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

2076 2 Month 19 Day.

8 o'clock in the morning,

Leo was awakened by the enticing aroma of spicy food.

He got up groggily and walked to the railing.

"I've ordered breakfast, come down and have some."

V waved to him energetically.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right there..."

Leo stretched and went into the bathroom.

The cool water chased away his lingering sleepiness and got his brain working again.

In the upper left corner of the eyelid, the biomonitoring system provides a routine report.

He glanced at them and they were all healthy.

Good morning, Father! Your recovery is progressing well, and the concentrations of various brain hormones are beginning to decrease. Please continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Wishing you a pleasant mood!

While brushing his teeth, Leo couldn't help but smile. The cold prosthetic body was indeed no match for the intelligent and considerate cybernetic little cotton-padded jacket.

Unknown Soldier: Chapter Thirty-Nine: Spatial Abilities, the Beginning of Trade Between Worlds

[I have more good news for you: I have deciphered the Singularity's spatial storage function. You can think of it simply as a spatial ability, allowing you to freely store and retrieve items.]

The current restrictions are: it cannot be a living thing; it cannot be divided into parts, such as taking a portion of an entire wall; the item must be in contact with your skin; there is no limit to the weight of the item, but its volume cannot exceed the boundaries of the storage space.

The underlying principles behind these restrictions are not yet clear, and more time and computing power are needed for rule parsing.

Once you are ready, please close your eyes, and I will guide you through learning how to use this function.

Leo was excited. He quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face.

"I'm ready, let's get started!"

Please close your eyes and try to perceive the singularity space with your mind.

Mind perception?

It sounds difficult...

But I succeeded on my first try!

His consciousness extended along an invisible path to the mysterious singularity space, where he saw his own server room once again.

At this moment, there are many areas filled with blue light in the corners and edges of the computer room.

[Dear Father, these marked areas represent your current usable storage space, approximately 104 cubic meters.]

It sounds huge, but... upon closer inspection, it's all divided up by various server room equipment. The storage area is like the outer ring of a "回" character, completely unable to hold large items.

[Pure White, can't you move the equipment in the server room?]

[Father, I am an AI without a physical body. If you want mobile devices, you'll have to do it yourself, or buy me some robots and I'll control them.]

Leo had a sudden thought: Robot 2077 is not lacking, but funds are tight right now, so we have to put it on hold for now and set up trade between the two worlds first.

Okay, I'll get myself ready as soon as I get back.

Okay, please be careful and don't use this ability in front of strangers. As far as I know, 2077 doesn't yet involve space-folding technology.

I understand.

Communication ends.

Leo looked excitedly at his right hand—the plastic cup he was holding kept repeating the cycle of disappearing, reappearing, and disappearing again.

Then, his gaze fell on the odds and ends in the bathroom.

He put all sorts of things into his spatial storage, then took them out again, having a great time playing with them.

As the saying goes, you have a prosthetic body, I have superpowers, so he can also do some fancy tricks in the future!

Lost in his own world, he suddenly received a text message.

[V: Are you still alive? Did you eat something bad?]

Leo was taken aback and glanced at the time travel countdown in the upper right corner—he had been in the bathroom for about 20 minutes…

[Leo: Chatting with an old friend, I'll be right there.]

Back in the living room, V opened the food warmer. "Mexican-style breakfast, eat up, it's getting cold."

Leo took a deep breath; the enticing spicy aroma was incredibly rich.

“Mexican tacos, hot tacos, spicy sausage and potato stir-fry, oatmeal... these are the dishes that Chef Haywood excels at.”

V gave a brief introduction, then picked up a taco covered in hot sauce and began to eat with gusto.

"Some are extra spicy. If you don't like spicy food, eat the ones with less chili sauce."

Leo nodded, making a decision before his indecisiveness kicked in—he would try both the regular and spicy versions.

As it turns out, the locals made the right choice.

The old-fashioned hot sauce masked the slight off-putting smell of synthetic meat products, making these foods less unpalatable.

Leo, who rarely gets to eat a full meal, lay contentedly on the sofa.

"From now on, you can order the food, and order something extra spicy for me too. I'll pay for it."

"Okay, you're the boss, so you call the shots."

Since it would save on meal expenses, V naturally had no objections.

After quickly clearing the table, V went to the restroom and returned to ask him, "What's the plan for today? Just so you know, I can't take you to Watson District again until I've dealt with those cleaners. It's too dangerous."

“Hmm…” Leo looked at the ceiling and thought, “I remember there are things like combat training chips, right? They allow you to practice various skills in virtual environments.”

"Yes, there are, but they may not be safe."

V gave a simple explanation, letting Leo know just how deep the water was.

