69novels Chapter 102 The Continuation and Change of Chaos
Chapter 102 The Continuation and Change of Chaos
Chapter 102 The Continuation and Change of Chaos
The sudden departure of the Harry Circus did not cause much of an impact in Gotham; the only people who would mention it were those who had booked tickets but had their money refunded.
Due to the successive incidents involving both the gangsters and the Claws, many people in the circus began to question the circus owner.
Some contacted other circuses to prepare to leave, some planned to bring others out to start their own businesses, and others had saved enough money to quit the profession of acrobat.
The Graysons are the last type; their family has been in the business for generations and made a name for themselves very early on.
As well-paid celebrity actors, they have saved up a lot of money over the years.
This money was enough for them to find a place to settle down and live, but because they wanted to train Dick to inherit the profession, and also wanted to earn more money while they were still relatively healthy, they had no intention of retiring.
After learning from Zheng En that Dick was being targeted, they completely lost interest in continuing their careers as acrobats.
The Graysons weren't stupid; they quickly figured out why Dick had been chosen.
Just like Jung Eun said, he is incredibly talented.
At such a young age, she can perform on stage, and her skill and control over her techniques far surpass those of other children her age.
Because they were both acrobats, the Graysons understood all too well how exceptional their children were.
They were incredibly proud of this and firmly believed that Dick would make the Grayson family name even more renowned.
But all of this became a noose around their necks.
After a night of careful consideration, the Graysons made their decision. They stayed in Gotham, waiting for the trustworthy, wealthy, and powerful man that Zheng En had mentioned to come to their door.
With the groundwork he laid, Bruce's process of taking Dick away went quite smoothly.
Upon learning this, Zheng En breathed a sigh of relief. Once inside Wayne Manor, Dick felt somewhat safe.
Unfortunately, not every child is as lucky as Dick.
Zheng En was processing the files of newly enrolled homeless children, and the stacks of documents made his head spin. Recently, the number of homeless children seeking shelter at the school had increased several times over, and many of them didn't have names, but were called by nicknames like "scratchy hair" or "muddlehead".
They need new names, rooms, classrooms, and a range of supporting living facilities.
Material conditions are not a problem; the school reserved space in advance during the renovation, so it's not an issue to take in a few more groups of homeless children.
But there was a shortage of staff. There weren't enough experienced teachers, and the newly recruited teachers hadn't gotten up to speed yet, so the workload had increased significantly, keeping even the principal very busy.
According to the original estimate, there shouldn't have been so many homeless children recruited at this time.
Street children are an integral part of Gotham's underworld. Those who survive generally have a powerful sphere of influence or a skill to rely on.
Although Mrs. Gunn's boarding school was well-concealed on the surface, what happened inside was no secret to the street children.
Jung Eun exposed Mrs. Guen, but she didn't expect the homeless children to let their guard down anytime soon.
Socializing homeless children is a large, gradual process that cannot be accomplished overnight, but he underestimated the chaos that would ensue on Halloween Eve.
The scarecrow was arrested, but the effects of that day's chaos were far from over.
Let's start with the conflict between two long-established mafia families.
The Falcone family is the undisputed leader of Gotham's underworld. The Romans, in collusion with the mayor and the police chief, represent the power of the mafia, politics, and violent institutions, respectively. The Romans lavishly bribe the other two, taking the lion's share of the illegal smuggling.
The Maroney and Falcone families are both gangs that existed in Gotham since its founding. Although they lost the initial opportunity in the early stages of expansion, they gradually developed and became powerful enough to rival the Falcone family. However, the Maroney family was always one step behind, and since they had common interests, they were mostly in a cooperative relationship.
However, this balance is not stable.
When the Roman Carmine Falcone was in his prime, Maroni could only be ranked second, but the latter was much younger than the former.
Everyone knew that he was ambitiously eyeing the Roman throne, and more importantly, the Romans were old and their offspring were not good enough.
Carmine Falcone's two sons, the elder son Mario is young and ambitious, and has not yet achieved his father's success. Although he has loyal old men willing to follow him, he cannot suppress the affiliated gangs.
