Outside Gotham.

Los Angeles.

Constantine popped a piece of gum into his mouth.

John Constantine—a scoundrel and a powerful sorcerer. He had deceived demons, defied angels, ventured into hell, and come back. Though it sounds repulsive, he had indeed spent much of his time combating demons who wanted to invade the human world, acting like a half-hearted hero.

Seven days ago, Batman had contacted him. Compared to Zatanna from the Justice League, Constantine might have been more worldly, so he understood that Batman wanted him to handle something beyond Zatanna’s capabilities—he initially refused, but Batman’s offer was just too tempting.

All Batman wanted was for Constantine to determine whether the girl “Vivi” was backed by an angel or a demon.

“The mystical forces are vast and complex,” Constantine had said. “I refuse to go to Gotham, but I can cast a spell on you. Through you, I can indirectly sense the unusual powers of those around you. You’ll need to get close to her.”

Batman had agreed.

Over the past seven days, Constantine had intermittently sensed evil energies through the magic circle, which made him irritable as he was trying to quit smoking. However, he had confirmed one thing: “It’s not a demon, but it’s a power I’ve encountered before, though what I’ve seen was nowhere near as malevolent.”

It wasn’t a demon, meaning Constantine didn’t have to go to Gotham, but what exactly was this strange power? It was intertwined with other forces, leaving him unable to fully understand its nature right away. Today, the magic circle suddenly dimmed.

If not absolutely necessary, Constantine rarely used magic, as he believed every spell came with a price.

At that moment, a nameless dread enveloped him. The magic circle before him felt like a key to unlocking an abyss, and someone on the other side had glanced through. His body froze, unable to move under the crushing weight of the force, until suddenly—the ceiling collapsed.

A whole section of the ceiling came crashing down, shattering, and covering Constantine in dust, but the oppressive force vanished.

Coughing, Constantine sent Batman a message: “…I’d suggest you stop digging any further.”

After sending the message, Constantine stared at the magic circle for a long while before muttering to himself, “Looks like I need to head back to London.”

Meanwhile, the little Batman was too caught up in a fight to respond. Or rather, it was Vivi who was fighting, while Batman merely experienced the thrill of a rollercoaster ride from within the rose.

Vivi wasn’t wealthy enough to throw away unrecoverable coins—she could manifest gold coins from virtual into reality, but unless she gifted them, they would disappear after a while, just like the earrings Catwoman had stolen before. So, she could freely use these coins as throwing weapons.

After Vivi’s warning, the people in the hall sprang into action, ushering the children back to their rooms and closing the windows. Then, the bombardment began, but the cathedral stood firm—its windows had protective enchantments, making the building impervious to damage.

Vivi breathed a sigh of relief, and through the earpiece, Batman instructed, “Check the guests. Scarecrow teamed up with Two-Face, and he won’t miss an opportunity to create chaos from within. He’s a master of fear, but he has one weakness: he enjoys seeing his victims’ terror up close.”

Using the balcony as her vantage point, Vivi opened the window during a lull in the bombardment to launch her coins from afar. She did have a gun, but frankly, at this distance, she was far more effective using her grappling hook to fling coins.

—She personally witnessed one of her coins knocking someone’s teeth out.

Huh… Vivi thought, without a shred of guilt, I didn’t aim for that spot on purpose.

While the children were managed, the guests—being adults—had their own reactions. They split into three groups. The first included the mayor and those familiar with her, like Director Hogg, Shelk, Violin, and Commissioner Gordon, who were trying to maintain order. The second group naturally formed around Sheila, the Ratcatcher, and her classmates. The third group was made up of quieter, more isolated guests.

Vivi, controlling her alt character, scanned the room and quickly realized that several people were missing from the hall.

She leaped down from the windowsill and walked into the banquet hall. Everyone instinctively parted for her as if she were Moses parting the sea. Through her alt, the mayor, she said, “Gordon, Hogg, please maintain order. Several people slipped out during the chaos. Guests, I ask that you stay put for the time being—this disturbance will soon be over.”

Vivi exchanged a glance with her alt, as if passing on some unspoken message, then patted Millie on the shoulder and pushed open the door, delivering a swift kick to the person standing outside—

Just moments before, the name above this individual had changed from [Guest] to [Scarecrow]. As expected, Scarecrow had been hiding among the guests, flanked by two henchmen. However, before Vivi could say anything, an unexpected event caught everyone off guard.

The yellow rose pinned to Vivi’s chest suddenly expanded, enveloping all three men and swallowing them whole.

Vivi: “…”

Barbara over the comms: “…Huh?”

She glanced around, noticing that half of the guests instinctively took a step back under her gaze. Vivi couldn’t help but feel speechless.

After Scarecrow was swallowed up, the device containing his fear gas fell to the floor. Vivi picked it up, muttering softly, “It’s just an automatic defense system. By the way, Batman, how are you doing?”

The tiny Batman, still disguised as “Bruce Malone,” replied, “…A little cramped.”

[Your “Sun Knight” rose has captured three hostile entities.]

[Withering time reduced—2 days until the rose wilts.]

Well, that was a relief. Vivi nodded and rushed out into the corridor. After confirming there were no threats inside, she received good news from outside—Nightwing, Robin, Spider-Man, and Catwoman had all joined the battle, causing chaos in Two-Face’s forces. Nightwing, still disguised as Batman, was leading the charge.

