Chapter Summaries

William Hans woke in Gotham as a rookie police officer, discovered a bizarre system that mistook a murderer for a romantic prospect, and fought to subdue him. James Gordon and Bullock arrived at the Bowery Street apartment to investigate the murder.

• William Hans realized he had been transported to Gotham in the body of rookie cop William Hans and found a revolver, a police badge, and a system directing him toward the bathroom wall.
• William smashed through the bathroom wall and encountered a man beside a corpse, while the system misidentified the man as Miss Vinnish and urged William to romance him.
• The man attacked William with a dagger, but William fought back, shot him in the knee, and called the police after completing the system's beginner mission.
• James Gordon and Bullock arrived with officers at the apartment building on Bowery Street and began managing the murder scene.

While on leave, William helped Commissioner Gordon identify the killer of an elderly man and learned that Batman had disappeared a year earlier. When police pursued Victor Zsasz to an abandoned sugar factory, William was assigned to watch an exit, where a system notification appeared.

• Gordon and Bullock arrived at the murder scene and found William there; William reconstructed the killing and identified the victim’s son as the likely killer.
• Gordon asked how William had learned to investigate, and William claimed he had picked it up from mystery novels and movies.
• In the police car, Gordon told William that Batman had vanished a year earlier while investigating the Mad Hatter, and Bullock said he and Gordon were pursuing leads to bring him back.
• A radio report alerted the officers that wanted fugitive Victor Zsasz’s abandoned vehicle had been found, so Gordon redirected the police car to an abandoned sugar factory.
• Gordon assigned William to guard an exit while officers searched the factory, and a system notification appeared as William waited in hiding.

William was captured by Victor Zsasz after encountering him at the Sugar Mill, then drove him past a police checkpoint and was taken to his hideout. While locked in Zsasz's cell, William explored the system and unlocked Zsasz's affection information and location coordinates.

• William encountered Victor Zsasz at the Sugar Mill, where Zsasz seized him and took his gun.
• William persuaded Zsasz that driving him out in a police car would help him evade the police dragnet.
• William passed a checkpoint with Zsasz disguised as a wounded officer and drove him to a harbor hideout.
• Zsasz locked William in a windowless cell and threatened to deal with him after treating his wound.
• William accepted Little A's system tutorial, viewed his inventory and character menu, and used a Marking Beacon on Victor Zsasz's portrait to reveal his affection status and coordinates.

William used Zsasz’s thoughts and affinity to convince him they shared an interest in death and earn a chance to survive. Zsasz made William prepare a woman’s body, then revealed that he had killed the orphan girl who once stole a Batarang from Batman.

• William read Zsasz’s thoughts and raised his affinity by describing his interest in bladed killings and claiming they shared a kinship.
• Zsasz threatened William when he called the woman a corpse, then ordered him to remove her organs from a freezer.
• William chose a Miniature Dagger from Zsasz’s weapons box and spotted a Batarang.
• Zsasz said an orphan girl had nearly put out his eye with the Batarang and told him Batman had disappeared after being pulled from the Gotham River.
• When William asked what happened to the girl, Zsasz said he had slit her windpipe.

William used Zsasz’s affection for him to survive being held hostage and was forced to dissect a corpse before Zsasz decided to keep him as a friend. As Zsasz watched him treat his bullet wound, William secretly prepared a syringe, then claimed he had already anesthetized him.

• William dissected Lina’s corpse while Zsasz questioned him and threatened him in his thoughts, but his professional answers raised Zsasz’s affection.
• Zsasz decided William was his best friend and planned to keep him nearby, then secretly put a pill into William’s coffee.
• William spotted the pill and offered to treat Zsasz’s bullet wound instead of drinking the coffee.
• While gathering medical supplies, William secretly filled a syringe with lidocaine, hid it, and fooled Zsasz into thinking he had chosen an unopened vial of muscle relaxant.
• William treated Zsasz’s wound and, after secretly causing him extra pain, stood up and said he had already given him anesthetic.

