As Jason feared, Vivi was indeed captured by the Talons when they became separated.

However, it wasn’t entirely as Jason thought—because Vivi had intentionally allowed herself to be captured.

Of course, while she’d planned it, she still needed to respect the intelligence of the Court’s bird-brained members and put on a reasonable performance to mask her true intentions.

Coincidentally, Jason had followed her, completely unaware of her plan. Their relationship was strictly contractual, so his actions were far more believable than Vivi’s half-baked theatrics. She barely made an effort to stick to the persona of “Mr. C’s assistant,” relying instead on the NPC-style background others had filled in for her. If it had been just her, the outcome might have been uncertain. But now—

A young vigilante, separated from her partner, panicked and ran out of bullets. She narrowly avoided fatal injuries during her escape, breaking through walls and shielding herself with rubble—just as one might expect from a determined but overwhelmed hero. Finally, with some strategic cunning, she appeared to stumble into a trap, entering the enemy’s encirclement. A faint, nameless light glimmered as everything froze, mirroring the scene from the mines with the bridge.

Magic? Illusion? That didn’t matter. What mattered was that, after unleashing this large-scale attack, the girl seemed completely drained. She slid down a wall, pulling out her communicator with the last of her strength. But then, a knife flew from an unexpected angle, piercing the device and pinning it to the frozen wall.

In the faint electrical glow of the communicator, the knife pushed her from hope to despair.

Her massive attack hadn’t taken down all her opponents—they had anticipated her move.

But Vivi had anticipated their anticipation.

Feigning “unconsciousness,” her limbs were bound, a hood placed over her head, and she was moved in total darkness.

Vivi knew they wouldn’t kill her. Even if they did, it wouldn’t matter—dump her body anywhere, and she’d revive good as new.

If it weren’t for the “hostage” situation with the mayor… she thought, the Court of Owls would already have been wiped out by now.

But because the mayor was also a member, she had to play this roundabout game.

“I can’t expose their crimes outright—it would implicate A.A. But I can’t do nothing either, as their actions are growing more extreme, shifting from neutral to outright hostile—”

Even while “unconscious,” Vivi effortlessly opened her in-game interface, navigating to the faction module. Sure enough, the Court of Owls was now marked in crimson as hostile.

The last factions to earn this status were [Two-Face], and before him, [Black Mask] and [Penguin].

Vivi could tolerate red-named enemies rampaging across Gotham, but targeting her useful allies was a step too far—even if they went after Batman, that wouldn’t be as offensive. Killing ordinary people instead of dealing with combat units? That was unforgivable. Such cowardly tactics deserved harsh punishment.

“Fine. Pretend to be captured, infiltrate their inner circle, and find a moment when they’re all gathered… then eliminate them in one fell swoop.”

She glanced at a card in her inventory and thought for a moment. She would need to ensure Winston got away first.

After all, that card was an area-of-effect attack.

Feigning unconsciousness wasn’t difficult for someone like Vivi, who could grind games non-stop for three months without sleep. Staying “asleep” this long was boring, though. Since her card inventory was already open—

She decided to draw a few cards. After all, she had nothing better to do.

It was now the morning of the third day of the event.

After a full day and night, Vivi’s diamonds had accumulated again. That was the beauty of “idle mode” events—while she wasn’t actively grinding, the efforts of players across the server still rewarded her.

She now had 2,177 diamonds.

“Single draws at 20% off—only 80 diamonds each!”

“How can I not draw?”

“Not drawing would be inhuman!”

She chose the diamond pool and began drawing cards—

A faint pure white light shimmered. During the single draw, Vivi noticed for the first time the design on the back of the pure white cards—it resembled a gargoyle.

The card flipped, revealing her prize:

A dull-gray dagger with a bloodstained blade.

[Pure white Item: Bloodletting Dagger]
[Creatures stabbed by this dagger will continue to bleed until all their blood is drained.]

Hmm…

This dagger…

Perhaps she could gift it to Professor Daisy Diamond to display in the unfinished South Hinkley University museum. Apparently, Gotham University folks loved quirky items like this! After adopting South Hinkley from scratch, the town she personally planned had gone from an afterthought to Gotham’s one true “child.” Vivi always considered how her tools could benefit South Hinkley’s development.

If not for a museum, it could even be used in the cafeteria for butchering pigs.

Satisfied with allocating the dagger’s purpose, Vivi moved on to the next card.

Silver light gleamed, gentle and bright. The back of the card displayed a relief of a Gothic building, indistinguishable from any structure in Gotham.

The card flipped, revealing an old, red phone booth.

[Silver Blueprint: Whispering Phone Booth]
[Pick up the receiver, and you can hear random confessions of malice, secrets, and suffering from across the city. These are real voices of others’ pain. By engaging with them, you might fundamentally change someone’s heart…]

Hmm…

The phone booth…

Should it be placed at the Eastside Police Station? No, wait. If the system’s description is correct, speaking to someone on the other end of the receiver would allow total hypnotic control over them. If that’s the case… placing it at the GCPD, MCU, or even the Eastside Police Station would be too risky. This tool in the wrong hands would undoubtedly cause chaos.

Speaking of which… can AI answer the phone?

If only Jar had hands.

For now, Vivi decided to keep the blueprint for herself while gathering materials. It wasn’t that she distrusted humans—it was just that NPC intelligence in this world was too high, and characters with low loyalty attributes could betray her. Giving someone the power to control others’ minds could easily lead them down a dangerous path.