"Most reliable chips are used by large companies to train their employees. The ones that leak out are either cut-down versions or hacked versions, and it's hard to say whether they might have backdoors that could steal your personal information."

Not to mention unreliable, shoddy chips—would you dare insert a chip made by gang members into your body?

Leo didn't dare, but he remembered someone who seemed to dare.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I'm an idiot, randomly using those unknown chips?"

"I didn't say anything..."

"But that's what your eyes meant!"

V kindly offered to answer his question, but was instead looked down upon. She was so angry that she gritted her teeth and wished she could strangle him.

Leo dared not provoke her any further and quickly changed the subject:

"Actually, I'm a hacker too, albeit a barely decent one. Once I install a few more prosthetic bodies, I'll buy some chips and practice my combat skills in virtual space. Today... I'll rest indoors; I need to go online and gather some information."

“Okay, I have no objection. If you’re not going out, I’ll go back and get some more sleep…” V said, looking at his reproachful gaze, “I didn’t sleep well last night because of the new environment.”

"Would you like me to read you a bedtime story?"

"Fuck you..."

Bang!

The irritable V retreated into its lair.

Leo looked at the tightly closed door and shook his head. He noticed some flaws in the street girl, V—for example, she loved to swear and always used uncivilized language.

This is not good. We need to properly educate her in the future... ah, no, I mean, we need to educate her to turn her into a civilized young woman of the new era.

After resting for a while and letting the dizziness from eating too much subside, he got up and went to the office area.

While aimlessly browsing the web, I pondered:

With spatial abilities, there are two urgent things to consider.

First and foremost, without a doubt, ensure your own safety. It's best to stock the space with enough food, drinking water, medicine, and weapons and ammunition. Ideally, you should also have a life support pod, the kind where you can hide and survive until the next crossing.

Secondly, trade between the two worlds allows them to acquire sufficient funds and rapidly develop their own power.

The first point is simple: currently, after crossing over, you can stay for a maximum of 7 to 15 days, and you can buy supplies for half a month anywhere.

The second point needs careful consideration...

It's known that Gotham has a Batman, and that Batman even revealed his true identity...

Snapped.

Leo lightly slapped himself: "You should watch your mouth in the future."

To get back to the point, Batman is so annoying. He's so paranoid that he'll keep an eye on you every day, even if he doesn't end up in police custody.

If all else fails, just run away... I think the safest major city in DC is Central City... A metropolis would also work, Superman is much easier to get along with than Batman...

Time travel, buy a plane ticket, grease your feet, and get moisturized!

Theoretically possible.

Unfortunately, there's a big problem, no, two...

Unknown Soldier: Chapter Forty, First Item—Home Surveillance System

First of all, would Batman, whose identity had been exposed and who had been flirted with by him, be so magnanimous as to let him go?

Eighty percent... no, considering Batman's personality, he definitely won't let him go easily.

On the darkest note—he might already be in Batman's notebook.

Ma·Leo·Ma.

And there is a second problem:

He wants to engage in trade between two sectors, and the most important things are the goods and the buyers.

Goods are easy to find. Night City in 2076 has far more advanced technology than Gotham City in 2010. You can easily find some outdated technology or goods and sell them for a good price.

But who should he sell it to...? He can't just be like Brother Pian, hawking it to passersby on the street.

They are not only poor, but also not safe.

The buyer should be wealthy, interested in business cooperation, and preferably kind-hearted, without any ulterior motives like double-crossing.

There aren't many people like that in DC.

But... he actually knew one.

That's right—

Bruce Wayne, codename "Batman".

Ma·Leo·Ma.

Therefore, the most likely high-quality collaborator to be found, and even to come to you on their own, is Batman...

Okay, so how is he going to explain away his earlier boasts—the person who killed Batman's parents, the Joker's true identity, and the Court of Owls? DC has countless parallel universes, and these questions have "countless answers," so even he can't say for sure…

[Pure White, can you confirm which version of Batman I encountered?]

Unfortunately, the world the singularity leads to has clearly changed, just like your 2077—V returned from Atlanta ahead of schedule. I'm also unsure which universe in the DC universe you visited was which.

Can you connect to the network over there?

[Theoretically, it's possible, but we were in too much of a rush last time and didn't have time to set it up. Next time you go to Gotham, you'll be able to receive network communications from Night City simultaneously.]

That's not bad either.

A bad news is followed by a good news; the balance is just barely acceptable.

As long as Batman adheres to the "no-kill policy," his life is at least safe.

Leo closed most of the browser windows and focused on the "products" that Batman would be interested in and willing to pay for.

Welcome to Peace and Safety...

On the screen, the cartoon sheriff wearing an NCPD uniform appears once again.