From Gotham to Night City, my infamy is known to all.

Today, Harleen wasn't wearing her glasses; her long, platinum blonde hair was casually draped behind her, with two strands falling naturally on either side of her face. This small change made her look several years younger, a veritable youthful college student.

No doubt about it. Just tie her hair in pigtails, add some mixed-color highlights, and give her a slightly rebellious, mischievous smile, and she can transform into an unforgettable "Harley Quinn".

But her presence here made Leo a little uneasy. Could it be that she came to steal his woman?

He turned his gaze to Poison Ivy and tried to ask her with his eyes.

Poison Ivy understood his confusion and said frankly, "The pheromone control was lifted a long time ago. Harleen is here to give me psychological treatment. This is... uh, what's it called again?"

She looked at Harlin, forgetting the difficult technical jargon.

"The decision to place the child in community corrections was made after consultation between Arkham Nursing Home and the sponsor, Wayne Group."

Harlin read the script aloud without any expression.

Leo understood—it was definitely Batman causing trouble, and he hoped Harleen could correct Poison Ivy's mistaken hostility towards humans.

"is it necessary?"

Leo was taken aback; these weren't his words, but Harlin's.

Harleen crossed her arms and glared at him with annoyance:

“I spoke for you; that’s what your expression meant. My answer is—absolutely necessary! Ivy has severe suicidal thoughts and social anxiety. I finally managed to get her to face her psychological problems, and then you took her away!”

“This…” Leo paused for a moment, then quickly realized, “You might be right, but I think Ivy’s psychological problems will be relieved more quickly in a new environment.”

His words won Poison Ivy's approval.

“That’s right, Harleen, I feel much better after moving to the research institute. Before, hanging out with that bunch of lunatics every day, my mind was always a mess…”

Two to one, Harlin was defeated.

She simply couldn't bring herself to say something so insincere as to say that a prison cell was better than a three-story detached house.

Just as Leo was about to press his advantage, he suddenly sensed something approaching him.

The person coming from beside me, who wasn't hostile, was it Frank?

Correct!

Frank's vines wrapped halfway around the wall and successfully draped over his right shoulder from behind.

The leaves at the tip of the vine unfolded, revealing a large, round eyeball that blocked his view of Harlin.

"Li~~~Ao~~~" A plaintive voice drifted from afar, "Women with one nose and two eyes are everywhere, what's so interesting about them? Look at me—a plant as amazing as me can only be found here in the whole world. And I was the one who greeted you first, but you didn't even acknowledge me..."

The vines wrapped around Leo's shoulders, pulling and tugging, trying to make him turn around.

With Poison Ivy right beside him, Leo couldn't very well ignore her little pet, so he turned away reluctantly.

Frank the Mouth grinned at him, his sharp, fanged teeth were quite intimidating, making him suitable for a horror movie.

Unfortunately, that ever-smiling mouth ruined the intimidating aura, and the more you look at it, the more it gives off a dog-like feeling...

"Look, Leo! I gained 30 pounds in just two weeks! All those people who love chubby dogs and cats must be so envious of Ivy, because she has such a wonderful pet like me! And more importantly, I don't shed!"

“Oh my god.” Poison Ivy couldn’t help repeating Harleen’s words, “Shut up, Frank, don’t make binge eating something to brag about.”

Frank wasn't afraid of her at all and quickly retorted:

"Of course it's something to brag about, just like those fishermen who like to show off their shark bite marks. My binge eating is a medal I earned after fighting the evil Batman! I consulted a psychologist, and she said it's binge eating disorder caused by long-term hunger and excessive stress, as well as talkativeness!"

Life is tough, Poison Ivy sighed.

"Harleen...you can even provide psychological therapy for plants? That's amazing..."

Harleen covered her face in despair: "Yeah, to be able to chat with a talking, ghostly plant for hours and not go crazy, the psychologist is amazing! Besides, I only diagnosed bulimia, the talkativeness was added by it itself."

"I know it's been a chatterbox since it was a month old, I shouldn't have let it watch those damn talk shows..."

