After bidding farewell to the two tenants on the third floor, Baia finally had some time to check the rewards for completing the task.
The system considerately set the UI to a floating interface visible only to her, displaying a pitiful balance of five skill points. The skill interface was all grayed out, with only a solitary "Nightingale" icon in pale yellow shining lonely.
Of course, Baia, who had not experienced the Arkham Carnival training, was still unaware of how powerful this skill was.
She opened the remaining two skills one by one to take a look.
[Moon Dew] allows friendly targets to recover 0.2% of their health per minute, lasting for 15 minutes.
[Song of the Angels] instantly restores 8% of the health of friendly targets, with a 5-minute chant time.
In other words, [Moon Dew] can restore 3% of the target's health every quarter of an hour.
After the system's explanation, it was revealed that 3% of health was roughly equivalent to a regular knife wound. In 15 minutes, a knife wound could be completely healed. If the time was extended to an hour, even a minor fracture would be nearly healed.
It was simply a subversion of modern medicine.
But compared to the extraterrestrial beings and Amazonian goddesses in the newspapers, Baia felt much more at ease, thinking that it didn't sound so unscientific after all.
Perhaps she could open a clinic to make a living. After all, there were so many people getting injured every day, as long as she found a way to cover up her spellcasting.
It could only be said that at this moment, Baia was still too young.
Another point that caught her attention was the special effect of the Nightingale. Although not particularly eye-catching, it would still attract attention. The system helped her preview the effects of [Moon Dew] and [Song of the Angels]. The former was okay, just a green light swirling around her wrist, while the 5-minute chant for [Song of the Angels] was incredibly ostentatious, as if afraid others wouldn't know to prioritize healing.
After fantasizing for a while about her future plans, Baia's mood lifted, and just then, the system timely issued the second task:
Beginner's Task: Familiarize Yourself with Your City (2)
Reward: 10 skill points, no punishment for failure
Note: To survive, you must understand your city, but you must also control your curiosity.
"Isn't there any more hints?" Baia looked at the cryptic note in distress. Although the healing skills were significant for her clinic plan, she didn't want to wander around Gotham like a headless fly as she did last time.
The system said: Such trivial matters need hints? How will you become the strongest host?
Baia replied, "Just shut up."
Baia decided to give up the shortcut and just go with the flow.
In Gotham's autumn and winter seasons, it got dark very early.
She found that her upstairs neighbors were a bit elusive, and now there was no sound at all upstairs or downstairs.
As a matter of courtesy, Baia went upstairs to take a look around. A temporary door for cats had been installed on the upstairs door, and several black cats were sitting outside on the shoe rack and doormat, looking at her leisurely with their yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness. She did like cats, that was true, but the atmosphere upstairs didn't really make her feel like playing with them.
At this moment, she heard a slightly hoarse and soft meow.
Turning around, Baia found that the Great Detective had somehow jumped down from the corridor's windowsill, landing behind her.
The long-haired black cat raised its tail and, with a guiding posture, led Baia downstairs.
It knew she wasn't welcome here.
Baia opened her own door, and the black cat stayed at the doorway, refusing to come in no matter how much she invited it. However, it did finish the cat food she had made for it.
"All right, Selina was right, you're not very sociable," Baia said to the black cat.
"Meow," the black cat replied.
It seemed like everyone in Gotham had secrets. As Baia lay on her bed lost in thought, she couldn't help but wonder how her upstairs neighbors and their cats were spying on her blank life. She also felt a bit paranoid, as she could develop paranoid thoughts even towards furry kittens.
Baia gave herself a Nightingale.
Unfortunately, the Nightingale didn't seem to dispel the confusion in her heart.
In the middle of the night, Baia, already nestled snugly in her warm bed and preparing to meet the Sandman, was suddenly awakened by the rumble of thunder. She abruptly realized that she had forgotten to close the windows, so she quickly scrambled out of bed and ran barefoot to the window.
The oppressive thunder continued incessantly, and a flash of lightning illuminated the darkness. By the light, she saw a figure glide past from above, moving with the agility and grace of a cat's leap. The windows upstairs creaked softly, and a few cat meows could be faintly heard amidst the sound of rain. She even heard Holly mutter softly, "Selina?"
As she closed the window, raindrops the size of beans had already dampened the front of her shirt. "Control your curiosity," Baia silently repeated the task's reminder to herself, realizing that nothing happened without reason.
She had come to Gotham, chosen by the system for this house, her abilities, and her elusive neighbors. Everything happened for a reason.
She thought, it seemed that in the storm, she could see the threads connecting everything like silk strands.
