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The cabin exploration concluded, with potential rewards including gold coins, diamonds, bronze cards, pure white cards, or the single, rare gold card.
A massive bag floated before the goat, inviting them to reach in and draw their prizes.
Jason drew out a fist-sized flowerpot, but the pot was empty. The goat explained that a seed had already been planted inside; once it blossomed, the flower would speak aloud the thoughts of those nearby.
Vivi glanced at the flowerpot, and a message floated above it, identifying it as a pure white card.
Natasha pulled out a composite bow the length of her arm. The arrows fired from this bow wouldn’t injure anyone but would make them glow. Natasha eyed it thoughtfully, suspecting it was similar to the items she’d once obtained from Mr. C.
A girl on Natasha’s team drew a pair of sneakers. Wearing them would make the user feel more confident.
Beyond these, everyone received golden honey candies. The eight participants also got diamond milk candies, but no one drew anything particularly extraordinary.
The group exchanged glances and then divided the candies equally among the 13 participants, ensuring everyone received two types of candy.
Wynna looked much happier now. Bruce overheard her whisper, “Thank you. Now I have two new candy wrappers to add to my collection.”
For her, the wrappers were clearly the main attraction.
The doors swung open, signaling it was time to leave.
Vivi unwrapped a milk candy and popped it into her mouth. The sweet milky flavor spread across her palate as she heard a notification: [Diamond +1].
“Oh,” she remarked. “So that’s how I earn diamonds.”
With 13 participants clearing the stage, Vivi also received 39,000 tokens—3,000 per person. She opened her interface to find she could now afford most of the building blocks in the shop.
The event had been running for 13 hours. Vivi’s earnings totaled 257,800 sparklers (tokens), primarily from the circus, tin soldiers, and maze activities. The magician’s gifts were less frequent. She had also gained 1,920 diamonds, enough for 24 discounted card draws.
The participants were teleported out after clearing the maze, though not all at once. The organizers avoided overcrowding by sending them to random exits from the numerous Goat Cabin doors scattered underground.
However, while everyone else disappeared, Vivi remained behind.
She stared at the grinning ram in front of her, placed her hand on its head, and hissed softly:
[Do you want to spend 1,000 diamonds and 3,000,000 gold coins to upgrade the Goat Cabin to Lv2?]
[Lv2: Increases the number of entrances from 3 to 6 and allows up to 3 simultaneous mazes.]
“I only have 1,600 diamonds left. Are you trying to rob me?” she grumbled.
Despite her complaints, she gritted her teeth and chose to upgrade.
The sound of coins and diamonds flowing away filled the air like a waterfall. Though Vivi knew this was a long-term investment, she couldn’t help but feel the sting of loss.
“Hopefully, the future profits will outweigh what I just spent,” she muttered. “Time to post some guides online.”
In the early stages, she’d kept the maze mysterious, but as the event progressed, sharing strategies could maximize her earnings in tokens and diamonds.
Finally, she was teleported out. With about ten minutes left in her child-like state, Vivi cheerfully transported to South Hinckley to start renovations.
Meanwhile, the boy wearing an orange cat T-shirt slipped on a small fisherman’s hat and climbed into the back seat of a luxury car. His earlier joy and innocence faded, replaced by a tense, serious expression.
“Didn’t enjoy the game, sir?” Alfred glanced back from the driver’s seat. “I must say, seeing you like this feels rather nostalgic. I haven’t seen you this way in decades—almost mistook you for a little master of your own.”
“Alfred,” Bruce said, loosening up slightly before his face clouded with unease, “I encountered someone in the maze. I suspect… it might have been Jason.”
This wasn’t baseless speculation. The boy’s voice and features bore a striking resemblance to his deceased ward, but the thought seemed absurd—Jason Todd had died at the Joker’s hands, and Bruce had buried him himself.
Pulling out his laptop, Bruce accessed the surveillance footage near the three maze entrances. Yet the masked boy was skilled, vanishing from the cameras as soon as he emerged.
“Jason, sir? Are you sure?” Alfred asked, pulling the car to the side of the road. He chuckled lightly, “Shall I prepare digging tools?”
Bruce’s voice, still boyish from his reduced state, came from the back seat: “Alfred, take me to the cemetery.”
Sighing, Alfred replied, “Shall I operate the excavator too? With your current height, I’m not sure you’ll reach the pedals.”
