The little boy didn't refuse Bruce's request—he nodded.
He was still feeling down, after all, just moments ago, Miss Jessica had completely smashed the delicate gift his mother had made. He had no idea how to face his mother now.
Or rather, maybe his mother wouldn't blame him for what happened, but his own guilt wouldn't be so easily dispelled.
"What a delicate gift," Bruce said, admiring the item in the boy's hands.
"My mother spent a whole week making it," the boy said, visibly distressed as he looked at what he held. After all, it was something his mother had painstakingly crafted over an entire week, and now it was completely ruined.
"But I should be blamed too. I shouldn't have pulled on Miss Jessica's arm like that," the boy shook his head. He still felt like he had ruined his mother's plans.
Miss Jessica wasn't someone who came here easily—they rarely got to see her at all.
Bruce rubbed the boy's head and said, "No need to be disheartened. Just give it to her next time. After all, I didn't get to give her my gift either."
As he spoke, Bruce pulled a small ornament from his belt.
Though it was tiny, its craftsmanship was no less exquisite than the totem ornament in the boy's hands.
"Then you're just as unfortunate as I am," the boy said, feeling a bit better. He patted Bruce on the arm, trying to cheer him up.
"Well, not everyone's gift makes it to Miss Jessica," the boy added, trying to comfort himself with the thought.
This time, Miss Jessica had only accepted a few people's gifts; she hadn't taken many things at all.
Seeing the sadness in the boy's expression, Bruce began to understand what the "inheritor families" really meant in this place.
The Miss Jessica they kept mentioning—if Bruce wasn't mistaken—was likely just a sort of housekeeper within one of those families.
Yet even with such a role, she was deeply beloved by the common folk.
In other words, in the eyes of these residents, these inheritors were the kindest people in the world—or at least the ones who treated them best.
But Bruce didn't believe for a second that those who roamed the multiverse, devouring Spider-Men, were truly kind people who treated their subordinates with compassion.
What's more, Bruce had already noticed that this world looked like an ultimate fusion of many others.
The Roman Pantheon, the Colosseum.
The Egyptian pyramids.
The giant stone statues of Easter Island—all gathered in this world.
Clearly, the inheritors had collected fragments of the universes they'd conquered and brought them all here.
They had turned this place into a showroom for their trophies.
"I actually came this time to try to connect with Miss Jessica. I want to offer the inheritors better services," Bruce said, watching the boy carefully as he spoke.
The moment the boy heard the word inheritors, he visibly shivered. The sorrow on his face shifted.
It was clear that "inheritors" wasn't a positive word for him.
The boy looked up at Bruce and saw a trace of regret on his face.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but seemed hesitant—as though he was afraid.
And just then, as they passed a small alley, several children suddenly rushed toward them.
Their target was clear: the boy and the gift he still held in his arms.
But Bruce moved quickly, shielding the boy behind him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The kids flinched a bit at Bruce's presence.
There was something unsettling about Bruce's aura—especially those deep, unreadable eyes.
They reminded the children of the guards who stood by Miss Jessica's side—or even the inheritors themselves, who were spoken of only in urban legends.
Still, one of the children quickly regained his composure. He knew exactly why they were here.
"We're here to teach him a lesson! Let him know Miss Jessica isn't someone just anyone can touch!" the boy snapped, clearly furious over the earlier incident involving Miss Jessica.
"Yeah! He went too far!"
"That's right! After what happened, Miss Jessica didn't even take our gifts anymore!"
The group of children all chimed in, explaining why they'd come after the boy.
Ever since the boy had touched Miss Jessica, her guards had increased security, preventing anyone else from getting close.
Because of that, many townspeople hadn't been able to offer their gifts to her.
But more than anything, it was because of the boy that these kids could no longer approach Miss Jessica.
"So you came to bully him? Shouldn't you be preparing even better, more exquisite gifts for the next time Miss Jessica appears—so you can show her your sincerity?" Bruce looked at them seriously as he spoke.
