Under the constraints of the speed limit sign, Vivi arrived at the Gotham Police Department at a normal speed.

The Gotham Police Department is located in the old city district, not far from the City Hall. In fact, Vivi essentially took a roundabout route, mainly to enjoy the pleasure of riding a motorcycle.

This place is the headquarters and also manages local police stations like South Hinkley County. Gotham has a population of over seven million, and just the headquarters alone has more than two thousand personnel on its payroll — of course, the new officer, Bella, did not know this; the mayor needs to review their payroll expenses.

However, among these two thousand people, it seems not all of their salaries are paid by the City Hall. Vivi always felt there was some hidden information in this.

The police station’s building shares the same era as the City Hall. A close look reveals traces of repairs on the walls. As a headquarters that temporarily detains some criminals, this building has faced too many disasters.

Vivi: ……

The disaster-prone building seemed to foreshadow her future disaster-ridden bills.

After completing the registration procedures at the entrance, she was led to meet the current Chief of GCPD, Jim Gordon. Chief Gordon naturally didn’t have much time to talk with her and assigned her to a guy named Joe Holmes. Until she can stand on her own, Joe will be her supervisor, helping her get up to speed with police work.

Joe is a somewhat disheveled middle-aged man, possibly because he didn’t shave cleanly, a bit shorter than Vivi, frowning as if impatient.

“Follow me, rookie,” he said, grabbing a bag of dry cereal. After finishing his words, he poured the rest into his mouth and crumpled the trash into his pocket.

It looks like this guy is in charge of guiding the newbies. How reliable can he be?

“I’ll start by introducing you to our police department…”

As they walked, Joe explained: “There are three main departments in the police department. We deal with minor cases, homicide department mainly focuses on ordinary thefts, robberies, and murder cases—”

Vivi: “Are murder cases also common?”

Joe glanced at her: “I saw your file; you’re not from Gotham, right? Stay here long enough, and you’ll find that everything is common.”

“Then there’s the Major Crimes Unit (MCU),” he continued, “they handle unusual criminals, as well as insane serial killers, planned bombings, etc… The criminals are either geniuses or lunatics, and of course, the worst kind is the genius lunatic.”

Vivi touched her chin: “Can I transfer to the MCU?”

“It’s better not to,” Joe shrugged, “few in the MCU retire on time, and the MCU only accepts those with abilities or experience… As for you?”

Joe turned to look at her, even having to tilt his head due to the height difference.

He seemed to choke on his intended sarcasm: “…Just keep working hard.”

“Marlene, I’m bringing the newbie to get her gun,” Joe headed towards the logistics department, “New officer, name’s Bella Bettywen.”

Thus, Vivi was equipped with her 【Glock 17】, police badge, a walkie-talkie, and a new phone.

Vivi fiddled with her new phone, asking, “Isn’t there another department?”

Joe waved his hand: “Special Forces SWAT, you won’t see them often… No, maybe you will, given anything can happen in Gotham, but I don’t know much about SWAT. They’re very secretive and report directly to the council.”

They don’t report directly to the mayor, Vivi thought emotionlessly, how disappointing.

“You might see Batman on the night shifts; he always appears at night, along with Robin. Though Batman has had several Robins over the years, the boys are all different. The current one is the third I’ve seen…”

Vivi glanced at the automatically updating personnel file, asking, “Where did the previous two go?”

Joe chuckled: “Boys can’t always remain boys.”

“When you see Batman, you can take pictures but don’t approach for a selfie. Although Batman won’t do anything to you… he brings in ordinary criminals, those especially vicious ones usually end up in Arkham Asylum.”

“Here we are,” Joe pushed open a door to a small shooting range, “Let’s try your shooting. If you’re not good enough, I’ll have to send you back.”

【[Shooting] Learning in progress, loading complete】

【[Close Combat] Learning in progress, loading complete】

【[Observation] Learning in progress, loading complete】

【[Basic Investigation Knowledge] Learning in progress, loading complete】

Joe: “…Although you’re not very skilled at first, you quickly got the hang of it, huh? You must have learned well in school.”

After adopting a combat training stance, Vivi equipped her new skills in seconds.

She looked around at the empty desks, asking casually, “Is it a holiday today? Why are there so few people?”

“We have two days off per week, you can choose your time,” Joe spread his hands, “but today is unusually quiet because they’re all in the hospital.”

Vivi: “?”

“Just a few days ago, we and the MCU were chasing a killer crocodile hiding in the sewers. You might have heard this nickname, a poor guy who turned into a humanoid crocodile due to experiments, but he did kill a lot of people… The injured were all sent to the hospital, so if there’s a mission, you, the rookie, will have to go with me.”

