Vivi hurried back in anticipation, and reinforcing the walls with steel bars was simpler than bricklaying — although the latter still looked like a house, the former more resembled a prison under construction. When she returned, they had just finished her request.

Millie took the initiative to send off the construction team. Vivi stood in front of the former Chief of Staff: “How do I activate the next task? Who hired the assassin? Is a dialogue required?”

“I won’t tell you,” Shelk scoffed, somewhat confused by her words, “You will soon face true despair!”

“You think being the mayor puts you above all? Naive. Gotham is far from what you imagine it to be. Outsiders can’t handle Gotham!”

“I suggest you be sensible. Release me now, resign on your own accord, perhaps —”

Are there so many NPC dialogues in this task?

Can’t I just skip them?

After he said, “I won’t tell you,” Vivi immediately looked at the panel, realized the task was not advancing, and automatically ignored the meaningless dialogue that followed.

She decided to try the interrupt skill.

“Fine, you’re fired,” she said.

Firing him would save 3000 gold — and the mayor’s own salary is only 5000 a month.

Upon returning, Millie softly asked, “Do you need a body search, ma’am?”

Vivi: An unforeseen path?

Is this game so free?

She nodded in agreement, and the secretary swiftly approached. During the body search, the red-named man kept cursing, but Vivi didn’t care at all.

She obtained an M1911 (a type of military automatic handgun), the man’s identity card (name blank), a cellphone, a wallet with a small amount of US dollars, and a strange mask hidden in his chest (kind of ugly).

【Mission Updated】

【It appears the assassin sent by Black Mask shattered your glass, and your employee has been bribed by him, hiding a huge conspiracy. But first, make Black Mask compensate for your glass】

【Mission: Obtain compensation for the glass from the gang leader Black Mask (The compensation will be converted into gold coins and will enter your personal property account)】

【All funds reasonably obtained during the mission can be converted into gold coins, but other forms of funds remain as local cash】

【You have unlocked a new character card [Black Mask]】

The secretary, as if scripted, exclaimed, “It’s Black Mask, he’s Black Mask’s man!”

Vivi knew that the secretary would next provide her with mission clues and act as an encyclopedia, explaining who “Black Mask” was.

But before that… Does the loot from the enemy’s body count as reasonably obtained?

Vivi tried to put Shelk’s wallet into the system bag, and this time, the system automatically converted the US dollars into gold coins.

It seems that looting Shelk could also be considered as “funds” obtained during the mission?

【You have acquired personal funds: 400 gold coins (funds confiscated from mission-related personnel will automatically become your personal funds)】

【Gold Coin Store Opened】

【Current public fund status is [debt (you need to repay the bank loan by the end of the month)], cannot be used in the Gold Coin Store, please pay off the debt as soon as possible】

【Currently, only personal funds can be used to purchase items in the Gold Coin Store】

A new module was activated. Vivi put this aside, deciding to continue the task.

As expected, she learned about [Black Mask] from the secretary, and as she spoke, the information on the character card was automatically completed.

【Note: The character card will only complete “true” information】

That is… it will automatically distinguish between truth and exaggerated rumors?

But, Vivi glanced at the tags “killed parents,” “rampant gang leader,” “interrogation/torture pervert,” etc., and asked, “Why isn’t Black Mask dead?”

Secretary Millie: “Gotham has no death penalty, ma’am.”

Vivi: “……”

She frowned: “But he doesn’t seem to be in prison either?”

It even seemed he lived better than her, the mayor, having seduced the former Chief of Staff, and hired an assassin to kill her, causing her to waste money on window repairs.

Great, Gotham once again showed her how terrible a city with [Security -10] could be.

— Although players have maps and don’t need windows, voluntarily giving up and being forced to lose are different things.

Vivi pointed at the man in front of her: “Let the police station take him away.”

Aren’t police stations in the game for detaining criminals? She’d lock up this red name first; he might be useful later.

Shelk’s eyes widened in shock.

“No, you can’t…”

Since his following words did not trigger any task, Vivi ignored him, instructing her secretary to call the GCPD (Gotham Police Department) to report “thief Shelk” for stealing files, as declared by the mayor.

“No,” Shelk watched in disbelief as Millie actually started to make the call, and then he quickly realized something, “Wait, please wait, ma’am, I am willing to talk —”

He understood.

If Vivi had simply tortured or detained him, he wouldn’t have been so panicked, rather, it would have suited his purpose. But being taken away publicly by the police… Oh God!

For Black Mask, he wasn’t irreplaceable, and if he were really taken away by GCPD, what would his reputation turn into in the media? They might throw any dirt on him — imagine, the Chief of Staff of the previous mayor being arrested by the new mayor on charges of “stealing confidential documents”! He would be ruined, and Black Mask wouldn’t save him!

Because such a person would have no value to Black Mask!

