allendalepharm Chapter 98 The Attack of the Claws
Chapter 98 The Attack of the Claws
Chapter 98 The Attack of the Claws
Amber Gold, a key tool used by the Court of Owls to create its own legion of assassins, whose members are collectively known as Claw O.
The court officials mixed amber gold with inferior Dionysian factors to make coins, which were then embedded in the teeth of the claws, giving them the ability to heal, withstand pain, and resist aging.
The comics don't describe Harry's Circus much, only mentioning it briefly in a conversation between Batman and Nightwing. It says that talented children are chosen to become Claw trainees, then taken away and brainwashed.
Jung Eun doesn't know much about DC; her knowledge mainly comes from video clips and comic book screenshots she's seen online.
Because the Court of Owls' pretentiousness dropped drastically in the later episodes, he didn't remember much about this part until he saw that the Graysons' mission status showed as incomplete, and he suddenly remembered the knowledge points in this corner.
Jung Eun only thought that Dick, with his parents, would have a happy family, but forgot that without Bruce, the other would only continue the fate of his great-grandfather or grandfather in the circus, becoming a claw under the owl court.
After remembering this, he quickly found an opportunity to use his telescope to look at Dick, who was packing up with others backstage.
Bones, teeth, and a small dark shadow hidden in the back alveolar bone.
The ominous premonition came true.
Zheng En instantly realized that all his previous worries were unfounded. The best way to get Dick out of the Owl Court was to make Bruce his guardian.
As for how to connect the two of them—haha, we'll see.
Zheng En was reluctant to think about how to deal with Batman's questioning gaze. Pretending to be stupid was one thing, but bearing the psychological pressure of being watched by Batman was another.
Still backstage, Dick was unaware that someone was worried about his fate. He only knew that when the circus owner announced his departure from Gotham, everyone's expression changed.
"But why? We earned half the money we made in the last town today! And this is only the first day; we'll definitely earn even more in the future!"
The group of about twenty people started discussing it, and a few of the more outspoken individuals directly raised objections.
The circus owner knew this would harm everyone's interests, so he let them talk until they had finished before revealing the gang's extortion.
Some people understand, while others are reluctant to give up their reward, saying, "We can call the police; they can't just ignore it, can they?"
"Don't I want to make money? But what good is it if someone dies and the police come?" After the circus owner briefly recounted what had happened that day, even those who wanted to stay fell silent.
Even before the performance was over, the circus owner had dragged the two gangsters out.
He was afraid that keeping them around would cause more trouble, and he was also afraid that the people in the group would offend them. Even though they had become victims, he didn't dare to call the police. He could only pretend that nothing had happened and let them fend for themselves outside.
The circus staff didn't see the gangsters the boss mentioned, but they knew he was right; the person who suffered the most after leaving in such a hurry was the boss himself.
The Graysons were initially very vehemently opposed to the relationship, but after the fact that Dick and they had nearly lost their lives was revealed, they belatedly embraced their child tightly.
"Oh, Dick, my little Robin Bird." Mrs. Grayson's voice was filled with lingering fear. "I knew you must have been terrified when you suddenly hugged us after the performance without saying a word."
The circus owner and the most famous Graysons both made their stance clear, and their reasons for leaving were quite valid. No matter how unwilling everyone was, they still had to pack up.
The only difference is that before, packing was to prepare for the next event, but now it's to pack up and leave.
They stuffed the props into boxes, herded the animals into cages, and dismantled the large tent that had just been set up. The entire circus was moved back to the caravan overnight. But no matter how quickly they packed up, they would have to spend the night in Gotham.
Business at the circus was bad, and everyone was counting on making more money in Gotham. Now that this has happened, nobody is happy about it.
The atmosphere in the group was very gloomy, and Dick didn't say much either.
He originally wanted to share with his parents what happened that day, how he bravely protected his parents, and how he made friends with kind adults and people who really liked his performance.
But seeing his parents sighing, he couldn't say a word.
Dick realized that even if he successfully fought off the evil gang with the help of others, it wouldn't matter.
