American comics: Starting with replicating Superman's talent

Chapter 75 Gotham Origins

Elliott Manor late at night.

The old house, located in the East Side of Gotham City, occupies a large area.

Several crows were perched on the locust trees near the entrance.

A black car slowly drove up, startling the sleeping ravens.

They flapped their wings and flew away, squawking and crying, their mournful cries adding to the eerie atmosphere of the quiet manor.

"We've arrived."

Thomas stopped the car, gazing at the quaint manor with a complex expression: "To be honest, I haven't come back much since I grew up."

"However," Thomas said with a laugh, hands on his hips, as he watched the excited Leticia run into the manor, "this is actually a good place for mental patients to rest."

Gino did not respond, but simply stared at the estate.

At either end of the iron gate at the entrance stood two stone owl statues. He remembered that when he visited his grandfather Laurent here as a child, the rubies on the statues were still there.

But now it has vanished without a trace, which shows the increasingly chaotic security environment in this city.

Thomas assumed Gino was worried about Leticia, so he sighed, patted Gino on the shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, I know a lot of good psychologists in this city. I think I can find someone to treat Leticia."

The two walked into the manor while discussing Leticia's condition.

Greeting them was an elderly man with white hair, who trembled as he leaned on his cane and bowed with difficulty: "Heir of the Elliott family, welcome."

"The master is already waiting for you inside."

As he said this, the old man stared at Gino, as if the owner of the manor only had one person to meet today.

Upon hearing the old butler's words, Thomas looked slightly uncomfortable and shook his head: "Leticia and I will wait for you outside."

Gino frowned, and the image of Loren came to mind.

He was a tyrannical old man with a perpetually stern face, who loved to yell and throw tantrums.

Gino didn't have much interaction with him; when he was a child, he just played with Thomas here.

"Lead the way." Gino thought for a moment and decided to go see this unfamiliar grandfather.

Push open the old wooden door.

An expensive chandelier used to hang from the living room ceiling, but it was now covered in dust.

The mess of cutlery and leftover food on the table silently testifies to the Elliott family's past glory.

Gino saw an old man in purple pajamas lying listlessly on the sofa.

His skin was wrinkled, and his aged face and the back of his hands were covered with brown age spots.

The old man had thinning hair, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were closed; he looked as if he was about to die.

"Master Laurent, Young Master Gino has arrived."

The old butler's voice woke Loren, who slowly opened his eyes, his cloudy pupils scrutinizing Gino.

The old butler left silently.

"Come closer."

Loren said to Gino.

Gino took two steps, and as he got closer, he could smell the stench of decay emanating from Loren.

Time is such a terrible thing; it silently steals away a person's life.

Gino stopped in his tracks.

The next moment, Lauren suddenly reached out and grabbed Gino's wrist, his eyes full of envy, and kept saying things like "It's so good to be young".

"What do you want?" Gino shook off the old man. He didn't know what the old man had eaten for lunch, but some sticky stuff had landed on his wrist, so Gino took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped his wrist.

"Hey!" Loren let out a strange laugh as he watched Gino's actions. He said, "Don't look down on me. I called you here to give you a gift."

"Open the cabinet across from you; there's a little gift I prepared for you there."

Gino raised an eyebrow and followed the direction of the finger to the cabinet in the corner.

His gaze swept over the wooden cabinet, which gradually became transparent in Gino's eyes. He saw a small silver box and an ordinary white bird-shaped mask inside.

He narrowed his eyes and focused his attention on the metal box.

Gino's gaze easily penetrated the silver iron box.

Inside the iron box was a pool of flowing, silvery-white liquid, which looked like molten silver.

But what surprised Gino even more was that the silver liquid emitted a shimmering light like the brilliance of the Milky Way.

"What is this?"

Gino became interested: a luminescent liquid?

The boy opened the cabinet and took out the iron box.

"Clatter~"

As the metal box was opened, a pool of flowing silver liquid came into view.

"Sniff sniff~"

Gino sniffed the smell, but couldn't detect any odor.

"Odorless," Gino labeled the mysterious liquid once again.

"How is it?" Lauren coughed, interrupting Gino's thoughts. "Isn't it beautiful and magical?"

"What is this thing?" Gino really didn't know what it was.

Loren gazed intently at the iron box in Gino's hand and said, "This is called amber gold, a metal that can prolong life and has a slight effect on enhancing the body's self-healing abilities."

"You're saying it's metal?" Gino raised an eyebrow, reached out and touched the liquid. It was icy cold to the touch, like a pool of Kangquan water.

Lauren grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Of course, I lived to be ninety-five thanks to it."

Gino asked curiously, "So, how did you get it?"

"How do I obtain it?"

Gino's words seemed to ignite Loren's anger. He stood up shakily, his voice hoarse: "This thing belongs to our Elliott family!"

The old man, in a menacing manner, limped toward the wall with the curtains drawn, then grabbed the black curtains and yanked them off forcefully.

Look at these oil paintings!

Gino looked at the wall.

Several oil paintings were hanging on the wall in the corner.

The first painting depicts four young people with their families aboard a sailboat. Each of them is full of fighting spirit, gazing at the sea, as if something is waiting for them somewhere.

"Cough cough."

Lauren coughed and pointed to the first oil painting: "This is the origin of Gotham City!"

"Four ambitious young men traveled across the ocean to what was once Gotham, a wild and untamed place."

A look of reminiscence flashed in old man Lauren's eyes: "The Wayne family, the Elliott family, the Kane family, the Copperpot family."

"The four families who founded Gotham City!"

Gino’s gaze shifted to the second painting.

The second oil painting has a strange composition; it is divided in the middle of the frame, with the upper half depicting a city.

Above the towering metropolis, a young man stands with his hands on his hips, looking down at the entire city.

The lower half is a complex network of pipes, within which lies a large hall.

Several chairs were placed in the hall, and the figure at the head of the group was shrouded in darkness, resting his chin on his hands, seemingly talking to his companion.

Laurent's voice rang in my ears: "After founding Gotham, the Wayne family loved the city. They wanted the city to develop freely, for everyone to receive an education, for everyone to have enough to eat, and to create a city without hunger and poverty."

"But our Elliott ancestor didn't think so. He created an organization called the Council of Owls, which recruited powerful local forces and expected that the city's development would be decided by these noble families."

As he listened to Loren's words, Gino's expression gradually became strange. Good heavens, why does the Elliott family sound so much like the villains?

(End of this chapter)