Thankfully, by the time they arrived at the cemetery, Bruce had returned to his original form. He changed clothes and wiped off his disguise, once again resembling Gotham’s beloved billionaire.
Coincidentally, the cemetery was deserted during the festival. But Bruce spotted the Redbird, Robin’s signature vehicle, parked nearby.
Stepping out, he saw Tim emerge from the graveyard in broad daylight, still in his Robin uniform, looking pale and distracted.
Bruce scanned the area and asked, “Robin? What are you doing here?”
Tim was startled, only now noticing Bruce and Alfred. “Uh… investigating,” he mumbled. “I wanted to verify something.”
Half an hour later, they had unearthed Jason’s coffin.
Bruce knelt down beside the coffin, his expression unreadable. Tim, now in a more inconspicuous outfit, stood silently as Bruce lifted the lid.
The coffin was empty.
Meanwhile, Vivi teleported back to South Hinckley as Bruce’s luxury car rolled down the street.
With the final family having moved out, the entire town was now a barren expanse. Only the ground and some foundations of the original buildings remained. Once the police station and town hall were also dismantled, the bewildered officers had no choice but to leave. After all, maintaining law and order in a town that was effectively deserted was pointless.
Standing on the site of the former small chapel, Vivi rubbed her hands together and opened the Event Shop:
The shop had many additional structures, some essential for town operations, while others—like an amusement park—were less urgent. After evaluating South Hinckley’s future development, Vivi decided the amusement park could wait.
Currently, she had 250,000 Sparklers, with more accumulating steadily. Still, Vivi muttered to herself, “Upgrading these buildings probably costs Sparklers too, doesn’t it?”
Games were always like this—grinding for resources never ended, and she felt her motivation wavering slightly. But compared to Gotham’s chaotic cityscape, building a town from scratch was something Vivi excelled at. With no rain today, she summoned her Gargoyle companion to lift her into the air and survey South Hinckley.
She first purchased the Public Restrooms, Roads, and Residential Area, leaving her with 198,000 Sparklers.
Roads and restrooms were permanent fixtures, usable indefinitely. Vivi scanned the town’s layout. Numerous paths led from the former town center to the forest and coastal mining caves. Now, with the mines collapsed and nearby roads filled with potholes, she quickly leveled the main road and roughly divided the area into eight zones.
Though it seemed like only eight zones, they were widely spaced across the town’s island-like expanse. In fact, there was still enough room behind the police station for a military camp.
After finalizing the road layout, Vivi spent 50,000 Sparklers on Public Buses. This one-time purchase included seven buses, license plates, bus stops, and a parking lot adjacent to the town hall.
Now, the town had:
Next, she placed the Residential Area in its designated spot. Two neat rows of temporary housing appeared on the empty lot—compact accommodations seemingly designed for single occupants.
Vivi stared at them, unimpressed.
She patted the Gargoyle’s head and descended to inspect the housing. Each unit came with a single bedroom, a living area, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The interiors were modestly furnished with decent lighting. Taps were installed, but water didn’t run, and the lights didn’t work either. Then she remembered—she hadn’t set up utilities yet.
All of Gotham’s electricity was sourced from across the river in Gotham County. South Hinckley lacked its own power plant.
Selecting the Residential Area on her map, she found an Upgrade option:
[Upgrade Residential Area for 40,000 Sparklers?]
She hesitated, counting her remaining 150,000 Sparklers.
“…Cutting it close,” she muttered, skipping the upgrade for now.
She then placed a Public Restroom by the roadside. For now, it stood pristine and clean in the otherwise empty landscape.
Not far away, another one appeared—free to construct, no upgrades needed, and permanently available after purchase.
Vivi had a bold idea.
After a while, using the endlessly duplicatable public restrooms, she constructed a rough outline of a church in the area designated for the residential zone. Elsewhere, she also used the public restrooms to sketch out her envisioned layout for the upgraded residential district.
This allowed her to meticulously plan the routes within the residential area and even the pathways inside the school.
“Many of the buildings are out of my budget for now, and sketching on paper doesn’t give a true sense of scale,” she mused. With public restrooms, she could construct placeholders to reserve the space and later swap them for the actual buildings. “This is perfect!”
EasyRead[Translator]
Just a translator :)