If you want to prevent crime, you perfect the law and eliminate opportunities for it—not leave a knife on someone’s bedside and then blame them for failing to resist temptation.

In this situation… Vivi felt she could trust AI more.

She spent another 80 diamonds.

A bronze glow rose. On the back of the card was a crumpled goat mask that looked so lifelike it seemed to stare directly at her.

The card flipped over, revealing… an apple?

[Bronze Item: Poisoned Apple (Bitten)]
[The manifestation of a fairy tale apple. Eating it will cause “death,” but removing the piece of fruit lodged in your throat will revive you without side effects. However, it can only be used once.]
[“Sometimes, human perception alone holds immense power.”]

“A fake death item that can be used seven or eight times?”

But what would she even use this for?

Lacking enthusiasm, Vivi stashed the item in her card pack and drew the next one.

Unfortunately, it was another bronze card—not the coveted gold.

“I want to see a gold card! I never paid attention to what the back looks like before…”

She couldn’t remember if the gold cards had no design on the back or if she had just never noticed.

The fourth card flipped over, revealing nothing.

[Bronze Item: Sure Hit (One-Time Use)]
[Imbues a sharp-edged weapon with guaranteed accuracy. Usable only once.]
[“It needs to have a point.”]

“What’s the use of enhancing combat abilities when it doesn’t help Gotham’s infrastructure?” Vivi muttered, scrolling past with a blank expression to check the next card.

A gray-iron card flipped, once again revealing emptiness.

[Pure White Item: Specter]
[Can be used on a newly deceased individual to transform them into a specter. The specter can be seen and spoken to but cannot physically interact with objects and lacks a corporeal body.]
[Reusable, but only one specter may exist at a time.]

“Now this is interesting,” Vivi thought, her spirits lifting.

“Why isn’t this a bronze card!” she lamented. “If it were bronze, I could duplicate it.”

Even as a pure-white card, Vivi immediately saw its potential. It was essentially an infinite ghost workforce! Ghosts didn’t need to eat or drink and could still interact with humans for communication and tasks, just not physically. But as long as their minds were intact, they could serve as perfect assistants—ideal tools for a mayor!

For starters, this card would eliminate any concern for Penguin’s personal safety.

After spending 400 diamonds on five cards without a single gold, Vivi paused. The event had four and a half days left—what if there were more diamond-draining activities later, like upgrading mazes?

Better to save up for now. Besides, she had reached her destination.

In her feigned “unconscious” state, Vivi had all her electronic devices confiscated. The captors even cut into her hands, feet, and neck, looking for tracking devices, but found nothing. Meanwhile, her injuries healed naturally, her recovery rate matching that of the Talons.

Not that Vivi needed electronics—she could communicate directly through her system interface. She had used it to contact Millie when first entering the game, so Batman and the others knew she had a plan and didn’t need to worry.

“Mr. C,” an owl outside her cell sneered. “He’s just a cowardly fraud—no one’s ever seen his true face.”

“Exactly,” another owl chuckled. “This is Gotham City, home to all kinds of geniuses and lunatics. Compared to them, he’s nothing special—just a coward hiding behind a little girl.”

Under their warped perception, the owls—like many others—believed everything was just sleight of hand or minor magic (after all, what hasn’t Gotham seen?). A name alone wouldn’t scare anyone.

Brainwashing others? Please, hadn’t psychological pirates already done that?

Resurrection, healing, controlling others as tools… The Court of Owls had mastered these tricks long ago. At best, Mr. C’s methods were stylistically different. Profilers working for the Court even noted that this enigmatic figure seemed to have a penchant for “nurturing,” treating his girl like a character in a raising sim.

But there was no such thing as true “immortality” in this world. The Court knew this well, as it was their ultimate pursuit—a dream they knew to be impossible. Even the Talons would eventually die. Everything decays with time.

The owls exchanged glances before the leader made the decision:

“Throw her into the maze.”

The Court of Owls had a white labyrinth beneath Gotham, sprawling and expansive. It wasn’t merely a physical maze; it incorporated psychological principles to torment those they captured but couldn’t immediately destroy. While the labyrinth wasn’t truly endless, its design and effects pushed nearly everyone to a mental breaking point.

Under the watchful eyes of the Owls, the girl slowly regained consciousness. Her face was pale, and she appeared weak. She lifted her head, looking around briefly, before leaning against the wall and beginning to walk forward.

The labyrinth’s walls stretched seven to eight meters high, smooth and cold, reflecting a hard, white light. She rounded the first corner, then a second—when her steps abruptly halted, her eyes widening in surprise.

The Owls monitoring her also froze. A moment later, an enraged voice rang out: “Why has the labyrinth become like this?”

What Vivi saw wasn’t the carefully prepared maze they had intended. Instead, several walls had been cleanly sliced through, leaving a straight path through what should have been a convoluted series of twists and turns. Areas that once required intricate navigation were now accessible by simply walking straight ahead.

It was like a magic trick ruined by revealing its structure—once broken, the illusion of complexity vanished.

Vivi’s eyes were wide with blatant confusion.

“That’s it?”

The Owls: “…”

The ones tasked with maintaining the labyrinth were part of the Rothschild-aligned faction. Damn it! They hadn’t reported this?