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[T/N: Hi readers! Happy birthday to me – emoticon. In celebration – I will be releasing some extra chapters. Happy reading!]
A light rain fell over the East End.
The Sun Knight could only arrest five people at a time. After the motorcycle criminal with shifting allegiances left, Vivi sent the criminals trapped in the rose to the GCPD. That evening, she received the intel they had confessed.
The biker criminal went by the name “Red Hood.” Upon arriving in Gotham, he took control of the drug dealers, forbidding them from selling to teenagers. But these particular dealers ignored the order and continued trading in secret throughout the East End, which led to their capture by their new boss.
It seemed she had stumbled upon an internal purge of the criminal underworld.
Vivi sighed in frustration. “Are criminals endless in this city?”
From Penguin to Black Mask, from Joker to Poison Ivy, from Two-Face to Scarecrow, from Hugo Strange to the Court of Owls… No matter how many she captured, new factions would spring up just as quickly. As mayor, she couldn’t even collect taxes, faced assassination attempts, and had to race against time to manage the city’s infrastructure after quelling criminal factions. Being the mayor of Gotham was just too hard!
Red Hood, was it?
Even if you occasionally turned “green” for friendly, you’re still a drug lord. It seems you’re trying to consolidate Gotham’s gangs during this power vacuum. Well then—Blackgate Prison has a VIP cell waiting for you!
Let the criminals tear each other apart for now. When Vivi had the time, she would deal with Red Hood personally.
“I assume you’re not here just for me to watch you daydream…” Vivi was jolted back to reality by the voice of the person sitting across from her. “Little Knight?”
“Ivy,” Vivi gathered her thoughts. “Yes, I need your help—about plants.”
“Plants?” Poison Ivy scoffed. “I haven’t forgotten how you treated my babies. You accelerated their deaths… You people, who ignore nature, are nothing but executioners.”
Vivi and Ivy sat across from each other in one of Blackgate’s interrogation rooms, the harsh white light overhead reflecting off their faces. The guards stood outside the door.
Gotham was draped in a soft veil of rain, and their conversation was muffled by the steady patter against the windows.
“You even wrote a paper trying to study how hair conditioner could accelerate plant growth,” Vivi continued, tapping her temple. “But since you don’t have a lab in prison, you requested experimental tools under the guise of research, smuggled in conditioner from the Joker, and seduced a guard to help you. Ivy, your sentence just got extended.”
Poison Ivy didn’t care about her sentence. She huffed and crossed her arms, waiting for Vivi to continue.
What she didn’t expect was for Vivi to pull out a rose. Seeing the seemingly ordinary flower, Ivy’s expression changed instantly. She instinctively leaned back, as if that flower wasn’t a plant, but something far more terrifying. Her left wrist, cuffed to the table, caused the chain to pull taut, leaving red marks on her skin.
The scent of the [Mad Gotham] rose could evoke intense faith and devotion, though the effects would eventually fade. If the target had strong mental fortitude, like Batman, the effect would disappear even faster.
Still, Vivi hadn’t anticipated such a strong reaction from Ivy. She raised an eyebrow, puzzled, and returned the rose to her inventory.
“What did you see?” Vivi asked.
“It wasn’t what I saw,” Ivy said, momentarily disarmed by the scent. “I heard the plants speak. I could feel it… something terrifying, luring me in.”
Taking a deep breath, Ivy’s immunity to toxins seemed to extend to her mental resilience as well, and she quickly regained her composure, shooting Vivi a cold glance. “What’s your game? Do you want to control me with that thing? Use me for my power?”
Vivi blinked, confused. “No…”
“The mayor wants to optimize the city’s green spaces and wants you to work for her,” Vivi said, tapping her chin. “Do mentally unstable criminals no longer have to do their fair share of prison labour? That hardly seems fair.”
Ivy’s expression twisted. “You want me to plant trees? Are you out of your mind?”
A city with a higher level of green spaces is often more livable. Before coming to Blackgate to find Poison Ivy, improving Gotham’s greenery hadn’t crossed Vivi’s mind. She had only planned to transplant roses from her garden into the East End, giving people there a way to take up gardening. But since large-scale transplantation was needed, ensuring the roses’ survival meant Ivy was the perfect candidate.
But on her way there, it had started raining in Gotham.
Gotham was always shrouded in rain. The city, in the misty downpour, felt like a gothic castle lost in a dark forest. Being a coastal city, Gotham always seemed grey. In all the time Vivi had spent in this game, it had rarely seen sunshine. Thousands of gargoyles now carried balloons, yet beneath the rain, people hurried along, their feet splashing in puddles that reflected neon signs. Suddenly, Vivi realized how bleak this city really was.
Her Gotham had flying statues, slogans everywhere, and people trying to change for the better. Cities in fairytales were always vibrant, with rainbows in the sky. Since she couldn’t change the sky, maybe she could at least add some color to Gotham.
And maybe, by increasing the greenery, she could even attract more people to settle here!
By next year, Gotham’s tourism slogan would be “The Seaside Flower City!”
