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The hospital room was illuminated by the warm yellow glow of a bedside lamp.
It was a single-patient room. The woman in the bed, connected to a ventilator, seemed restless even in her sleep. After being rescued, the long-term suppression she’d endured seemed to have unleashed a cascade of hidden ailments, landing many survivors in the ICU that same day.
She frowned in her sleep, her expression troubled. As the gold-tier doctor approached, he accidentally bumped into a chair. The screech of metal scraping against the floor startled the patient, eliciting a faint groan.
Vivi stared at Stephen in astonishment, noticing how his eyes seemed clouded over, as if something was blocking his vision. He felt his way forward along the wall, groping the air with his hands. Then, like a blind man suddenly regaining sight, his eyes came alive with clarity, surveying his surroundings anew.
Maybe when he can’t be a doctor or a sorcerer anymore, he can perform as a magician, Vivi mused.
That performance just now? Absolutely vivid!
The doctor approached, first examining the patient in the bed, then turning toward Vivi.
“Vivi White?” the gold-tier card finally spoke.
“That’s me.” Vivi reached out, half-jokingly trying to touch his eyes to confirm whether her golden card was malfunctioning. The man dodged her hand, avoiding the gesture.
The doctor scrutinized her intently, glancing briefly at the mayor standing nearby. Then he crouched slightly, meeting Vivi’s gaze as she sat at the bedside. His eyes bored into hers as he asked, “Miss White, are you aware this city is under the gaze of something evil?”
“Excuse me?” Vivi tilted her head. “Do you have any idea how many things in Gotham qualify as ‘evil’? You’re going to have to be more specific.”
She waited a moment, but the enigmatic gold card didn’t elaborate. No new side quest appeared to trigger, so Vivi waved it off casually. “Let’s not worry about that. Evil will be dealt with sooner or later. Doctor, could you take a look at her condition?”
“I already have. Organ failure, extreme physical weakness, fractures, and mild STDs. She needs long-term care and will never be able to do heavy labor again.”
Vivi’s eyes lit up. “You know internal medicine?”
The gold card’s expression soured. “…I read her medical chart at the bedside.”
The unfortunate patient’s name was Mary—a common enough name. She hailed from a rural town near Boston and still remembered her last name. In the days since the rescue, the police had been working tirelessly to contact law enforcement in other cities to verify the survivors’ identities. Some families refused to acknowledge their missing relatives, but others were already flying to Gotham to reconnect with lost sisters, daughters, or brothers.
Vivi led Stephen to the room at the end of the hall. Inside, several men in hospital gowns sat watching cartoons on TV, their expressions vacant and strange enough to make anyone who looked at them feel uneasy.
“Intellectual disabilities?” Stephen asked, choosing not to use the term “handicapped.”
“Yes,” Vivi confirmed. “Before they were abducted, they were disabled individuals living on Gotham’s streets.”
Stephen hesitated. “…No organ trafficking?”
“In Gotham, even organ trafficking requires connections,” Vivi said evenly. “South Hinckley didn’t have those connections. Other bosses had already cornered that market.”
Stephen’s face shifted between stifled anger and disgust.
“Those criminals must face justice!” he declared.
“I agree,” Vivi replied. “But the harm they caused can never truly be undone. Just look at what you’ve seen so far. Even if we erase their memories of the past, Mary’s life is irreparably damaged. So, help me, Doctor.”
“What do you want me to do?” Stephen stared at her, the eerie sensations from earlier now faded after closing off his mystical senses. He could see the clarity in the girl’s green eyes.
“Reverse time?”
“No,” Vivi replied earnestly. “I know you have the ability to separate souls from bodies. I need you to help me remove the victims’ souls temporarily so I can heal their physical injuries. Then we’ll return their souls to their bodies.”
“Why would you want to do that?” he asked, baffled.
“I have a way to heal their bodies,” Vivi explained, tilting her head. “Doctor, why are you asking so many questions? We’re on the same side, aren’t we?”
Stephen couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly. “…Why do you think I’d help you just because you asked?”
The girl grinned impishly, standing in the stark, sterile hospital light. “Because you’re my reward.”
In the end, Stephen Strange didn’t agree outright, nor did he refuse. Instead, he made an excuse about needing food after hours of flight and asked for breakfast. Vivi casually handed him a fistful of coins and muttered under her breath about how strange it was for a sorcerer to need food. After exchanging contact information, Stephen left the hospital.
Sorry, he thought. Sorcerers not only need food, but they also need a paycheck.
After the doctor left, Vivi checked her map to confirm the gold card was still within Gotham before moving on. While waiting, she retrieved the ice bridge from South Hinckley’s mine, turning it back into a card. Within three hours, she would complete the main quest [City Construction System – Above Ground Edition, City Roads (1) – Arkham Island], which allowed for immediate settlement.
The main issue with Arkham Island was that it housed both Arkham Asylum and Gotham Academy. Three bridges connected the area to three directions, but conveniently—or inconveniently—criminals escaping from Arkham always opted to head toward Gotham’s main city to wreak havoc instead of fleeing in the other two directions. This left Westward Bridge constantly under assault from bombs, gunpowder, and heavy weapons, requiring costly repairs every few months—or even every couple of weeks.
—Allocate funds from City Hall.
So, what Vivi needed was a bridge—not just a sturdy one, but ideally, one with additional features.
In the middle of the night, she rode out to Westward Bridge on horseback, carrying her cards.
