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Chapter 279: Gotham Play House (1)

On a Gotham night, a cylindrical light was cast by the headlights, gradually turning the corner and straightening onto the main street. A sports car slowly pulled up to the entrance of a circus settlement in the western suburbs of Gotham.

Stepping out of the car were seemingly a young couple. The tall father carried their daughter in his arms, walking ahead, while the mother held the tickets and a bag, following behind. On the surface, they appeared to be a harmonious family of three, but everything came to an end with a scream from the daughter in her father's arms.

"Wow!!!"

"Don't scream," Bruce covered Aisha's mouth with his hand, his voice filled with exhaustion. Selina approached, linking her arm with his, and said, "You better not cover her mouth. What if she bites you again?"

Bruce sighed and removed his hand. Aisha, in his embrace, was very restless, wanting to jump out of his arms. Bruce used his other arm to hold her back.

Now, why did this family of three appear in front of the circus? Well, it all started from the unusually "harmonious" quality time they had been spending together these past few days.

In theory, there was nothing Bruce couldn't learn in this world if he set his mind to it, including parenting theories. However, it was quite coincidental that all the parenting theories in this world remained largely theoretical. In practice, these theories were not very helpful; one could even say they were useless.

No parenting theory in this world would teach you how to deal with an ancient cosmic chaotic creature hatched from a portion of your soul borrowed from a dream. Therefore, after studying parenting theories for a mere ten minutes, Bruce understood that he would have to create an entirely new discipline.

But as the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and the same applies to raising children. After spending three days with Aisha, Bruce managed to discover a pattern.

It's unclear whether it was a characteristic of chaotic creatures or a trait common among children, but Aisha was highly interested in things that moved and made sounds.

Originally, this should have fallen into Bruce's area of expertise, such as creating a robot or a toy car to play with Aisha. However, he later discovered that Aisha didn't enjoy watching things move; she preferred watching people move.

Bruce owed his discovery of this pattern to Selina.

Due to Bruce's desperate need for assistance, Selina had been staying at Wayne Manor these past few days. The butler, Alfred, was overjoyed, but Selina herself felt a bit restless. Although she could endure taking care of a child for Bruce's sake, the artistic cells ingrained in her had no outlet. Therefore, Selina set up a set of parallel bars on the lawn of the manor, where she would sway on them whenever she had free time, honing her acrobatic skills.

Then Bruce noticed that Aisha became surprisingly quiet when she watched Selina play on the parallel bars. She could even remain silent for ten minutes.

Both Bruce and Selina were ecstatic. During the day, Selina would perform various acrobatic acts on the parallel bars, such as aerialists, wall-runners, fire hoops, and unicycles, to entertain Aisha. At night, Batman would drive his Batmobile, carrying Aisha, and race through the streets of Gotham.

As for why it had to be the Batmobile, it was because Aisha only liked cars that produced a tremendous roar. Other sports cars lacked the necessary power, and Aisha would start screaming as soon as she got in them. Only when the Batmobile reached its top speed did she calm down a bit.

These past few days had been spent with Selina performing acrobatics for Aisha during the day, including acts like aerialists, wall-running, fire hoops, and unicycles. One could say that Catwoman's abilities were put to the test, and she barely made it through these three days.

At night, the roaring sound of the Batmobile would echo through the streets and alleys of Gotham. The criminals of Gotham had completely gone into hiding these days. Anyone who heard the terrifying engine sound of the Batmobile throughout the night would feel their hearts racing.

However, this situation came to an end on the third night because the Batmobile's tires were stolen.

Yes, you read that right. The tires of the Batmobile, which cost millions of dollars, were pried off.

It happened on a twilight evening when Bruce was about to take Aisha out. The previous night, he had parked the Batmobile a little further away, but he hadn't worried about its safety at all because the Batmobile and other cars were like two completely different species, except for their superficial resemblance.

