Richard Grayson, Bruce Wayne’s first adopted son and the eldest brother in the family, was also Batman’s first Robin.

Bruce is Batman, so it’s not surprising his son was Robin, but the current Robin is the third, Tim. Richard, who resigned as Robin early on, became a community officer in Bludhaven, the neighboring city, after graduating from the police academy – as Nightwing.

By day, he’s an officer at the Bludhaven Police Department, and by night, he dons the Nightwing costume to fight crime.

His return to Gotham was to track a batch of drugs that flowed from Bludhaven into Gotham’s market. He had traced the direction of the goods to South Hinkley, a self-governing county on the outskirts of Gotham.

South Hinkley, facing Bludhaven across the sea and notorious for its chaotic law and order and mixed population, made it challenging to pinpoint the exact route of the goods. Thus, Nightwing would be staying in Gotham for a while.

He naturally joined Batman’s night patrol, as his investigation also required family assistance.

Tonight’s Gotham was not peaceful, as Penguin’s remaining subordinates finally showed signs of activity—

On their way to the East District, the current Robin, Tim, briefed Nightwing on the latest underground power shifts in Gotham.

“I heard about Penguin’s trial, okay, I admit I sneaked a peek at the live stream while patrolling, but as expected…” he sighed, “that scoundrel had no change of heart; his power was just swallowed by another force.”

This mysterious new villain was probably the so-called “Mr. C,” a shadowy figure.

Mr. C’s actions naturally didn’t sit well with Nightwing. Though he put Penguin in jail, it wasn’t for justice, but just for fun!

“The hardest villains to deal with are those types,” he said over the communicator, “You can never guess what they’ll do next because the world is just their playground.”

When they want to destroy it, it’s just because they want to.

As Nightwing said this, he had changed into his full uniform and crouched on the rooftop of a derelict building in the East District. The moonlight flowed slowly over his back, and he dropped from above, leaving the moon behind him.

At that moment, the family’s big brother thought he should have finished that pack of instant oatmeal before leaving.

He rapidly descended to the fourth floor’s outer wall. The Bat Detector in the darkness emitted a steady red light, constantly scanning the location of every person inside. In theory, he would beat up those kidnappers of young girls, then take away the girl named Vivi for a full-body check, a “resurrection,” damn.

He, Tim, and Batman, each had their own way of handling things, after all, they were different people—Nightwing preferred a more direct approach than watching someone gradually wander further down the wrong path.

He indeed entered that level.

He took out his staff.

Vivi was surrounded by gangsters in the middle, standing on a sofa, towering over them. She held a phone in one hand and pointed at Nightwing with the other, “What are you doing! Don’t come any closer! I’ve called the police!”

Nightwing: “……”

In theory, his actions were justified.

But this girl, she didn’t follow theories.

Vivi and Nightwing were not acquainted, but she sensed his ill intent.

“This place has already been rented by Iceberg Construction and Installation Company. Although we haven’t managed to install windows yet, that’s no excuse for your trespassing!”

“That outfit… It’s Nightwing!”

The tall, thin man closest to her seemed to recognize the intruder. Vivi patted him, asking in a low voice, “Who’s Nightwing?”

“He is… the sexiest superhero in America!” The tall man seemed nervous and stumbled over his words, “Just in the neighboring… city…”

A neighboring city character crossing over?

Did some easter egg trigger a character from the neighboring city to visit?

Mulling over the term “superhero,” Vivi waved her hand to disperse the crowd around her and patted the sofa, inviting Nightwing to sit down.

The young man named Nightwing scanned the battered old sofa, propped his hand on the back of it, and smiled, “May I call you Vivi? Or should I be more formal and start with your last name?”

It’s impolite to directly call someone by their first name unless you’re close.

But his attitude really didn’t make him seem like an outsider. Vivi shook her head, “I don’t have a last name.”

Using a surname in a randomly chosen online name is too cheesy!

Before Nightwing could respond, she continued, “We are Iceberg Construction and Installation Company, currently undertaking the maintenance work of Gotham’s East District sewers. We aim to eradicate poverty, prioritizing local employment, and allowing Gotham’s East District residents to earn through work. The company has just been established and is in its initial phase, but it will definitely get better!”

Nightwing was thrown such a long spiel, leaving both himself and the vigilantes on the other end of his communicator speechless. The communication channel fell into an eerie silence.

He asked, “Who told you this, Vivi?”

“No one told me,” Vivi replied, “I think so, and we will do so in the future.”

Nightwing smiled, “It’s April, and the nights are still cold, but in… Iceberg Construction and Installation Company, okay, after your company moved in here, the homeless who used to shelter here were driven out.”

