Chapter 53

[1st POV]

After questioning Pam and Harley, I gathered that Hugo Strange had been trying to mess with their minds, nudging them toward helping him "rope" me into working with him.

I'm not entirely against it, but I don't like that he decided to mess around in their heads.

From the canon, I know he's supposedly a criminal genius and master manipulator.

However, I also know he's a scientist who's genuinely interested in the process of treating his patients.

I'm not sure how strong his professional integrity is, but I think he genuinely intends to either cure or… "treat" the local freaks into submission.

Overall, I think I should work with him. I hope to learn something useful from this "practice."

I spent my weekend productively, continuing to create clones who trained and studied. I sent even more clones to libraries and universities disguised as various students.

Meanwhile, I took it easy—well, sort of. I was relaxing and having fun with Pamela and Harley on a little barbecue trip out of town.

Right now, I can comfortably control twelve clones at once.

For now, my clones are working on refining existing water techniques and explosive seals.

Soon, I'll need to find a proper spot to train my elemental Water and Earth techniques.

Once I get those to a decent level, I'll start working on Lightning.

These are my strongest skills, but I've been neglecting them lately, mostly due to a lack of a good training ground.

I, on the other hand, was diving into one of Naruto's most iconic techniques, the Rasengan.

I even stocked up a balloon filled with water.

Thanks to my high-level chakra manipulation, I managed to tear the balloon to shreds on my fourth attempt. I made a few small holes on the first try but nailed it.

The air-filled balloon was another story. It took me six tries just to make a tiny hole for the air to escape, showing me there's more work to be done.

Right at that point, Pamela interrupted my training.

She knows I have some abilities, but out of respect, she's held off on asking too many questions.

I did ask her to give me a little more time before I reveal everything. She's been incredibly patient and understanding.

As dusk fell, I received system notifications indicating relationship improvements, and the current standings looked like this:

Bruce Wayne/Batman: 3500 (Respect)

Richard "Dick" Grayson/Nightwing: 2800 (strong interest, admiration)

Jason Todd/Robin II: 950 (Interest, Guilt)

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl: 700 (Mild Interest, Guilt)

Alfred Pennyworth: 600 (Interest, Respect)

Sasha Bordeaux: 500 (Interest)

Lucius Fox: 500 (Interest)

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress: 400 (Mild Interest)

I hadn't realized that Huntress had already made her way to Gotham—definitely missed that development.

However, I've only been sending my "Mousemen" out around lunchtime for just a few days.

I guess it's time to bring back the "therapeutic" patrols.

Gotham and the Bat-family could use a little light-hearted intervention from a cheerful hero.

Then there's Sasha Bordeaux... Her name rings a bell, but I can't quite place it.

She can't just be an ordinary bystander.

As for the "guilt" from Barbara and Jason, that's amusing.

It seems like someone gave them a mental wake-up call, perhaps even Barbara, who is finally aware of her own "wrongs" toward me, feels some shame.

I haven't encountered either of them recently, not sure what's changed.

Then Pamela's voice breaks through my thoughts, calling out, "Honey, are you coming to bed?"

How could I say no to a woman like her?

...

Monday

It was time to talk to kids again.

This was the last school on my list.

Renee had already finished her part by Friday and had taken off to spend time with her brother for some rest or a family gathering until Wednesday.

She'd even managed to get a few extra days off from Gordon besides the weekend.

As it turned out, the "child psychologist" work found me sooner than expected.

Right on the first floor, I saw two girls in a corner: one looked about ten, the other around fourteen or fifteen.

They were surrounded by a group of five girls roughly the same age as the older one, all caught up in an argument about something.

"So, what is it that young ladies of such a prestigious school can't seem to agree on?"

I asked, nodding toward the little blonde clinging tightly to the older brunette, clearly frightened.

"Who do you think you are?"

One of the girls snapped, clearly agitated, "Since when did we let any riffraff into our school? These ones are lurking around."

"And since when am I riffraff? And what exactly did these girls do wrong?"

I asked, trying to stay calm.

"It's none of your business. Get lost, or we'll call the cops!"

The fat one, glaring at me.

In response, I pulled my badge from under my jacket, showing it off.

"They're already here."

I smiled and waved.

[+100 relationship with Jade Crock]

[+100 relationship with Artemis Crock]

Those names sound familiar...

"Wonderful! Arrest them! They're the daughters of the Huntress! Their mother's a criminal!"

The third girl cried.

"The Huntress, I remember, young ladies. But the problem is, I'm not going to arrest them, because as far as I know, they haven't done anything illegal. What their mother did was bad, but they aren't responsible for it, and more importantly..."

My half-hour speech made a difference.

Before we were interrupted by the girls' homeroom teacher, I had managed to influence her, and by then, I'd managed to gather the entire grade level that the girls were in.

First, I focused on the older Crock, then the younger one, and then proceeded to lecture all the students about the "presumption of innocence."

This approach worked well.

I even used my "Fear Aura " to influence the students, but my eloquence had the greatest impact.

As a result, I gained one Fear Aura and two in charisma.

At the end of my efforts, I bid the students farewell, received notifications about improved relationships with two future people canonically connected to the Teen Titans, and made my way to the precinct.

There, I spent my time shuffling paperwork with a clear conscience.

However, now I needed to keep an eye on Jade, as I remembered she would follow in her mother's footsteps and eventually join or collaborate with the League of Shadows.

