Riti was uneasy when she was handed over to Dick, primarily due to his gender. However, she had developed trust in Officer Bella and reluctantly agreed.

“I’ll ask if they’re willing,” she said, taking a deep breath, “but it’s unlikely.”

Bella had instructed Dick to persuade the young nightingales to go to the currently under-construction cathedral, but Riti felt her sisters would prefer to stay at their dilapidated, dirty home, which wasn’t truly theirs.

Dick, experienced in such matters, suggested: “We can go check it out first. If they really offer accommodation and food, I think they’ll change their minds.”

So, Dick drove with Riti sitting in the back seat.

As they drove, Dick, the former Robin, observed the city he grew up in—from the boy in the circus to the Robin boy leaping across Gotham’s skies. He had fought, been injured, and knocked down in the East District, only to rise again and fly over it. He had seen the struggling and the easily stolen lives in this area, turning victims into perpetrators. Life here was the cheapest commodity.

Despite the Wayne family’s efforts to save this area, their attempts proved futile. The police were corrupt, charity funds were embezzled, newly built structures were destroyed in battles, the numb populace ignored changes, and for every gang member jailed, another replaced them. Their lives were too cheap, even in their own eyes.

Batman could stop crimes time and again, being a powerful guardian in the darkness, but they couldn’t fundamentally change everything.

Due to the muddy roads, the car was extremely slow. Dick saw people who were clearly gang members using guns to collect weapons. They had already filled two boxes with confiscated weapons, and just carelessly placed them in wooden boxes nearby. Dick frowned, stopped the car, and turned to Riti, saying, “Don’t get out of the car.”

Ritty uttered an “Ah” and said, “They are from the Iceberg Construction Company. I know them.”

Dick: “…Hmm?”

He looked at these people again, noticing several familiar faces.

At this moment, the group noticed Dick’s car, surrounded it, and knocked on the window: “Hey, are you carrying weapons?”

Dick’s heart sank, but he had a regular girl in the back, and with so many people here, he rolled down the window and asked, “What’s the matter?”

The leader raised his chin, glancing at him: “Got a gun, huh? Do you have a gun permit?”

Dick: “…”

The situation seemed to be developing differently from what he had anticipated.

He said gravely, “Yes.”

The man’s expression faltered. Dick thought for a moment and pulled out his credentials: “I’m a police officer.”

“Oh,” the man waved his hand to disperse the crowd and joked, “So we’re on the same side, officer. See that? You police are cracking down on weapons issues now, right? But there are too many illegal firearms circulating in this area, so our company was hired to confiscate weapons from unlicensed holders and then hand them over to the city hall—”

Just then, a burly man tried to resist, and a small-scale brawl quickly ensued. The man coughed twice and waved his hand: “But a little resistance is normal, haha.”

Dick took a deep breath and said, “I’m on official business, I have to go.”

Such a minor fight didn’t need his intervention. As the car slowly moved away, Dick noticed in the rearview mirror the man jokingly saluting.

He did the wrong thing, he thought.

Carrying guns is a right for ordinary citizens without serious crimes in America—yet in the East District, those who can produce a permit are rare. Would gangsters visit the police station five or six times just for a useless document?

Driving through the slightly chaotic streets, Dick found that the closer he got to the cathedral, the calmer the atmosphere became. People were orderly, directing traffic in the streets, and the credentials he had been checked five or six times were now inspected by people who didn’t look like gangsters.

“Sorry, can I ask what happened?” Dick asked. “The East District feels very different.”

The man in front of him had a calm demeanor and had clearly been in the military. He glanced at Dick: “We’ve been working from last night till now. The mayor’s order is to complete the East District’s population census as quickly as possible. If you’re free, you can volunteer.”

He chuckled: “Meals included.”

Less than eighteen hours had passed since last night’s turmoil. Dick shook his head, unable to help but laugh: “…This new mayor really is decisive.”

If it weren’t for the case he was handling, he wouldn’t mind volunteering to see what the mayor would turn the East District into.

The cathedral in the East District used to be a typical Gothic building in Gotham, with metal pigeons perched on its spires. But after the church fell into disrepair, the pigeons were removed, the stained glass windows were smashed and stolen, graffiti covered the walls, and there were sticky bloodstains. Only the gargoyles at the four corners of the church remained unchanged, silently watching over the city.

But now, the place was bustling with activity. The most numerous people Dick saw when he got out of the car were white-coated medical personnel.

He parked the car opposite the church, noticing that the entire cathedral had undergone a major transformation—

The East District had no major hospital. Although small clinics could sew up intestines, one had to be careful not to lose a kidney. So, the people of the East District survived by buying medicine and stitching themselves up.

But now, makeshift field beds were set up from inside the church to the outside. Under the towering statue of the Virgin Mary, which thieves couldn’t steal, a pregnant woman was breastfeeding her newborn. People were groaning, children crying, the smell wasn’t pleasant, and medical staff were moving through the crowd. Oddly enough, cats were there comforting the children—

Wearing white collars with a red cross, a black cat lay on the shoulder of the Virgin Mary statue, while other cats sat beside the beds or placed a paw on a child’s forehead… That was comforting the children, right?