Ignoring the two women who were caught in self-doubt, Frank continued to ask Leo for a hug.

Leo was touched by its persistence (and chatter) and gave it a hug.

The giant flower, now over a meter tall, had an even stranger feel to it, with a soft, fluffy elasticity, as if it actually contained fat.

"How about it? My specially adjusted, elastic belly is pretty good, isn't it! Now I'll perform a belly drum routine for you! Boom boom qiang qiang che~ qiang~ che~~"

Frank then started drumming on his stomach with two vines, creating another kind of noise.

"Frank!"

Poison Ivy couldn't stand it anymore, so she summoned vines to bind the mouth of the bigmouth flower.

"Let's get ready to eat. I just ordered food, and the food truck will be here soon."

Without the noise, the three of them were finally able to have dinner.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was very quiet.

Harleen painfully stated that after talking to Frank for five hours, her voice was hoarse and she really didn't want to speak anymore.

Poison Ivy, tormented by her talkative pet every day, has also developed a preference for quiet.

Both of them remained silent, so Leo naturally didn't say anything more and simply focused on eating.

After dinner, looking dazed, Harlin said goodbye and took the research institute's car home.

Poison Ivy dropped her off at the parking lot, and when she returned, she started badmouthing Batman to Leo.

"Leo, you need to be careful too. I've been seeing Batman a lot lately. He's always hovering over the research institute at night. I suspect he's trying to steal our trade secrets!"

Leo hesitated, wanting to tell her that wasn't the case—Batman, without a doubt, had been openly stealing trade secrets all along…

"Ignore him, he's the sickest one in Gotham City, on par with the Joker."

Poison Ivy nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing.

They gathered together and talked badly about Batman for a while. Then they returned to the secret laboratory and saw the hardworking Bruce.

"You're here?" He calmly pointed to his desk. "I've prepared some coffee to keep you awake. Have a cup, then get back to work."

Poison Ivy and Leo exchanged a glance and silently joined the research work.

They worked until midnight, trying hundreds of combinations before finally obtaining a satisfactory gene model.

Poison Ivy placed the seeds of the tetrad of Pyrrhic Cyanide (II) into the groove, and the gene editing workstation entered automatic working mode to begin creating a new "species".

"This is like the work of God, these devices are amazing!"

Poison Ivy was full of praise for the equipment, which far surpassed the current level of technology.

She glanced at the countdown on the screen and continued, "The workstation needs six hours to complete this process. Let's continue tomorrow."

Leo, who was already feeling a bit sleepy, quickly nodded, and even considered asking for leave to continue being his hands-off boss.

But with both partners full of fighting spirit, he couldn't openly slack off.

Left with no other choice, the matter was settled.

Later, he followed Thinker Bruce back to Wayne Tower, then retreated to the 43rd floor without looking back, refusing any form of overtime.

Chapter 361 Leo: Back in the day, I did some quick calculations and uncovered the Ye family's secrets!

Leo randomly picks a room that looks nice, cleans up the toys Batman left behind, lies on the bed, and calls V.

"Woo buzz——"

The call connected in a second, and V, wearing cute striped pajamas, appeared before my eyes.

There were two cats sleeping together on the pillow next to her, a heartwarming scene.

"Why did it take you so long to call back? Did something happen to you?" she asked with concern as soon as she arrived.

Leo responded with a smile: "It is indeed troublesome, but it's a good thing—we should be able to get the gene model of the alcohol-2 crop tomorrow!"

"So fast?" V was surprised.

“That’s right, my chief researcher here used magical means to decipher the secret of the Alcohol-2 gene!”

Leo excitedly showed off the special terms he had learned that day, and casually inquired about the progress in Night City.

V stretched, relaxed, and lay back on the bed, whispering:

"It didn't go smoothly. Chunbai did some research and found that most of the real estate in Taipingzhou is in the hands of the Ye Corporation. As the builders of Night City, they have a first-mover advantage. Knowing that the company has problems, we didn't dare to ask them directly."

A very cautious approach.

Leo nodded slightly in agreement.