William captured Victor Zsasz but spared his life, then returned home exhausted and received a reward for the arrest. The next morning, a man named Jace delivered a phone and money from William’s estranged father, who revealed that he needed William for a family mission.

• William restrained Victor Zsasz, considered killing him, but lowered his gun after the system warned him he would lose his progress and items.
• Gordon and the police arrived, found Zsasz alive and the three bodies in the freezer, and later gave William a bounty payment from Commissioner Norman.
• William returned to his damaged apartment and slept through several calls, then woke to find a suited man named Jace in his room.
• Jace gave William a phone, and an older man called to praise his arrest of Zsasz and deliver cash and gold bars as a reward.
• The caller said he had abandoned William and his mother, explained that the family needed William for a mission, and identified him as William Maroni.

William searched Gotham’s slums for clues about Batman’s disappearance and found a young fighter who might be Bruce Wayne. He followed the man into a guarded bar, where the people inside threatened him at gunpoint.

• William paid a homeless man for Batman’s cowl and gathered the cape, armor, and boots from other slum residents.
• William pieced together accounts of Batman’s amnesia and suspected the Mad Hatter had erased his memories.
• William saw a scarred young man defeat four attackers and received a side quest to help an amnesiac girl recover her memories.
• William pursued the young man into the Black Truffle bar after the AI assistant implied the quest involved Bruce Wayne.
• A lean man upstairs pointed a gun at William and ordered him to leave.

William tracked down the amnesiac young man he suspected was Bruce Wayne, Batman, and persuaded him to share a meal. The young man explained that he had been pulled from the harbor without his gear and did not know his own identity or what had happened to Batman.

• William reflected on Maroni's plans and the risks of being his son and a mole inside the police department.
• William checked the system and saw that Victor Zsasz was in Arkham Asylum while James Gordon was out on duty.
• William confronted the amnesiac young man outside the bar, but the young man dismissed his claim that he knew his background.
• When William approached him again, the young man grabbed him by the collar, then softened when he saw William's cash and agreed to eat with him.
• At the diner, the young man said he had been pulled from the harbor and stripped of his gear, and that he did not know who he was or what had happened to Batman.

William befriended Stuart and set out to confirm whether he was Bruce Wayne, but the records offered no useful evidence. He visited Wayne Manor only to learn that Alfred and Master Wayne were in France, leaving the acting butler suspicious of him.

• William held back from calling Stuart Batman, introduced himself, and agreed to look for evidence of Stuart’s identity.
• William returned to the police station and found Bruce Wayne’s records largely inaccessible, while Gordon recalled Bruce’s childhood and the Wayne family’s efforts to improve Gotham.
• William borrowed Gordon’s car and drove to Wayne Manor, hoping Alfred could identify Stuart.
• The acting butler told William that Mr. Pennyworth and Master Wayne were on holiday in France, and William left without revealing his purpose.
• After William drove away, the acting butler memorized his license plate, K27-LMP.

After a masked man bombed Gordon’s car to warn William, William tracked him and helped Gordon identify him as Dares. Dares fled from Gordon and William during a rainy chase, which ended with his sports car crashing into a fire hydrant.

• Gordon and William were thrown down when Gordon’s car exploded in the police station garage, and a masked man warned William to stop investigating.
• Gordon recovered, chased off the masked man, and agreed to pursue him after William revealed he could track the suspect.
• Dares removed his mask in an alley and called an unknown person to report that he had encountered James Gordon.
• When Gordon approached Dares’s car at a roadblock, Dares panicked and sped away; William drove Gordon after him in a police car.
• William chased Dares through rainy traffic until Dares lost control and crashed into an oncoming vehicle and a fire hydrant.

Gordon and William captured Dares Hob, a Wayne Enterprises security chief, after he attacked them, and William refused to back down when Dares tried to intimidate him. William then told Gordon he had found the person Gordon had been searching for all year and would introduce them tomorrow.