"I just don't know what it is yet."
Baia realized, "I can't control my curiosity."
She slipped back under her covers, her heart still racing with excitement, and fell asleep. The next day, she woke up very early, but didn't immediately start cooking breakfast. Instead, she went out for a stroll, finding the upstairs eerily quiet, with neither sound nor sight of the landlady.
Returning to her room, she quietly read a book. It was a book about Gotham's urban development, mentioning the ancient four families of Gotham, and vividly describing how the Wayne family's ancestors had managed the city, unleashing its full splendor.
Though the current head of the Wayne family seemed less capable, Baia couldn't help but recall those reports. Until she heard a woman lazily yawning, she stepped out.
It was almost two in the afternoon.
"My upstairs kitchen doesn't have an oven, so I came to see if I could use the first-floor kitchen," Baia explained, wearing a pair of oven mitts one size too big.
"Mm-hmm," the beautiful woman replied extremely casually, leaning against the table and taking a sip of her cold coffee, her gaze fixed on the freshly baked European bread and cheese-apple tart in the baking tray.
Both of these dishes Baia had learned from a cookbook on the shelf, but she strictly followed the proportions for making the filling and controlled the oven's temperature and time. By the time they were half-baked, the aroma had already wafted out into the garden.
She had great confidence in her culinary skills.
"Care to taste?" Baia kindly invited.
"Sweetheart," Selina reached out unabashedly, "you're truly an angel."
They sat silently at the table, sharing a leisurely afternoon tea. Baia didn't ask any questions, and Selina told her that Holly was still asleep.
It was a good start.
Feeding the cats quickly became a routine for Baia, including the black cats upstairs and the two cat-like women. Selina was very generous, and from the cosmetics she used, Baia could tell she wasn't short of money. She didn't come over for every meal, but her contribution to the food expenses far exceeded Baia's daily expenses.
Baia's culinary skills improved by leaps and bounds. This confirmed a saying: there's nothing you can't do well, you just need to add money to it.
Holly and Baia's friendship progressed rapidly as well.
In just two weeks, she seemed to have already regarded Baia as her little sidekick, spending the day hopping around the neighborhood with her, running around everywhere, and even imparting a bunch of random Batman trivia to her. So, Baia also learned that Batman wasn't a guy with a chrysanthemum-shaped bat head.
But after Selina's warning, Holly didn't let her get involved in any gangs or get in touch with the dirtiness of Gotham's alleyways.
"Come on," Holly said, "hand me the wrench and watch how I do it."
Baia hesitated, "Is this really okay?"
Stars had begun to appear in the night sky, and Holly noticed that Baia, who had become increasingly obedient, was also growing bolder. Although she had thought of teasing Baia, almost all of her mischievous plans had failed.
Baia was obedient, but she wasn't stupid.
That's why she was now standing with Holly in front of a car that didn't belong to them, feeling torn.
"Oh, come on, you have no identity, no means of livelihood," Holly scoffed, "besides staying holed up in your room reading, what else can you do?"
"I can cook."
"This doesn't count!" Holly exclaimed. "Considering our precious friendship, what I'm about to teach you now is real technique!"
"Does car theft count as technique?" Baia asked bluntly. After spending this amount of time together, their relationship had become so close that they didn't need to carefully maintain false courtesy.
"Who are you looking down on," Holly gritted her teeth. "This is just the beginning. Once you learn this, I'll teach you even cooler stuff."
Then she added, "But I know you're a bit slow, it's okay. I'm a patient teacher."
Before Baia could respond, she further tempted, "You're only learning the means, you're not actually stealing. There's an old saying in China, something about good technique—"
Alarm bells rang in Baia's mind. She knew Holly had no filter, and she could say anything, even dirty jokes. She quickly interrupted, "You mean 'many skills don't press the body,' right? Okay, can I learn now?"
Holly burst into laughter.
After fiddling for a while, with a "click," Holly opened the car door. "Got it!" she whispered with excitement.
"We're even stronger than Robin now!"
"Really?"
Holly pulled her close, mysteriously whispering, "Listen, uh, someone said that when the second Robin first started out, he was caught stealing car tires by Batman. We're not even stealing tires, we're stealing the whole car. Isn't that strong!"
Baia looked righteous. "Whoever steals, I'm just practicing my skills."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Holly said. "But remember, drivers usually keep their belongings in..."
The two petite girls crouched in front of an old Cadillac's door, whispering with flashlights, while a woman with a black whip around her waist on a rooftop in the distance couldn't help but smile.