The gangsters will come back, so they have to leave.
He hated this feeling; he wanted the power to protect everyone.
"Go to sleep early." Mrs. Grayson patted Dick's head. "You must be exhausted today. Get some rest tonight. You have to get up and travel tomorrow, which will be very tiring."
"I'm not tired." Dick rubbed her hand, still leaning against the window looking at the scenery outside.
Gotham is a bustling metropolis where, even at night, light still shines from the cubicles of skyscrapers, neon signs flash various colors, and shops along the street light up with all sorts of colorful lights.
From a distance, these lights appear as twinkling stars, resembling a starry night sky.
The circus's next stop is Bruderhaven, a relatively underdeveloped small city whose main industry is whaling.
Dick didn't want to go to bed so early; he knew he wouldn't be able to see this view at this time tomorrow.
"Goodnight, Mom. I'm going to sleep in a bit."
Mrs. Grayson relented, "Alright, goodnight."
She walked to the other end of the room, which was small. On the other side was her and her husband's living quarters, separated from Dick only by a curtain.
Mrs. Grayson lifted the curtain, but Dick seemed to see a dark shadow flash past behind her.
"Wait, Mom!"
Dick jumped off the chair and ran toward Mrs. Grayson.
So much has happened today that he can't help but be suspicious of even the slightest disturbance.
Gangsters can infiltrate the backstage of a circus and tamper with the props, so they could also infiltrate a caravan and commit murder.
Mrs. Grayson was still holding the curtain open when Dick called her. She jokingly asked, "What's wrong? Do you want to sleep with Mom and Dad tonight?"
The smile on her face was so gentle and loving, yet it was so terrifying compared to the upside-down human head.
The man wore round goggles, his eyebrows were raised high, and there was a sharp triangle between the goggles.
He was holding a dagger.
Dick started walking.
A sharp, cold glint flashed from behind the woman's neck.
Dick let out a heart-wrenching scream: "No—"
He couldn't just watch his mother die in front of him.
He had never run this fast in his entire life.
Time seemed to pass very slowly, so slowly that he could see his mother's hair being cut and floating up.
Time seemed to pass too quickly, so quickly that he couldn't stop it in time. He could only watch helplessly as blood spurted out, while his mother seemed oblivious to everything and smiled at him.
"Don't----"
The extremely faint sound lasted only a moment, but the gushing blood drowned it out. Dick wasn't even sure if it was his imagination. The shrill shouts around him were so loud they seemed to pierce the sky.
He belatedly realized that the scream had come from his throat.
"Bang!"
The iron gate was smashed open, but the loud noise didn't attract Dick's attention. He didn't have time to spare for anything else; his mind was completely focused on his mother lying on the ground.
He tried to cover the wound on Mrs. Grayson's neck with his hand, but only managed to smear his hands with blood. He looked so stunned and bewildered that he seemed to be the one who killed his mother.
He heard someone sigh.
"Crazy Diamond".
"Dulalalalalala"
A red and blue humanoid stand-in emerged from behind Zheng En. The silver-blue stone armor on his body seemed to grow directly from his pink skin, bulging directly on the surface. When his fists were swinging wildly, the afterimages could even shimmer with diamond-like light.
Countless fists rained down on Mrs. Grayson's body. The wound on the back of her neck, hidden by her hair, healed, and the spurting blood returned to her body as part of the repair process. Nerves, blood vessels, muscles, trachea—all the visible and invisible changes occurred in her body.
Before the pain from the punches could even reach the brain, the wounds on the body had already healed.
The eyes, which had been gradually dimming, instantly regained their luster, and the senses of sight, hearing, and smell resumed functioning. The faint sobbing in the ear also became clear.
"Don't cry."
She finally had the strength to say what she hadn't said before. Dick stared at her blankly, his face covered in snot and tears.
"Mom, Mom—"
He thought he was hallucinating and reached out to touch his mother's face, only to find that his hands, which were originally covered in blood, were now empty.
Mrs. Grayson took his hand and pressed it to her face. "Don't cry, my little Robin."
