Chapter 5032: Advance on York, Advance (Sixty-Eight)

Pride sat upright in the hotel restaurant reading the newspaper. He suddenly sensed movement ahead. He slowly lowered the paper and saw a face identical to his own.

"You're finally willing to show your face," Pride said. "I thought you weren't coming."

Greed set his wine glass on the table: "I was just waiting for the right moment to make an entrance. After all, you know, if the timing isn't right, I might scare everyone."

"Then you do have some self-awareness." Pride returned his gaze to the newspaper. "This 'Unity Declaration' that was just released — was that your doing?"

"You're mistaken there. It was your student." Greed picked up a fork and stabbed at the fruit on his plate. "He gave everyone who's arguing and fighting an excellent solution: unite and face the external enemy."

"I'm not surprised superheroes would unite. After all, the external threat of Darkseid hasn't been resolved; they have no path but unity. But what's the meaning of these several companies joining forces?"

"You think they don't have external enemies?"

Pride looked up at him again: "Oh, how could I forget — their external enemy is you."

Two days ago, Bruce walked out of the conference room. Selina was already waiting at the door. She said: "Everything's set up over there. Spider-Man might take a beating, but it'll serve as training. How's your side?"

Bruce shook his head: "Superheroes can unite because they're at least consistent on the stance of protecting Earth. But these companies — what common stance do they have?"

"I've never heard of companies voluntarily uniting." Selina thought a moment, then said: "But you say superheroes unite because of a stance of justice — I don't quite agree."

"Then what do you think it's because of?"

"Trouble, of course." Selina crossed her arms and looked at Bruce. "Darkseid is a massive trouble. If superheroes don't band together, they'll be destroyed soon enough. So they have no choice but to unite."

"But big companies are purely profit-driven." Bruce frowned. "I was just thinking of persuading them from that angle."

"Want to hear my opinion?" Selina asked. "As the leader of Wayne Enterprises, you're inside the situation, hard to see the full picture. But I've figured out a thing or two from the outside."

Bruce reached out and pulled her waist close: "Of course. Though you've never run a company, that outsider's perspective is precisely what's valuable. Go on, tell me your thoughts."

"I don't give advice for free." Selina showed a cunning smile. "I gave Loki counsel, and he gave me a large gem. What are you prepared to give me?"

"Aren't all my collectibles yours already? When Brainiac tried to confiscate them, I didn't hand them over." Bruce looked at Selina with a slightly aggrieved expression. "Even if I wanted to buy you new ones, Brainiac wouldn't sell — he took all the ore he excavated for industrial raw materials."

Selina's eyes rolled: "Then we'll talk later. If I see any pretty gems, you'd better help me get them."

"Naturally." Bruce kissed her cheek. "Good thing you've never been to Heaven, or I'd have to pry gems off Jesus's crown."

"Jesus wears a crown of thorns, no gems." Selina pushed him lightly. "You really don't read the Bible at all."

Then Selina stated her view. She said: "People's desire to obtain something is strong. But even stronger is the desire to avoid losing something."

"Gangs always want bigger territory. But they want even more to avoid losing the territory they already have. Because bigger territory means more money, more power. But no matter how much money you make, you need to be alive to spend it."

"If their existing territory has shrunk to where it can't support the gang, they'll go mad and charge at anyone daring to encroach. Because if they lose any more, they're dead."

"I'm not talking about whether money or life is more important. Rather, expanding upward has no limit, but downward there's a bottom line. Money and power can never be fully earned, but one must always ensure one stays alive. Once the survival bottom line is threatened, no matter how hotheaded, they'll turn back to save their own skin. That's human nature."

"Though I've never run a big company, I think what threatens these wealthy people most isn't company performance, not even bankruptcy — it's the simplest thing: their own lives."

"The desperate despair of losing one's life is greater than losing money and power. Because lost money can be earned again, a lost company can inspire fantasies of a comeback. But generally, mentally normal people wouldn't fantasize about resurrecting after death."

"So if you want to drive wealthy people to take some action, business means are very difficult. Even if you plunge them into temporary difficulty, they'll still harbor fantasies of earning it back through other projects or means. But if you make them feel their lives are threatened, they'll stop at nothing — even giving up the money they love most."

Bruce understood this too, of course, though from another angle. When you get down to it, wasn't the reason Teddy Roosevelt got the wealthy to pay so much taxes because on the other end there was a vigorous new program of hanging streetlamp ornaments?

Giving up illusions is hard for humans, but faced with enough deaths of their own kind, it can be done. This holds for every stratum.

