Chapter 202: Arc 5: Chapter 45: Nighttime Story – Homecoming

At the same moment as Merlin arrived in Kandahar and began his hidden life.

In another place not far from him, a wanderer who had been away from home for several years was on his way home.

At the highland airport near the Himalayas on the Nepal border, a white private jet is parked on the tarmac. The gangway of the plane has fallen, and a gray-haired, somewhat bald old man wearing a gray woolen coat, leaning on a cane, is standing in the slightly cold wind.

He stood straight, his gray eyes looked straight ahead, and against the gloomy weather, the old man looked like a sculpture in the cold wind.

He was waiting.

Waiting for someone who is very important to me.

His name is Alfred, Alfred Pennyworth.

A British born during World War II, a shrewd and tough veteran, a conscientious housekeeper.

At the same time, it is also a failed guardian.

At some point in 1991, Alfred lost the young master he took care of, and for the next eight years, he used almost all the human and material resources he could mobilize to find the young man who seemed to have disappeared.

He knew that his young master should still be alive, but the young master, the once gentle, painful and desperate young man, seemed to have evaporated from the face of the Earth.

In the years of hard searching, Alfred had turned from hopeful at the beginning to gradual despair and over time he recovered his confidence, and now he is calm.

Well, at least it looks calm on the surface.

After suddenly receiving a phone call last night, the nearly 70-year-old old man crossed most of the world as fast as possible, from the warm manor to the cold air under the roof of the world.

Alfred is waiting...

A housekeeper without a master is doomed to be incompetent, and the old man is waiting for his failed career to start over.

And that day is today.

After a few minutes, when the light in the sky became more gloomy and the cold wind in the airport became more desolate,

At the end of Alfred's line of sight, on the hillside at the edge of the airport, a figure appeared.

A trace of waves flashed in the old butler's eyes, and his fingers on the cane moved.

As the figure got closer and closer, Alfred finally saw the appearance of the young man who had been away for 8 years.

He seems to have gotten taller.

But it is also possible that the memory of the old housekeeper has gone wrong.

Anyways, the young man walking toward Alfred was much stronger than old Alfred remembered.

He was wearing the black clothes that the locals often wore, carrying a yellow, rustic bag, and just walked in the cold wind.

He walked fast and was not embarrassed by the cold wind at all, as if he could no longer feel the temperature changes outside, or... he had become a fearless warrior, and would no longer be defeated by the mere cold.

His black hair was tousled and swayed in the wind like a raunchy rocker.

He also grew a beard, a thick beard that made him look a dozen years older.

However, it was still the year 1998.

Alfred will not forget the day the young man in front of him was born, this young man who was now 25 years old.

A trace of regret flashed in Old Alfred's eyes. He missed 7 of this young man's birthdays. In the past dozen years, he had never missed any one of his birthdays.

Although he was just a housekeeper, but in reality?

The relationship between him and the young man in front of him has already surpassed the stipulations of the contract and the contract.

He watched him grow up, witnessed his birth, personally sent him into kindergarten, went to school, sent him to university, and attended his graduation ceremony.

Even if there is no blood relationship, he is a relative.

There is no doubt about that.

"Afu."

The young man came to Old Ah Fu, and he threw the bag in his hand at his feet. In those blue eyes, a touch of joy of reunion shone. He stretched out his hand and patted Ah Fu's arm as before, and said in a low voice:

"long time no see."

"Yeah, seven years."

Old Ah Fu leaned on a cane and carefully looked at the weather-beaten face of the young man in front of him, now with a trace of blood on his face, he said:

"Master Wayne..."

"Call me Bruce."

The young man looked around and looked back at the white mountain looming in the dark clouds, and he said softly:

"I prefer you to call me that."

This young man, his name is Bruce.

Bruce Wayne.

A wanderer who is about to go home.

———————————————

"Your outfit just now was very fashionable, Master Wayne."

In the smooth flight of the plane, between the luxuriously furnished tables and chairs, Bruce, who has washed and cleaned his hair and beard, is wearing a loose T-shirt, sitting in the chair and looking out the window at the clouds in the sun. stay still.

The old butler came over with a cup of hot coffee, he put the coffee in front of Bruce, and then sat opposite Bruce himself, he said:

"It's just a little dirty. I'm not sure if the clothes have any special meaning to you. That thing..."

The old butler picked up his coffee and took a sip. Looking at his young master, he said softly:

"It doesn't look like a normal person would wear it."

"So what? Alfred."

Bruce looked back at his long-lost family and said:

"What do you think that is?"

"A suit of armor."

Old Alfred said:

"An ancient and modern combination of armor, light and tough, it seems to be worn by warriors who need to carry out covert activities. I have found strange weapons in the clothes, and more than one, it seems that in recent days, Years, your life has been "wonderful", my young master."

"It's really exciting."

Bruce showed a gentle smile. He picked up the coffee cup and said to the old housekeeper in front of him:

"That suit... lost it, I don't need it anymore."

Alfred nodded, and after a few seconds, he looked at Bruce with a suspicious look, and said:

"This is the end? What about the adventure story I was looking forward to?"

