Gotham City Simulator – 54

TN: Hi everyone (if anyone is still reading). As this is being translated by someone else and I will never be able to match their speed, I have no choice but to technically drop this novel. I will no longer be linking this on NU but I will still release updates on the site as I haven’t finished reading the novel as well ૮(˶˃ᆺ˂˶)

It was nice to bring awareness to the novel and share ViVi’s shenanigans.

Please do not hesitate to support the author over on jjwxc– > here

I will still carry on with my other 2 projects – they will be slow but regular updates. I have quite a few projects lined up but will be taking it one step at a time.

Happy reading!

The communication channel was silent until the sound of a lock clicking shut came from Vivi’s end.

Nightwing let out a breath and said, “I’m on the first basement level. The gel bombs can’t destroy this wall. It looks like Black Mask is very cautious. What’s your current situation? Did you escape?”

Black Mask only mentioned “Nightwing would die,” but in reality, there were still those innocent controlled undead in the steel mill, and Nightwing didn’t believe Vivi wouldn’t care about them—she didn’t seem like that!

So after the initial shock, reason returned, and Nightwing quickly guessed that Vivi was just pretending to deceive Black Mask. Hating evil doesn’t mean she has no rationality. Dying a martyr’s death with “hundreds of innocent lives” isn’t the same thing.

Obviously, Black Mask had been fooled.

Facing the combat master Black Mask and his loyal subordinates alone, it seemed like Vivi had surrounded everyone by herself. She skillfully toyed with them and then calmly escaped.

Although the girl said some shocking things over the communicator, she ultimately did nothing, right?

Punching Black Mask didn’t count. If Nightwing were there, he’d just rush in to help.

“I’m fine,” Vivi said while searching the rooms on that floor. “I’m in Black Mask’s living room. I didn’t find a way down. As for escaping… let’s say Black Mask and his men are all trapped in that room by me.”

Nightwing chuckled, “Nice job. When will they come out? Wait, I found… huh?”

He discovered the warehouse and the obvious pole leading to the next level. But when he peeked down, Dick saw something wrong. He made direct eye contact with Black Mask below.

Oh.

Strangely, Black Mask didn’t attack him, nor did anyone else. Instinctively, Dick poked his staff, and it struck an invisible wall with a solid impact that numbed his wrist.

There was an invisible wall at the top-down passage, and those below were… this must be what Vivi meant by “I trapped Black Mask”?

Nightwing thought of Mr. C, who seemingly had mysterious powers behind Vivi. Of course, the girl would have powers granted by Mr. C, including resurrection.

At this moment, Vivi replied to his earlier question, “Come out? Without me, they’ll never get out.”

“Nightwing! You wait for me!” Black Mask, clearly suppressing his anger, shouted from below. The chaos was evident, and Nightwing could hear them hitting the walls.

“Black Mask?” Nightwing stood up with his staff, smirking. “Enjoy your time down there with your… subordinates.”

However, this way was blocked; he had to find another way down.

Clearly, this pole was just Black Mask’s backup escape route. With so many people, he must have another way to transfer them.

Robin’s voice came through his earpiece: “I hacked the steel mill’s main control system and found a hidden elevator.”

As the words fell, a gentle vibration was felt around. Dick’s eyes lit up—he thought he wouldn’t let Vivi work alone next time. Although she was just pretending, the earlier conversation sounded terrifying enough.

“By the way, Vivi,” Robin said casually, “Nightwing said you trapped Black Mask and his men in a room, right? So if the room explodes, will it affect Nightwing and the other workers upstairs?”

Vivi didn’t answer, but they all heard her light laugh.

……

Second basement level.

Black Mask held his abdomen, having been punched a few minutes ago, and watched as a girl had come and gone under his watchful eyes.

Now, he found no one could leave the room.

They tried the walls, doors, vents, and even Black Mask’s backup plans, all to no avail. The whole room seemed isolated in another space. Black Mask pressed his five fingers against the wall and squinted, noticing a barely visible gap between his nails and the wall. He was pressing against an invisible wall.

They were isolated.

Panic spread through the room, and Black Mask’s chest heaved. On the monitors, the girl strolled around as if in her own home, leisurely opening doors, finding his hidden elevator, and meeting up with Nightwing to head to the third basement level where he stored his potions. And him?

His loyal subordinates were trapped with him, his undead soldiers worked in the factory, and Batman was dismantling his forces. He couldn’t leave, but he received new updates constantly; the room wasn’t blocking signals.

It was like a slow, torturous death, watching everything he owned burn to ashes.

He stared hard at the screens showing Nightwing and Vivi from different angles. He pressed his phone to his lips, “Release failures 01 to 07.”

This girl deceived him. When death loomed close, he really was fooled, making him furious. She must pay the price!

After giving the order, Black Mask turned angrily, “Don’t rest, keep smashing!”

A naked man appeared at the edge of the screen, not walking but crawling, his upper body covered in dark red scars forming strange patterns on his back. He had no hair and sniffed the air like a beast before silently and swiftly pouncing atop a freezer.

The others were not much different from him. These seven individuals, or rather seven failures, had undergone multiple injections but were unable to follow Black Mask’s commands. Tests showed that they had strong reactions to the first injection, leading to true brain death, but their bodies continued to act on instinct.

