Capítulo 1209: Chapter 813 Red Hood (Part 7)_1
(This part might switch between scenes quite frequently, those who get easily dizzy should proceed with caution, consider yourselves warned!)
"What surprises me are the newbies of this city, far from the chaos and fierceness they seem to portray on the surface, beneath their affected brutality, there's a calm and circumspect heart with great foresight. This is the future of Gotham."
"What they have done was very shocking to me, and all of this started with the storm that descended that night..."
The tip of the pen was lifted, Bruce gently caressed the side of the pen with his fingers, then looked up and glanced at the heavy rain outside his wooden curtain. Raindrops were pounding on the glass, leaving behind dense water droplets.
The droplets slid downwards, disappearing at the bottom of the sill, and the calendar on the table showed a page torn off under the yellow light of the table lamp, the notches evident. On it, a few words were written in a circled date: "Two days until the assignment is due."
Catching sight of the date, Bruce glanced at the progress of the paper in his hand. He knew he had to speed up his work.
The rain outside reminded him: back when his examination just began, he experienced it within the Children's Gang, the day when the storm arrived.
The downpour in Gotham not only gifted the wealthy folks a good night's sleep it also brought an unexpected disaster to the children struggling on the streets.
Perils always come together; it's not just a proverb. A leaky dwell for children was extremely terrifying, because everyone knew that a cold was the most dreadful disease, a fever was the bulletin of death.
Therefore, after discovering their originally safe base was leaking, the first thing to invade was the emotion of panic.
"Stop it! Don't shout!" Bruce yelled, "Stay calm, as long as we fix the leaks during the day, it won't seep in at night!!"
"What do you know outsider, we need to drain the water outside first, let's go look for a pipe…"
"No, we need to go upstairs first and have them check their own drainage systems, surely the problems started there!"
"But if we don't drain the water outside, it'll still leak when it rains tonight, we have to go find the adults..."
"But the mob won't listen to us, they will only prioritize draining the water at the entrance, and they won't come to help us, we have to think of a way ourselves!"
"I promised somebody I would deliver something, I have to hurry!"
"You can't go! Don't you care about our home?"
"But if I don't make any money, are we all going to starve?"
Amid the chaos of dialogues, the room was at full capacity. Some children were suggesting solutions, some were refuting the solutions, some wanted to leave, and some tried to stop them. The younger children were afraid, older children were comforting them, it was a complete mess and Bruce didn't know where to start.
He tried to reason with the kids, but nobody was listening. He wanted to suggest a solution, but many thought he didn't understand anything. He tried to assuage their fears, but Batman was never good at comforting people.
Bruce knew that if they couldn't drain the water in the room and fix the leaks during the warmest time of the day, it would become much harder to do so once night falls and the temperature drops.
The healthy kids might catch a cold and get a fever, but Jason who was already injured, might die if he catches a cold.
Bruce took a deep breath, glanced around, then found an iron bucket. He picked up a wood stick from the side and hit the bucket hard with all his might.
"Bang! Bang, bang, bang!"
The loud rumbling noise drew the kids' attention, Bruce let out a breath and said, "I am an adult, you are children, listen to me!"
Whispering ensued, Bruce had no choice but to grab the stick, pointed at the kid who was talking and said; "If you have any objections, come and say them..."
Looking at the stick in his hand, the kid mumbled a little, cursed under his breath, but didn't make another peep.
Bruce felt the pressure in his heart, urging him to solve the situation quickly. Therefore, he didn't bother to mince words and spoke bluntly, he said; "Now, everyone divide into three groups, namely the Ground Group, Indoor Group, and the Regular Living Group…"
"The Ground Group is made up of the older kids. Check the sewer pipes and communicate with the mob. You, you...and you, you all seem to be strong, so you're in the Ground Group…"
"The Indoor Group needs to grab buckets, bail the water that has leaked into the room, and patch up the leaks..."
"All of you who have work to do today, you're in the Regular Living Group. Go and make money to buy food..."
"Alright, get to work now!"
Bruce hit the bucket once again, making everyone look at him again.
They knew Jason was injured and needs rest. If he doesn't recover, the consequences will be much worse. Since Jason let this weird man temporarily lead the gang, that means he trusts him. In this case, it's best they get to work.
Finally, everyone was mobilized. Bruce let out a sigh of relief. But within two minutes, a problem arose.
The indoor team of children came back to report that there were no buckets. Bruce found plastic gasoline barrels in the adjacent storeroom and told them to use these as substitutes.
