After confirming that the police were lured away, Catwoman moved Millie into her car. She didn’t intend to harm Millie, but where should she take her? Crime Alley wasn’t safe without Catwoman there.

Catwoman’s plan for an accidental explosion at the “Iceberg Pharmaceuticals” was set for tonight. As long as Millie slept through the night, everything would be fine.

Thinking it over, she realized there was one absolutely safe place—

The house assigned to Millie due to her job, located in the old town district, reportedly shared with just one female student as a roommate.

Catwoman’s car sped in the opposite direction of everyone else, unaware that someone could track her movements on a map while riding a motorcycle. This was probably because the task was delegated to their AI assistant rather than needing their direct attention.

Meanwhile, Tim, who appeared to be chasing after her, actually changed into his uniform at the corner and climbed into the neighboring building.

Inside, two small gangs in the midst of a transaction were terrified at the sight of him: “Robin—”

Tim sighed silently.

Minutes later, Tim held one of them against the wall with one hand: “Now, can we talk normally? Who lives next door? I don’t believe you didn’t scout the area during your transaction.”

The bruised gang leader gasped, “I remember… yes, two women, I’ve only seen two women there, one of them looked very familiar…”

“I remember now!” he suddenly shouted, “It’s Catwoman! I’ve seen her!”

Tim frowned: Catwoman and an unfamiliar woman?

The surveillance of Crime Alley was almost entirely destroyed by locals over the years and had never been successfully repaired.

Dropping the gang leader, Tim leaped onto the beams of the adjacent house, just in time to see a car driving away from the backyard. Chasing it now would be too late, so Tim took a photo of the car and uploaded it to the network terminal: “Oracle, I need your help.”

Oracle was Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, with superb computer skills, providing excellent technical support. Although Tim was also skilled, he was currently occupied.

After that, he entered the house through a window and quickly checked each room, taking a photo of a picture by the bed.

The picture showed Catwoman and a younger girl.

He sent that photo as well.

Soon, Oracle sent a dynamic map with real-time updates.

[I’ve hacked into the road surveillance system. The driver appears to be Catwoman from the enhanced camera footage… The person lying in the back seat is only visible by their hair.]

[I compared it with the photo you sent me. The database shows her name is “Millie White,” the current Mayor’s secretary.]

“The Mayor’s secretary lives in Crime Alley?” he exited the room, ensuring he left no trace, and quickly changed clothes nearby.

[She was born here. This house used to belong to her mother, who died, and then her father turned into a drunkard and died in a drunken fall. Millie grew up with others’ help, went to college, and left Crime Alley.]

[But she occasionally comes back to check on things. It seems Catwoman had once helped her.]

“Where did you find this information?”

[It’s in her school records. Her emergency contact at school is “Selina Kyle,” so it seems they’re as close as family. Robin, what are you investigating?]

[The Bat’s also been investigating the Mayor recently, so I’ve already looked through this information. By the way, about the Penguin’s incident, there seems to be a new supervillain in Gotham. I’ll send you the information the Bat has gathered.]

[His codename is “Mr. C.”]

“I’ll come to you for help when I need it, thanks, Oracle.”

But now, he wanted to investigate on his own.

“By the way, Oracle, under what circumstances would someone have a brand on the back of their neck? Not a tattoo, but a brand?”

[To be honest, this reminds me of some really bad guys who like to do this, marking it as their property or a trophy?]

After ending the communication, Tim started to sort out his thoughts—

“Unable to find out the deceased’s name, let’s call her VV for now, based on the brand on her neck.”

“VV first appeared half a month ago, seemingly trying to sneak into the Mayor’s office and encountering Peter… Peter said she disappeared directly in the office. She seemed very familiar with the place?”

—Now that he thought about it, it might not have been a break-in. The office could have been open to her. What is her relationship with the Mayor?

“The new Mayor’s actions are somewhat strange. She seems to have bought many peculiar items from a mysterious person,” Tim looked up, seeing the lush tree next to the house, “Now that I think about it, that person must be ‘Mr. C.’ Batman checked the financial records of the

City Hall logistics department. Indeed, funds were transferred into a secret account, then things like trash cans or street trees appeared in the logistics warehouse…”

“The second time I saw ‘VV,’ she seemed to be cooperating with the forces that took down the Penguin. She was there to help her companions pick up goods.”

“Now, assuming the policewoman didn’t mistake the identity, no, she probably didn’t, all clues connect now. So VV was also lurking in Crime Alley. Maybe Secretary Millie wasn’t just visiting home but was meeting VV to exchange information?”

The question is…

“Is VV working for the Mayor, or Mr. C’s subordinate?”

Tim pondered: “If she’s the Mayor’s person, why meet in Crime Alley? The first time she went directly to the Mayor’s office. It must have been Peter’s appearance that caused trouble, so they changed the way they transact.”

“VV is Mr. C’s subordinate.”

So the conclusion might be that the Mayor wants to change Gotham, hence the cooperation with Mr. C.