“In the future, those diligent among them will return as employees,” Vivi frowned, “I like a certain saying, ‘He who does not work, neither shall he eat.’ Why should they occupy this place just because they are weak? We paid the rent.”

Although it was only one dollar.

“Before they can earn their keep, they’ll die from injury and hunger,” Nightwing stood up straight.

“But providing them with unpaid aid is not our company’s responsibility,” Vivi said.

She added in her mind: That’s the Mayor’s responsibility.

Looking at Nightwing’s expression, it seemed she might have said the wrong thing. Vivi wasn’t sure, but she had hoped to persuade Nightwing to help fight the Claw.

Nightwing stared at the girl before him, the faint blue light from the branch beside casting a glow on half of her face.

He recognized this branch. With Gotham’s appearance of strange buildings, Batman naturally investigated. After scientific testing, they had verified the branch’s effects and the emotions that trigger different colors of its light—it seemed to be usable for lie detection.

Gold represented fear, while blue denoted anger.

It was odd; the branch seemed to indicate the girl was in a continuous state of anger, but her expression didn’t show it at all.

Perhaps the original experiment had some errors.

“Are you leaving?” Vivi asked, leaning on the back of the sofa. “Could you tell me, how does one become a superhero?”

Today’s encounter with the Talon made Vivi realize her combat skills were too weak. A typical infrastructure game didn’t need combat skills, but Vivi’s game was anything but typical! To avoid being buried in concrete with her own corpse, she needed to improve this aspect quickly.

After all, Batman was just a well-trained ordinary person. In Gotham, a high enough level of combat skills should suffice.

Nightwing’s expression was odd, “You want to be a superhero… Does Mr. C agree?”

Mr. C’s fame had spread to the neighboring city!?

But with this title, it felt too cheesy, and Vivi felt a wave of embarrassment. She mumbled, “…why wouldn’t he agree? Isn’t it a good thing?”

To her surprise, her answer led the vigilantes on the communicator to a new speculation—

Barbara: “According to micro-expression analysis, she’s confident Mr. C will agree, but she seems shocked Dick knows Mr. C. Look at her pupils at that moment; she was surprised and quickly hid her emotions, followed by embarrassment.”

“All her previous answers came from the heart, whether about helping others or the homeless,” Barbara’s voice sounded hesitant. “Her answers showed idealistic thinking. She believes she’s truly saving Gotham, but now it seems she knows Mr. C’s methods are problematic.”

Nightwing pondered, “But she thinks C won’t stop her, why? Are they close… could it be…”

Tim interrupted him, “I know what you’re thinking, but can you not always go there? Intimacy has another form—”

“Like father and daughter,” Barbara concluded definitively.

Not necessarily a father, but considering Vivi’s unusual behavior, “creator” seemed more fitting.

“If I told Batman I wanted to become a villain, I think he would blow my head off…” Nightwing muttered.

“What?” Vivi didn’t hear clearly.

“Cough,” Nightwing said, “No, child, I think instead of becoming a superhero, you should go to school.”

Go get your father’s brainwashing package cleaned out! Although Nightwing, who became a vigilante as a minor under Batman’s wing, was now an adult, he spoke of this double standard boldly.

“But…” Vivi said, “Can going to school stop an enemy?”

She tilted her head towards the north: “The enemy is coming.”

Lights flickered in the distance. Nightwing frowned, and as they talked, they walked to the edge of the building, clearly observing the unimpressive night view of the East District. Suddenly, he noticed a vertical beam of light shooting upwards in the distance, bright as a lighthouse, but after two flickers, it went out—Nightwing, a Bludhaven city police officer, was familiar with these devices.

“Nightwing,” a voice came through the headset, “B is engaging with a superhuman, and their recovery speed is abnormal. They’re now on the first floor—”

“Do you need my support?” He was ready, but before he could finish.

“No, I’m not sure. Did you notice the light in District D8? That’s SWAT special forces; they brought RPG launchers and autonomous tanks. You need to check what they’re up to… God, why are these equipments allowed in the East District?”

Nightwing wanted to know too.

He turned to look at Vivi, hesitated, and spun 270 degrees, but found no trace of the girl. She had disappeared.

“…Did she idolize Batman?” he complained, stretching out as he leaped from the building like a graceful bird.

Vivi didn’t see this; she had teleported to the Mayor’s office a moment earlier.

She swapped her high heels for boots, casually threw on a coat, and picked up the walkie-talkie prepared on the desk, clipped it to her chest—

The head of the security force knocked outside. Vivi stepped out, nodding at the unremarkable man following her. At the helipad of the City Hall, the propeller whipped up a howling wind.

As Vivi boarded the helicopter, all the extinguished vehicles lit up their headlights one by one, and she looked southward—

Towards the direction of the East District.