The invisible hand Batman feared was, of course, the Court of Owls.
For now, the Court of Owls had not officially revealed itself to Batman, but many of Gotham's most powerful and influential figures—including underworld bosses—were already members.
Batman's presence had long been a thorn in their side.
So, while not everyone in the Court agreed, eliminating Batman was one of the strongest voices inside.
Amanda Waller's idea of forming the Suicide Squad gained the Court's support mainly because she promised that, at the right time, the Squad could be used against Batman.
But even Amanda herself hadn't expected things to turn out the way they did.
Though the Suicide Squad eventually dealt with the problem of Enchantress, the project itself basically fell apart.
Not only that, but as agreed, they had to help shape Deadshot into Gotham's new savior.
Luckily, the Court of Owls' influence in Gotham was vast. After Raymond eliminated both Enchantress and the Joker, the Court simply had to use its networks to spread the truth quickly and widely.
Since none of it needed to be fabricated, the story spread even faster.
With the Court of Owls' reach, it took barely more than ten days before Deadshot became a household name—his fame even reaching the family of his sub-personality.
His family already knew his street name, Deadshot, and even his daughter Zoe was aware.
So, when the story spread through all of Gotham, Zoe naturally heard it too.
And in her eyes, her father finally became a true hero who stood tall.
Ding—]
[You have successfully fulfilled Deadshot's wish!]
[Completion rating: B-rank. Completion reward: 900 (300x3) universal points.]
[You may leave this world at any time. If you don't, you will be forcefully removed after one month.]
When Zoe learned that her father had become Gotham's savior, Raymond immediately received the system's reward notification.
Most of the message was routine, but two things stood out: the completion rating and the reward calculation.
The system had never explained what standard the rating was based on—it was clearly a rule that had to be discovered.
But the reward, marked as 300 × 3, was interesting.
The 300 universal points matched the cost he had paid to start this Wish Journey. The "times three" must have come from the B-rank completion rating.
"So the starting cost is like a base multiplier. The higher the completion rating, the bigger the multiplier?" Raymond thought.
Since the starting fee had already been deducted, his actual gain was 600 universal points.
Because he reached a B-rank, the multiplier was three.
If he had achieved an A-rank, maybe the multiplier would have been four—or even higher.
On the other hand, a C-rank or lower might only give double, or worse.
By now, Raymond had formed a rough outline of how the reward system worked.
For him, 600 universal points wasn't much—especially after already redeeming a Gold Character Card—but it was still a decent gain.
But don't forget—this was only Deadshot's sub-personality wish, which cost just 300 universal points to start.
What if it were switched to Professor X's sub-personality wish?
That one required 2000 universal points just to begin. If he could reach the same completion rating as this time, the reward would be 4000 points.
And if he managed an even higher completion rating, the reward could be greater still.
For him right now, this was already becoming a very fast way to "harvest wool."
"Alright, this is wrapped up. Time to prepare to leave…" Raymond decided after piecing everything together.
He created a shadow clone to hold Deadshot's sub-personality, so it could say goodbye to his daughter.
As for Deadshot's family, Raymond had already made arrangements for them.
Once he left, there would be people secretly watching over them.
If the Court of Owls dared to make a move, they would pay the price.
But Raymond himself also had one more farewell to make.
On the shaded path of Greenland Park—
"I'm leaving," Raymond said suddenly.
Beside him, Harley, walking with her hands clasped behind her back, paused and asked:
"Where to?"
"A very far place," Raymond replied.
"It's fine, I can go with you," Harley grinned.
"No, you can't go there." Raymond shook his head.
"I don't believe you!"
Harley jumped in front of him, staring into his eyes. "Are you tired of me? I can stop being so clingy. We can meet just once a week… no, once a month!"
"I'm not lying. It's the truth," Raymond said helplessly.
"No, I don't believe you!" Harley insisted.
Raymond sighed. "Believe it or not, I'm just letting you know… Also, before I go, there's something I should tell you."
"What is it?"
"I'm not really Deadshot…" Raymond said after a pause.
To his surprise, Harley didn't react with shock or disbelief, not like when she refused to accept his departure.
She only laughed playfully and said, "I already knew."
"You knew?"
This time, it was Raymond's turn to be shocked.
"Women's intuition is stronger than you think." Harley smirked proudly.
"…Alright, since you already guessed it, I won't waste my breath." Raymond shrugged.
But Harley wasn't done. She carefully asked, "Then… can I see the real you?"
"Of course."
With a quick transformation spell, Raymond revealed his true self.
"You're even more handsome than I imagined." Harley's eyes sparkled like stars.
"Thanks… And my name is Raymond."
"Raymond, huh? I'll remember that!"
"Alright, it's about time I left—hey, what are you—hiss… that hurts!"
After a long moment, their lips parted.
"Will you come back?" she asked softly.
But this time, she received no answer—Raymond had already vanished before her eyes.
When he opened them again, he was back in his own room.
He checked his watch—just like last time with the Kuro sub-personality's world, a long time had passed inside, but only an instant outside.
"Hiss… was that considered harassment?"
Touching his sore lips, his expression turned complicated.
--
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