mtl008 Chapter 2256 Jincheng comes late in autumn (46)
Chapter 2256 Jincheng comes late in autumn (46)
Chapter 2256: Late Autumn in Jincheng (Forty-Six)
After Batman accessed the network of this universe, he looked up a lot of information about Barbatos, but he knew that the information that could be found on the Internet was only the tip of the iceberg. If he wanted to go deeper, he could only consult professionals.
He took note of what Constantine said about the researcher at Oxford University. He had never heard that Oxford University had a major specializing in the study of mysticism.
The mysterious sacrificial square that appeared underground made Batman extremely alert. No matter who the four gods there were, they had already shown their traces in the universe, which proved that it would not be long before they took action.
A plan began to take shape in Batman's mind.
After the dark energy in the Green Body of All Things was expelled, he gradually calmed down, and then he was almost scared to death by his own recklessness and carelessness. How could he forget that this is Gotham, the most famous weird place among the Three Realms and Five Elements.
In fact, when Pamela found the Green of All Things in order to study the plants that could survive in Gotham, the Green of All Things had investigated this city, but he found that this place really rejected the invasion of all green elements. It was not that anyone had erected a barrier here, but it seemed that this place had been occupied by something.
Now that I think about it, this strange city might be the base of that damn dark dragon in the universe. Barbatos, I finally caught you.
After realizing this, the Green of All Things stopped pestering him. After all, he had just arrived here and had encountered such a series of infuriating things. He wanted to fight but happened to encounter the gathering of underground dark forces. How could there be such a coincidence in the world? Isn't this obviously a trap prepared by Barbatos for him? Even a fool would know that it is not advisable to stay here for long.
Green of All Things turned around and wanted to leave, but the same thing applies: the atmosphere has been set up to this point, is it so easy to leave?
When Schiller gave Nick a look, everyone knew that their good doctor was back. When Nick gave Strange a look, everyone knew that this matter might not end well today. And when they found that Loki, who was supposed to be there, was gone, everyone knew that this was probably just the beginning.
Sure enough, there was a loud bang in the sky, and thunder appeared. After a crackling sound of thunder over the northern part of Gotham, a bright space crack lit up, and a hammer fell like a meteor, followed by a strong figure.
"Loki, you damn liar!!!"
The roar echoed in the sky above the manor area in the northern district. After the fall of Thor's hammer Mjolnir, its power did not diminish. The lightning was bright, and countless bright electric lights shot out from the center of the fall, burning the manor area into a scorched earth almost instantly.
The furious Thor was no less capable. He swung his hammer like mad. Human buildings were as thin as paper in his hands. With a few flashes of lightning, the magnificent manor was destroyed in an instant.
The gangster boss who was standing on the ground watching the excitement was stunned. I heard that someone’s house was on fire, so I went over to take a look. It was my house!
Alberto, standing alone at the window of the corridor on the second floor, looked at the lightning and fire in the distance with a cold expression. He put his arm around his wife and gently kissed her on the forehead.
"Doesn't it matter?"
"You'll be fine here."
Then he looked out the window again and said, "This farce that has lasted for fifty years must come to an end. We will eventually sink to the bottom of the river of history and drown quietly."
Previously, the great monarch Vandal Savage went on a wild spending spree in Gotham. In addition to allowing a large amount of funds to flow into the hands of the Wayne Group, the most important thing was that the antiques in Savage's hands flowed into the art market.
That was actually the time when the gangs made the most money. They had not yet completely cleansed themselves up, and the logistics industry had just started to develop. With both underworld and white world methods combined, money seemed to fall from the sky.
It's a pity that people can never make money beyond the scope of their own cognition. The gang is the gang. Even through the filter of the times, we can only say that the wisdom of the twelve families is one stone, and the old godfather alone has eight buckets. How can people who have no long-term vision, no supreme wisdom, no faith and path not be deceived by the pie in the sky?
Money comes too easily, so people don't feel bad about spending it. When gang bosses are so powerful in the art and luxury goods market, buying those seemingly precious and show-off treasures at crazy prices one after another, they never think that antiques in prosperous times are like gold in troubled times. Once their prosperous times are over, these cultural relics with only historical value will be fragile and vulnerable.
Exchanging a large amount of liquid funds for antiques means that they can hardly come up with money to increase production. The crazier they are, the sooner they will be eliminated. It can be said that the gangs that are still alive are already relatively smart.
The second screening is to clean up the mess. In fact, when the music festival started, a small number of gang bosses had already realized that the underworld's methods were not only becoming less effective, but were also becoming a stumbling block.