But the opening of the plastic gasoline barrels was too small, making it difficult to pour water in. So, Bruce thought of cutting them open, turning the upper and lower halves into two containers with larger openings.
However, there were no tools to cut them open. The daggers in the warehouse could stab a person but weren't capable of cutting. The gasoline barrels they'd found were of such good quality that they couldn't be cut open even after much effort.
In the end, Bruce found a rusty axe and split open the gasoline barrels with it, thus resolving the container issue.
Shortly after, the ground team came back with a report stating that the Mob was focused solely on their main entrance and completely ignoring the streets. The drainage system was overloaded, unable to drain the water, and there was no hope of clearing it out.
If so, the only solution would be to seal every possible leakage point in the basement, effectively turning it into a can isolated from the rainwater.
But there was a shortage of sealing materials. Cardboard and wood couldn't seal effectively, and water was leaking around door gaps and steps.
Bruce didn't dare to leave for materials. Despite their apparent bravery, these children were surely worrying internally. With Jason injured, if he left, the children would become disoriented and chaotic.
Bruce stepped forward to inspect the basement door and found that the place couldn't be sealed at all. In addition to that, water was leaking around two corners of the room. Without professional waterproofing materials, the water leaking in tonight could easily reach ankle height.
After considering the options, Bruce made the most sensible choice. He said, "Let's leave this place and find somewhere else for shelter."
"No!" The Six-fingered Sister was the first to object, saying, "This is our home. We can't abandon it."
"It's not abandoning." Bruce calmly replied, "We are just dealing with a disaster and need to find a higher location to take shelter. We will return after a night."
"But..." The Six-fingered Sister still frowned, "Where can we find such a place? Even if we could, it must have been taken by the other Mobs. We can't outmatch the Big Mafias."
She looked around after speaking. After the capable children left to work, the ones remaining were frail and young. They were not capable of snatching territory, let alone standing up to bullies.
"When I came here before, I saw a vacant lot on the back street. The ground is high and sloped, good for drainage. It should be safe there..." Bruce hesitated for a moment, "The soil in the Gotham underground drains well. If we can set up a temporary camp there, we should be able to get through tonight."
"Oh!" The Six-fingered Sister exclaimed in surprise, "That's right! We can go there. We even have a natural camp!"
Everyone looked at her as she went on to explain, "Do you remember the truck we got back previously? It's parked nearby. If we put a canopy over the truck, we can stay there for the night and come back to clean up tomorrow."
Bruce's eyes lit up, he asked, "You got a truck? Does it have an engine?"
"Yes, but it's broken, and we haven't fixed it yet. The damage to the vehicle is severe. We once asked Little Sly to take a look. He spent half a day on it but couldn't fully repair it. It probably won't be able to drive..."
Bruce nodded and said, "Alright, the most pressing matter now is to find a safe place. I'll go to the truck first to see if it's possible. If it is, get a few people to carry Jason, and we'll move there first."
A few of the older children nodded, and Bruce was the first to leave through the cellar door. This time, he wore more practical clothes. His boots were waterproof and warm, and his coat could double as a raincoat.
Light rain was falling outside, just as the children had described, the street was flooded. Bruce sloshed through various puddles in his boots, his feet feeling slightly chilled.
Bruce looked into the distance and saw some Mob members cleaning up the entrances. They had their hands full with potholes and flooded conditions on their main roads. The building they occupied was old and leaking in many places, and they needed to urgently seal them up.
Bruce didn't see members of other Children's Gang. But he saw a small hand holding half a water bottle sticking out of a basement window, attempting to scoop out the water.
It seemed all the Children's Gang were in similar situations. After all, their bases were underground in these old residential areas. Water leakage was inevitable.
Bruce went to the back of the building and saw the vacant lot. He also saw the truck, and immediately recognized it.
Wasn't this the same one he had abandoned before?
"When I saw the truck, I was astonished. Previously, I never believed in fate or coincidence. However, some things can be incredibly coincidental. My failed truck driving career left me with a single valuable relic, which became my Noah's Ark during the catastrophic floods..."
In the study room of the mansion, Bruce moved his stiff neck a bit and then continued writing:
"During this time, I was amazed to notice that my positive emotions increased. Even finding a broken truck brought me joy."
"At first, I didn't know if it was a good thing until I heard the cheers of the children." They were truly delighted…"
"And thus, our rainy night adventure had only just begun..."
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