They were truly powerful, with beast-like combat instincts. Once released from their containment pods, they would hunt the nearest living being—

They hunted by sensing the flow of blood.

Black Mask watched the screen with anticipation. At this moment, Vivi ranked higher than his old friend Nightwing on his hatred list. He just wanted to see the girl torn to pieces.

Hurry up! Show me that scene!

Tear her apart, only tearing her apart could wash away the humiliation Black Mask felt from being toyed with!

He saw the seven failures approaching the two of them, and then the two split in different directions, seemingly to search for THE1. Perfect opportunity—

The seven simultaneously surrounded Nightwing!

Black Mask: “?”

He shifted his posture, like a gambler who had bet everything on the losing side of a football match, yet refused to acknowledge the loss. He stared at the monitor with a mixture of anticipation and frustration.

“She’s too lucky.” He could only think that.

Vivi found the original sample of THE1, thanks to her game system. Just by staring at an item, she could see its description, so finding this thing only took a bit of time.

【“THE1” Serum】

【Injectable. Those injected with the serum can be awakened by a command word, becoming soldiers who only obey the awakener, capable of performing mechanical, low-intelligence tasks. After the use of a dormancy word, the injected person will regain consciousness but lose memories of the “awakened period.”】

【THE1 is a serum that can lie dormant in the human body, metabolizing after about three months. With repeated injections, the metabolism slows, and the injected person gradually becomes a mindless puppet. Creating a new antidote is necessary to break free from the control.】

“Ah,” Vivi thought, “I got you.”

If she couldn’t reverse engineer the serum, she would need the formula. For now, Vivi took all the serums from a row of freezers, placing one in her coat pocket.

——This was to be given to Nightwing.

She also found other versions, from the second generation to the fifth generation sold as drugs, but they were all weakened versions of the first, with poor effects and various side effects.

“Next, I need to understand how the command and dormancy words work. Once Black Mask is sent to Blackgate, I’ll have plenty of time to play with him.”

Hopefully, Black Mask would reveal something useful, proving he had value beyond just emitting carbon dioxide into the air.

If he weren’t still useful, why wouldn’t Vivi just blow him sky-high?

She took several samples of each type and heard the chaotic sounds of battle not far away. Then, Nightwing flew overhead—more like he was thrown. Several figures followed, looking less human.

Alright, you all just don’t like walking on the ground, do you?

Nightwing seemed to be holding up, so Vivi told Robin she had obtained the serum, and it looked like they could retreat.

As they chatted, Nightwing, while being beaten, passed by Vivi…

Then, with Robin’s help, Vivi controlled the computer on this level to let Robin link in. It seemed they successfully obtained the formula from the computer, while Nightwing continued to get beaten passing by…

“I think it’s only fair I get part of the formula for my efforts, right?”

“But we must ensure you don’t give the formula to others,” Batman’s deep voice came through, “These are dangerous. After transmission, Robin will destroy the original data in the computer.”

“But that’s not fair,” Vivi frowned, “You know how it works in dungeons—you distribute rewards reasonably, or no one will team up with you again!”

Nightwing kicked a freezer over, pinning failures 01 and 03 underneath. They struggled, and he used his grapple gun to hang failures 02 and 04 from the rafters. He dodged 05’s bear hug but got grabbed by 06.

“We won’t use the formula for anything,” Batman’s raspy voice continued, “Can you guarantee you won’t give it to anyone or use it for anything?”

“We’re discussing fairness,” Vivi tapped the keyboard, pretending to be angry.

[ I need you to help Vivi, Jar ]

[ As you wish, ma’am. ]

The game system interface flashed [Transmission complete], and she thanked Robin for guiding an outsider on remote system access.

In the virtual world… a door opened.

Nightwing kicked 06 away, smacked 05 in the head with his staff, and stuffed the dazed 05 and 06 into an empty freezer, locking it firmly. At that moment, failure 07, who had climbed onto the light fixture, lunged at him—

“But I need this formula,” Vivi said with some sadness, “I must complete my mission. I have to!”

Even though she had achieved her goal, giving up so easily felt too simple.

She remembered that C had a bad reputation on their side; it seemed everyone thought she was C’s poor subordinate, so this was the perfect opportunity to cement that perception.

“Since you already have the formula, there’s no need for me to hand over the original THE1 serum!”

Tim sighed. Batman was on his way, and he believed Batman could obtain the remaining serums or samples.

Tim could understand Batman’s thinking. Vivi had indeed helped a lot, but she wasn’t a trustworthy companion—she was Mr. C’s person. No matter what she did, she was always Mr. C’s person, and Mr. C represented the “unknown” and the “uncontrollable.”

Tim believed that with the original sample, it wouldn’t be difficult for Mr. C to reverse engineer the formula. The stubborn girl, determined to complete her mission, was the most pitiful one caught in the middle.

She thought her task was crucial, so she gave it her all to complete it. Her tone was cunning: “How about a trade? I’m willing to exchange all the original samples for the antidote formula.”

Everyone could see her intention. After a moment of silence, Batman said, “Okay.”

Great, Vivi wasn’t worried Batman wouldn’t keep his word.

With the serums and the formula, she had scored a free antidote formula from the Batcave, which was always a win!

Vivi then ended the communication and turned: “Nightwing, need any help?”

“No,” Nightwing smashed the head of Number 07 into the ground, sighed wearily, and said, “I’ve got it handled.”