If Vivi truly were Anna Alek, she would undoubtedly be enraged to learn her own relative plotted to steal her youthful body. But she wasn’t Anna—this was all just part of the game’s narrative backdrop.

Instead of indignation, Vivi saw endless opportunities to exploit the situation.

Lady Rothschild’s true intentions had to remain hidden. Aside from her collaborators in the League of Assassins, she likely hadn’t confided in anyone. Since she intended to replace Anna as mayor, she would go to great lengths to protect Anna’s reputation and health. She might even justify transferring power and assets to her “heir” under the guise of inheritance planning.

The only miscalculation on her part? Her “heir” was utterly shameless.

Vivi decided to play along with Lady Rothschild. If the “League of Assassins” posed no immediate threat, she might humor the charade until the so-called “soul transfer” process. At the critical moment, when Lady Rothschild believed she was in full control, Vivi could eliminate her instead—taking over her resources and, quite conveniently, turning an inheritance into a legacy.

Lady Rothschild wasted no time. The city hall’s debts were cleared within hours. Back in the hidden study, Vivi tugged at Red Hood’s sleeve.

“Let’s make a deal, shall we?”

Though the mayor and her aunt had to maintain a façade, Vivi saw an opportunity to act while the servants remained oblivious to the secret passage. She reset the room to its original state but wasn’t willing to return the documents she had pilfered. Unfortunately, she couldn’t risk having Lady Rothschild suspect it was “the mayor’s people” who tampered with the study. Surveying her surroundings, Vivi’s gaze landed on the perfect scapegoat.

Red Hood.

The man had been standing guard as Vivi finished perusing and promptly destroying several critical files. He seemed distracted, lost in his own thoughts.

Five minutes later, as Tim finally managed to slip out from the servants’ quarters, a sudden explosion rocked the mansion, followed by the staccato crackle of gunfire. Surveillance cameras captured the unmistakable figure of Red Hood—a masked man with unmatched agility—leaping from the third floor. Behind him, smoke poured from the study, obliterating whatever secrets it had held.

Tim froze mid-step before darting back to the servants’ quarters.

“…No way they botched a silent escape that badly.”

Unless, of course, a fight had broken out in the study. But the evidence didn’t seem to suggest that.

The chaos only reinforced Tim’s growing suspicion: in addition to the deaths of the Rothschild family men, Vivi was also covering up another, far more dangerous secret. And whatever it was, it tied back to Lady Rothschild—and, inevitably, to the mayor.

Lady Rothschild didn’t react immediately upon hearing the explosion. Maintaining composure in front of her niece, she feigned ignorance, though her suspicions burned. Once Anna had departed, escorted out with all the decorum and civility expected of her station, Lady Rothschild rushed to inspect her “losses.”

The hidden study was obliterated. Its walls had crumbled, reduced to rubble, leaving nothing but a smoking ruin. Not a scrap of paper remained.

Red Hood.

That lowly upstart. A gang leader, a thug clawing his way out of the filth.

Lady Rothschild surveyed the destruction, her face frozen in a furious, mirthless smile.

Fine. She’d remember him.

---

Red Hood, meanwhile, couldn’t care less about being “remembered.”

He had, after all, some ties to the League of Assassins. After his death and subsequent resurrection, they had taken him in. Despite knowing they had ulterior motives, Jason had found temporary refuge there—a place to “return to,” however fleeting.

It was Talia, the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul and a master assassin, who had ultimately allowed him to stay.

What Jason hadn’t anticipated was discovering that Talia and Bruce—yes, that Bruce Wayne—had a son together. A biological son.

That revelation had shattered him.

So, when he stumbled across the files in Lady Rothschild’s study, his anger and bitterness boiled over. He hadn’t even considered Vivi’s proposition in detail, nor bothered with their usual back-and-forth testing of each other. He simply agreed.

Perhaps he needed to vent his frustrations—even if it wasn’t Tim Drake, the current Robin, who truly deserved the fallout.

Because Tim, at least for now, remained blissfully unaware.

This gave Jason a twisted sense of satisfaction. “See? You’re just like me,” he thought bitterly. “You’re going to be cast aside too.”

Even in a normal family, the revelation of a biological son would unsettle an adopted child. But in their highly unconventional family, discovering that their vigilante father had sired a child with a master assassin? It hit like a freight train.

Jason had even considered anonymously leaking the news to Nightwing but ultimately decided against it. Dick wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a dramatic reaction. He’d probably embrace the new sibling with open arms—and Jason wasn’t about to risk exposing himself for nothing.

Riding his motorcycle into an abandoned subway station, Jason shook off his pursuers. Slowing his bike, he spoke into the empty air, “A fair trade. When I need help, I’ll come find you, Night Watch.”

The faintest jolt beneath his tires signaled her departure. He clicked his tongue in irritation, already calculating how to counter someone with her uncanny stealth abilities if she ever became an enemy.

---

The small explosion in the countryside manor didn’t even register with the police. After all, Lady Rothschild would never call them. Instead, she turned her attention to the Court of Owls, considering awakening their deadly Talons to hunt Red Hood.

But the fact that someone had infiltrated her home left her deeply unsettled.

To ensure the “soul transfer” process worked, she needed to stay alive—not die a pathetic death at the hands of some petty gang leader.

