Chapter 2071: Knight's Night of Terror (Part 50)

"You've come at just the right time, Peter." Schiller poured Peter a cup of hot tea. Peter, sitting on the edge of the hotel room bed, appeared somewhat restless. He took a sip of the tea but was scalded so badly he nearly spat it out.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Schiller looked at him with a disapproving gaze and said, "What's wrong? Drink slowly; no one is going to snatch it from you."

Peter had another fit of violent coughing, then wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie. He spread his arms out again, slumping into the chair, and said, "I just wanted to come over and see, to confirm that the situation is developing for the better."

Then, like a corpse coming back to life, he straightened his body and said, "Really, Doctor, having one's superhero identity exposed is a very bad thing. They cannot simultaneously bear the pressure from criminals and the public. I've experienced it, so I know how agonizing it is."

Schiller looked at the sorrowful expression on Peter's face. He set down his teacup, sat opposite Peter, and said, "Peter, in the ancient East, there is a story about an ancient dynasty undergoing civil war. The Emperor was young, and the Empress Dowager had no authority."

"A general received orders from the Emperor to head to the frontier to quell the rebellion. On the way to the campaign, his subordinates said to him, 'The country is now in the midst of war, the national strength is too weak, and the Emperor cannot command respect. We are fighting at the risk of our lives, but I fear no one will even know.'"

Peter's attention was gradually drawn in. He remembered that when he was at the clinic, Schiller would always tell him interesting stories—like a man buying jewelry, returning the jewelry but keeping the box, or a man sailing a boat, dropping his sword into the water, and carving a mark on the boat...

"So what did they do?" Peter asked.

He had assumed this was a story about a valiant general comforting his troops, with the soldiers fighting bravely to serve their country. He didn't expect Schiller to shift the tone of the story.

"They tailored a yellow robe that only an Emperor could wear, draped it over the general, and said, 'The current Emperor is still young and has no one worth trusting. Why don't we kill our way back to the capital? Once you become Emperor, you can lead everyone to quell the rebellion together...'"

Peter spat out a mouthful of tea.

"But unexpectedly, that wasn't the end," Schiller continued.

"After this general returned to the capital, all the ministers felt very nervous. When meeting with the ministers, he took off the yellow robe and wept to the old ministers about how the soldiers had forced him to become Emperor."

Peter was choked into coughing again.

"At this moment, another general stepped forward and said, 'In any case, we cannot accept a child commanding us. Someone has to be Emperor, so it might as well be you.'"

"And so, this general became Emperor. The story ends there."

Peter coughed until his neck and face were bright red, taking a long time to catch his breath. He covered his eyes and said, "What kind of broken story is this? How are the people in it thinking?"

"Weren't these people leaving the capital to go to war? How did they have time to sew clothes while marching? If the general who put on the Emperor's clothes didn't want to be Emperor, couldn't he have just taken them off on the spot? Why did he have to wait until returning to the capital?"

"And those ministers knew he was going to rebel, so why did they go to see him? Weren't they afraid of being killed by him? Also, clearly, he was the one who didn't take off the clothes on the road, so what was there to cry about?"

"Too sharp, Peter," Schiller remarked while blowing on his tea. "You perfectly grasped the point of this story."

Peter was somewhat dazed. Following Schiller's lead, he began to think through the answers to these questions himself.

"If it was ancient Eastern times, they should have been fighting on horseback," Peter began flipping through the historical knowledge in his brain. He said, "Even if they were on foot, they shouldn't have been carrying scissors, needles, and thread. Soldiers aren't tailors, so the clothes definitely weren't made after leaving the city."

"If this color of clothing could only be worn by the Emperor, the fabric definitely wouldn't be easy to buy, and they would have had to do it sneakily. I estimate not many people would dare to make it, and finding a tailor would take quite a while."

"So this definitely couldn't have been a spur-of-the-moment decision; they must have prepared for at least three months. So he definitely had a premeditated plan, which is why he didn't take off those clothes on the way back."

"And the ministers who knew he was going to rebel but still went to see him were probably already in cahoots with him. After all, they didn't know if the other party was sincere or forced before they went. Judging by common sense, it's unlikely they were forced, right?"

"If they were truly loyal, they would surely know that going to see the rebel leader was a dead end. Shouldn't they have immediately notified the Emperor to gather troops to resist?"

"So..." Peter concluded, "This general, the soldiers he led out of the city, and the ministers who went to see him later were definitely all in cahoots. They were just acting."

"The soldiers acted on impulse, the general was forced against his will, and the ministers were completely unaware. This way, there was no culprit in the whole affair; everyone was a victim, and no one would be blamed."

Peter heard applause from the seat opposite him. Schiller clapped while shaking his head, saying, "Too perfect, Peter."

"Is history really like that?" Peter asked, somewhat surprised. He knew that many of the Eastern stories Schiller told him were events that had truly happened in history.

"No one knows," Schiller shook his head and said. "History books are written by the victors. Even if they aren't, after thousands of years of transmission, there are always errors. But the truth isn't important, Peter. Do you think you are a smart person?"