“Isn’t that just perfect? But…”

“Why didn’t the special forces go? They are more professional and suitable for this, right?”

Joe didn’t answer directly, just coldly chuckled “heh” in response.

【You have received a side quest: Special Forces SWAT】

【You have heard a lot about the “Council,” and it seems they never appear but are actually controlling Gotham from the shadows. It’s time to let the “Council” know that you are the real ruler of Gotham.】

【Perhaps following the “SWAT” lead could reveal helpful information for you. Find a way to learn more about SWAT.】

【Hint: Keep getting promoted, or join SWAT】

【Reward: 0~500,000 gold coins, 60 diamonds】

Well, no need to ask further then.

Vivi flipped through the panel and found that she didn’t need to pay the “SWAT” salaries. Accordingly, she couldn’t command these people either. Thinking back, Joe seemed to have mentioned how to get promoted—

By continuously handling cases and accumulating experience.

Vivi: “So, what cases do we have on hand now?”

Joe was silent for a moment, then spoke helplessly: “You’ve just arrived, how could there be any—”

“Wait,” he took out his vibrating walkie-talkie, “What happened… okay… but I’m with the rookie?… Alright!”

He took a deep breath: “Come on, rookie, we’ve got a case.”

Joe drove the car, seemingly not trusting the rookie’s driving skills.

In the car, he rapidly explained the “case”—

“The complainant is a teacher from Gotham Academy. Their students found a female corpse in the cafeteria’s sewer. Security has been dispatched to secure the scene, and they are internally investigating whether this girl is a student of the school.”

“Specific details will be sent to your phone shortly. I guess they originally wanted to suppress the news, considering it might be a school scandal. Maybe by the time we arrive, all the information will be processed; they always do this.”

Vivi didn’t choose to directly fire people like Chief Gordon and then drag herself up to the “Chief” position—although she indeed could do that—but if she really did, Gotham City’s destruction wouldn’t be far off.

Like begrudging the salaries to be paid each month, Vivi didn’t fire all the employees at once but kicked out the slackers from the workforce and made minor adjustments to some positions, because those jobs could be done by anyone, but police work wasn’t something a homeless person off the street could do well.

Take Joe, who looked quite lazy at first glance. His personal attributes included the police skills Vivi just learned, with investigation even being at a mastery level, indicating that although impatient, this guy was really a reliable senior.

[Joe Holmes], a Gotham local, has been with GCPD for over 8 years, handled many cases but hasn’t been promoted or transferred to MCU, and has a six-year-old daughter left by his divorced wife, [Investigation][Mastery], [Shooting][Proficient]. Besides this, there wasn’t much more information on his profile.

Vivi decided to quickly handle a few cases, and accumulate some merits, so gradually climbing up the ranks wouldn’t seem strange. She already had an idea about whose position to take over—Deputy Chief of Homicide, Chloe Andre, a red-named character hostile to Mayor “Anna Alek”.

“By the way,” as the police car drove onto Gotham Bridge, Joe seemed to remember something, “have you rented a place to stay?”

Vivi: “?”

“You’re not from Gotham. City Hall provides rental subsidies for public officials, but only the old-timers get it. I have my own house. If you need it, I can transfer this subsidy to you, as it’s only usable for renting,” Joe clicked his tongue, “If you had reported two months earlier, you might have been allocated housing, but now it’s quite difficult, unless you have some connections up top—”

Vivi was surprised: You can get allocated housing?

She quickly found on the panel that the logistics department of City Hall was responsible for this—again logistics—familiar territory now, Vivi directly input commands to secure the “Bella Bettywen” housing quota.

She showed Joe the text message on her phone, politely declining his offer: “I got allocated a house.”

Joe: “…”

How long have you been reporting? Did logistics change their nature?

He began to feel that the rookie he was mentoring was a bit unusual.

Joe thought… he needed to pay more attention to this new partner.

“Ah, the information has come through.” The phone screen lit up, and the gates of Gotham Academy were visible in the distance. She began reading the information and gradually fell silent.

【Photo of the Deceased】: The photo showed a brunette girl lying on the concrete floor, her clothing so dirty its colour was indiscernible. It was obvious that her feet were bare.

【Crime Scene Photo】: The angle of the photo was from above, the girl lying in a narrow space, a string of metallic keys shining on her abdomen, seemingly below a drain. Clearly, after this photo was taken, someone moved the body from the drain and then took another photo of the deceased on open ground.

【Informant Information】 The informant, Tim Drake, is Bruce Wayne’s third adopted son and currently responsible for most of Wayne Enterprises’ operations. As a young CEO, it’s no wonder the teachers at Gotham Academy couldn’t stop this report.

