“Martha, Thomas, Jason…” Three ordinary names, yet for Bruce Wayne, they represented his parents and his adopted son, the ones who died in front of him, the people he couldn’t save, the deepest scars on his soul.

That’s why, when choosing his safeword, Bruce picked these three names. He was certain that if he saw them written together or heard someone say them out loud, he’d break free from the grip of any hypnosis and remember who he was.

And now, as he infiltrated Rose Manor, Batman had indeed regained his identity. But at this moment, he felt a sudden, chilling sensation—

It was as if the manor had awakened from a deep slumber, sensing his presence as an unwelcome intruder. The entire estate was watching him, trapping him inside with no way to escape.

“This place truly determines friend or foe through consciousness,” Bruce, unarmed, still managed to think calmly, “But is it the building itself that has awareness, or is someone controlling it from behind the scenes?”

He backed away cautiously, reflecting on the events of the past few days. He quickly concluded that Bella Bettywen, while overzealous, did use chemicals to manipulate criminals into forced labour, disregarding their rights. But this was only a minor excess, given her intense hatred for evil—murderers clearly had no human rights in her eyes.

And Vivi…

Even Bruce had to admit that the mysterious Mr. C was devoted to spoiling Vivi like a real princess. He adored her, consumed her, discarded her, and then would later pick her back up, showering her with all things beautiful once again.

Furious yet indifferent, gentle yet cruel, like a child playing with their favorite toy. And Vivi was indeed his toy, a character controlled by a “player.” Bruce didn’t want to delve too deeply into this being’s mindset; it was clear that, in his eyes, humans were not equal conversational partners. Whether treated kindly or cruelly, they were beneath him. For his own amusement, however, Mr. C didn’t mind showing a bit of affection.

—And that’s how he successfully deceived his poor puppet.

The “gaze” of the house still hadn’t shifted. The air was deathly quiet, with every breath telling Bruce he didn’t belong here. But for the moment, there was no attack. Bruce assumed that this was because, at present, he was still “Vivi’s” combat instructor.

One of them, at least.

He moved towards the door, passing the long table, nodding slightly to the invisible presence in the air, signaling that he posed no threat.

Now that the test was over, he should return to being Batman, not the little girl’s instructor and part-time butler… As for Mr. C, that needed further investigation.

Three steps.

Two steps.

One step.

The dim and quiet room suddenly plunged into utter darkness. Bruce lunged forward, one hand gripping the table, the other trying to fend off a sudden rush of air from behind. But his vision was filled with pure, overwhelming blackness. He grabbed for a chair to use as a temporary weapon, but the chair, which would normally lift with ease, felt as though it had rooted to the floor. And then, Bruce was completely swallowed by the darkness.

The room fell silent once more, the only movement coming from the soft flickering of the yellow roses in the vase, glowing at regular intervals—like breathing, or perhaps… a human heartbeat.

[Your “Sun Knight” rose has captured an intruder in the manor.]

[The intruder has been marked on the map. Player may proceed to investigate.]

Vivi, who had been frowning at the burger in front of her: “…Hmm?”

She packed away the untouched burger and opened the system log, scrolling through a few overlooked entries from a few hours ago—

[Your manor has harvested a “Sun Knight” rose.]

[Congratulations, you’ve grown a special rose from an ordinary seed.]

[“Sun Knight” Rose]

[This special yellow rose will guard you like a knight. If carried, it will automatically attack enemies within a five-meter radius. If placed inside the manor, it will automatically attack all intruders.]

[Attack method: The rose will imprison enemies within its bud, shrinking their bodies.]

[Maximum number of prisoners: 5]

[Roses growing in the field cannot be used. A plucked rose will remain effective for five days before wilting.]

“Not exactly scientific,” Vivi mused, resting her chin on her hand. “Isn’t the manor supposed to be impossible to infiltrate? How did an enemy get in? Could it be a cockroach that developed a grudge against me?”

She was sitting atop a four-story building, keeping watch for any activity at the abandoned subway entrance below. Her partner, Robin, had already infiltrated the subway, while Nightwing, dressed in the Batsuit, was keeping an eye on another group. Tonight, they were determined to catch the troublemaking Scarecrow, Crane!

Why couldn’t he go stir up trouble in New York or Metropolis instead?

“By the way,” Vivi said over the comms after checking the system logs, “Is this how you guys usually fight crime when Batman’s not around?”

“Pretty much,” Tim responded from the other end, giving Vivi a rundown of the Justice League. “Honestly, there are plenty of times when Batman’s not available. In those cases, the girls help protect Gotham. Although, right now, Spoiler is in San Francisco, Orphan went to Hong Kong, and Oracle—”

“Hey, I’m here,” a woman’s voice chimed in on the comms. It wasn’t her first time joining this channel. Oracle added casually, “Vivi, once we wrap up tonight, how about grabbing dinner with us? There’s something we’d like to discuss with you.”