After Vivi finished speaking, the system immediately gave her corresponding feedback…
【Main Quest Activated: City Construction System – Green Spaces Edition】
【Description: When outsiders talk about Gotham, they often use words like “dangerous” and “grim”—its gothic architecture, the perpetually cloudy sky, and the fierce Gotham natives… Maybe it’s time for this city to change its image, starting with covering the streets in flowers.】
【Task (1): Find a Reliable Partner】
【You can’t plant all the trees yourself, so you need someone who loves plants and is responsible.】
【Task Reward: City Green Space Blueprint x1, Mystery Package Reward.】
Half an hour later, Vivi struck a temporary deal with Poison Ivy, trading Harley Quinn’s better prison cell in exchange for Ivy’s help. And if Ivy continued to resist, Vivi wouldn’t hesitate to use the roses she’d reserved for Two-Face right here.
As they entered Vivi’s rose garden, Poison Ivy crouched down, touching the branches of the flowers with a confused expression. “…They don’t have a consciousness. What’s going on?”
For a brief moment, Ivy thought she’d lost her abilities. Her unique power allowed her to communicate with plants, to catalyze and control them. Ever since she gained her abilities, she’d felt that humans were no longer her kin—she belonged to the plants, like one of them, relying on photosynthesis to survive. But today, for the first time, she discovered that these plants were devoid of awareness.
The Sun Knight had already been used up. Vivi, curious, asked, “What about ‘Mad Gotham’? That rose grew right here.”
—It had just mutated.
Ivy gave Vivi a sidelong glance. “I’ve never… encountered a plant so unfriendly before. ‘Mad Gotham’? That’s a fitting name. Gotham is already mad. You plan to transplant these roses all over the city?”
She frowned, brushing her hand across the petals of the rose. After a pause, she said, “…Fine, I’ll help you.”
The fact that she couldn’t communicate with these roses left Ivy feeling disoriented. She certainly didn’t think the roses were fake, but it made her doubt her own powers.
The world of plants was even more mysterious than she had imagined. Even though she’d turned herself into something akin to a plant, there were still things in this world that were beyond her understanding. She wanted to figure it all out. Changing the soil was just one part of the experiment.
【Quest Completed: City Construction System – Green Spaces Edition: Find a Partner (1).】
【Your partner is Poison Ivy, and you’re sure she’ll take good care of the plants, but be cautious of her tendency to harm humans. It’s recommended that you find more delicate workers to handle the finer tasks.】
【Reward: City Green Space Blueprint x1, Mystery Package x1.】
【Mystery Package: When opened, it will provide you with what you need most at that moment.】
After pulling a dress from a previous mystery box, Vivi had tempered her expectations. The dress wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t hoping for anything great this time either.
【Reward: One-Time Equivalent Alchemy and 100,000 gold coins.】
【Item: One-Time Equivalent Alchemy.】
【Description: Following the great principle of equivalent exchange, what will you trade for what?】
Vivi tapped the item, and two boxes appeared in her interface. She realized it was like the transmutation device she had, but while that could only handle game items, this alchemy tool…
She could drag anything she owned into the interface—Winston, Violin, Poison Ivy, Milly, Penguin… all the NPCs she knew, her non-hostile subordinates, the guards, the police force, her money, her gargoyles, her item cards… everything was fair game. But it could only be used once.
Every tangible and intangible thing could be offered up. Vivi even saw the option to sacrifice her “Mayor” status in exchange for something. There were many options, but she’d never agree to that!
To prevent herself from accidentally sacrificing something she shouldn’t, Vivi decided to use the alchemy tool immediately, getting rid of the dangerous item before she made any mistakes.
After some trial and error, Vivi finally figured out what to trade.
She placed materials and prison labour in the exchange slots, then typed in what she wanted in return on the right.
The item was used, and Vivi let out a sigh of relief as the system notification appeared.
Suddenly, there was a commotion in Blackgate Prison. The convicts, who had been returning from their late shift, erupted into chaos.
When the guards rushed in, they found the prisoners screaming incoherently, some writhing in pain, some muttering unintelligibly, and others suffering from severe muscle cramps. They were drenched in sweat, writhing on the floor of their cells, visibly wasting away, as if enduring some unseen torment. And yet, no one was there.
One of the guards exchanged a glance with his companion. They both knew what the prisoners had in common: all of them had been injected with THE1, a drug that had turned them into mindless workers. Back then, they had been nothing but drones, so could it be that THE1 had some sort of aftereffect?
Meanwhile, the East End—and all of Gotham—experienced a minor earthquake. Only those monitoring the underground would have noticed it.
Deep below, the city was undergoing a silent transformation. Walls twisted, the ground subtly shifted, and this underground renovation, which lasted the entire night, used up every last resource provided by the construction companies. Now, the city was renewed—and better than ever.
……
【Main Quest Completed: City Construction System – Underground Edition, Gotham’s Underground (2)】
【Quest Summary: You have completed Gotham’s underground construction, solving the most difficult issue in the East End, clearing the blockages in the sewer system, and reducing the risk of flooding. You’ve repaired the heavily damaged underground infrastructure of the East End, raised the ground level, provided housing and security for the poor, and addressed the power struggles in the area.】
【Quest Progress: 100%】
【Reward: 1.5 million gold coins, 500 diamonds.】
【You have unlocked:
EasyRead[Translator]
Just a translator :)
Happy birthday!! May your year full with happiness
Happy late birthday!