【Situation at the Time of the Incident】

“The first person to discover the body was a third-year student, Wydrian, whose keys fell into a drain. Without staff permission, the students opened the drain cover themselves and found the corpse. Their first reaction was to take pictures and upload them to the school forum.”

“The forum administrator immediately deleted the post and tried to contact the poster. At the same time, Tim Drake called the police, and we chose to respond immediately.”

【You have received a side quest: Your First Case Investigation】

【Whether as a police officer or as a mayor, you cannot tolerate murders in the city. Bring closure to the case; this is your first work assignment】

【Reward: Any police skill point +1】

Vivi: “……”

Vivi found it utterly absurd!

She recognized the body; it was her own, the second one killed by the “Dead Shot”. The first body was still stuffed under a bookcase in the mayor’s office at City Hall.

But the “Dead Shot” was already locked up in Blackgate Prison!

At that time, Dead Shot thought he had killed the “Mayor”. Dragging him out of prison for a confrontation was useless—this damn game has been bugging out since she entered! The mayor’s career advancement couldn’t be stuck at the beginning, could it?

“What’s wrong?” Joe, seeing the rookie so silent, pondered and said, “First time seeing a real corpse? It’s normal, you need to get used to this. And think about it, each time you handle a murder case, you get a substantial subsidy. Doesn’t that make you feel a bit better?”

The rookie seemed to pause for a moment, then slowly looked up: “…Substantial subsidy?”

“You can think of it as a bonus,” he explained, “provided by a consortium that funds the council. I’m not clear on the specifics, but it’s been going on for many years. Isn’t it good to have a bonus?”

【Progress in the side quest “Special Forces SWAT”】

【Clue acquired: Why does solving murder cases involve a bonus from the council?】

Vivi looked at the photo.

Vivi pondered.

Summoning DeadShot for a forced confession… wasn’t impossible?

While Vivi’s thoughts drifted to Blackgate Prison, someone had already beaten her to it and was currently at the prison.

“I knew you would come looking for me,” Penguin sat tensely in his chair, looking at the man across the glass, “Batman.”

“I just can’t believe you truly repented, Cobblepot,” It’s not that Batman doesn’t ever appear during the day; it’s just that people rarely find him then. His voice was deep, “Tell me what happened.”

“I just lost a bet,” Penguin wasn’t a fool. Looking back, everything started with “C’s” investment was a plot, but Mr. C couldn’t directly control him. It appears that the bet he hadn’t paid much attention to was the actual effective by-product of the scheme. He sneered maliciously, “Just as you suspected, Batman, someone was manipulating me from behind. I lost to him and had to act according to his wishes—”

Batman moved closer to the glass, scrutinizing Penguin: “Who is he?”

“I don’t know,” Penguin gritted his teeth, “Sounds funny, right? That’s how it is. I lost everything, but I don’t know who he is. He never even tried to stop me from looking for him, Batman. Do you think his letting me surrender, playing that charade in public, was meant to save Gotham?”

He stared at Batman’s expression, trying to find some emotional fluctuation, but there was none.

Penguin: “‘You don’t understand the game,’ that’s what he said, that man, ‘Mr. C’. He’s just treating everything as a game, he didn’t even stop me from revealing information about him… Seems like he’s having a lot of fun now.”

The metal door slowly closed as Batman left. Penguin stood up and walked out of the visitation room—

He guessed Batman’s reaction because villains often don’t have weaknesses, but Batman’s weakness was too obvious; he had to protect Gotham.

He must be going to investigate “Mr. C” now, and Penguin was waiting for the day they would confront each other, a man who treated Gotham as a playground and Gotham’s Dark Knight. What kind of destruction would they bring to Gotham?

As long as they became enemies, his goal would be achieved.

A smile spread across his face as he took another step forward when suddenly, a toilet brush fell from above, and a fellow inmate in orange prison garb shouted at him, “Hey, Penguin, it’s your turn to clean the bathroom today—”

“I’ve told you…” Penguin clenched his teeth and picked up the toilet brush, “Don’t call me Penguin!!!”

While Penguin was laboriously working, the police car had already stopped inside Gotham Academy.

Joe got out of the car before Vivi but didn’t move, just holding an unlit cigarette, staring into the distance: “The future of Gotham is shaped by us, Gotham’s…”

“Hey, let’s go!” Vivi called out to him, pointing, “Look, someone from the school is coming to meet us.”

Joe stopped reading aloud and followed, speaking after a while: “Seems like I don’t understand schools these days.”

It’s one thing to paint slogans on the walls, but why are they in deep red? Doesn’t it clash with the campus scenery?