• Gordon charged Dares Hob's car alone, but Dares disarmed and beat him until William stunned Dares with a stun gun.
• At the hospital, Bullock identified Dares as Wayne Enterprises' head of security and a former member of Britain's Black Hawk special operations unit.
• Dares's lawyer presented a psychiatric assessment and offered to cover damages, but Gordon rejected the offer and threatened a court summons.
• Dares warned William to abandon his investigation, but William said the attempted explosion had left nothing to negotiate.
• William told Gordon he would introduce him tomorrow to the person Gordon had been searching for all year.

William brought Gordon to an underground boxing club to meet someone, then revealed his investigation linking the amnesiac Batman to Bruce Wayne and suspected a plot within Wayne Enterprises. Gordon struggled to accept the connection, and William led him toward the boxing ring to meet the night’s featured fighter.

• Gordon met William on Port Street after helping suppress a protest, and followed him to The Black Truffle, an underground boxing club.
• William and Gordon confronted Wolf at the entrance, and Wolf led them into the basement after Gordon’s presence frightened him.
• William stopped Gordon from arresting Wolf and explained his investigation, including Zsasz’s statement and Batman’s recovered equipment.
• William told Gordon that Batman had lost his memory and was Bruce Wayne, and suggested someone at Wayne Enterprises was targeting him.
• Gordon questioned whether Bruce could really be Batman, but William argued that Wayne Enterprises’ actions after Batman disappeared supported the theory.
• When the boxing match began, William picked up his popcorn and led Gordon to meet the featured fighter.

Stuart faced professional boxer Dean Black and another fighter in a two-on-one match, calmly evading their attacks without taking a step. During the break, Dean and his partner planned to grab Stuart so Dean could land hard punches in the next round.

• The host introduced undefeated underground fighter Dean Black and then Stuart, whose entrance sent the crowd into a frenzy.
• Gordon warned William that Stuart faced a professional boxer and urged them to call off the match, but William dismissed his concern.
• Dean and the other fighter attacked Stuart from both sides, but Stuart dodged and brushed aside their blows without moving his feet.
• After the first round, Dean and his partner discussed Wolf’s plan to grab Stuart while Dean punched him.
• The bell rang for the next round, and Dean threw away his towel as the crowd cheered.

Stuart defeated Dean in an underground boxing match after Dean’s dirty tactics backfired, then learned from William and Gordon that he was Batman and Bruce Wayne. Hearing the name Bruce Wayne triggered a reaction, and Stuart asked why his parents had not searched for him.

• Dean’s partner clinched Stuart, but Stuart stomped on the man’s toes and twisted free, causing Dean’s heavy punch to smash his partner’s jaw.
• Dean lost his will to fight, then asked Stuart to make peace when the next round began; Stuart knocked him out.
• Stuart reflected that he disliked boxing and wondered whether he could return to being Batman once he recovered his memories.
• William and Gordon met Stuart in the locker room, where Stuart’s scars offered evidence that he was Batman, though Gordon remained uncertain.
• William told Stuart that he was Batman and Bruce Wayne, and the name triggered a twitch in Stuart’s temple.
• Stuart asked why his parents had not come looking for him, and William reacted with awkward surprise.

William persuaded Stuart, who had lost his memories of being Bruce Wayne, to work as Batman for two hundred dollars a night. After a gunshot and a figure crashing through the window, William found Stuart still sitting in the apartment.

• William explained Bruce Wayne's identity and his parents' deaths to Stuart, who accepted the facts but felt no connection to them.
• William told Stuart that Alfred was missing and that an unidentified force threatened him and Commissioner Gordon, then asked him to continue as Batman.
• Stuart agreed to wear the Batsuit for two hundred dollars a night, while warning William that he suspected him of hiding ties to Gotham's gangs.
• William handed Stuart the money and the Batsuit, and Stuart refused to try it on before their planned operation.
• William heard a gunshot and a crash, saw a dark figure fall onto a car below, and found Stuart sitting calmly in the apartment.

