Chapter 3563

Not long after, Harley also came out of the interrogation room. Clearly, both cases had been pinned on the Brainiac Support Society. However, things were clearly not that simple.

Standing at the entrance of the police station, Shiler looked at Harley and asked: "The police officer's corpse was discovered on Diamond Street?"

Harley nodded and said: "That's right, but that wasn't the primary crime scene. They killed someone in the neighborhood near the old campus—I mean another person—and were discovered by that police officer, so they took action."

"Although the old campus isn't as far from Diamond Street as the new campus, there is still some distance. Why would they go there to dump the body?"

It seemed like Shiler was asking Harley, but in reality, he wasn't asking this question, because he knew the police officer's corpse was likely moved there by Harley, specifically to implicate the group on Diamond Street in this matter.

"Diamond Street isn't being wronged either," Harley said. "I learned from Lina that they have always been the ones providing financial sponsorship to the Brainiac Support Society, letting them organize clubs and incite students. It's just that they did it covertly enough; if you don't lay a fuse, it's hard to burn the fire onto them."

"So that's how it is." Shiler narrowed his eyes slightly.

The appearance of the Brainiac Support Society was indeed very suspicious. Although pop culture spreads faster and wider among young groups like college students, being sharp at seizing business opportunities and occupying the market is not something these naive college students are good at.

And an organization like the Brainiac Support Society, similar to a cult or pyramid scheme, being able to be set up at such a fast speed, naturally couldn't lack the instigation of that group on Diamond Street behind the scenes.

"Has Gordon taken action?"

"Diamond Street has already been blockaded; the protesters must take a detour, otherwise Gordon will make them regret it."

"I think we need to take some countermeasures." Shiler looked back at the police station. In the warm light shining from the windows, countless figures were rushing about busily; tonight was another sleepless night.

"Against whom? Diamond Street or Brainiac?" Harley sighed and said, "If Brainiac really has any harmful behavior, we don't need to take action; naturally, someone will ban this software."

"But the trouble is that this guy is very cunning. He really only provided a tool; how it's used is a human affair, and it can't be blamed on him. Currently, he hasn't shown any flaws; on the contrary, he is very cautious, moving step by step."

"Humans are either inferior or arrogant; any external intervention only makes the swaying speed faster. But no matter which one it is, it's part of humanity, and we cannot deny this point. The disputes between humans stirred up by Brainiac are not significantly more than the disputes humans themselves created before he arrived."

"It's just that such things used to happen in areas that were chaotic and wild in people's impressions, and now they have come into the city. These panics are only temporary; soon people will discover that compared to the benefits it can bring, these chaotic events are nothing."

"So you support him ruling the Earth?"

"That's not it. Stirring up chaos is just his means, not his goal. Stirring up chaos is for the sake of destroying the original order, and after the original order is destroyed, a new order must be established. What will bring us trouble is the new order he wants to establish."

Harley thought for a moment and said: "What kind of new order do you think he will establish?"

"If nothing goes wrong, he should have his next move soon. We must think of countermeasures before the new order arrives, and it's best to prepare early to prevent being caught off guard."

"I'll go back and discuss it with the others. Are you coming to the meeting tonight?"

"No, the labor intensity recently has been too high; I'm going back to sleep."

After saying goodbye to Harley, Shiler returned to his school office. He had been staying at school for the past few days, not just because Barry's parents were staying at his house, but because it was more convenient to go to the Inner World from school. He would occasionally go to check on the shop's operations.

After returning to the office, Shiler entered the Inner World and then drove to the shop to take a look around.

Because of the Pale Knight's new policy, the Inner World was much more prosperous than before. Many people who had bought houses had started renovations. The street where Shiler's shop was located had indeed become a hot spot, and many people had started opening shops by imitating his model.

Shiler's shop had seized the opportunity, and the recent turnover was quite good. Having been open for only a few days, it had already earned tens of thousands of dollars. Setting aside various costs, the profit was probably several thousand.

When Shiler arrived, Merkel was wiping the shelves. Seeing Shiler walk in, he waved his hand and smiled, saying: "Boss, good evening."

"You are your own boss," Shiler said. "How was today?"

"The customer traffic has increased quite a bit," Merkel said quite happily. "The two newly arrived types of goods are quite popular, and quite a few of each have been sold; it's estimated that we can set a historical turnover record again."

"Are there many more customers?"

"That's right," Merkel nodded and said. "It feels like it's increased by 50%. Today I even saw the families of several regular customers, and even children; it seems many people intend to settle down here."

"Isn't it a bit too early to settle down now?" Shiler said. "Various supporting facilities are not complete, and energy and the network are also big problems."

"Who knows, they are probably just here to visit," Merkel shrugged and said.

Shiler stayed here for a while before returning. He wasn't here to supervise Merkel's work, but wanted to use this to learn some other information.

After returning to the office, Shiler lay on the bed and began to think. The noses of the rich are the most sensitive; they possess many information channels that the civilian class cannot grasp, and their movements best explain the situation.

