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Reid had read similar transmigration stories. Others would start as powerhouses—Kizaru, Madara, or some other powerful beings. From the get-go, they could show off and dominate. And here he was, starting out as Alfred, the butler.
"But on second thought, combining it with the Gotham City environment card doesn't seem like a bad start."
Alfred on his own might just be an exceptional mortal, nowhere near the level of superheroes. But if paired with Gotham City, becoming the butler of Wayne Manor, the starting point suddenly looked pretty decent.
At least he wouldn't have to scam poor Tony Stark at Stark Industries right out of the gate.
With this realization, Reid didn't hesitate. He immediately used both cards. The Gotham City environment card merged into the void, sending out ripples that altered the geography of New York State. Near New York City, a bustling metropolis appeared—a city rife with crime: Gotham City.
No one in the world noticed anything unusual. It was as if Gotham City had always been there, not suddenly conjured into existence.
The Alfred role-playing card merged into Reid's body, and ripples coursed through him, triggering a transformation.
His once-average physique became lean and frail, his thick hair thinned out, and a gentleman's cane materialized in his hand as a symbol of his new identity.
Beyond appearances, the most notable change was his newfound strength. Even as the aged Alfred, Reid felt significantly stronger than his original youthful, fitness-loving self. Truly, comic book characters were on another level.
However, when Reid saw Alfred's character mission, he noticed something… off.
"System, the items in the beginner's package are fixed, right? I'm not wrong, am I?"
[Host, you've misunderstood. Except for the system manual, the rewards in the beginner's package are distributed randomly.]
Listening to the system stubbornly arguing in his mind, Reid didn't want to say anything more.
Why did he realize the items in the beginner's package were fixed?
It was because, when he came to his senses, he discovered that Alfred's character mission was to maintain Wayne Enterprises.
If the items in the beginner's package weren't fixed, and he happened to draw Alfred along with the Paradise Island environment card, then what? Was he supposed to go to Paradise Island and build Wayne Enterprises from scratch? A seventy-year-old man's journey to the Land of Amazons?
However, dwelling on it any further was pointless. Whether everything was truly random or prearranged by the system, the only thing he could do was to make the most of the resources at hand and develop in this world.
Even without acquiring the Gotham City environment card, he was determined to use Alfred's abilities to establish his own influence.
"That said, considering the current situation, the state of Wayne Enterprises isn't looking great. How should I, as a butler, go about maintaining it?"
After stepping into the role of Alfred, a flood of information started surfacing in Reid's mind.
According to the information in his mind, the current timeline seems to be during the period when Bruce Wayne has gone abroad to train, leaving Alfred to deal with the massive mess he left behind.
Although Reid doesn't yet have the role card for Batman, the name Bruce Wayne has already etched itself into the minds of everyone, as if it emerged naturally with the birth of Gotham City.
People know that such a person exists, but as for when Bruce Wayne will appear, that entirely depends on when he manages to acquire the Batman card.
"Sigh!"
After thinking for a long time, Reid could only let out a deep sigh.
Back when he read the comics, he always admired Alfred's unwavering loyalty. During those years when Bruce Wayne wandered off, Alfred managed to stabilize the entire Wayne Enterprises. But now that he's become Alfred, he has come to realize just how difficult this task really is.
Wayne Enterprises isn't publicly traded, so he doesn't have to worry about the company's stock prices plummeting due to Bruce Wayne's absence.
However, that doesn't mean the company is completely under the control of the Wayne family.
Some high-ranking executives who hold a portion of the shares have already publicly announced the supposed death of Bruce Wayne, the last heir of the Wayne family. Using this as justification, they're pushing to take the company public under the pretense of ensuring its future.
If the company goes public, even if Alfred still holds the Wayne family's shares, it will be a hopeless situation.
That's because these shares don't legally belong to Alfred. He can safeguard them, but he has no rights to exercise shareholder privileges.
"This is such a mess!"
No matter how hard Reid thought about it, he couldn't come up with a way to stop Wayne Enterprises from going public.
Bang!
Just as Reid was sitting in the car—now modified by the system into an exclusive luxury vehicle for the Wayne family—pondering the issue, a loud noise reached his ears.
"The sound of shattering glass... and brakes screeching?"
It was clear that something had happened on the road ahead.
"Maybe... I should go check it out?"
In his past life, Reid had grown up in an environment where the habit of watching from the sidelines was deeply ingrained—and he had naturally inherited it.
"....."