To make someone open a window, you first have to tear off the roof. To get money from the rich, you can't just go after money. You have to threaten them — demand their lives. Only then will they willingly hand over the money.

Right now these companies are bickering endlessly, tearing at each other, precisely because they have no survival pressure. Iron Man and Pepper need no mention — they not only have armor, they've injected Extremis, not so easily killed. Luthor, though Pepper ambushed him and blinded one eye, had shields at the time and a horde of robots — killing him isn't easy either.

These people use their wealth and technology to wrap themselves in thick shields. Without breaking those shields, you can't make them feel a sense of crisis. The result is endless mutual tearing, fighting until no one has peace.

Competition isn't a good thing at all times. Especially when they're so willing to cut themselves while fighting — take Stark Industries: if its situation deteriorates further, a large batch of bottom-level employees will definitely be laid off, and unemployment alone will be hard to resolve.

Still the same point: if you're a big company leader, you don't actually need to actively do good deeds. As long as you can keep the company existing stably and continuously, that's already a contribution to society. Conversely, if you stir things up every few days, lay off a batch today, another tomorrow, creating a mass of unemployed vagrants — that's the real harm to society.

"Makes sense," Bruce said, stroking his chin. "But we definitely can't assassinate them, or we'd surely be expelled."

"I have an idea." Selina snapped her fingers.

"Actually I have an idea too," Bruce also said.

The two looked at each other, everything understood without words.

"Hey, hello." Selina stood in a public phone booth. "Is this the Hydra North America New Jersey Forward York Northern Base Contact Station?"

"Oh, that's too bad." Selina said in an exaggerated tone. "You wrote your own contact password right in a diary — I thought you were a public organization. Turns out you're not?"

"Sorry, I used to be a Gothamite. Yes, previously engaged in precious industrial mineral excavation and protection." Selina continued. "Here's the thing: you should know Wayne Enterprises has been poaching Stark Industries people lately. Don't you think that's a good chance to muddy the waters?"

Selina pursed her lips, seemingly a bit helpless. She said: "You're disguised as Stark Industries employees now, trying to infiltrate Wayne Enterprises — too late. My point is, Stark employees get poached, they're short-handed, so they'll have to recruit socially, right?"

"Stark Industries' stock just dropped; they're far from dead." Selina endured, then said: "Even if they were truly dying, that's a great chance to make money. Don't you want a slice?"

"Yes, I have a private grudge with Tony Stark... What? I never slept with him! How could I fancy him?! Besides, you're not unaware — his reputation in that regard has always been... Can you talk business?"

The other side rambled on. Selina's fist gradually tightened. She said: "Fine, let's meet... A cafe? You motherf—... Can we pick a place with nicer natural scenery? Like a forest or beach, I like those."

*Click* — she hung up. Selina slammed a fist into the phone booth's glass door. She took a deep breath, finally barely controlling her emotions, let out a long sigh, and stepped out.

The benefit of Earth growing larger is that coastlines grew longer too. Golden Beach is still packed, but coastlines without good beaches don't attract much attention. And because they've become longer, there are more uninhabited cliffs and precipices.

A bay has a natural arch cliff carved by wind. Below are many jagged reefs — though they provide footholds, it's very difficult for ordinary people to get there.

A figure in a suit stood looking at the reefs ahead with some difficulty. Just then, a pleasant voice came from inside the arch cliff: "You're here?"

The man's face lit up instantly. And upon discovering a tall, beautiful woman standing in the middle of the reefs, he threw all caution to the wind and stumbled his way across the reefs toward her.

Just that short stretch took him over ten minutes. He performed four falls into the water and five twisted ankles before finally reaching her.

"Hello. I'm from the Northern Contact Station." The man in the suit rubbed his hands. "Heard you have intel to sell us?"

Selina smiled without warmth: "Indeed. But do you have the authority to set the price?"

"Of course. I'm the station chief..."

"You don't look like one." Selina crossed her arms. "No station chief would have such poor physical skills. If you're unreliable, I won't waste time on you."

"It's true. If you don't believe me, you can come back to the station with me..."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Selina sneered again. "How about this: give me the address, I'll go myself."

The man hesitated but didn't speak. Selina's expression turned cold. She lost patience, suddenly kicked out — her foot struck the man's abdomen. The instant he fell, she leapt onto the reef he'd been standing on, leaned forward, and slit his throat with a single stroke.

Selina straightened, graceful as a dancer, staring at the corpse on the ground and murmuring: "Now we'll see if anyone comes to search and rescue you."