"Um... I think I am smarter than others in some aspects."

"Too modest. In reality, you are very sharp, Peter. And the conclusions you reached are what most smart people would reach, and they are even better at conspiracy theories than you are."

"They are good at deducing the process from the results. Whoever is the beneficiary of an event is likely the mastermind behind the scenes. Usually, that is the case."

"But sometimes, we can also use this thinking in reverse to push a person into a position they shouldn't have gone to."

Peter leaned forward, wanting to know exactly how to do that.

"When you become the theoretically sole beneficiary of an event, even if that event hasn't happened yet, people who predict the future will feel that this event must have been orchestrated by you."

"Because if this event happens, you will gain great benefits, so what reason would you have not to do it?"

"Just like that general, although the rebellion hadn't truly happened when he was draped in the yellow robe, it was foreseeable that as long as the rebellion succeeded, he would be Emperor. He was the biggest beneficiary, so you would feel he must have had a premeditated plan, and this series of events was just him acting."

Peter thought about it and nodded, saying, "I can't deny that when I made this judgment, I did think that if it succeeded, he would be Emperor. Who could resist such temptation? It would be normal for it to be premeditated, right?"

"Therefore, people who hold this view will definitely aim their spears at this beneficiary in advance, even if the event hasn't actually happened and the beneficiary hasn't gained any benefits yet. They want to nip the other party in the bud."

"Once they make a move, they will inevitably damage this person's existing interests, and in order to protect himself, he will also fight back. As long as he fights back, it confirms his ambition."

"People will think, 'Look, this really was his conspiracy; otherwise, why would he fight back?'"

"If this person fights back a little too quickly or strikes a little too hard, it becomes even harder to explain. Everything will be attributed to him preparing early enough and having enough ambition."

"Tension will inevitably evolve into real combat, and once it starts, it won't end easily."

Schiller raised his head slightly, a cold glint flashing in his smiling eyes. He gently set down his teacup and said, "A bloodthirsty wolf that has tasted the wonderful feeling of biting a piece of meat off the opponent will never allow the alpha wolf to stop the war. In the end, only one side can stand here alive, and I believe that will be Bruce Wei En."

In this deep autumn season, the storm blowing wantonly across the vast American plains carried the entire land toward midwinter. And this autumn, one storm was more violent than a hurricane.

You can be a successful businessman, a successful politician, a mastermind behind a great power, or a hero who upholds justice.

But you cannot simultaneously be a successful businessman, a successful politician, the mastermind steering the country, and a true hero.

There cannot be such a person in this world, because he is destined to overcome everything and walk a broad, smooth road without gutters or deep rivers. The snakes, insects, rats, and ants that originally lived in these crevices cannot allow such a thing to happen.

The synonym for this country's former glory and prosperity—the Wei En Group—suffered an unimaginably powerful offensive this autumn.

The most important business partners in various fields broke contracts without reason one after another. Competitors who already had frequent friction began to surround and intercept without scruples. Congress amended the antitrust act 15 times within two months. Twelve volumes of military strategy, and every volume had the master's name.

The FBI successively discovered that five major shareholders of the Wei En Group were suspected of crimes involving the economy and national security. The military accused the Wei En Group of colluding with terrorists to start wars in order to increase military orders. Multiple newspapers and news media in which the Wei En Group held shares were exposed for false reporting, and editors-in-chief were imprisoned one after another.

Following that, the raw material import and export channels of the Wei En Group's industrial department were blocked, and multiple batches of export goods to third-world countries were found to be non-compliant or in violation of local anti-dumping laws.

Then, the Wei En Group's factories in various countries were accused of labor exploitation and environmental violations, and all preferential policies for land leasing and taxation were canceled on the grounds that the Wei En Group's factories violated human rights.

Finally, Bruce Wei En himself received 67 accusations related to sexual assault and harassment within two months, 30 of which came from women, 27 from men, and 10 from underage children, with footprints spanning 13 states including New Jersey, Maryland, and Colorado.

Over 200 news media outlets reported nearly a hundred times within two months that Bruce Wei En had been arrested and imprisoned, over 60 times that his adopted son had died, and 12 times that the Waynes had been resurrected.

Over 70 incumbent and retired local prosecutors mentioned in media interviews that the Wei En Group interfered with judicial justice through personal threats, with over a thousand cases mentioned that might have been interfered with.

Dumping, monopoly, embezzlement, sexual assault, murder, personal threats—overnight, Bruce Wei En fell from the altar.

And at the center of the storm was still the relationship between the members of the Bat-Family. Those speculations that might have originally only appeared in the gossip sections of certain newspapers were now openly popular across major media. Everyone was acting as if it were true, authentic and genuine.

They placed Bruce Wei En in a desperate situation.

But they didn't know that the only one who would stand out in a desperate situation to turn the tide would be Batman.

They made it so Batman could no longer be a god.

But they didn't know that when Batman broke the last line of procedural justice, he didn't fall from the altar; rather, the gods returned to their thrones.

When they said Batman had the ability to subvert this country, he certainly did. ===== CHAPTER 2072 =====