The Night Corporation has problems, and big problems at that… The original storyline of the 2077 game might very well be a scheme they set up! And Queen Lilith really is controlling everything!

The ending for the Sun is very likely the ideal outcome for the Night Corporation:

V, who was infected from the very beginning when he was saving people, was invaded and even completely replaced by AI. He went to Crystal Palace, supposedly to steal data, but V himself may be the "pathogen". His main purpose was to bring the "neurovirus" into Crystal Palace.

That place is home to some of the world's richest and most powerful people. If we can control them, there are many things we can do.

Even in the end, they didn't lose out, because Saburo Arasaka also gained immortality by becoming an AI-like consciousness, becoming their true "kind".

There are only individuals who betray their class, not classes that betray their interests.

With the blessing of "immortality," it remains to be seen whether they will still regard ordinary people as their own after the passage of time.

The other endings weren't good either; they were basically complete tragedies.

If we take a more conspiracy-theoretic approach, the fact that no one is in charge of Taipingzhou and that the Voodoo Gang is building a black wall might also be related to them.

Ye's is such a rotten company; you really have to be careful when dealing with them.

"It's right to be cautious; avoid dealing directly with the Ye family."

Leo rubbed his forehead thoughtfully.

"The municipal government should be in charge of managing the real estate on the surface. Given the chaotic state of Taipingzhou, where the government has abandoned its management, there is actually room for maneuver in this matter."

"Here's what we'll do: you can use my name and Lanmeng Company's name to talk directly with the officials in charge of Taipingzhou. A short-term lease for a few years shouldn't be a problem."

V saw through his thoughts: "How about we cooperate with the city government?"

Leo nodded: "That's right. The soon-to-open Lanmeng Company is a legitimate enterprise, so it's perfectly legal for us to rent office space. The municipal government should also be willing to pass this hot potato to us."

"I...I'll try my best, but I'm really not good at this."

Even V-Zhentian has moments of insecurity, and Leo takes the opportunity to tease her a few times.

After finishing their business, they exchanged some sweet nothings and said goodnight to each other.

After hanging up the phone, Leo was not sleepy at all. He seriously suspected that the coffee Batman provided was laced with drugs, and that the stimulating effect was a bit too much.

With his mind highly active, he followed the hidden thread of the Night Corporation and sorted out the game's plot. Suddenly, he realized that the "Frankfurt Incident" that almost killed Company V was also likely their doing.

Known information regarding the painting bell, the five-year plan, the eight-year plan, and the abandonment of the flag.

The Ye family most likely has its own satellites;

Ye has shares in the rail station project;

The Night Clan's business scope mainly revolves around three major areas: AI, Night City municipal administration, and space programs.

"Moon Mother" Lilith is suspected to be Miriam Knight, the behind-the-scenes controller of the Night Clan. She may have already transformed herself into an AI-like consciousness in the orbital space station!

Saburo Arasaka's "Kamikochi Project" might just be something she'd already done...

The fact that Arasaka secretly built a mass accelerator on the moon naturally harmed the interests of the Yoru clan. They probably knew about this all along and deliberately leaked it through spies planted within Arasaka's ranks just as Arasaka's moon contract was about to expire and be renewed, thus orchestrating the so-called "Frankfurt Incident".

Everything was part of the Ye family's plan...

In this Arasaka crisis, will they take action ahead of time and push Arasaka to the brink of disaster again?

It's very likely, especially since Lilith has just suffered a setback and needs to vent her anger on someone.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Without hesitation, call Miss Valerie's private number immediately. It's a shot in the arm, no matter what!

It took a long time for the other end to answer the phone after I dialed it.

Miss Valerie, with her impeccable makeup and boundless energy even in the middle of the night, appeared in the upper left corner of her prosthetic eye.

Judging from the background behind her, she must be outside.

"Is it just time to get off work?" Leo asked curiously.

"Leave work? With a gun pointed at your head, nobody in our department dares to leave work. Just say what you have to say, I can't stay out for too long."

Can you guarantee the security of the call?