"Bang!"
A huge explosion came from not far away. Dick was brought back to his senses from the joy of his mother’s resurrection. He then noticed that the carriage door was smashed and deformed. The killer who had appeared earlier and the people who appeared afterward had all disappeared.
The others in the circus also woke up, some because of Dick's cries, and others because of the loud crash and explosion of the iron gate.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
People nearby came to check on the situation, only to find a mother and child huddled together and a mess on the ground. "My God—"
A series of thuds came from the top of the carriage. Claw leaped far away in a few bounds, then flung several throwing knives at you. His attacks were incredibly agile, and Zheng En, relying on his [Melee Proficiency] skill, managed to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat.
But if they get really close, he'll be the one to win.
Zheng En dodged the flying knife, seized the opportunity to get close to the claws, closing the distance to two meters.
Truth lies only within range.
The Crazy Diamond's range is exactly two meters.
"Dulalalalalala-1" 6
A barrage of punches rained down on his claws from all directions. He passively endured the beatings, unable to retaliate or even know how.
Because he can't see anything.
Crazy Diamonds
[A powerful healer with Level 10 First Aid skills. She can repair both items and physical bodies, but this is not healing, and cannot be used on the dead, the user's original body, items with diseases, or items missing parts.]
[Details: The strange ability known as a Stand is an image formed by the condensation of spiritual energy. Its prototype comes from a certain steakhead's Stand "Crazy Diamond" and was recorded by the system.]
This ability can be seen as a manifestation of supernatural powers. In the original work, only the Stand user could see the Stand. Players from different universes reacted after using it, and those with sufficiently strong mental power could also see it.
This is a golden skill that can only be drawn or purchased after accumulating 1,000 points.
In gaming terms, once you've accumulated enough recharges, the card pool and shop limits are unlocked. Originally, Zheng En could only obtain purple cards at most, and what she drew were either skills that weren't very useful or fragments of useful skills.
Fragments are one-time use items; once used, they're gone, unlike gold cards, which can be used indefinitely after being drawn or purchased.
【Crazy Diamond】is a skill that Jung Eun carefully selected from the shop before deciding to buy. It can heal and tank, and can also find the object's main body by taking advantage of the setting that the repaired item will automatically return to its original position. It has played a variety of wonderful roles in the original work.
The method of use is also very simple. Unlike skills such as vector manipulation and unlimited limits, which have various requirements, it has almost no drawbacks except for the limited range of the ability to be activated.
—If there is background sound when the skill is activated, then it doesn't count.
"Dulalalalalala-yi"
Accompanied by a loud shout from who-knows-who, Claw was beaten to his knees until he lost consciousness.
Jung Eun couldn't help but glance at Crazy Diamond several times. In the original work, it was always the Stand fighting while the user shouted, but in a universe without Stands, such an action was quite childish.
Jung Eun suspected that Crazy Diamond had to shout because he didn't shout.
Let's wait until there's no one around before manually shouting "666" to him.
Commanding Crazy Diamond to grab his claws, Zheng En jumped down from the roof of the carriage. By this time, quite a few people had already gathered below, and the commotion kept the circus performers awake.
As Jung Eun fought with someone who looked like an assassin or killer, she watched as the other person, who seemed to be unconscious, suddenly knelt down and appeared to be unconscious, but for some reason was still floating next to Jung Eun.
They couldn't help but show expressions of surprise, anger, fear, and dread.
"Who are you? Who is he? What do you want here—" The most clueless person spoke first, but was interrupted by Mr. Grayson before he could finish, "Shut up, Thomas! This gentleman is clearly here to help us."
Mr. Grayson walked to the front of the crowd, remaining unfazed even as he watched someone next to Jung Eun being suspended in mid-air.
"Is this man an assassin? If it weren't for you, my wife and son would be dead by him now."
Mr. Grayson had gone to the circus owner that evening to get more details about the gangsters, so he wasn't in the room when Claw arrived. He was startled by the commotion outside and realized he had almost lost the two most important people in his life.
"I am John Grayson, and thank you so much."
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