The children glanced at each other. None of them knew what to say, but somehow, the man's words seemed to make sense.
But didn't this mean they had completely forgotten why they came in the first place?
They were here to teach a lesson to the boy who had offended Miss Jessica, weren't they?
"I don't think Miss Jessica would want you to act like this, would she?"
The moment Bruce invoked her name, the children scattered and ran.
They had no idea whether this man actually had a connection to Miss Jessica—but what if he did?
Especially with that intimidating aura. He really did feel like someone who had walked straight out of the castle.
"My name's Huey—Huey Howard," the boy said softly from behind Bruce.
Bruce turned around, crouched down, and extended his hand to the boy. "Wick John Kane. Nice to meet you, Huey."
Huey took Bruce's hand, and for the first time, he smiled. Maybe because he'd met an adult who didn't treat him like a child—or maybe because he'd just made a new friend.
But the smile didn't last long.
Huey quickly scanned the surroundings. Once he was sure it was safe, he looked up at Bruce.
"Why do you want to deal with the inheritors?" Huey asked, curious why Bruce would want to make deals with those people in the castle.
"If I deal with them, I can make more money," Bruce said with a helpless shrug. "I've got to eat too, you know?"
"But the price is the same as dealing with everyone else. Only... over there..." Huey didn't finish his sentence.
"What is it?"
"The inheritors all have terrible tempers. Miss Jessica is the most approachable among them," Huey whispered cautiously to Bruce.
"And we've never seen anyone from the inheritor families come out to buy food or do anything else. They don't even patrol their own lands," Huey continued, his voice even lower. If Bruce didn't have sharp hearing, he might not have caught it at all.
Bruce patted Huey's shoulder. "Alright, that's enough. The most important thing now is getting you home."
"Got it." Huey forced a smile again. But when he looked down at the broken gift in his arms, he had no idea what kind of reaction to expect when he got home.
He raised his head and asked Bruce, "Wick, do you think my mom will scold me when I get back? I ruined the gift she worked so hard to make for Miss Jessica."
Bruce pretended to think for a moment and said, "If you don't tell the truth, she might just spank your butt."
Huey quickly countered, "No way. My mom loves me a lot—she's never hit me before. But she'll probably scold me this time."
"Then be honest with her. If you tell the truth, she'll forgive you," Bruce said, looking Huey straight in the eyes.
Huey looked into Bruce's blue eyes and nodded.
He'd decided to do just that.
At that moment, Hughie also saw the front of his house.
"I see my house," he said, running a few steps forward before stopping and turning to Bruce. "We'll see each other again, right?"
"We will," Bruce replied with a smile.
Hearing Bruce's reassuring answer, Hughie's face lit up with a radiant smile. "Then don't forget to come find me!"
And with that, he dashed into his house in a flash.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I couldn't deliver it, and I ended up ruining your gift," Hughie confessed honestly to his mother, just like he had practiced with Bruce.
Hughie's mother simply patted his head. "Then we'll just make another one. We always manage to get our gifts to the people we want to give them to."
"Yeah!" Hughie nodded enthusiastically, fully agreeing with his mother's words.
At the same time, he also agreed with what Bruce had said—after all, he really hadn't been scolded or punished.
He just didn't know when he'd be able to see him again.
The city was very big, after all.
The Bruce Hughie missed had long since disappeared into the market where Miss Jessica had once appeared.
He deliberately passed through the most crowded areas.
Bruce needed to listen to what these people were saying about "those people"—only then could he begin to piece together a mental image of the current status of the Heir Family in this world.
It had to be said, even in this world, the Heir Family remained shrouded in mystery. People only knew that occasionally, entire worlds would be stitched onto the edge of their city, and their city continued to expand.
As for why this was happening, even they couldn't explain it.
They could only attribute everything to the vast power of the Heir Family.
From what Bruce gathered, the Heir Family was both mysterious and powerful, rarely showing themselves in person.
Instead, it was the stewards from within the Heir Family's castle who interacted with the outside world.
Miss Jessica's full name was Jessica Drew. She was known as the most approachable steward in the castle.