The youngest son, Alberto, was sent to Oxford University for an elite education from a young age and has never been involved in gang affairs, let alone be considered an heir.
Over the years, the Maroni family's power gradually increased, inevitably leading to friction with the Falcone family. In the past, the Maroni family would usually back down and offer the Romans sufficient benefits to save face.
But now Maroni won't allow it.
A strong male wolf will challenge the alpha wolf when it senses the alpha wolf is weakening, and attempt to take its place.
Although he certainly had a reason to fight for it, this act of disrespect was itself a tacit provocation.
Falcone did not react to this move, and Maroni's probing became even more audacious.
Then the events of Halloween happened.
The Maroni family's territory suffered a blow, and they were bound to retaliate. The two long-established gangs completely broke off relations, and the ensuing conflict ensued.
They were arguably the gang most affected during Halloween, but that doesn't mean smaller gangs weren't impacted.
Compared to premeditated gang wars, some smaller gangs were simply affected by the fear of poison gas, causing their members to fight each other, which eventually led to complete chaos.
It was under these circumstances that Arnold was stimulated to develop a new personality.
He had no wife or children and lived alone in a small rented room on the outskirts of the East End, barely making ends meet by scavenging for recyclables. On Halloween, he found a discarded hand puppet and received candy from kind people.
Arnold felt incredibly lucky today.
This hand puppet is very pretty; even if it doesn't sell for money, he can keep it for himself. He hasn't had candy in a long time, but today he received free candy.
But before he could even eat them, the puppet and candy were snatched away by the thugs.
Their goal wasn't to eat him; they just wanted to bully Arnold for fun.
Even when pushed to the ground, the elderly and frail Arnold could only meekly wait for them to leave on their own.
The low-ranking thugs were ordered around to swindle him out of spare change. Sometimes, when he was unlucky, the thugs would steal his money right after he finished selling his scraps, leaving him to go back to scavenge on an empty stomach.
Then the thugs used the same trick again, stealing the puppet and the few candies he had just gotten from him.
They laughed and made disgusted faces.
"What an ugly hand puppet."
"Disgusting, just as filthy as this old man."
As they shared the candy, they threw the hand puppets on the ground. Arnold reached out to pick them up, but before he could pull his hand back, both his hand and the puppet were trampled underfoot by the thugs.
He was in so much pain that he couldn't help but cry, and in his daze, he seemed to see the hand puppet staring at him with disgust.
"You useless piece of trash, why don't you stand up and fight back!"
"I'm old and short, how can I resist?!" Arnold sobbed, tears streaming down his face, unable even to pull his hand away.
His voice was so weak that the thugs couldn't hear what he was saying at all; they could only see him with tears streaming down his face.
The thugs got even more excited, "Hey, you old codger, you still have the nerve to cry? You didn't hand over a single penny today, you're lucky you weren't killed."
Arnold heard the puppet's sound grow louder.
"You're so useless!"
"If you're so useless, then let me, your scarred grandpa, take care of it for you!"
Arnold stared at it intently. "Okay."
The thugs who had eaten the candy soon got into a fight, and the one who was stepping on Arnold's foot was punched hard by the others and fell to the side.
Upon regaining his freedom, Arnold immediately put on the hand puppet and wiped his scarred face clean with his clothes.
Scarface laughed wildly. "Good! You did a great job, Arnold. Now, just watch how I get my revenge!"
Arnold watched in astonishment as Scarface pulled a pistol from the thugs and took them out with a few shots.
Gunshots rang out continuously from the streets outside, accompanied by shouts of insults exchanged between gangsters.
Scarface immediately rushed out, while Arnold said timidly, "There's definitely a gang fight going on over there, let's go back."
"Go back? You piece of trash, go back if you want! If something happens, we can fish in trouble. If you don't step up, you'll be stuck selling junk for the rest of your life!"
Scarface spent the entire night integrating the several small, fighting gangs into one, killing all those who disobeyed him, and becoming their leader.
The old gangs are constantly fighting amongst themselves, while new gangs are rapidly rising.