The teacher who greeted them said, “We sent the body to the school’s biology lab. Of course, we didn’t dissect it privately. It’s just that the students had already moved the body from underground, and leaving it exposed wasn’t appropriate…”

Joe looked disapproving: “Moving it could have lost evidence.”

The teacher’s expression was a bit strange: “Actually, the body itself is a bit odd… You’ll know once you see it.”

“The students who found the anomaly and the ones who reported it are in the office next to the lab. You can talk to them with me accompanying you.”

Joe coldly said, “Accompanying? Then I hope you won’t hinder our investigation.”

Although Vivi knew who the murderer was, she found the confrontation between people quite interesting.

They first pushed open the door to the lab, and the teacher exclaimed upon seeing the situation inside: “Mr. Drake, Wydrian, wait… and Parker, why are you here?”

Huh?

Vivi had met Tim Drake under a different identity. Coincidentally, she realized that “Parker” was the boy who had worked for half a day in the logistics department at City Hall, even doing it for free. The only unfamiliar one, the bespectacled man, must be “Wydrian”. Wearing thick black glasses and holding a Sony camera, he wasn’t startled by the teacher’s exclamation but instead raised his camera and took a photo of the teacher and the two unfamiliar police officers.

“Don’t you all smile when taking photos?” the boy shrugged, “But this photo isn’t bad.”

Joe stepped forward, pressing down on his camera, glaring at the inconsiderate boy: “Delete it. Random photography is not allowed during an investigation.”

“Please cooperate with the investigation, Wydrian Scott,” the teacher took a deep breath. “Now, who can tell me why you are here instead of waiting in the office, as instructed?”

Wydrian reluctantly complied, and a hand reached out from his side to delete the photo. It was Tim Drake who explained, “Wydrian said he suddenly remembered some other information but needed to see the body again to recall it.”

Clearly, this instigator of the case was just interested in photographing the corpse, perhaps even planning to upload it to his Twitter later.

Vivi noticed that although the camera boy seemed unaffected, the other two students appeared more normal—reflected in their somewhat low spirits, like Parker, who had been silent all along.

Joe pointed at the camera boy: “If we find any information leaked before we close this case, we’re coming for you, understand?”

Wydrian retorted, “Have you considered this might not be a case at all?”

“What are you talking about?” Joe asked, “Are you suggesting the corpse will sit up and tell us this is an April Fool’s joke, boy?”

“No,” Tim interrupted, “We examined the body earlier and found that it… doesn’t seem to be a body.”

“She doesn’t bleed,” Peter Parker, appearing as Tim’s friend, referred to the ‘body’ as “she”, “She has four bullets embedded inside her. If this were a human, the one shattering her heart would be fatal. The other three entered later, but she… is not human.”

“So it’s just a very sophisticated mannequin,” Wydrian held up his camera, “A highly impressive piece of performance art!”

Peter Parker, felt conflicted—he was sure he had seen the “corpse,” or rather the living girl who served as the model for this mannequin, but at that time, he was Spider-Man, not the ordinary student Peter.

Revealing this might expose his identity.

No one had truly died, had they? The object in front of them wasn’t a real corpse; it wouldn’t even rot. But what if there was a plot targeting innocent people? A lifelike mannequin was too unsettling.

Tim Drake, was pondering how to provide information to the police. He had also seen the prototype of the ‘corpse’, but as Robin, the vigilante. Revealing this might expose his identity.

In fact, he only realized after calling the police that the ‘victim’ was a girl he knew, initially thinking she was a student from the school.

If necessary, he would investigate himself, Tim sensed a huge conspiracy brewing and intended to uncover the truth like a competent detective.

“No one has seen this girl…” the teacher frowned, “We’ve compared her with photos of students in the school, but she’s not there. Maybe she doesn’t exist at all, especially since this isn’t a corpse. You can take it away and confirm it’s not a body…”

“So there was no murder in the school after all—”

“Ah!” The tall female officer suddenly snapped her fingers, “I remember now, I’ve seen her!”

“?”

Joe frowned and turned, Tim and Peter both looked up, and Wydrian watched eagerly—

Vivi said, “I think I’ve seen her in Crime Alley, but my memory is not very clear now…” She pretended to ponder and continued her story, “Just a glance? Maybe we should check Crime Alley?”

Speaking of which, she hadn’t been to Crime Alley during the day, as it was too dangerous for the “mayor”. This was a good opportunity to investigate the East End residents who had been opposing the underground facility renovation project.

*

Gotham Academy.

In another building, Sheila, in the middle of a class, looked at the “corpse” photos spreading among her classmates in the group chat and slowly typed a question mark.