Chapter 1664: Bruce Wayne and the Magic Stone (Part 8)

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The main teaching building of Gotham magic college is a Gothic-style manor castle, with the main castle featuring a long row of Gothic spires on the left and rear sides. In front is the grand auditorium, and to the left is a corridor supported by arches and columns. Beyond the corridor lies a vast garden.

The floor-to-ceiling windows of the floating spire at Rodriguez college offer a perfect view of the entire garden. At sunrise, Schiller, standing in front of the director's office window, saw three small figures carrying cleaning tools entering the large garden.

After a night of cold rain, the sweet moisture made the plants in the garden appear even more lush. The vibrant green looked like oil paint brushed onto a canvas. As dew dripped from the tips of the leaves, it reluctantly pulled a long green dress, rich with life, before splashing onto the ground like a swirling skirt in a dance hall.

The damp air, filled with the scent of earth, penetrated Barry's nostrils. He couldn't help but take a deep breath, revealing a look of ecstasy, and then slowly exhaled, feeling as if his body and mind had been purified.

Little Bruce glanced at his expression, showing a look of disdain, as he laboriously carried a bucket of cleaning tools and walked forward at a leisurely pace.

Harley only took two brooms and, while walking, recounted what Kaine had said earlier: "We need to clean the greenhouse on the east side of the garden. There are no fallen leaves this season, but there are puddles from yesterday's rain that we need to sweep into the drainage."

"Also, some wilted plants from the experiments need to be dug out and thrown away, and the planting tools in the storage need to be cleaned. Once we get there, make sure not to provoke our magic botany professor, or she’ll whip you with her plant whip."

"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have to come here," Barry said to Little Bruce, who was quickly walking ahead with a bucket full of shovels, not even glancing back at him.

"Do you think I came with you guys today for any particular reason?" Little Bruce sneered, his blue eyes filled with sarcasm. He continued, "Do you really think I'm afraid of those upperclassmen? What can they do to me?"

"Then why are you here, young master?"

"Have you heard about that forbidden room on the fourth floor of the main castle? I plan to check it out."

"Oh my God!" Barry stopped in his tracks, turning his head to look at Little Bruce helplessly. "Haven't you caused enough trouble? You actually want to trespass into a forbidden area? All the teachers and professors say it's very dangerous. Why do you insist on going?"

"How do you know they say it's dangerous to warn us and not because they want to monopolize some powerful treasure?"

Barry was left speechless, but Little Bruce took a step forward and said, "What a fool. You have no understanding of the situation and are completely clueless about what's going on. It's simply infuriatingly stupid."

Barry quickly stepped in front of Bruce, looking at him seriously. "You can't go. I won't let you. Even if you don't care about your own safety, if you violate school rules by trespassing into a forbidden area, you'll bring shame to our college. I won't allow you to do that."

"You can't stop me, so you have to go with me. Because if you knew in advance that I was going and didn't stop me, and I encountered danger there, you'd have to take responsibility," Little Bruce provocatively raised an eyebrow at Barry. "If that happens, you won't be able to be the senior anymore."

"You..."

Barry's face turned red with anger, but he wasn't good at reasoning with his fists. Harley just smiled with interest and said, "Actually, I'm a bit interested in that room too, but not because of any powerful force. I just innocently think that studying and attending classes every day is too boring. At our age, we should seek some excitement, right?"

"Oh God, you two lunatics!" Barry raised his voice and shouted, "I'm going to tell Professor Rodriguez!"

Little Bruce, who had been walking quickly, stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to glance at Barry and said, "Do you really think that professor is a good person?"

Barry opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to say yes, but he actually didn't understand this Professor Rodriguez either. Little Bruce walked ahead again, saying, "He doesn't look like a good person at all. You'd better not count on him."

Barry turned his head to look at Harley, who shrugged and said, "Rather than saying Professor Rodriguez isn't a good person in the traditional sense, it's more accurate to say he's quite a trendy bad guy."

"How much do you understand about him?" Little Bruce asked, looking back .

"Not much," Harley sighed. "Most of what I know is just hearsay, but he does have many secrets."

"But I think you guys really can't..."

"Oh, we're here," Harley quickly ran a few steps to a small building on the east side of the garden. The building had a stone structure on the left and a glass greenhouse on the right.