The East District is generally considered a gangland, and even the police wouldn't risk coming into such a place to arrest people.
The war between gangs has begun, and the Eastern District is the one most affected.
Among the affected population, homeless and relatively vulnerable children are the most vulnerable to suffering.
Normally they could enter various places to sell alcohol, but with gangs becoming wary of each other, the places they could go were greatly reduced. If they couldn't sell anything, they wouldn't make money; if they paid less to the gangs or middlemen, they would be beaten and verbally abused.
The less money they earn, the harsher the people above them become; and the harsher they become, the more severe their wounds become.
The homeless in Gotham are easy to manage. As long as they have food to eat, even if it's leftovers, they can endure being beaten and scolded for a long time.
But getting injured could lead to death, and they wouldn't earn any money; the people above them wouldn't even give them leftovers.
At this point, the boarding school run by Zheng En became a new option in their eyes. If they had other choices, they wouldn't have left their familiar environment so easily.
But the homeless children share information with each other.
The boarding school environment is not closed off; the students inside can freely interact with homeless children outside. Because they are young, they are often paid less for the same work, and sometimes they have to do more than adults.
Because they are in similar tragic circumstances, the bond that develops between them will be much deeper.
Street children who enter boarding school will still keep in touch with their old friends. When there is contact, there will be communication, and many things can be seen without asking.
Are their clothes clean? Are they well-fed? How are they feeling? Are they injured?
These are obvious at a glance.
Then the homeless children will be surprised to find that their friends are doing well.
They were all wearing the same school uniform, which looked very warm, with no holes or drafts, and felt very comfortable to the touch;
His once thin cheeks have become fuller, he walks briskly, and with a smile on his face, he looks much more energetic than before.
Upon further inquiry about life at the boarding school, it was revealed that there was meat and vegetables, and bread was plentiful. Teachers guided them in reading and writing, and their biggest worries shifted from being well-fed and clothed to not being able to memorize vocabulary and failing exams.
Older children can learn technical skills, such as repairing cars and machinery, or doing jobs like unclogging pipes and laying tiles.
In Zheng En's eyes, the children in boarding schools have not yet met the graduation requirements, their skills are not advanced enough, and they cannot find formal jobs outside.
But to the homeless children outside, they have something that can be called the future.
Only by surviving can they think about the future, so the future is a luxury for them.
Now, these luxuries that were once out of their reach are right in front of them, without even a glass display case. Just days ago, their friends who owned such luxuries were homeless just like them.
As long as they enter boarding school, they will be well-fed and clothed, and will learn skills, and the school gates will always be open to them.
With happiness so easily within reach, even if it's just a bubble, they would still want to give it a try.
Then I found out that it was all true.
They were able to wear warm clothes, eat enough food, and sleep on mattresses.
I get up at 6:30 every morning to eat breakfast. The cafeteria prepares oatmeal porridge, fried eggs, waffles, and other similar foods.
The first class starts at seven o'clock. New children, regardless of age, start by learning the alphabet. After learning the alphabet, they learn common words. After building a solid foundation, they then learn the regular curriculum.
Like most American schools, lunch break is only one hour, and lunch usually consists of fast food such as sandwiches, pizzas, and hamburgers that provide enough energy.
The afternoons are mostly filled with various skills classes, starting with relatively simple ones like pipe unclogging and tile laying. Those with stronger learning abilities or prior background knowledge can learn car repair. After mastering car repair, one can then specialize in other machinery and equipment, although no one has yet reached that level.
Dinner was more varied. The cafeteria ladies would prepare staples like rice and noodles, as well as various Chinese dishes—for Jung Eun's own selfish reasons and to save money—such as stir-fried pork with green peppers, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, Mapo tofu, and braised lion's head meatballs.
After dinner, the children will have time for group activities, such as discussing issues or watching a movie.
After the group activity, they were free to do their own thing; some did their homework, and others took a bath.
At 9:30, the dormitory lights are turned off, and teachers patrol the floors to prevent any children from sneaking out to play on non-rest days.