“I can provide other information, about Black Mask… Yes, I know a lot about him — it must be useful to you!”

Oh?

Noticing the mayor’s interest in his words, Shelk immediately said, “I have evidence that Black Mask assassinated the previous mayor. You can send him to prison!”

That was a lie!

Shelk could tell from the mayor’s expression that she seemed unfamiliar with Gotham — information about Black Mask could easily be found online, but she seemed to be hearing about him for the first time.

Shelk was merely trying to buy time… He couldn’t be kicked out of City Hall as a criminal; then he’d be of no use to Black Mask!

Millie, standing aside, clenched her phone in anger.

Of course, she could understand Shelk’s implication. She wanted to immediately inform the mayor, but hesitated… In her eyes, the mayor must have been fully prepared before coming to Gotham, even investigating the information of a minor employee in City Hall. Could she not know about Black Mask, or see through Shelk’s lie?

The mayor asking Millie about Black Mask was probably just a test of her loyalty.

She shouldn’t speak out of turn; just trusting the mayor was enough.

Did Vivi see through Shelk’s deceit?

Because she didn’t care about what he said. Regardless of his words, no new tasks were activated, but —

After Shelk spoke of betraying Black Mask, the system changed his red opposing faction status to a green neutral faction. Although he wasn’t one of Vivi’s “own people” like Millie by her side, he was still one of the City Hall employees (she hadn’t removed him from the system list yet), and Vivi could view his personal attributes.

Upon checking, she activated a mission.

【Side Mission: Secretary’s Work】

【Being a competent mayor is a troublesome affair; you always have various generic documents to handle… Do you really want these annoying and boring things to occupy your personal time?】

【[Not So Confidential Documents] added to your inventory】

Although this man was tagged with [Deceit][Ambition][Greed] and other obviously problematic attributes, he had one that others didn’t: [Document Processing Expertise]. Compared to Millie, a temporary and average NPC, the man, as a key NPC involved in the mission, was indeed a qualified Chief of Staff before his betrayal.

As for the secretary beside her —

The young secretary had a simple makeup, clearly of a younger age. Her face was round, appearing not too bright.

Her personal attributes were not very impressive.

The rain gradually stopped, and the sky dimmed. The panel indicated it was time for NPCs to leave work. Although she found the idea of NPCs needing to leave work and rest ridiculous, considering the game’s fame for “realism” and “freedom,” it was tolerable.

After all, Vivi wasn’t a devil.

She waved her hand to dismiss the secretary from work, deciding to handle the former Chief of Staff herself.

First, she operated the panel, changing Shelk’s position from [Chief of Staff] to [Secretary], making him equal to Millie — this way she could save 2000 gold coins in salary each month. Then, she tried dragging the [Not So Confidential Documents] icon from the opened package interface onto Shelk’s head.

【Shelk rejected your work arrangement because you’re not his real boss yet.】

【Perhaps you should start somewhere else, like Shelk’s current boss… Black Mask?】

The system hint was clear. If she completed the series of side missions related to Black Mask, she would get a tool person specifically for handling documents.

Before that, she couldn’t let this guy go. What if he ran to Black Mask? His escape wouldn’t matter, but he seemed not too bright and could easily be killed.

Vivi thought for a moment, then dragged Shelk, who was gagged again, under the desk. Opening the cabinet door below, she stuffed him in without a word.

Thankful for the spacious area under the desk.

Shelk: ?!?

This was not what he had expected!

Wasn’t this woman supposed to interrogate him for evidence?

But Vivi, who left him behind, went to the next room to check the new 【Gold Coin Store】 module.

Five minutes later —

【Your Unknown Attribute: 10】

【The current ‘Prestige’ module is not activated, unable to view】

【Please increase Gotham citizens’ awareness of you as soon as possible. The prestige module will activate when over 50% of the population knows you are the mayor】

Eh?

It was 1¹ before, why did it suddenly increase by 10?

Well, she’ll know once the prestige module is actually activated.

Main office hall.

Shelk moved his hands, trying to escape, but didn’t know what he hit… The chillingly eerie touch made his body stiffen.

It was late, and a “click” sounded — it seemed the mayor turned on the light in the adjacent lounge. The cabinet always had gaps,

and the light spilling through illuminated Shelk’s narrowed eyes.

…?!

He saw a pair of lifeless green eyes.

A strange girl, stiff-limbed, with her brain blown open but no blood spilled, obviously dead.

But her eyes were open, as if discarded like trash in the space under the desk — and now, the bound Shelk was stuffed in here too.

He froze for a moment, then struggled even harder.

— Mayor Anna Alek was a madwoman! She was insane!

That was definitely a corpse, and she had just hidden it under the desk!

Shelk was almost in despair: his current situation was like that of the corpse, and it wasn’t hard to imagine his likely fate following in the steps of this innocent girl.

Would Anna let him go? Obviously not!

He had to escape and expose everything!