Dares was abducted and interrogated by Stuart, who killed one of his captives and learned that Harold Wayne had ordered a manor watch. William returned to work and was celebrated for Victor Zsasz’s capture before Chief Norman Steele summoned him for a secret assignment.

• A black-clad Stuart abducted Dares and tied him to a chair on a railway track to demand who was behind the scheme.
• Dares refused to talk and was killed by an oncoming train after recognizing Stuart as Batman.
• Stuart interrogated William’s former temporary butler, who revealed that Harold Wayne had ordered him to watch Wayne Manor and report visitors to Bruce Wayne.
• William urged Stuart to stop killing suspects, and the two took the butler with them before returning to their rented apartment.
• William went back to the police station, where officers celebrated Victor Zsasz’s capture, and Chief Norman Steele summoned him for a secret assignment.

Norman Steele assigned William to steal a document from Falcone’s estate, but William told Gordon and planned to investigate the document. After using the system’s gift to obtain custom fireworks, William learned Maroni wanted him and Stuart at a meeting that night, forcing him to bring Bruce along.

• Norman Steele privately ordered William to retrieve a document from Falcone’s safe and warned him not to tell Gordon.
• William told Gordon about the assignment, and they agreed to play along and find out what was in the document.
• William persuaded the system to reveal its shop and chose custom fireworks as his free gift.
• Stuart answered William’s phone, and Maroni called to summon William and Stuart to a meeting at two in the morning.
• William realized Maroni expected him to bring Bruce to meet the mob boss.

William and Stuart entered the Maroni family’s club, where William confronted Charloes and learned Sal Maroni wanted him to steal a document from Norman. Sal burned William’s palm to enforce his command, then revealed a hooded captive who was not Stuart, while Stuart watched undercover as a security guard.

• William and Stuart arrived at the club in disguise and were led to Charloes Maroni’s private room.
• William challenged Charloes’s assumptions about his ambitions and family bloodline.
• Sal Maroni entered, ordered William to steal Norman’s document and tell him the plan had failed, and burned William’s palm when he questioned the risks.
• Sal had security bring in a hooded captive, and William realized the man was not Stuart.
• William spotted Stuart disguised as a security guard, watching with a cold sneer.

William protected Stuart from Sal Maroni and persuaded Maroni to let Stuart stay with him. Maroni then used Oswald’s story to warn William that capable but disloyal subordinates were liabilities, leaving William to consider what his father expected of him.

• William stepped between Sal Maroni and Stuart, and Maroni lowered his gun after William stood his ground.
• William explained how he had recruited Stuart and argued that Stuart could help with Maroni’s assignment, so Maroni allowed him to stay.
• Sal Maroni dismissed Charloes and spoke privately with William, while Charloes unsuccessfully tried to recruit Stuart outside the office.
• Stuart regretted his earlier plans to leave William after realizing William had risked his life to protect him.
• Sal Maroni told William how he had tested Oswald, stripped him of authority, and planned to dispose of him for lacking loyalty.

William helped an injured Oswald at the Iceberg Lounge and warned him to watch his back. William and Stuart eased their roommate tensions as Batman’s return reduced street violence, but William planned to infiltrate Falcone’s cocktail party to steal a mysterious document.

• Oswald watched Gotham’s influential guests at the Iceberg Lounge, then got knocked down and cut by a drunken guest who stepped on his hand.
• William offered to help Oswald, asked about him by name, and told him to watch his back for a while.
• Stuart apologized to William for causing trouble, and the two reconciled after returning to Bowery Street.
• William tried to awaken Bruce’s compassion by showing Stuart the slums, but Stuart reacted coldly while gradually accepting the Batsuit.
• Gordon celebrated the decline in street violence after Batman’s return, while William worried that the peace would not last.
• William prepared to sneak into Falcone’s cocktail party to obtain the mysterious document attracting the attention of multiple factions.