Of course, not many people dared approach her lightly.
Who knew if Miss Jessica was different on the inside from how she appeared on the outside?
People were content just seeing her from afar.
Still, Bruce did manage to pick up a few important pieces of information.
Outside a bar, a few workers who had once delivered alcohol for suppliers under contract with the Heir Family were chatting away.
Apparently, the Heir Family was currently in dire need of physicians—followed by guards.
The last physician had been too slow in extracting a shard and had his arm torn off by one of the Heirs.
That incident had left all the castle's remaining doctors trembling in fear, though none dared to leave.
Because the entire world was under the control of the Heir Family.
If the Heirs wished, they could end anyone's life with ease.
Faced with a choice between death and disability, it wasn't hard for them to decide.
But that was the thing—fear made mistakes more likely, and mistakes made death more likely.
Now, there were barely any usable doctors left in the Heir Family's castle, and the ones inside looked down on outsiders.
But still, they had no choice but to begin recruiting doctors from the outside.
At worst, a few more people might die. Eventually, someone would be competent enough to patch up their wounds.
Hearing this much, Bruce stood up and approached the two workers.
They eyed him warily—after all, what could two men with nothing but their own weight in meat have that would attract a well-dressed man like this?
Then Bruce spoke—and shocked them both.
"Hey, brothers, I want to know where I can go to treat the Heirs," Bruce said, his words completely catching the two workers off guard.
They had never imagined someone would actually volunteer to walk into the Heir Family's castle to die.
After all, the Heirs had unreasonably high expectations for doctors.
"If you've got a death wish, just buy more booze and we'll drown you in it—there's no need to go to that place," one worker tried to talk Bruce out of his crazy idea.
But the other, looking into Bruce's eyes, already knew—this man couldn't be swayed.
"Just keep walking toward the Heir Family's castle. On the way, you'll see the recruitment point for physicians."
"Thanks," Bruce said, patting the worker on the shoulder before leaving the small tavern.
"You just sent him into the fire," the first worker said, clearly upset with his companion.
"Didn't you see his eyes? No one can stop that man," the other replied, downing his beer in one gulp.
The first man had nothing more to say. He also understood that man's resolve—but he just didn't want to see someone like that walk into a place that was practically hell.
At that moment, Jessica Drew had already returned to the Heir Family's castle. She was calling out to those responsible for recruiting physicians.
"Ma'am," they greeted her with deep respect.
They weren't outsiders—they knew full well what kind of status the woman before them held within the castle.
Miss Jessica wasn't just a steward. She was the favored one of the most powerful—and most ruthless—Heir in the entire castle.
If she said anything negative about them to that Heir, none of them would be able to escape the consequences.
"So you haven't recruited a single physician today?" Jessica asked, clearly displeased with their performance.
In her eyes, this task should've been effortless. Yet these men had accomplished nothing.
"This…" The recruiters exchanged glances, then braced themselves to explain.
But just then, a deep, magnetic voice rang out from the physician recruitment area.
"Excuse me, are you still hiring doctors?"
Bruce, dressed in a sharp suit, stood there smiling as he looked up at the posted notice.
The recruiters sighed in relief, though they also felt a bit of concern for the young man bold enough to step forward.
They had seen, with their own eyes, what became of doctors who treated members of the Heir Family.
Few came out in one piece.
Most left the castle crippled.
Jessica didn't care. She walked straight over, sizing Bruce up from head to toe. No matter how she looked at him, he seemed more like a model than a doctor.
"I'm sure you know where you are. If you're not a real doctor, or if you're just here for fun, you're in for an experience you'll never forget," Jessica said seriously. "I'll give you one chance—if you're here for fun, turn around and leave now, and I'll let it go."
At the same time, behind her back, she signaled the guards.
They understood her meaning clearly—if this man dared to turn around and leave, they were to kill him on the spot.
Still smiling, Bruce looked at Jessica and said, "I'm indeed here to apply as a doctor."
(End of Chapter)
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