"Wrong."
Lynn shook his head, an expression of "not so impressive after all" crossing his face.
"I thought the Riddler was supposed to be smart. Turns out your reputation is all you've got."
The Riddler immediately grew flustered, his cheeks flushing red.
"What answer could possibly make more sense than that?!"
"Idiot." Lynn rolled his eyes, his tone casual.
"Sunflowers raise their heads toward the sun during the day, so of course they bow their heads to society at night.
I told you it was a riddle, yet you still gave such a shallow answer."
The Riddler: "..."
You're fucking messing with me on purpose, aren't you?
The surrounding gangsters froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, filling the entire bar with a cheerful atmosphere.
"Hahaha! What an answer!"
"Riddler, you're not even as smart as this guy in the floral shorts!"
"..."
"Enough, enough! What's so fun about guessing riddles?"
Harley impatiently interrupted their laughter, strode up to Lynn and the Riddler, and planted her hands on her hips.
"Guys, let's pull off something big together! Let's rob Gotham Bank and take all that gold!"
Poor Gotham Bank. Every so often, another bunch of supervillains set their sights on it. It was practically as popular a target as Batman's ass.
"With you?"
The Riddler glanced at Harley with a disdainful expression.
"Harley Quinn, give me a break. Without the Joker, you're nothing.
Last time you tried robbing the Jewelry Store alone, didn't the cops from the Police Station chase you around like a dog?"
The others nodded in agreement.
"Exactly! We'd be better off working with the Riddler than with you."
"You want to be Gotham's master? Gotham's mistress sounds more like it!"
"..."
"Fuck!"
Trembling with rage, Harley fiercely flipped them all off, looking like an angry Hakimi.
Just then, Lynn suddenly set down his glass and walked over to Harley.
"I'll work with you."
Harley froze, clearly not expecting anyone to support her.
"That's great! You..."
"Don't get excited just yet." Lynn shook his head. "I have a lot of demands. You might not be able to accept them."
Harley gritted her teeth. "I can definitely accept them! Whatever you ask me to do, I'll do it!"
"Then prove Einstein's theory of relativity for me first."
Harley: "..."
[Main Quest "Form the Bat Gang" completed] [Reward obtained: NPC Recruitment Feature unlocked] [Currently recruited NPC: Harley Quinn] [You may view the recruited NPC's personal panel]
Lynn was surprised by the blue notifications before him.
"What can recruited NPCs do? Fight a World Boss, or complete party quests together?"
He remembered the previous quest in which he had teamed up with Raven, Constantine, and the others to stop Hell from invading Gotham.
[Recruiting NPCs not only allows you to establish your own organization, but also lets NPCs help the player complete various quests.]
Lynn's eyes immediately lit up at those words.
"You should've said so earlier! So basically, I can recruit a bunch of workers to work for me. But what are the requirements for recruiting NPCs? Do I pay them, or force them with violence?"
[Once an NPC's affection for the player reaches a certain level, they can be recruited into the player's party.]
"Wait..." Lynn frowned slightly. "Recruiting NPCs depends on their affection, too? Don't tell me I have to win them over?"
He had become a player to live the high life in the United States with a beauty on each arm, not to spend his time courting this person or that.
"Whatever. I've already recruited Harley Quinn, so let's see what she's made of."
Lynn curled his lip and opened Harley Quinn's personal panel.
[NPC: Harley Quinn] [Status: Mentally unstable] [Assets: -124807 U.S. dollars] [Skills: Gymnastics, Street Fighting, Psychology, Kidnapping] [Items: Baseball Bat, Camisole, Fishnet Stockings...] [Affection: 50]
"Well, damn. Her assets are actually negative." Lynn was a little surprised. "No wonder she became a supervillain. She's up to her neck in debt."
The sheer number of skills on Harley's panel surprised Lynn, too.
"I can understand Gymnastics, Street Fighting, and Psychology, but what the hell is Kidnapping doing here?"
Wasn't that something every fucking person in Gotham knew how to do? Why did it get its own skill?
Lynn continued reading, his gaze settling on the affection stat as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully with his right hand.
"What happens when affection reaches 100?"
[When affection reaches 100, the NPC will prioritize the player, and the player may acquire the NPC's skills and retrieve the NPC's items at any time.]
Lynn sucked in a breath.
His eyes shone. He seemed to have discovered a game-breaking exploit.
"If I max out Supergirl's affection, can I get Kryptonian skills directly without even having to worry about kryptonite?"
That wasn't his only idea. Lynn felt his astounding intellect continue to churn, and another idea popped into his head.
"If I raise Harley's affection to 100 and she learns new skills afterward, will I get those new skills too?"
[Yes.]
Once he received the answer, a radiant smile immediately spread across Lynn's face.
He seemed to have figured out how to play this game.
Lynn turned toward Harley, who was still trying to recruit companions at the bar, and said with a smile:
"Harley, isn't it time we did something villains are supposed to do?"
"You big pervert, Dinosaur War God, what do you want to do? Just don't make me prove Einstein's theory of relativity again. I really don't know how."
Harley clutched her head and pouted cutely.
But Lynn's attention was elsewhere.
"Don't go calling me that. I'm not Dinosaur War God right now."
"Then what's your name now?" Harley raised an eyebrow and immediately asked.
"I'm the Riddler now," Lynn replied.
Not
far away, the Riddler: ???
If you're the Riddler, then who am I?
As though sensing the Riddler's questioning stare, Lynn explained:
"He couldn't solve my riddle just now, so he's a fake. I'm the real Riddler."
The Riddler: "..."
All right, stop fucking talking.
"Okay then, Mr. Riddler."
Harley seemed to realize that Lynn was playing someone else, but rather than expose his lie, she played along.
"How about we find a way to recruit more teammates, then pull off something big?"
Diamond District, Zeus Securities.
September in Gotham was rainy, damp, and cold. Neon lights shone through the raindrops between towering buildings, spilling across their glass facades.
The glow refracted onto the shimmering wet road below as a yellow taxi stopped outside Zeus Securities.
"Harley, are you sure someone here can help us recruit more villains?"
Looking at the pink doorframe of Zeus Securities, whose interior was also decorated entirely in pink, Lynn couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.
What supervillain would like such a flamboyant shade of pink?
"Of course." Harley nodded. "Back when I was still in Arkham Asylum, Arnold already showed how smart he was. With him around, we'll definitely be able to recruit more teammates."
Lynn curled his lip. "Arnold... just hearing that name, I can tell he's a pointy-headed guy."