"… Where did you find this?"
"I picked it up."
This conversation might sound familiar to a lot of people. It was common for children to lie to their parents after spending money to buy a useless gadget. Usually, the adults would come to the conclusion that it was a lie.
Dick was conflicted. He wasn't sure if he should believe Rania's words.
If he believed it, it was too unconvincing. Yes, Batman wouldn't recycle the Batarangs. First, Batman needed to leave a mark to prove that he was there. Second, most of the Batarangs would be destroyed after a battle. Third … he had to squat on the ground to pick up the Batarangs after a battle.
So, Batman basically threw money at it. If he wasn't Bruce Wayne, Batman wouldn't have been able to survive in Gotham for so long.
But this didn't mean that anyone could pick up the Batarangs on the ground. Even if they were seriously damaged, these weapons from Batman could be sold for a good price on the black market. Many people hoped to find clues about Batman's identity from these little things. Not to mention, there were also collectors who wanted to collect them.
Although Batman was a horror legend in Gotham, if a child could pick up a Batarangs, it would be something that could make a child proud of himself for a long time.
Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible to pick up a Batarangs in an alley. Not to mention that Rania shouldn't have seen them — the Batarangs weren't red.
But if she didn't believe it …
Dick and Jason looked at each other and felt a headache coming on.
Before Rania came in, they were talking about her. And as expected, without Dick telling him, Jason had already figured out the origin of this Lesser Shrike, her experience in New York, her actions after coming to Gotham … He also learned that she had a girlfriend.
But from a daughter's point of view, Rania did it flawlessly. Whether it was her disguise or not, at least she behaved like a well-educated lady. She was sweet and well-behaved, gentle and quiet, neither distant nor frivolous. Even if she was just a vase, she was a beautiful vase that many people would be willing to display at home to admire.
If they didn't believe it, it meant that they had to consider the possibility that this was a test. Maybe Rania had already discovered their secret identity, and now she was giving them the choice to admit it, and then choose whether to tell her the secret of their family.
If it was up to Dick, he didn't want Rania to see the truth.
Every secret was a rose with thorns. If one did not wear an iron glove, they would only be injured by the thorns. For the weak, ignorance was the prerequisite for safety.
The three of them looked at the Batarangs on the table in silence. Except for Rania, the other two had so many thoughts in their minds that it could be written into a short story. The situation was very awkward.
Fortunately, a phone call saved them.
When Dick's cell phone rang in his pocket, Dick and Jason both breathed a sigh of relief. If they remained silent, one of them would have to tell a cold joke. As for Dick, he always thought that Jason's cold jokes were not funny.
After hanging up the phone, Dick regretfully told his brothers and sisters, "Sorry, there's something I need to do. I have to go now. Uh, you see, Jason, I still have a lot of work to do."
As he spoke, he winked at Jason and pouted at Rania, who was sitting quietly.
Jason: "… I know."
No matter what they thought, since they saw it, they couldn't leave Rania alone. Dick had something to do, so the responsibility of staying behind fell on him. At least, he had to wait until the Mister that Rania mentioned came to find her.
"Then I'll go first," Dick said. "See you tonight, Rania."
"Be careful," the little girl said sincerely.
In her opinion, this was the most important thing.
Dick winked at them and left the fast-food restaurant.
When his figure disappeared, Jason looked at Rania.
"I'm afraid you won't like Gotham. After all, not everyone can be so concerned about a brother that they have never met after a few days together." He supported his face with one hand and said coldly.
Rania: "?"
She retracted her gaze, focused a little, and looked at the young man sitting across from her.
His tone was indifferent. She couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or something else. Rania didn't hear any hostility. She thought about it and replied, "Concern and not having a deep relationship don't conflict. It's not difficult to show it."
Rania didn't think it was strange. She thought it could be seen at a glance. It was impossible to develop a deep relationship in a few days. Her attention and concern didn't come from how much she liked her father or Dick. The two didn't conflict.
Jason was silent for a moment.
"I thought you would find a sweeter excuse," he said.
Rania was confused. "Why do I need an excuse? I didn't lie. "
… You act like you are so innocent that you will trust and love anyone who shows kindness to you. Jason thought.