After the society has restored its initial order, certain criminal acts will bring greater troubles. Even if they are enthusiastically investigating the site for a new small commodity processing factory, a subordinate calls to say that a serious fire has occurred on a certain street, killing not only forty or fifty thugs but also more than 100 workers. Who wouldn't have high blood pressure?
Small commodities with Gotham cultural attributes were like money-printing machines when they went on sale before the music festival. Having a factory was equivalent to having one more money-printing machine, and if a factory was affected, it would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue a day.
But gangs have always relied on violence and power to survive. You can't just stop fighting if you say so. If the other party has provoked you, as long as you are still a gangster, you cannot seek justice from the law and can only fight back yourself.
But fighting back would waste manpower and resources, and affect production. James Gordon would not tolerate your bad behavior. You made too much noise and affected too many people. He would just find an excuse for fire safety to seal up your factory. If you want to seek justice from the police through violence, then you really can't do anything.
Therefore, although a very small number of smart and decisive gang bosses still maintained their status as the leaders of the Twelve Mafia Families and respected Falcone on the surface, they had actually invested the money they earned into legal industries long ago. By the opening of the music festival, they had laundered a considerable amount of liquid funds.
In contrast, those less sober gang leaders are caught in a vicious cycle. While everyone else is eating meat, they cannot drink soup, so naturally they have to build factories.
But they were used to being arrogant and domineering, and did not know how to avoid the enemy. The land and money for building the factory were all robbed. Everything was fine when the factory was being built, but after it was completed, their enemies came and burned down both the people and the house, and they were helpless.
But the more things failed to be done, the more jealous the factory became. The more money others could make, the more they tried to steal from others. But the more they stole from others, the more enemies they made, and the more they fought.
Gotham today is different from the past. With social order in place, the fruits of economic development can be tilted toward the lower classes, and ordinary people can get more legal employment opportunities.
Why put your head on the line and fight with others when you can just set up a stall selling cold noodles at the train station? You can sell a serving of cold noodles for five dollars and even get a thank you from tourists, but if you die in a gang fight, your pension may not even be worth this much.
Most ordinary people have a natural wisdom to seek profit and avoid harm when living in the market. In essence, it is better to live a miserable life than to die. No one wants to risk their life until the critical moment.
This has led to a large number of young people who should have entered the gang system at this moment to replenish fresh blood for the gang thugs, but have chosen to change their careers. Those with connections use their connections, and those without connections look for ways to sell something on the street. Isn't it better than joining a gang and shooting guns?
To outsiders, gang members are much cooler than street vendors, but Gotham locals have been disenchanted with gangs ten thousand years ago, and are deeply aware of what a cruel and dark survival system it is. So if there is any hope of leaving, they will try their best to escape.
This will result in fewer and fewer people being recruited by orthodox gangs, but the more serious problem is that the price charged for each person is getting higher and higher.
When everyone around you chooses to live in the social order and can also earn a good income, those desperate criminals who intend to risk their lives will naturally have to weigh the value of their own lives.
If I can't earn more than others working from nine to five even if I bet my life, then why don't I sell cold noodles too?
Therefore, the prices they offered were considered to be exorbitant in the eyes of the gang bosses, and they were not paid on a weekly or monthly basis as before, but more like a flat rate for mercenaries.
Because the gang bosses are busy with other things, there are fewer people willing to join the gang and the price is high, so the selection has to be more cautious, but there is no one else in the gang who will do this, so many headhunting organizations and middlemen brokers have emerged, making a profit from the difference between the two sides while cheating these rich and stupid guys.
After Gotham's human resources turned into a complete buyer's market, the money in the hands of these half-witted gangster bosses went out even faster. But they didn't have the ability to be frugal, and they were exhausted just dealing with various enemies.
By the eve of the music festival, their liquid funds had been basically used up and their finances were shaky.
But they still have one last hope. Although Savage has not made any progress in Gotham, he is a real immortal and the antiques in his hands are real.
We are not yet at the stage of capitalist bubble collapse, and the global economy is stable, so antiques still have a certain market. As long as you can sell the antiques bought from the auction at a low price, you can quickly recover a large sum of money.
But unfortunately, the weather was not good. Odin's messenger brought justice from heaven. After Thor broke free from the space rift, he passed through a special passage and landed in the center of the base camp of the twelve families.
What's even more coincidental is that thunder is a kind of force that can completely ignore the resistance of physical media as long as it is strong enough. In Thor's rage, he destroyed all the manors and underground storage rooms. The things inside cannot be said to be intact, but they can be said to be still there.
(End of this chapter)