Gotham had plenty of car thieves, but if they had the skills to pry off the Batmobile's tires, why would they bother stealing cars in Gotham? Why not find any car brand and become an engineer?

However, life is unpredictable, and misfortunes tend to come all at once. There happened to be a genius car thief in Gotham who possessed the skills to pry off the Batmobile's tires, despite having the abilities to be a technical director or engineer anywhere else.

Bruce carried Aisha and approached the Batmobile. Seeing his Batmobile with only three wheels remaining, he was momentarily speechless.

He did have spare tires, but the problem lay in the complex technology of the Batmobile itself. Even if he were to change a tire, Bruce would have to do it himself. But now, with Aisha in his arms, he couldn't spare even a minute, let alone tow the Batmobile back to the Batcave to change the tires and perform maintenance.

Without the Batmobile, Aisha refused to sleep. If she didn't sleep, Selina and Bruce couldn't sleep either. If Selina and Bruce didn't sleep, they would be even more exhausted and wouldn't have the energy to comfort Aisha. It became a vicious cycle.

Until they saw an advertisement in the newspaper Alfred brought in the morning, stating that the circus, which had previously closed due to the freezing of Gotham, was reopening.

Bruce and Selina thought that since Aisha enjoyed watching Selina's acrobatics, the circus should be even more impressive. If they could put Aisha to sleep, Bruce would have time to work on his Batmobile.

And so, they bought tickets and attended the circus on its second day of reopening.

Previously, this circus in the outskirts of Gotham was quite popular. The animal acts were diverse, and there were several impressive acrobats who performed many difficult tricks.

However, business had declined since Gotham was temporarily shut down due to the surface damage. The circus owner warmly welcomed the Wayne couple, not only because they arrived early but also because Wayne had money. If he enjoyed the show, he might invest in the circus, allowing it to expand further.

The circus owner initially wanted this family of three to sit in the front row in the middle, but Bruce refused. On one hand, the lights there were too bright, and the proximity to the fire hoops made it hot. On the other hand, Aisha's appearance was different from ordinary people, and the crowded center would make it easy for her to be noticed.

Bruce and Selina chose to sit in the far-right corner of the front row, close to the circus's restroom and exit. This way, they could leave immediately in case of any unexpected incidents.

The audience entered in groups of two or three. There were more people today compared to the first day, but the seats still weren't completely filled. The circus owner stood near the backstage door with a gloomy expression, seemingly dissatisfied with the situation.

He heard some commotion from backstage and turned around, lowering his voice as he scolded, "What are you doing? Why are you making so much noise? Didn't I warn you? Wayne is coming today, so behave yourselves, idiots!"

Then, he complained, venting his frustration, "It's all your fault! You still want to be paid, but why can't you work for me like the lions and elephants? Just give them food, and they'll risk their lives for me!"

"You've seen it too, the circus isn't doing well, so this week I can only pay you one-third of your wages."

Upon hearing this, the acrobats in the backstage were furious. One tall figure among them stepped forward and said, "Hey, Henry! You can't do this. We've been working for you for a long time, and we've earned plenty of ticket money for you. We perform dangerous and difficult acts, risking our lives for money. You can't..."

"Grayson, you better watch your mouth! Do you think it's still the time when your Grayson family was renowned on the East Coast?" the circus owner interrupted.

"Don't forget, your father, old Grayson, turned into a bloody mess during an important performance, ruining your family's reputation. If it weren't for that, why would the noble Graysons come to perform in my small place?"

"Don't expect more from me. Listen, your wife is in poor health, taking leave every few days. She's already a burden, and paying you the full wage is me being lenient..."

The tall man named Grayson was seething with anger, his veins popping on his face. His companions came forward and tried to calm him down. Finally, he clenched his fist and said nothing, walking back into the crowd.

The circus owner, feeling smug, mocked, "Don't think I don't know. Your Grayson family's little tag-along also wants to join this line of work..

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