Upon hearing Harley's call, a young woman wearing a neat green wizard robe and a pointed sorcerer's hat walked out from inside. Harley rushed over to hug her and said, "Pamela, it's been a while. How's the experiment going?"

"Don't even get me started. Come in, you guys haven't had breakfast yet, right? I'll get you some cookies."

Pamela removed her hat, revealing a young and beautiful face. Little Bruce nudged Barry with his elbow and said, "This is our magic botany professor. How can she be so young?"

Barry seemed still upset and completely unwilling to talk to Little Bruce, but he mumbled, "Sorcerers are all quite young."

"It sounds like you've met a few sorcerers," Little Bruce replied.

The three children walked into the small building, where the first floor featured a living room with a fireplace, decorated in a very typical American country style. The reddish-brown wooden floor and dark gray carpet complemented the half-moon leather sofa facing the fireplace. However, what was surprising was that the large window directly opposite the entrance was almost completely covered by lush green climbing plants, making the room feel somewhat dim.

Pamela brought a plate of green cookies from the kitchen. Little Bruce's face scrunched up in distaste, and Barry hesitated to reach for one. In the storybooks he had read, green cookies and bread were usually depicted as being poisoned.

But Harley picked up a cookie and bit into it without a care, while Pamela sat down on the sofa and said, "It's fine, go ahead and eat. They just have some all-natural plant dye in them."

Little Bruce still declined, but Barry mustered the courage to take one and tasted it, letting out an exclamation.

"Oh, it's delicious! Wow, it has a hint of plant fragrance, and the taste is really good. Thank you, Professor."

Pamela smiled slightly, her gaze lingering on Little Bruce's face for a moment before she looked away and said, "Thank you for coming to help me today. Sergey knocked over a few pots in the greenhouse when he left yesterday, and I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet, so I might need your help."

"If you let me take a whole box of these cookies when I leave, I promise to clean everything up thoroughly," Harley said with a sweet smile, giving Pamela an 'OK' gesture.

"Don't worry, you can each take a bucket home. I had nothing to do while waiting for the experiment results, so I just made these," Pamela replied.

As she stood up, the only large window in the living room suddenly swung open with a bang, startling Little Bruce and Barry, who turned to look.

They watched in amazement as two vines quickly climbed in through the window, wrapping around their cleaning tools nearby and swiftly pulling them out of the window.

Barry and Bruce were witnessing plant magic up close for the first time, their eyes wide with astonishment. Meanwhile, Pamela waved to them from the door, saying, "Hurry up, it’s going to get hot in the greenhouse soon. Let’s finish the work while it’s still cool in the morning. I’ll treat you to some recently developed ice-cold watermelon."

Pamela led the three children toward the greenhouse, first walking around the side of the house and passing under a trellis adorned with wisteria. She bent slightly forward, holding the brim of her hat, and quickened her pace. After passing through the trellis, the view opened up before them.

It was a small outdoor garden, not very large, surrounded by various flower stands, each holding small pots of plants. The plants were similar in structure to ordinary ones but displayed vibrant colors—leaves in red, green, and purple, some spiraled, and others radiating a magical glow.

Turning from this little garden, they reached the entrance to the greenhouse, where a large tree stood in front. Little Bruce curiously walked over to inspect the tree's bark, but suddenly he felt a tap on his right shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Barry and Harley still at a distance, so he looked around in confusion. Just then, he felt another tap on his other shoulder.

"Pato, stop messing around, come here," Pamela called out.

Then, to Little Bruce's astonishment, the large tree slowly pulled itself out of the ground, its long roots twisting into four legs, and its sturdy trunk transforming into two arms. The tree had taken on the form of a tree person, something he had only seen in fairy tale storybooks.

Little Bruce then understood why so much soil had been turned up in the flowerbed opposite the tree; another tree person must have left early.

"This is Pato, a Tree Demon. Sergey was supposed to be here too, but he was borrowed for work, so you won't see him today," Pamela explained as she handed the cleaning tools held by the vines to the three children. "Alright, help me clean up the pots Sergey knocked over and organize the storage room."

Harley and Barry took the tools and started working, while Little Bruce turned to stare at the flowerbed, which was surrounded by overturned soil.

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Next Chapter => Chapter 1665: Bruce Wayne and Magic Stone (9)