let's go, I need your tracking ability."

Merlin turned into a black mist, rolled up Elsa, and quickly came to the basement of the stadium. Elsa appeared from the black mist. She squatted on the ground, checking the traces left here.

And Merlin also sensed the surrounding environment with his spiritual vision, and there was a strange smell lingering in this passage, very similar to the smell in a hospital.

"Did you smell it?"

Merlin whispered.

"Well, such a strong smell, unless I lose my sense of smell, I won't notice it."

Elsa said without looking up:

"It smells like formalin. It's very strong. It seems that the person who met Batman was a doctor, or someone who often came into contact with formalin. Maybe it was an embalmer or a forensic doctor... Strange , There is no trace of fighting here at all."

The witcher frowned and said:

"I only found two footprints, which extended to the front exit. Judging from where they were standing, they had no physical contact. Batman took the initiative to follow him away. Either the two of them knew each other before, or... .He may have been mind-controlled."

"He won't be controlled."

Merlin said firmly:

"I have been in contact with him, and his will has become so strong that it is hard to imagine. To control his spirit, unless it is a great wizard who is proficient in soul-snatching... But there is no trace of magic left here."

"here!"

Elsa walked forward along the footprints, and after a while, she walked up to Merlin with a communicator in her ear, and handed the thing to Merlin:

"On the skylight at the end, I found this."

"let me see."

Merlin took the communicator, put it in his ear, and tapped it lightly. The next moment, a recording sounded in Merlin's ears:

"Batman, son of Gotham...please come with me. Court of Owls, have been waiting for a long time."

After a weird hoarse voice came Bruce's deep voice.

"The Court of Owls? I thought you guys were just a fairytale from a nursery rhyme..."

"No, we're real, right at your childhood window, right at the night every child cries, right in the dark of Gotham. We've always been, we've been watching you, and now at last It's time to meet."

The weird voice said to Bruce:

"Come with me, we have many secrets to share with you."

"About what?"

asked Bruce.

"Many, many secrets lost in the dark. Like your father, like your mother, like your family... need I say more? Bruce... Wayne!"

The recording ends here.

Merlin's brows also frowned deeper. This recording should have been left on purpose by Bruce, maybe it was left for him.

"The court of owls?"

Merlin looked at Elsa, and he asked:

"Have you heard of this organization?"

"No."

Elsa shook her head decisively:

"I have no impression at all. The name is weird. It doesn't sound like a serious organization."

"Batman mentioned nursery rhymes."

Merlin moved his fingers and said:

"Maybe it's a nursery rhyme unique to Gotham, I have to find someone who is familiar with these things...Elsa, your mission is over, you take Dr. Douglas back to New York as quickly as possible. His wife and daughter are still in the hands of those defecting warriors, you report this to Fury, and he will be responsible for the next thing."

"how about you?"

Elsa didn't refuse, she looked at Merlin:

"You're staying here to help Batman?"

"Ah."

Merlin nodded, looking at the communicator in his hand, he said:

"He's my friend. I have very few friends, Elsa, so each one counts."

"what about me?"

Miss Bloodstone suddenly asked:

"Am I considered your friend?"

"What do you say?"

Merlin glanced at his subordinates, he said:

"If something happened to you, I would do the same."

"Ha, you're pretty good at talking too."

Miss Bloodstone laughed. She tossed her hair and said to Merlin:

"But that doctor was taken away by that dragging child."

"It's okay, you go to Gotham Airport now, I will ask Bruce to arrange your itinerary, maybe he will use his private jet to take you back to New York."

Merlin winked at Elsa and said:

"Bruce is very generous to his friends."

"Oh, a private jet."

Elsa nodded with satisfaction, she said:

"Then I'm leaving now."

"Well, pay attention to safety on the road."

Merlin watched Miss Witcher leave the abandoned stadium, and he clenched the communicator in his hand. He had a premonition that Bruce must have fallen into some very bad situation.

The person from the owl court accurately said his name, as well as the murder of his parents, that is to say... the death of Bruce's parents back then, now it seems that it was not so simple.

When Merlin first came into contact with Bruce, he knew that the tragic death of his parents had always been a nightmare-like weakness in Bruce's heart.No wonder Bruce left Damian and faced that weird organization alone.

Merlin took out his mobile phone and made a call. He said to the person on the other end of the phone:

"Afu, help me arrange for Bruce's special plane to take Elsa and Dr. Douglas back to New York. I found the clues left by Bruce, I will look around, and then I will go to Wayne Manor soon Join you...keep Damian and don't let him run away."

Ah Fu's work efficiency was as high as ever. About 20 minutes later, Elsa called and said that she and the doctor who was still in a coma had boarded Bruce Wayne's ultra-luxury private jet and were enjoying champagne food now. Ready to take off.

After sending Elsa away, Merlin finally didn't need to deliberately conceal Bruce's identity anymore. He returned to Wayne Manor with the Displacement Curse. In the early hours of the morning, Old Alfred was still waiting for him in the living room. .

Damian was sleeping soundly on the sofa. The effect of Merlin's Axi seal was indeed too good.

"It was done by the Court of Owls."

Merlin handed the communicator in his hand to old Ah Fu, and he said to Ah Fu:

"Bruce mentioned a 'nursery rhyme.' Here in Gotham, any nursery rhymes about the court of owls?"

"Have."

Ah Fu finished listening to the recording in the communicator with a solemn expression, and said to Merlin:

"And it's a very old nursery rhyme. It is said that it was brought by the first generation of European immigrants who came to Gotham. It was specially used to scare those disobedient children. For more than 200 years, this Tong Yao has not disappeared."

"Tell me about it."

Merlin sat on the sofa, he picked up a glass of water, and said to Ah Fu:

"Don't leave out any words."

"Ah."

Ah Fu was born in England and grew up in Europe.Although he is not a native of Gotham, he has lived here for decades and he knows some local customs very well.

He cleared his throat and told Merlin the old nursery rhyme:

"Be careful of the court of owls, watching you all the time."

"Looking at Gotham City in the dark, hiding figures in the attic with low walls."

"Turn down the secret conversation at the bedside, the ghost will listen to you secretly."

"Don't mention its name at night, the claws come to find someone else to walk alone."

To be honest, even though old Ah Fu read this nursery rhyme in a serious voice, the terrible content hidden in it still made Merlin frown deeply.

This nursery rhyme is very weird, but after knowing that the court of owls does exist, it means that these warnings in this nursery rhyme may not be groundless.

"What is going on in your city?"

Merlin rubbed his forehead, he said with some headache:

"I've only been here for a few days, and all these weird things are happening."

"Gotham was meant to be like this."

Old Ah Fu sighed, and said:

"When I was young, I heard some old people say that this city was cursed. It is said that during the Civil War, a wizard sealed a demon here. Since then, the weather in Gotham has hardly brightened. ...But the Wayne family has been rooted here for more than 200 years, and there have not been too many problems. Until the disaster of Master Thomas and Mrs. Martha, the luck of the Wayne family has been very..."

"It's not about luck, Fu."

Merlin said softly:

"Obviously, there are invisible hands behind this. But now is not the time to talk about it, we have to find Bruce first. That court of owls lures him with his parents, obviously they know that is taboo for Bruce .”

"And I don't think they invited Bruce over... definitely not to buy him tea. Ah Fu, I heard, Bruce has a bat cave? There's a lot of equipment in it, right?"

"Take me there. We need to find my friend who is in trouble as quickly as possible. The longer we delay, the more dangerous he will be."

(End of this chapter)