"This should be good enough..." I remarked, sighing in relief as I noticed the notification prompt in the corner of my vision. I smiled, shutting off the laptop and storing it in my inventory.

[You unread notifications. Would you like to view them?]

I cracked my neck as I turned to the system, agreeing to view the accumulated notifications I'd ignored since I returned to my apartment from the motel until now.

I had spent the past three days doing nothing, grinding the computers, only taking a break every ten hours to go out and take a walk and clear my mind.

I even visited Patrick and his homeless buddies to get them some food, and it helped take off the edge of my nerves and help me relax to see a couple of friendly faces.

In any case, it was somewhat tiring, but I managed to pull through, and now it was finally time to see the results of my hard work.

...

[+3 levels to the Brawling skill]

[Brawling (level 38)]

[+4 levels to the Acrobatics skill]

[Acrobatics (level 16)]

[+4 levels to the Programmer class]

[Programmer (18)]

[+12 stat points]

[+1 level to the Archetype: Mad Scientist]

[You have gained the Archetype power: Code Master]

[Code Mastery: the ability to create and break any code, from simple firewalls all the way to the universal equation itself, depending on your combined Programming (Computers) skill and Mind attribute]

'Well, that escalated quickly...' I mused with a snort, frowning as I read through the Code Mastery power. If the power's description is accurate, and the system isn't bluffing, then this might be the most broken thing ever.

I mean, sure, my intelligence was at a measly 50, and my Computers skill was even lower, but it's only a matter of time before I can take them to much higher levels, even if it took me several years or even a decade.

And let me tell you, even though the wording of the system was casual, breaking the universe's formula was no ordinary feat since it was the fictional equivalent of the God formula. It could lead to God-like might.

Solving an equation would enable one to alter it, and if the said equation was the universe itself...

'Stop fantasizing... now's not the time...' I shook my head and lightly slapped myself to regain focus when I felt my imagination go wild with theories and fantasies.

'Right... those are the notifications from the Shipyard battle. I should move on to the rest...' I nodded, dismissing the earlier notifications to focus on the rest.

[+6 levels to the Computers skill]

[Computers (level 18)]

'So I managed to raise the Computers skill by six levels... not bad...' I nodded in satisfaction as I turned to the rest of the notification prompts with a shrug.

[+3 levels to the Crime skill]

[Crime (level 28)

[+5 levels to the Programmer class]

[Programmer (level 23)]

[+15 stat points]

'Hmm? The Crime skill went up...?' I tilted my head in confusion at the level increase, but I quickly figured out the reason after some thought, causing me to smile.

I had to resort to hacking while grinding the Computers skill. Hacking is considered a crime, so it would make sense for Crime to go up in level.

'Still, I have a shit ton of stat points now...' I mused, smiling as I turned my character screen.

Name: Grayson Whitlock

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Archetype: (The Mad Scientist level 1)

Class: [Thief (level MAX)] [Fighter (level MAX)] [Acrobat (Level MAX)] [Programmer Level 23]

...

Stats:

Body: 50

Mind: 50

Spirit: 50

Stat Points: 54

.....

Skills:

[Brawling (level 38)]

[Crime (level 28)]

[Acrobatics (level 16)]

[Computers (level 18)]

....

Perks:

[Dormant Metahuman]

[Silent Step]

[Eidetic Kinesthesia]

[Superhuman Stamina]

[Perfect Recall]

[Accelerated Healing]

[100% Muscle Usage]

[Energy Detector]

[Energy Concentration]

...

Archetype powers:

[Network Crash]

[Code Master]

...

'Now to take a nap and rest before looking for the bitch who created so many problems for me...' I mused, stretching my limbs as I slowly made for my room.

I opened the door, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the tied-up Harley leaning on the wall upside down as she dangled her feet in front of her mouth, trying to chew off the rope restraining her movement.

The crazy blonde kept nagging me while I was trying to work, and it took me only one hour to snap, tie, and gag her up before throwing her into my room to continue working in peace.

I wasn't heartless enough to leave her tied up all the time and loosened the restraint whenever I was taking a break, hoping she'd fuck off somewhere else and stop bothering me.

But the crazy blonde stubbornly decided to stay, and I had to subdue her every time before tying her up. Harley always tried putting up a fight, and even though she had near-superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes, she was no match for me.

I also didn't have to worry about the nasty gas she used because of the air filtering system on my riot headgear. Suffice to say, subduing her and tying her up was considerably easy now.

"You managed to get rid of the gag..." I remarked, sending the crazy blonde a bemused look as I approached her, earning a scoff and a glare for my effort.

"Ya can't keep me tied up like this! I have rights!" Harley exclaimed, squirming around as she flipped into her stomach and began crawling towards me like a caterpillar.

"You lost all rights when you decided to annoy me..." I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I picked my ear with my pinky and moved back as the crazy blonde reached me and tried to bite my ankle.

"Ya better let me loose, or I'll bite yer leg off!" she exclaimed as she resumed crawling and trying to bite at my ankle, to which I could do nothing but sigh and step back again.

"I already completed the preparations to find the guy responsible for framing Selena..." I remarked without bothering to reply to the crazy blonde's ridiculous threat, causing her to pause as she looked up at me.

"Behave yourself, and let me get some rest, and I'll take you along when I go out to meet her," I added, grinning at the crazy blonde's conflicting expression that only lasted for a second before she tried to bit my ankle again.

"Fuck it," I said, sighing as I kneeled, knocking Harley unconscious with a quick jab to a vital nerv. I  picked the crazy blonde and put her on my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, then took her to my living room and threw her on the couch. 

"Now stay," I concluded as I took out a piece of cloth from my inventory, balled it, and stuffed it into Harley's mouth before walking away.

Stretching my limbs and owning, I headed back to my room to get some needed sleep before the action.

...

Old Gotham

"When will you people learn...?" Selina remarked, leisurely smirking as she opened her palm and raised her hand, showcasing the bloodstained claws on her black leather gloves.

"You mess with the cat; you get the claws..." she added, shaking her hand to get rid of the blood as she looked down at the last conscious thug from the Intergang team that tried to ambush her.

The man looked like a mess with scratches, blood, and whip scars all over his body, and before he could even reply, Selena attacked again, knocking him out with a kick to the side of his head.

The Intergang had been on Selina's tail since their arrival, ambushing her on a daily basis whenever she went out in costume. However, the attacks and ambushes became less lately after their attack on the abandoned hospital.

And when Harley and Gray attacked the shipyard and took out Intergang's underbosses in Gotham, there were almost no attacks since only regular members remained, running around like headless chickens.

Still, they didn't give up on her, and this was the first attack on her since the shipyard incident, but it was nothing she couldn't handle herself, seeing it as just light exercise.

She even got to keep whatever alien toys, so she couldn't really complain.

"All in a day's work, without even chipping a nail..." Selina remarked, her smirk becoming more pronounced as she pocketed every single gadget she could carry.

"Thanks for the gifts, boys..." Selina said, chuckling as she turned to walk, swaying out of habit more than anything else. However, she stopped at the familiar ring tone coming from her pocket.

"No rest for the wicked, I guess," Selina said, raising an eyebrow as she read the text from Gray that told her he was ready to find the person who framed her.

...

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