Captain America, I Only Recognize Steve Rogers

"Customer, you're the first person we've had order milk so far."

After hearing Cheng Tian's order, the bartender pulled a carton of skim milk from the fridge and poured a full pint glass of it right in front of Cheng Tian. He looked like he was doing his job, but he clearly wasn't very enthusiastic.

After all, Cheng Tian's charm value, which was below average, was evident. While it wasn't enough to make people hate him, he couldn't expect anyone to be overly enthusiastic.

"Milk is good~ It replenishes calcium and strengthens bones."

Cheng Tian said, then tilted his head back and downed the entire glass in one go. Amidst the strange looks from those around him, he let out an incredibly vulgar milk burp.

Since Cheng Tian had already passed the Novice Trial, he was usually assigned a reasonably appropriate legal identity that fit the world's framework when entering a new instance.

In secret, he was a bounty hunter, but in public, he posed as a gentlemanly foreign businessman.

However, Cheng Tian, who was wearing the guise of a gentleman, was clearly not suited for this image. Or rather, he didn't know how to maintain the persona of a foreign gentleman. He wouldn't change himself to fit the instance; he remained as he always was.

Perhaps the system only made his vampire gentleman's cane look less out of place, leading to this strange disguise.

The bartender took back the glass, which still had a slight milky residue. But as he moved the glass, he noticed something underneath it—

A shiny little golden token~

The bartender immediately understood. As he subtly moved the glass, he hooked it with his pinky finger and tucked it into his sleeve.

"What can I do for you?"

The bartender's tone had clearly become much more enthusiastic. That little golden token had probably provided a temporary +4 charm boost.

Normally, a mixed-crowd tavern like this served as an information hub, and what Cheng Tian wanted to inquire about was naturally information related to the Bounty Mission, specifically the Moth Gang.

"I'm new here, and I don't want to cause trouble or have trouble find me. So, I'd like to know how many gangs there are in Gotham City, and where their members usually gather."

This was Cheng Tian's pretext for gathering information.

Based on the description of the Bounty Mission and Cheng Tian's own judgment, the difficulty of obtaining information about the gangs should be in the range where money couldn't buy it, but it wouldn't necessarily require extreme bloodshed.

If it could be bought directly with money, Batman would have already acquired it, and it wouldn't be left for players to do. And the extreme option of killing everyone shouldn't be the only way.

Since it was explicitly stated that one could kill, steal, control, or rob, it proved that there must be some kind of token on the target unit representing successful acquisition of detailed information. In game terms, this would be a "Quest Item."

Cheng Tian's question about "how many gangs" was also indirectly prompted by the white-skinned girl earlier. She had mentioned the "Firefly Gang" in her words.

Although someone dressed like Cheng Tian actively coming to such a mixed-crowd place was quite an unusual behavior, Cheng Tian's reason was indeed very plausible... and the small amount of money was truly appealing.

The bartender wrote a "10" on the bar counter with a wet cloth. Cheng Tian double-tapped the counter, asking for another glass of milk and agreeing to the bartender's price.

Soon, the second glass of milk arrived along with a map of Gotham, marking the faction divisions and gang gathering spots. Cheng Tian pushed the stack of golden chips forward.

However, as Cheng Tian's attention focused on the map, he failed to notice the bartender, who had accepted the golden chips, give a signal to someone behind him. The individuals who met his gaze also subtly got up, making as little noise as possible. One of them then went to the tavern door and hung up a "Closed" sign.

While Cheng Tian appeared to be capably gathering intel, it was all imitation from movies and games. He had no actual experience, was riddled with flaws, and could be considered completely clueless.

Cheng Tian had considered that something might happen here, but he hadn't considered who would be behind a place capable of gathering intel in Gotham.

The Wayne Group? Or... Gotham's gangsters?

Click!

The sound of the door locking made Cheng Tian's ears twitch. He immediately looked up and saw the closed door, along with a group of patrons who clearly had ill intentions. They all stood up, looking restless.

"Was the money not enough?"

Cheng Tian's eyes flickered as he toyed with his Polymorph cane. Then, at some point, the cane vanished from his hand.

"No, you've been the most generous one these past few days."

The bartender, surprised by Cheng Tian's composure, replied.

"...I see. So this was just to fool me?"

Cheng Tian gestured to the map on the table.

"Not at all. We value integrity in business. The item is genuine, honest dealing for all. It's just that... our boss has been very annoyed by some Outsiders lately and needs a scapegoat. And you happen to be an Outsider of unknown identity, with a very rare Asian face, so..."

"Is that so~"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Tian decisively folded the map, tucked it into his inner pocket, and casually began to loosen his tie.

At this point, Cheng Tian finally understood. Someone had made a move against the BOSS Unit here, and it seemed to have failed, alerting the subordinate forces.

Under normal circumstances, players who accepted Bounty Missions would focus on the mission itself. But players themselves are the biggest variable, so it wasn't uncommon to Encounter a Main Quest-level BOSS, either actively or passively, during a Bounty Mission.

However, the fate of powerful, non-mission-related entities or Main Quest-level BOSSes encountered during Bounty Missions generally had no impact on the evaluation of the Bounty Mission itself, which had a different focus. Even if they engaged, it was merely a gamble on whether the BOSS would drop loot, and whether that loot would be good.

The mission Cheng Tian accepted could accommodate a maximum of five players. All five players would be deployed into the same map. The missions of the five players would not interfere with each other; their Completion would be calculated individually.

But the actions of those who arrived first would inevitably influence those who came later to some degree. Cheng Tian was clearly caught in the crossfire.

"Mr. Milk, if you give up resisting, I can at least guarantee you won't suffer unnecessary harm during transport."

Seeing Cheng Tian loosen his tie, the bartender kindly offered a warning.

Meanwhile, seeing the scrawny Asian Yellow Monkey actually put up a show of resistance, the formal gang members could only laugh.

The burly man closest to Cheng Tian, who served as a combatant in the gang, took two steps forward, raised his fist, and swung it towards Cheng Tian's face.

Racial discrimination, coupled with resentment towards the wealthy and low charisma, made him want to smash out a few of the Yellow Monkey's teeth, to let him know Gotham wasn't a place for weaklings like him--

Then, intense pain shot back from his knuckles and the styloid process of his ulna where his fist had landed!

A shield, printed with red and white ring stripes and a blue background with a white five-pointed star in the center, appeared in Cheng Tian's hand without warning, blocking the Bearded Fighter's punch.

In Cheng Tian's information log, there was a prompt that appeared as soon as he entered the instance.

[Detected your first entry into a Batman related instance--]

["Game Master" is active--]

[You have successfully loaded the Original Protagonist Template from the Captain's Orders world blueprint -- "Captain America / Steve Rogers".]