“The fact that the church wasn’t reduced to rubble by the cannon fire was an unexpected twist for both Two-Face and Scarecrow. I suspect their original plan wasn’t this chaotic. Scarecrow smuggled in his fear toxin, disguised himself as a guest, and planned to unleash it when everyone was at their breaking point. But what he didn’t expect was to be taken out by a flower without a chance to react…” Batman glanced at the unconscious Scarecrow trapped in the rose. He nudged him lightly with his foot, but the gesture was useless. “I suggest you wake him up, make him spill any further plans he has…”

Vivi was silent. How am I supposed to interrogate someone who’s smaller than my thumb?

The door to the hall swung open again, and this time it was Sheila the Ratcatcher who appeared. Her pet rat squeaked on her shoulder. “Vivi, Scott told me something bad is happening underground.”

At the same time, Vivi noticed a small figure at Blackgate Prison frantically banging on her office door with a worried speech bubble floating above his head.

Right now, Vivi could only manage to multitask between two avatars. Her mayor character was surrounded by people in the banquet hall, and she frowned as she made the mayor push through the crowd, saying hurriedly, “I need to use the restroom.”

Vivi quickly switched to her other character, and in her office, Bella Bettywen came online. Just then, the prison guard burst through the door. “Warden! Just moments ago, Dean Sharp from Arkham Asylum visited the psychiatric inmates, and he entered the psychiatric ward…”

The guard took a breath and continued, “He also brought someone with him, a psychiatrist… And now, the inmates are rioting!”

The computer updated with a new visitation record. The visitor’s name read: “Hugo Strange.”

As Vivi snapped back to reality, she realized Sheila had finished speaking. Grabbing Vivi’s hand, Sheila was leading them downstairs. “There’s still a lot of gas left, Vivi…”

Both of them paused as Scarecrow’s voice suddenly filled the air, broadcasted across the city. It seemed he had pre-recorded this message, even though his real self was still trapped in Vivi’s rose.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent of The Daily Planet had just finished a visit with Alfred at Wayne Manor. Now, he was on an elevated railway, glancing at his watch.

Though outwardly a journalist, Clark Kent—Superman—was a member of the Justice League, like Batman. Even though he trusted his teammate, he couldn’t help but worry about Gotham whenever Batman was occupied. After all, during Batman’s busiest times, Clark had briefly taken on the mantle of the Dark Knight, stepping into Bruce’s shoes… although that disguise hadn’t worked well. After all, Superman had a body of steel, and in theory, nothing could harm him.

—Unless the train car suddenly began filling with fear gas.

It all started with the train. Vivi heard a muffled explosion from below, something in the basement seemed to have detonated. And then came the fear gas, dark and creeping, spreading outward through the sky along with Scarecrow’s voice.

“These canisters were carried onto the train by the maintenance workers… No, not just them. Passengers too… They must have been hypnotized. Vivi, are you listening? Vivi? The monitors show a riot has broken out at Blackgate, and some Arkham inmates have clashed with Blackgate’s prisoners. Damn it, I can see Superman… It looks like he’s been affected by the gas… Vivi, are you there?”

Tim took a deep breath, slipping on his gas mask. If he spoke loudly now, his voice would feel too harsh in his ears. Look, Two-Face’s men had already prepared gas masks—they were all in on it. The overt deal wasn’t their real objective; the hypnotized citizens were the true weapons aimed at the vigilantes. He had already seen what ordinary people were doing in their panic, and he was currently in the East End—once the most chaotic area but now with the fewest firearms. He couldn’t imagine the horrors unfolding elsewhere in Gotham.

And then—damn it—he saw a building in the distance collapse. Amidst the spreading fear gas, this disaster hadn’t been caused by the enemy, but by Superman, under the gas’s influence.

Vivi, who had been silent, finally spoke over the comms: “It’s so easy to destroy a city. Those people have no idea how hard it is to build one.”

Of course, Tim thought. But they had no choice—they would just have to rebuild it, again and again. Rebuild the city, and rebuild the people’s trust. Even as chaos erupted, some had already started their cars, fleeing toward the highway out of Gotham.

Or rather, fleeing Gotham.

Violin began organizing people, Gordon contacted the GCPD, Hogg anxiously searched for the missing mayor, and Sheila gripped Vivi’s hand tightly while her rats scurried through the dark underground, seeking out the fear gas…

If Vivi had already completed the underground infrastructure, with the pipes in place, the situation wouldn’t have been so dire.

If she had already converted most of the prisoners to her side, she could have quelled the riot at Blackgate.

—But Gotham never gave her the time.

So, she chose to make time for herself.

[Silver·Item (One-time use): Took a Nap]

[Description: Set a time marker to rewind time by 30 minutes.]

[I took a nap, and missed something, so I rewound time…]

Everything began to rapidly reverse—the gas returned to the canisters, the guests were back in the hall, the children still running around, and Scarecrow, disguised as a guest, was just pushing open the banquet hall doors. Two-Face’s men hadn’t yet deployed their tanks… only Vivi remained in place. She turned and landed a spinning kick on Scarecrow.

The enormous rose opened wide, swallowing Scarecrow into its depths. Inside, Batman, who had forgotten everything that had just happened, stood momentarily stunned, staring in disbelief at his unexpected new roommate.

And then—

[Silver·Scene (One-time use): Silent Long Night]

[Description: A dark sky blankets the city. For the next four hours, all the good children will fall into a peaceful sleep, while those who rebel against you will be weakened. You can do whatever you wish to them.]

[Sleep, sleep, enter the magic of a silent long night…]

Sleep, sleep…

Vivi didn’t respond to Batman. She gazed out at the hazy nightscape, her eyes swirling with storms of thunder and lightning.

—You bad children… you just don’t understand the importance of protecting this city, do you?