But I couldn't recall much about Jade and her sister, I'd always been more focused on the Justice League and Gotham's heroes.

I didn't pay much attention to the magical world, and I never read the Teen Titans comics, only bits and pieces, the animated series and cartoons.

While thinking about Jade, a memory from the clone in the library came to me, reporting that it had finished reading all the books on philosophy and psychology and then dispersed.

After that, another clone of Mouseman appeared with a report on its completed tasks.

I went to the bathroom, created another clone to replace the old one, and sent it on a "mission."

Now, I needed to fill the "vacant space" of the clone with another task.

There aren't many interesting books in this world, and, most importantly, the ones that are popular in my world are the ones by Terry Good Kind, like A Song of Ice and Fire or the Sword of Truth series.

I haven't seen these books or the author, and there's room to spread my wings.

That's why I decided to assign this clone to the literary direction.

Speaking of money, I received a transfer from Luc for the sales and promotion of young performers who are now singing the songs I wrote.

At this pace, by September, Pam and I could easily fly somewhere for a vacation in a warm place.

The main thing is that nothing happens during my rightful vacation, and no one from the big League bothers me.

Yet, today, I still need to call Dr. Strange and tell him I'm willing to be his "brain surgeon" partner.

It was already late in the evening when I was passing by one of the nightclubs.

I would have passed by without a second thought if my instincts hadn't signaled that something was happening nearby.

I turned my head to the right and saw a crowd of men and two women in an alley.

[New Quest: The Noble Knight!

Objective: Save the two beauties from the clutches of the vile hooligans and earn a special reward.

Reward:

+Variable

+10 AP

+5,000 Experience

+200 relationship with Nightwing]

I slowed down and, like a brave knight on a white horse except without the horse went to the rescue.

There were six guys and two girls.

This was pretty much a gangbang, and they were trying to convince the ladies to join in.

Fortunately, they hadn't done any harm yet.

"May I see your ID please?"

I interrupted just as one of them was about to swing at me, but I dodged.

"Huh?!"

These guys were drunk, really drunk.

"Get lost! Or else..."

"Or else what?"

I asked, already gearing up for a fight and pumping my muscles with chakra.

Just in time, one of them clearly wasn't in the mood for conversation and immediately swung a wooden stick or a club at my back.

I barely felt the pain, and the weapon broke. I just elbowed him in the nose, and he started bleeding.

Then the rest of the guys jumped me.

I punched him to the jaw of the man in front of me, followed by a kick to the stomach, and he flew into a man standing behind him.

Then, I blocked blows from two guys to my sides and slammed their own fists into their faces with force.

I quickly made a spin and a kick to the chest of one, another spin, and a punch to the nose of the second.

Then, the guy who was the first to get hit in the fight tried to attack me from behind.

Without even turning around, I broke his knee with a kick. Then he and his fallen comrade tried to run away.

I didn't feel like running after them.

I grabbed two stones from the ground, infused them with chakra, knocked them on the head, and knocked them unconscious.

Both of the ladies had been watching all of this closely. I also sensed the aura's color far away; it seemed like Nightwing was also observing.

He'd probably report this to Batman.

I sent a quick message to our duty officer to send a unit to take the trash away from here.

"T-thank you!"

A pleasant female voice squeaked from behind.

She was a medium-height blonde in a revealing red dress with decent breasts and a side slit that exposed her slender leg.

"No need for thanks. It's my job, ladies. Here, I'm afraid I must ask you to stay for..."

"Oh, come on. Are you already starting to hassle us?"

The second redhead scoffed, clearly more intoxicated than the first.

The second woman was sitting on a wooden crate, glaring at me with irritation and almost hatred. Her hair was long and slightly wavy, her skin pale, and her cold eyes burned with fire.

After I activated "Observation," I felt like slapping my hand on my face.

Name: Kate Kane

Level: 31

Race: Human

Class: Soldier (former)

Subclass: -

Feature: Spoiled rich girl, Head of the Kane family.

Age: 23 years

Attributes: See details.

Name: Hannah Mikaelson

Level: 35

Race: Human, Half Amazon

Class: -

Subclass: -

Special Trait: Spoiled rich girl, Head of the Mikaelson family.

Age: 25 years

Attributes: See details.

I remember the blonde from a recent event, and she was there as a guest.

She is one of the richest and most "desirable brides" in Gotham City. The first one is our future Batwoman, I hope I haven't messed up the canon too much with my interference.

"This is my job. I have to report the attack on you, and you need to give a statement about the assault."

"I don't want to!"

"I didn't ask you to."

"And I didn't need your thanks. I'm a cop! It's my duty, and I've carried it out regardless of your wishes. If you don't want to end up in situations like this, ma'am, I think you should either be more cautious late at night in places like this or become more independent and strong, so you won't need help."

With these words, I received a reward from the mission:

Rewards:

+Variable (The probability that someone you saved today might fall in love with you)

+10 AP

+5,000 Experience

+200 relationship with Nightwing]

[1+ Level Up

Given Miss Michaelson's curiosity and Miss Kane's disdain, I already know who will fall for me…

"Anyway."

I continued, "you'll have to stay! You have a wound on your leg, and if you don't trust me, your friend can help you."

Afterward, cops arrived.

I filled out the report, and after that, I took the ladies to their homes or, rather, to the tower that serves as a gathering place for the local elite's penthouses.

That's where Catherine used to live.

After bidding farewell to the ladies, I could finally head home.

To be continued...