Lady Rothschild, alarmed by the brewing chaos, booked a direct flight to London that very day. Her plan was simple: lay low, hire reliable protection, and consolidate her resources.

May 31st: A Town’s Reckoning

As May drew to a close, the aftermath of the South Hinckley case was only beginning to unfold. The mysterious forces at work continued repairing the victims’ broken bodies—not just in Washington, but also among the locals of South Hinckley, whose health was deteriorating rapidly.

Before the trial had even concluded, many minor offenders had sold their land and fled the town, moving to places so remote that no one would ever connect them to South Hinckley. After the verdict, the marriage registrar’s office saw a flood of divorce filings. Families sought to sever ties with their accused relatives, sometimes bailing them out and relocating to distant, unassuming villages.

The long-term legacy of South Hinckley was clear: a town forever associated with infamy. Its name would evoke scorn, and its people would carry a stigma wherever they went.

And yet, the magic at play was impartial. It offered no mercy, following its own arcane rules.

The properties and lands sold at rock-bottom prices inevitably fell into the hands of Gotham City Hall. Without significant intervention and redevelopment, South Hinckley was destined to become a ghost town.

11:00 PM:

Under the cover of darkness, Vivi arrived in South Hinckley astride her loyal steed. She wasn’t here for sightseeing—she was here to “die.”

Her skill, Gate of the Dead, reset at the beginning of each month, allowing her to establish three teleportation points. Currently, they were set at the church across from the East District, the mayor’s office at City Hall, and the warden’s office in Blackgate Prison. However, with C’s system interface allowing her to cleverly “stack” identities, Vivi rarely needed to teleport in person. Her mayor and warden personas could conveniently appear on-site, rendering those teleport points redundant.

Knowing she’d need frequent access to South Hinckley in the future, Vivi decided to establish a teleportation point here ahead of schedule.

The once-bustling town was eerily quiet, its population severely thinned. The architecture, a faded reflection of Gotham’s iconic Gothic style, featured aging buildings untouched by modern prosperity. There were no towering skyscrapers here, only relics of a slower-paced past.

At the town’s center stood a towering, ancient tree, its branches sprawling over nearby rooftops. As Vivi approached, the tree began to glow, casting a mesmerizing blue light that grew brighter with every step.

Patrolling GCPD officers, temporarily assigned to oversee the town, gave Vivi curious glances before returning to their rounds. They were likely puzzled by her presence—and by the tree.

Vivi knew exactly why they stared.

The Colourful Trees had become a local fascination. Players and residents alike had documented their behaviour, sharing “guides” online. Blue light symbolized anger.

What puzzled everyone, including Vivi herself, was why an ostensibly cheerful vigilante could light up an entire tree with fury.

“This has been happening since day one,” Vivi mused. “I’m not mad all the time, am I? Then again, the system’s just data—it probably reads ‘emotions’ from NPCs and categorizes them. But hey, even players deserve some privacy, right?”

Dismounting her horse, Vivi climbed the tree, settling on a sturdy branch high above. From her perch, she deemed the spot perfect—a discreet location for stashing bodies, assuming no one else was crazy enough to climb this high.

As the clock struck midnight, the system’s monthly evaluation began.

【Congratulations, player. End-of-month settlement has commenced.】

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

“This new organization is still in its infancy, but they are making progress in their own way.”

【Rewards: 220 diamonds, 2 million gold.】

Vivi eagerly scanned the city’s updated stats:

【City Prosperity: 8 (Slight Increase)】
“External interest in Gotham has grown, boosting economic circulation.”

【City Population: 8 (Temporary Boost)】
“Despite the chaos, improved security and the trial’s attention have drawn more people to Gotham.”

And then the stat Vivi cared about most:

【City Security: -10 (Significant Improvement)】
“After purging surface-level crime, the city’s overall safety has increased, though hidden dangers remain. Gotham is finally a city with a ‘true’ security rating of -10, not infinitely worse.”

She sighed. “Still negative.”

【City Reputation: -6 (Temporary Boost)】
“This month was chaotic, but also transformative. Internal and external perceptions have improved, driven by the public’s efforts and the resilience shown during the trial. Perhaps this is Gotham’s ‘rock bottom rebound’ moment?”

Finally:

【Current [Gotham City Overall Rating: 0]】

[End-of-month Settlement Complete]

Despite the improvements, Vivi felt a twinge of frustration. Gotham’s problems, while less dire, were far from solved. But this was progress—slow, painstaking progress.

Who cares if it’s a rebound from rock bottom?

Perched on a sturdy tree branch, Vivi stared at that glaring 0 on the screen for a long moment, before breaking into a self-satisfied chuckle.

Through two relentless months of effort, she had dragged an entire city from the abyss of negative evaluations back to 0—a neutral, unremarkable score. But this simple number proved one crucial thing:

Gotham could be saved.

Even if many of the system’s assessments were tagged as “temporary,” even if she’d exploited loopholes wherever she could, the fact remained: Gotham had changed.

It had taken two months of blood, sweat, and strategy to get here. The first month’s efforts, despite her back-breaking work, had earned her little more than the system’s dismissive “coasting” label. While the rewards had been decent, it left her feeling disheartened.

But now? That disappointment was completely wiped away. Vivi’s eyes sparkled as she pulled up her system interface.

A new achievement had already appeared on her screen.