Jason Todd didn't believe that there was a fifteen-year-old girl in this world. Before he met Rania, he had always been suspicious of her. The truth was that Rania didn't count … but that only made it more difficult. For them, an honest person was more difficult to deal with than a liar, because the latter only needed to be beaten up, but the former required them to give up what little truth they had left.
He didn't know how to respond to Rania's straightforwardness, so he shut up and stopped talking about the previous topic. He rubbed the bat dart in his hand, turned it around, and then pinched it. "Anyway, thank you."
"When will your friend come to pick you up?" he asked. "Do you need me to send you back?"
Dick had something to do, and so did Jason. The drug dealers' boss at the port hadn't been caught yet. He had planned to follow the clues tonight, but now that he was stuck with this girl, it was impossible not to be annoyed. But Gotham was not a safe place for a single girl, so Jason had to be patient and wait with Rania.
Rania sensed Mister's progress and shook her head. "No, thank you."
The awkwardness in the air almost materialized. Rania felt it with her heart and decided to lower her head and drink her coke while planning her schedule for the night.
Black Mist's perception wasn't very clear. At least, it couldn't completely replace a normal person's eyes. It could sense what was happening within its coverage, but it couldn't mark a person for a long time, and it couldn't remember everyone's scent. It was like a one-time mark in a game, which had to be personally marked by the user.
If she hadn't seen Dick walk out, even if they bumped into each other, Rania wouldn't have recognized him. After all, Dick was invisible in her eyes. But now, at least for tonight, Black Mist could sense his whereabouts and protect him. Rania was very relieved.
When she returned to the manor, it would be time to start searching for Red Hood.
Tonight, she would beat Red Hood to the ground. The little girl sneered.
Jason, who was sitting opposite her, shivered inexplicably. He felt a little cold.
Before Dick left, he bought a coke for Rania, but he didn't buy her a burger or snack. "I guess Alfred has prepared meat pies for you." Rania held the coke and slowly drank it for a long time before Mister arrived. Jason could finally leave. He handed Rania to Mister and said goodbye.
Before leaving, Rania asked Black Mist to sense Jason's whereabouts. After all, if they missed this opportunity, Black Mist wouldn't be able to recognize him until the next time they met. However, after leaving, Jason quickly turned into a place that Rania couldn't invade for the time being. Just like that, he disappeared from Black Mist's perception, leaving Rania helpless.
But soon, another piece of good news diluted this helplessness — Red Hood had appeared in Black Mist's perception range.
Rania:!
It's time to beat someone up!
She immediately pulled herself together. Half of her mind was focused on her homework, and the other half crossed a distance of tens of kilometers. After a wave of Black Mist, she appeared outside an abandoned factory in the East Side of Gotham.
Although it was still weak after building its nest, with Mister's strength and experience, it wouldn't be a problem to beat someone up. Rania was very confident in herself.
She quietly sneaked into the factory. There seemed to be a group of people in the factory having a meeting. One of the factory buildings was lit up, and Black Mist silently swam in. From above, he listened to the men's conversation while looking for traces of Red Hood.
After listening for a while, Rania gradually understood that the group of drug dealers below was discussing how to deal with Red Hood. It sounded like an internal fight because of the unequal distribution of loot. Then, thinking about how Red Hood had actually sneaked over, this made Rania's impression of him even worse.
At this moment, something strange happened.
The white-haired girl, who was hiding in the shadows, suddenly trembled. She staggered and fell to the ground, almost unable to maintain her human form.
Almost at the same time, Rania, who was far away in the manor, was startled and suddenly raised her head.
At this moment, the Black Mist that was lurking in Gotham began to surge, then suddenly shrank from its expanding posture and hid in the corners of the city.
As a parasite, Black Mist needed to combine with a host to survive, but unlike normal parasites, after the adaptation period, Black Mist didn't need to stay close to the host. Once the host died, Rania would fall into extreme weakness until the next host was found.
Feeling the weakness of Black Mist, Rania pursed her lips, anxiously threw away the pen in her hand, and looked out the window at the night sky.
There was only one reason for this situation —
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