Mr. C is playing the game of life, finding it interesting, so he provides her with many conveniences. VV is responsible for contact and also serves as the Mayor’s informant. Mr. C is part of the magical world?

—This would explain why the body was in such a state, to preserve its original condition, or just for fun.

Tim recalled his first encounter with VV and the image of the unnamed corpse covered in filth. Perhaps after her death, Mr. C wanted to preserve her appearance at the time of death, then got bored and discarded her.

The unrotted corpse, soaked in sewage, nameless and originless, just like every Gothamite in Crime Alley.

When he saw her, he had never imagined their next meeting would end like this.

Tim stared at the text on his phone, frowning in disgust.

“‘You don’t understand the game’… Yes, but Gotham City is not your playground.”

Now, the question was, what role did Catwoman play in the dealings between Mr. C and the Mayor?

At the previous Wayne family banquet, Catwoman stole the Mayor’s earrings. Was it a threat or a message?

He must find Catwoman.

He sent a message to Peter and hurriedly left Crime Alley—he believed Peter would bring back the body, while Tim’s target was the car headed towards the old city residential area.

*

It was time to show off her newly learned motorcycle skills—this is what Vivi thought.

If Joe knew what she was thinking, he would probably climb off the motorcycle.

Vivi glanced casually at the map, pausing briefly over the [Thief][Secretary] icons, then turned the motorcycle around and headed back.

“Where are you going?” Joe yelled against the wind.

“We’ll just intercept them ahead,” Vivi didn’t elaborate, “Don’t worry, I know the way.”

You know? What exactly do you know?

Joe was about to say something when he suddenly found himself airborne. Instinctively, he grabbed the back of the motorcycle, then realized in horror that the back of the bike had lifted, and they were speeding forward at what seemed like an excessive rate.

He wasn’t even wearing a helmet!

Inside the Mayor’s office, the dark computer screen suddenly lit up, displaying a map with a red line starting from Crime Alley heading towards the old city and a green line circling within Crime Alley. Both lines were synchronized and appeared on Vivi’s screen at the same time.

The red line represented the [Thief] fleeing from the original room, and the green line was the [Hooligan] stealing a car and escaping.

[At your service, Madam Mayor.]

But a few minutes later, the computer screen dimmed and automatically turned off. The routes continued to update on Vivi’s end, but the room was as quiet as if nobody was there.

Vivi was unaware of what had happened.

But the AI monitoring the surroundings knew—someone had arrived.

In the Mayor’s restroom.

A bat-sized drone flew in through the window and landed on the doorknob.

After extending its spider-like mechanical arms to turn the knob, the view of the Mayor’s office finally appeared on the other screen—Batman’s screen.

After confirming that there was something definitely wrong with the Mayor herself, Batman decided to start his investigation on her and looked into her relationship with Mr. C. The most convenient way was to plant surveillance and listening devices in her usual haunts.

The office was very dim, with no lights on as no one was there, and the room had no windows to let in natural light.

Batman frowned, the drone silently flew up, providing a VR-like observational perspective on the screen.

Indeed, no one was there. Other staff outside were working, probably thinking the Mayor was always in her office, but she had left long ago.

The computer was on, showing a black screen, and the only sound was from the room’s cleaning robot connected to a vacuum cleaner.

After placing a listening device under the desk, the drone flew over the computer. Oracle said she couldn’t break into the Mayor’s computer, which had high-level security and would take some time.

Batman decided to physically (via USB) extract content from the computer.

He was indeed committing a crime, but he had to do it this way to ensure no problems occurred.

He was always suspicious, doubting everything before problems arose. As an ordinary person, he needed to have plans for criminals in advance to protect Gotham when crimes occurred.

The drone slowly stopped, its mechanical arm extending, Batman heard a slow approaching buzzing sound.

He realized something was wrong: “Alfred—”

The cleaning robot, unbeknownst to him, had climbed onto the desk. Extending a sturdier mechanical arm with a sharp, curved knife at the end, it swiftly dismembered the drone.

The screen before Batman went black, and the planted listening and monitoring devices quickly lost their signal.

In a place he couldn’t see, the cleaning robot dumped all the fragments into the trash can, then resumed its “buzzing” mechanical cleaning work in the office.

Vivi sneezed and rubbed her nose.

Can you catch a cold in the game?

She remembered ordering some metal materials for AI when she placed the order for building materials. Her AI indeed started doing cleaning work, and with the materials, it said it could modify the cheap cleaning robot to help fix the holes in the wall.

After eighteen days, the wall in the office finally seemed to be getting repaired.

A bunch of NPCs weren’t as reliable as AI!

She twisted the throttle, accelerating, and with Joe screaming, the motorcycle leaped up, crashing onto the front hood of a car that appeared from around the corner, leaving a dent. The scared hooligan driving slammed on the brakes, plunging into the airbag.

“Safe landing,” Vivi snapped her fingers, “We caught him.”

Joe gasped for air, trembling, “This is… a police car!”

Vivi: ?

This is a necessary sacrifice to catch criminals… They won’t make me pay for it, right?