Fortunately, since the bridge already existed, the silver card [Adaptive Bridge] was flexible enough to overlay its properties onto the existing structure, sparing Vivi the awkward necessity of demolishing one of Gotham’s bridges herself.
The bridge had to be indestructible. She poured an entire box of [Reliable Nails] over the bridge’s surface to ensure it couldn’t be destroyed—unless, of course, someone wielded a system-issued hammer.
This bridge served a diverse array of people: prison guards, psychologists, students, everyday citizens… and occasionally, escapees from Arkham Asylum. For such a crucial point, it needed the ability to discern between good and bad actors. However, Vivi didn’t directly apply [Winds of Impotence], as those winds truly brought impotence.
Instead, she retrieved a balance scale and placed [Winds of Impotence] and [Barber’s Razor] on the left side. The winds could detect malice, and the razor reduced people’s desires by shaving off their hair. Using the scale, she synthesized a new tool: [Winds of Malice Reduction].
Once the card was synthesized, Vivi embedded it into the bridge. A gentle breeze swept across her, ever-present on the bridge’s surface, ensuring vigilance against malicious intent.
Satisfied, she pulled up the system interface and initiated a settlement.
In addition to completing the side quests [Arrest All Town Criminals], [Pursue Forest Escapees], and [Investigate Human Trafficking Network], Vivi’s diamond count surpassed 500. While she could wait to save for another ten-card pull, the immediate tasks required tools she didn’t yet have—tools necessary to handle the victims.
Healing their bodies wasn’t enough to “settle” them, especially since some injuries were irreversible. Many survivors would remain bedridden, needing lifelong care and support.
Vivi sighed. “…I just wish everyone in this city could at least contribute something useful.”
As Stephen entered Gotham, Vivi stood beneath her manor’s Lucky Statue, drawing cards. No gold-tier cards appeared, but with just two pulls, she obtained exactly what she needed, leaving her with 300 diamonds.
One silver card allowed her to telekinetically move objects, but the item had to be returned within 30 minutes.
Another bronze card could duplicate other bronze cards—like [Infinite Balloons]—but each duplication consumed a system-issued gold coin.
Now that Stephen was here, reviewing his skill panel confirmed it: combined with his abilities, Vivi could finally achieve her goals.
But seriously, couldn’t the system just give her a mass healer who could wave their hands and fix everything?
“Does this card pool even have proper healing cards?” Vivi muttered, burying her face in her small avatar’s shoulder. “How is it that I still can’t draw a single reliable healer—a priest, a saintess—anything?”
In the following days, Gotham was relatively calm. Vivi distributed the workload: doctors continued tending to patients, while the South Hinckley Smith family (drug producers), the Dealer’s Club boss (distributors), and the Black Raven Dock gang leader (human traffickers) were bailed out of jail. Before the court trials sent them back to prison, they were merely under surveillance.
Through bureaucratic delays, their release was slow—but inevitable. These criminals couldn’t leave Gotham, with some restricted to their homes or hotels.
The trial, implicating over 5,000 individuals, couldn’t possibly call them all to testify. Instead, key figures like Harold Smith, Robert Smith, Club Owner Corey, and Dock Leader Durr would represent the accused in court.
Their release marked the beginning of a media firestorm.
The media war first targeted the police, accusing them of excessive force. In America, human rights are paramount—detaining, assaulting, or demeaning suspects before a verdict is reached is unacceptable. Online discussions of the case exploded. Since Vivi had chosen not to suppress information, she only instructed the GCPD to shut down a few sensational tabloids spreading fabricated stories.
Initially, public sentiment was skewed toward distrust. A large drug-trafficking ring in Gotham? Totally believable. But an entire town involved? Too far-fetched.
Adding fuel to the fire, South Hinckley’s released women and children tearfully accused the police on camera of brutality and cruelty. Some lamented the confiscation of their “stolen” children or the detention of their “innocent” husbands.
Public opinion quickly shifted.
Not long after, Clark Kent’s report was finally published. Comprehensive and detailed, it featured photographs and interviews with survivors—a direct slap in the face to the doubters. The report sparked an even more intense wave of discussions.
Soon, journalists from other cities caught the scent of a major story. Online, Gotham locals clashed with outsiders in heated arguments, angrily declaring, “The people of South Hinckley aren’t even Gothamites!” Meanwhile, Gotham’s official stance remained silent.
The reason? Vivi was busy building roads.
The remaining two-thirds of the main quest’s roadwork phase involved constructing a bridge to Blackgate Island and completing a highway to South Hinckley. On the night of the South Hinckley incident, everyone realized just how inaccessible the area was. This isolation had contributed to the town’s secrecy and the prolonged suffering of its victims.
Over ten days, Vivi supervised the highway’s construction, occasionally summoning her gold-tier doctor card to moonlight as a telekinetic construction worker to speed up progress. She even paid him overtime!
On May 29th, the South Hinckley highway was completed. By the same day, all case materials were fully prepared. Chief Justice Hester and her team arrived in Gotham, having flown in from Washington, D.C. Hester, a senior female judge, had been persuaded to take the case thanks to Bruce Wayne leveraging considerable connections.
The next flight brought the Smith family’s legal team, flown in from Los Angeles—an elite group of attorneys ready to defend their clients.
After a brief rest, it was May 30th, six hours before the trial was set to begin.
EasyRead[Translator]
Just a translator :)