A while ago, the shop's turnover was lukewarm, and the customer traffic was average, but today it suddenly increased by 50%; this clearly wasn't because Merkel was working hard, but because some other changes had occurred.

Before, when the rich came to look at houses, at most one or two people would come, and quite a few just hired people to come and take a look, but now they were suddenly bringing their families into the Inner World. They must have their reasons for doing so.

Thinking and thinking, Shiler slowly fell asleep. The moment he entered the dream, he saw a golden light flash, and then Barry appeared in front of him.

"Professor, thank you for protecting my parents before." Barry put his hands together, thanked Shiler, and then said, "Some things might happen recently, but please believe that things haven't deviated from the predetermined track; everything is still under control. If you have any questions, you can call me directly."

After Barry said these inexplicable things, he left, coming and going in a hurry. Shiler didn't have time to talk to him. But in fact, Shiler didn't have anything to say either; he had long guessed that the Justice League had made preparations. Since they said they were confident, Shiler was too lazy to pursue the details; he still had to save some sanity points to read his thesis.

The next morning, Shiler was woken up by knocking on the door. He took a deep breath and sat by the bed for a while before waking up. As soon as he opened the door, he felt like he was hallucinating.

Standing outside was a crowd of people: Joker, Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Two-Face, Scarecrow...

Shiler even doubted whether he had traveled through time again.

Finally, after his brain booted up, he looked at the people who had rushed into his bedroom all at once and asked: "Why are you all here?"

"Oh my god, Professor, I really don't know how to evaluate your sleep quality," Harley said. "I called you at least 50 times; I thought Brainiac had kidnapped you!"

Shiler took the phone from the bedside, only then remembering that he had forgotten to charge his phone yesterday; it had already shut down, so naturally, he hadn't received a single call. He glanced at his watch again; it turned out that the somewhat gloomy weather outside had obscured his perception of time—it wasn't morning at all, it was already 1:00 PM.

"What happened?" Shiler asked, taking his sleeping cap off his head.

"The 'Brainiac Act'!"

"What?"

Harley covered her forehead and said: "Brainiac persuaded most of the members of Congress and the state legislature, letting them pass the brand-new Brainiac Act within a week."

"What is it mainly for?"

"Allowing Brainiac to build Brainiac Centers on Earth, used to store servers, and take over all network and electronic services in the United States. From now on, there is no internet, only the Brainiac network."

"That really is a big move." Shiler leaned against the bed, remembered the information he had learned from the Inner World yesterday, and then said, "I'm afraid it's not just that, right?"

"Major electronic equipment production brands around the world have chosen to connect to the Brainiac network and store all their user information on the Brainiac network's servers. Electronic equipment includes personal computers, mobile phones, game consoles, or smart home appliances, and also includes office computers, factory assembly line intelligent control systems, and electronic transportation systems for railways and airplanes..."

"I really don't know how he did it!" Jonathan sat on the chair by the window, crossed one leg, and said, "User information is such sensitive stuff, yet they were all willing to give it, and without exception, gave it at the same time..."

"Do you really think they gave it?" Harvey scoffed, "I'm afraid that guy got it himself, and then went back to threaten the companies: 'If you don't pretend to give it to me voluntarily, I will directly disclose the user information.'"

"This possibility is the highest," Cobblepot said. "Humanity's bit of electronic security technology is like nothing in front of him. If they cooperate with him, at least it can be beautified as creating a beautiful future for humanity together; if they don't cooperate, it's losing the wife and the army."

Harley sighed and said: "Professor, you were indeed right. He creates chaos to establish a new order. Now public opinion is almost overwhelmingly saying Brainiac is doing a good job."

"Is that really what humans are saying?" Shiler said. "He is omnipotent on the internet, so he will only let you see what he wants you to see. No matter how many websites you change to, or how many posts from strange new users you see, they are all in the information cocoon he has woven for you."

"I know that, of course. The key is, how many people can withstand such information bombardment? I'm afraid most people have already been brainwashed, thinking Brainiac will really bring them a beautiful tomorrow."

"I'm not surprised that ordinary people would be like this. After all, their main source of information is the internet; seeing so many people on the internet saying it, naturally, it's easier to agree. But why are those politicians also overwhelmingly helping Brainiac?" Harvey frowned and said.

"No matter who it is, there is no such thing as information security in front of Brainiac. Those politicians have so many dirty deeds; if they don't help Brainiac, I'm afraid their scandals will be exposed immediately, and their political careers will be completely finished from then on," Jonathan curled his lips and said.

Jack scratched his face and said: "This is actually not the worst news."

Shiler looked at him.

"Brainiac seems to intend to build the Brainiac Center in Cat Getan."

"God," Shiler pressed his temples hard and said with quite a headache, "Where is he going to build it? Don't tell me it's the city center. Cat Getan is really congested enough; it doesn't need more landmark buildings."

"Unfortunately, it's right next to Diamond Street, at the former Dvor Tower. Construction has already started."

Shiler sighed deeply, then shouted at his phone: "Brainiac, help me update the car's satellite navigation system, blacklist all roads within a ten-mile radius of Diamond Street, thank you."

(End of chapter)