"You don't think I'll let you cross-examine you so easily, do you? My Master Wayne, you should at least tell me, what have you been doing all these years?"

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"I do a lot of things."

Brustal said to his family:

"I went to learn about the crimes, the darkness, the rules. I went into it, learned, grew, trained myself. I also accidentally came into contact with a hidden organization where I received secret training to prepare me. "

"What to prepare?"

A trace of worry flashed in Old Ah Fu's eyes, and he asked:

"It sounds like you're preparing for something that's not so reassuring."

"Yes, Alfred."

Bruce put down his coffee mug and said:

"I've been preparing for my return home for eight years. Now, I feel like I'm ready."

"So, you mean, you won't be leaving without saying goodbye this time, right?"

The old butler smiled and said:

"You're going to stay in Gotham and do what young people do, right?"

"I'll stay in Gotham for as long as I can."

Bruce breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"I'll also do the things I should have done long ago. I want the citizens of Gotham to know that the city doesn't just belong to corrupt officials and criminals, it belongs to them too."

Bruce's answer made Old Fu's eyes narrow. After a few minutes, he said:

"It sounds like you want to do the same things your father did. Frankly, Master Wayne, that doesn't reassure me. You've seen what happened to your father."

"You alone can't fight a city."

"How do you know if you don't try? Ah Fu."

Facing the old housekeeper's persuasion, Bruce didn't show much emotion, he said warmly:

"As Bruce Wayne, there's so little I can do. No amount of charitable donations can change Gotham's terrible status quo. As for how to do it... I learned a lot in that organization, I already have a rough plan."

"All right."

Looking at the firmness in Bruce's eyes, Old A'Fu knew that he couldn't persuade him.

The Wayne family has a legacy of stubbornness, which he has known for a long time.

Alfred didn't want to talk about such a heavy topic anymore, so he asked again:

"So in those eight years, haven't you experienced anything other than training? I mean, friends, or, girlfriends or something."

"Yes, I have."

Bruce smiled, and he said to Alfred:

"I have a few friends, as for girlfriends, I had one but we broke up. Oh, right, speaking of this, Alfred, in the past few years, has Merlin..."

"You mean asked for help, right?"

The elderly butler nodded, and said to Bruce:

"On the second year of your disappearance, almost after seven months to be exact, I received a call. Your friend was in danger and he asked for help."

"It wasn't easy help."

Old Alfred shrugs and says:

"I spent 5 million to save him, so he told me that you were still alive... Well, it wasn't a loss-making business, at least at that time, the news he told me gave me the confidence to keep going, but young master, everyone in Gotham City thinks you're missing, or even dead."

"Mmm."

Bruce nodded. He didn't care about 5 million, because for the wealth of the Wayne family, 5 million was not even a drop in the bucket.

"Do you want to contact your friend? Young Master."

Alfred took out his cell phone and handed it to Bruce:

"I saved his number, you can call him now."

Bruce looked at the phone, and after a moment he shook his head.

"Forget it. Maybe Merlin already has a life of his own, and I shouldn't bother him anymore. Especially with what I'm going to do next, it'll be unbecoming of me to get him involved."

"Well, you should protect the people of importance you value."

Old Alfred nods, he looks at his young master and says:

"But you should pay more attention to yourself, my Master Wayne, I should persuade you regardless of what you want to do. The world will never change because of one person, rather than single-handedly dealing with dangerous criminal groups, maybe I should've wanted you to be wandering outside now..."

The elderly butler said softly:

"I don't want you to put yourself in danger, and I'm sure your parents don't want to see this either."

"Bruce Wayne won't be in danger."

Bruce looked out the window and said:

"As for me, Alfred, I have to do something. My starting point is not so noble, I'm doing this for myself. We always have to learn to face our own fears, if we are always enshrouded in fear and remorse, there will be no life to speak of.”

"Ugh..."

The elderly butler sighed, stood up, and said to Bruce:

"Now that you've made up your mind, all I can do is to continue to support you. Take a rest, young master, the plane will fly directly to Paris where I have an appointment with a very good doctor, there, I will first determine your physical condition, and you'll also need a decent outfit for your reappearance in Gotham City."

"A direct flight to Paris?"

Bruce leaned back in the chair, he closed his eyes slightly, and after a while, he asked again:

"Where are we now?"

"Hmm, probably over Afghanistan."

Alfred glanced out the window and said:

"I did military service here when I was young, Kandahar city is down there, and whilst it's not a good place, I spent two years of my life there."

The elderly butler talked about his past stories, but got no response. He turned around and saw his tired young master, Bruce Wayne, leaning on the seat. In the past few minutes, he seemed to have fallen asleep.

Although he was reluctant to elaborate on his experiences in the past few years, the elderly butler could guess that there should be few moments of relaxation like this in those experiences.

Alfred sighed and gently placed a blanket on Bruce's body, he then sat on the sofa on the other side and began reading a magazine.

As the sound of the plane engines roared, the plane carrying the homecoming wanderer soon begins to soar across the skies of Kandahar.

 

 

-End of Arc 5-

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