Dreaming is not harmful

First, let's make a general remark that will help us in solving all the subtasks. Consider the order in which the vertices will be removed in the original tree, and for simplicity, we will call it the removal order.

Let's consider an arbitrary vertex $$$v$$$ and denote by $$$S_v$$$ the set of vertices that come before $$$v$$$ in the removal order. Now, let's define the optimal vertex for nullification. Note that it is pointless to nullify a vertex on the path from $$$v$$$ to the root, as this can only worsen the position of $$$v$$$ in the removal order. When nullifying a vertex $$$c$$$, which is not on the path to the root, the position of $$$v$$$ in the removal order will decrease by the number of vertices from $$$S_v$$$ in the subtree of vertex $$$c$$$.

Thus, we need to find a subtree that does not contain vertex $$$v$$$, with the maximum number of vertices that come before $$$v$$$ in the removal order.

In the future, when we refer to the sum in the subtree, we will mean the number of vertices from $$$S_v$$$ in that subtree.

Now we will learn to simulate the process in the general case. We will maintain a set of the root's children in a data structure. In the next iteration, we will remove the vertex with the maximum value from it and add its children. Depending on the chosen data structure, the asymptotic complexity will be $$$O(n \log n)$$$ or $$$O(n^2)$$$. A priority queue or a set would be suitable for an efficient implementation.