The First Batman

Dick and the others instinctively drew their weapons, warily watching the motionless Batman.

Even after the elevator stopped, the Batman simply watched them silently, without making any further moves.

Although they knew it was all fake, the three brothers still felt a little uneasy about the familiar outfits and eyes.

The Batman slowly parted to make way, their movements perfectly synchronized, like well-trained soldiers.

"Young Master is waiting for you."

A deep voice came from among the Batman.

The group exchanged glances, gripped their weapons tightly, and cautiously walked through the middle to reach the central control area of Batcave.

"You've arrived."

Dick and the others' pupils contracted as Kino, whose head had been severed earlier, appeared before them.

Standing beside them were Venom and Pamela, who had been lying on the ground earlier.

"What happened? Weren't you dead? I saw your head with my own eyes."

Dick exclaimed incredulously, his voice filled with astonishment and confusion.

"That was just a decoy, used to attract the owls' attention, but you ruined it."

Kino said calmly, without a trace of anger on his face.

"Who exactly are you? I had no idea the Wayne Family had anyone like you."

Tim asked warily, his eyes fixed on Kino. He had checked the relevant information on the way here, but to no avail.

"I'm Bruce's cousin, you can call me Uncle, and these two are your Aunt and Cousin."

Kino said, pointing to Pamela and Venom beside him.

"..."xN

Looking at his young face, none of them believed it.

"Are you kidding me!"

Jason wasn't going to listen to this nonsense and planned to kidnap the guy first.

"That's incredibly rude, far worse than Damian."

Pamela watched as Jason charged towards her, and several thick Vines instantly appeared, quickly binding him and suspending him high in the air.

"It's quite normal that this guy died with hatred in his heart and was then soaked in the unpurified Lazarus Pit."

Venom, resembling a caterpillar, was seized by Jason's playful nature. He grabbed the Vines on Venom's body and swung it forcefully.

Just as Dick and the others were about to rush over to save Jason, several Batman appeared instantly, their strong hands grabbing their wrists, their cold gazes piercing them like ice blades.

"Alright, let them go. They're my nephews, after all," Kino said.

The Batman released them upon hearing this, but still took Oliver's weapon.

Oliver looked at Dick and Tim, who hadn't moved an inch, and felt a little annoyed.

However, I'm somewhat inclined to believe that Kino meant no harm.

Dick ignored Jason, who had vanished in a blur, and took a deep breath, asking, "Why did you have your men impersonate Batman? And where is Bruce?"

"What are you saying? I'm too old to hear you." Kino turned his head away, pretending not to hear.

Dick's lips twitched, and he said helplessly, "Hello, Uncle."

"Well, what about them?" Kino raised an eyebrow.

"Hello, my two aunts and uncles," Dick greeted obediently.

"Good boy." x2

Kino then looked at Tim.

"Uncle," Tim said, seemingly indifferent.

"Hello, my two aunts."

"Um."

Kino nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Oliver.

"I'm not from the Wayne family... Hello, Uncle and Aunt."

Oliver still had some pride, but he could feel dozens of cold gazes from behind him.

He felt that if he didn't speak up today, he might really never be able to leave this place.

"They're all good kids, except for this rebellious phase."

Kino glanced at Jason, whose brains were practically being spun around.

"Uncle, please answer my question from before."

Dick spoke up to remind him.

"We are not impersonating Batman. We are authorized by Batman to take his place when Batman disappears."

"As for where Bruce is, I don't know either." Kino shook his head and said calmly.

Tim frowned at the contradiction in his words. "If you have Batman's authorization, then you should have met Bruce. Why don't you know where he is?"

"Do you know the history of the Wayne Family?" Kino's eyes deepened.

"Know."

"I know a little."

"The Wayne Family can be traced back to the tribal era..." Kino began slowly, his voice echoing in the empty Batcave.

Dick and his companions were immediately drawn to it; the tribal era—this was so ancient.

Between the late 19th and 20th centuries, a large number of the Wayne Family members died, at which point the head of the family, Allen Wayne, realized something was wrong.

"Begin a covert investigation; this is Gotham's first Batman."

Kino paused for a moment after saying this.

"And then what happened?"

Dick asked impatiently, feeling as if he were uncovering a long-forgotten historical secret, his heart pounding involuntarily.

Later... my shoulders got a little sore.

Kino spoke, he twisted his neck.

Tim immediately came up behind Kino and began to massage him.

"Uncle, how's the pressure?"

"Perfect, just right."

Kino nodded in satisfaction, then continued, "And that's when we discovered Gotham's source of darkness."

"The Court of Owls," Dick blurted out.

"The Court of Owls has been dedicated to manipulating Gotham, from training the killer: Talons."

Then, they manipulate the economic lifeline and political decisions to influence the direction of Gotham City.

They control many of the city's industries and secretly influence policy-making, making Gotham's social structure increasingly distorted, widening the gap between the rich and the poor, and thus breeding more criminal activities.

Allen Wayne was fighting against them at the time.

Just as he was about to successfully destroy the owls, he discovered a colossal entity behind them, an existence that the entirety of Gotham combined could not contend with.

Kino stopped abruptly, a serious expression on his face.

Dick and the others couldn't help but hold their breath, their eyes fixed on Kino, eager to hear what would happen next.

Jason, enduring the dizziness, listened intently, temporarily forgetting his physical discomfort.

Venom had stopped and was watching Kino's performance with Pamela, a faint smile playing on their lips.

"At that time, Allen Wayne made a decision to split the Wayne Family in two."

Half stayed behind to protect Gotham, while the other went far away, heading east to investigate the existence behind the Court of Owls.

Kino's voice echoed in the silent Batcave.

"And according to investigations over the years, the Court of Owls is merely a branch of the Owl Parliament."

"How is that possible? A subordinate branch can control the entire Gotham City?"

Oliver, also a billionaire, knows all too well the difficulty of controlling a city, from its economy to its policies.