“Oracle…” Robin seemed like he wanted to say something, but ultimately held back.

“Huh?” Vivi looked a little surprised. “I’m totally fine with it! Would you like to come over to my place for dinner? Though, well, neither my coach nor I are very good at cooking. But we can always bring some takeout!”

She was especially excited about showing her NPC friends her rose fields—it was truly spectacular. Only a few people got to appreciate it every day, and aside from Nightwing, neither Robin nor Oracle had visited her manor yet.

Vivi added, “I’ll grant you access permissions. My manor is a really safe place. If you ever encounter danger, you can hide there.”

“Access permissions?” Nightwing asked.

“Yeah…” she replied, “Unauthorized folks can’t get in.”

“Oh,” Nightwing quickly chimed in, “Just like what I saw before, where it was all fog.”

At that moment, Nightwing was half-chatting with her while typing into his phone, [“Babs?”]

The person he was messaging was none other than Oracle, Barbara Gordon.

This woman, codenamed Oracle, was the daughter of GCPD Commissioner Gordon. After being paralyzed by the Joker, she transitioned from Batgirl, Gotham’s protector, to Oracle, providing tech support from the shadows.

[“Are you really going to keep hiding the truth? No matter what Mr. C is like, I think Vivi at least deserves to know. Has she done anything wrong? Besides, she even wants to share access to her home with you. Although… it’s a bit like a princess trapped by a dragon sharing her safe dragon’s lair with you.”]

[“Well, I just hope the dragon has flown away, so at least we can enjoy a meal in that ‘safe’ lair.”]

Nightwing shook his head, putting away his phone.

Caught in a dilemma, Nightwing decided that it was time for Batman to return. He left a message for Bruce, hoping he’d notice it, while also hoping he wouldn’t.

…Who knew if Bruce had caught on or not.

“Nightwing, Nightwatch,” Robin, ever serious during operations, only addressed them by their codenames, “I hear something.”

“I see it,” Vivi said in an odd tone. “They’ve brought tanks—one, two, three… seven tanks. Six are unmanned drones, but the middle one is bigger, and there are three people inside. Their artillery could easily collapse this place with a single shot.”

No time to wonder how Vivi gathered so much information in a glance. Nightwing immediately responded, “Robin, get out from below. I’m worried this deal isn’t going to end well.”

“Understood,” Robin replied. “I’ve already set up the equipment, and I’ll exit from another direction.”

“Why on earth are these people driving tanks through downtown Gotham like it’s no big deal?” Vivi muttered. “This is so unfair—I’ve never even driven one!”

She rolled over onto the rooftop, keeping her head down. During their stakeout, she had already scouted the area, which meant she had unlocked the map for this location.

Switching to the map, she said, “Robin, there are people approaching you from a distance—four of them, moving fast. They’re likely in vehicles too, about 300 meters away, straight road.”

“Got it, I’ll take a side route,” Tim said, his eyes focused on the surveillance feed, his tone steady. “And I know what vehicle they’re using.”

The underground tunnel echoed with the sound of an old train engine, a rumbling that shook the air. The train didn’t even have its lights on, the heavy noise resembling the deep breath of a mechanical beast. As the train moved into the light, it stood face-to-face with the tanks.

Having already hidden himself, Tim tapped his earpiece and began listening in on their conversation.

After a while, his expression turned strange, and the overheard conversation soon reached everyone else’s ears too.

“Looks like we’ve found the real deal,” Vivi whispered, her voice small, probably influenced by the tense atmosphere. “The small organization is backed by Two-Face, and the ones getting off the train are really Scarecrow’s men…”

She linked this to her mission.

[Scarecrow’s Scheme]. It seemed like Two-Face had intervened. Were they forming an alliance? All while Batman was absent?

“The deal’s done,” Tim had somehow managed to slip to the back of the train engine and crouched in the shadows, planting a tracker on the roof. “We’ve been looking for Scarecrow, but it turns out he’s been hiding in Gotham the whole time. After his escape, he and his men have been living on the move, using a constantly running train. And there are way too many abandoned train tracks beneath Gotham.”

He added, “I’ve also set up a remote bomb on their train. It’s designed to release the toxins in those vials through a special frequency resonance. If they’re careless enough to open the crates, the only side effect should be… poisoning.”

“So, should we continue tracking them?” Vivi asked. “Do we watch through surveillance or follow them?”

“What? No, these small fry aren’t important. The real problem is the mastermind behind them—Two-Face and Scarecrow,” Nightwing chuckled. “As for us… it’s time for breakfast.”

He asked, “Does anyone at your place know how to make breakfast? Just heating up some toast will do.”

Vivi thought about her house, which didn’t even have a toaster, and sheepishly replied, “…Maybe Bruce isn’t up yet.”