Riti was clearly also stunned. She stood hesitatingly in place, looking uneasy. Dick grabbed someone and asked, “Excuse me, where is Miss Millie White?”

The person he randomly stopped was holding a large bundle of dark green canvas, her hair disheveled and sweat covering her forehead—Dick could tell that it was going to be used to make simple curtains to separate the beds.

The person hesitated for a moment and then said, “I am Millie White… Who are you?”

Dick: “?”

He hesitated for a moment: “Are you the secretary of the Mayor, Miss White?”

“It’s me,” Millie smiled helplessly, “Sir, who sent you to find me? As you can see, we are quite busy right now.”

It really was her… Dick explained Riti’s situation to her and took the canvas from her. He easily lifted the heavy bundle and, despite Millie’s protests, helped her hang the canvas curtains. In the process, Millie also learned about Riti’s situation.

“So that’s the case,” Millie looked into Riti’s eyes, causing the girl to become extremely uneasy. Taking advantage of Riti’s distraction, she reached out and gave her a full embrace, saying, “It’s okay, you can stay here with us from now on. The shelter takes in children under the age of 15, and women of other age groups will be given priority for employment. You can work here, it’s okay.”

Riti stood in her embrace, neither daring to move nor to speak. She smelled a pleasant, light floral fragrance and felt herself softening in the scent of flowers.

Millie explained to both Riti and Dick, “The mayor asked me to transform this place into a shelter. Originally, it was only for children, but during the population registration in the East District, we found the first pregnant woman, then people gravely ill at home waiting for death, and then those injured and infected in gang fights… Because we have seen them, we cannot pretend not to see.”

Dick looked at her and sincerely said, “You are a good person.”

Millie helplessly said, “I am also from the East District. I was born in Crime Alley.”

She used to be really ashamed to mention where she was born, but today, she repeatedly held the wrists of those uneasy people, reassuring them, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid, I also come from Crime Alley.”

Currently, the construction team is renovating the second floor of the church to turn it into living quarters for the children, while the first floor is temporarily being used as a convalescence area for the sick. Millie remembered the mayor’s words—aside from the children, they will not provide help for free. The healed people must work to pay off their debt.

The sewer project was short of manpower.

But perhaps by the time they were cured, the sewer work would be completed. Millie thought helplessly, the lady mayor is really a good person.

Vivi, on the other hand, had no idea that she had been silently issued a “good person card” by her little secretary.

She was in a meeting at the time.

There were 37 people in attendance, which might not be all the city hall employees with the [Good] tag, surely there were some that Vivi hadn’t discovered yet. This was just the group she had identified.

Are there no good people in Gotham? Of course, that’s impossible. However, good people who manage to survive in Gotham generally know how to protect themselves. In situations where their power is limited, they can only show limited kindness, or they’ll sooner or later end up in an accident.

Besides, Vivi knew that some people had the [Justice] attribute, like Police Chief Gordon, but the current East District actually didn’t need just people of justice—

People who are too righteous cannot tolerate minor evils. Not to mention, people like Riti and the other Nightingales, who illegally sell Y, should theoretically all be in jail.

Therefore, Vivi needed kind people to plan and strategize for her. These people were not only kind but also socially vulnerable, able to consider from the perspective of the vulnerable.

“Although Shelk is smart and useful, he is not a good person. He can’t be solely responsible for the current East District,” Vivi hadn’t forgotten that Shelk once ambitiously attempted to eliminate her. “I need a new department for power-sharing. Millie is not enough; she can’t play these games.”

Vivi knocked on the table, and the arguing people instinctively stopped, listening to her say, “I called you from other departments to cooperate with the new policy being implemented in the East District. You are responsible for making suggestions, and whoever makes a suggestion must personally follow up on its implementation. Your authority is flexible… Content review is handed over to my personal secretary, Jar.”

She clapped her hands: “This new department will be called—”

“New Council.”

【Main Quest Activated: City Political System · New Council】

【Congratulations to the player for self-activating this main quest. You have established a new department, ‘New Council.’ This department is currently short-staffed, with homogeneous characteristics. You are like a helmsman, adjusting the direction of this small boat, hoping its existence will make Gotham better.】

【Will the New Council achieve your goal? Change the East District, improve Gotham’s political situation? Every month, the system will help players score the contributions made by this department—】

【This task is a monthly task, settled once at the end of each month.】

【Task Reward: 0~500 diamonds/month, 0~1.5 million gold coins/month】

Vivi hadn’t expected to activate a main line here; for her, it felt like money was falling from the sky. She hadn’t thought that the system would also pay her when she established the department.

Now, it was like having dual insurance with her AI and the system, ensuring that “this ship” was indeed sailing on the right course.

After Martin Joseph was fired, he seamlessly transitioned to the temporary cells of the MCU—he was arrested like a change in the wind, and within just two hours, it had produced a bandwagon effect. In about two days, he could be transferred from the MCU to Blackgate Prison without a trial, as a “criminal.” The criminals he once looked after would surely take good care of this former prison warden.

And Vivi, now she had to take a look at her · prison.

“First day on the job,” she said, “so nervous.”