PFC Chapter 3265 Bloody New City (4)
Chapter 3265 Bloody New City (4)
Chapter 3265 Bloodshed in New City (XIV)
"Hello, Ms. Ruth, I'm Schiller Rodriguez, nice to meet you."
Schiller sat down by the window in the restaurant and looked at the black woman opposite him. She was wearing a windbreaker and was a little fat. She looked like a larger version of Amanda.
"You're welcome, Mr. Schiller. What do you want from me?"
"I want to ask something about the natural disaster fund. I heard that you have been managing this money."
"Yes, what does the new mayor think of this?"
"No, nothing. I just have some news." Schiller leaned back in his chair, looked Ruth in the eye and said, "Batman is going to take down GTO, did you know that?"
Rose frowned deeply, but soon she shook her head and said, "Impossible, Batman has always disagreed with the establishment of this team. He even broke up with his assistant for this."
"You and your master also disagree with the formation of this team, but that's only because the knife is not in your hands. How do you know that Batman doesn't think so?"
“What does this have to do with the natural disaster fund?”
"There is another piece of bad news." Schiller changed the subject again and said, "I talked to the Joker, and he claimed that he was unwilling to work for you and rejected my invitation to cooperate."
Ruth stared at Schiller's face, as if trying to find some clues from his expression, because she really couldn't figure out what this man was going to say.
Schiller stretched out his hands, slowly separated them, and then said, "You have built a stage for good and evil to fight on. No matter who beats whom half to death, you can demand compensation on the grounds that you have damaged the stage."
"But the premise is that they are fighting bare-handed. What if one of them has a gun?"
Ruth tightened her grip on the coffee cup. She said, "It seems like you know a lot. So I'll be frank. We will not allow Batman to have a GTO."
“He asked a high price.”
"Do you think we will bid against him peacefully?" Ruth sneered, then said, "Either we take the knife, or we throw it back into the furnace and reforge it."
"Very courageous." Schiller nodded and said, "You are very good at this kind of trick. First, you use a lot of money to corrupt the management, interfere with personnel management, set various harsh requirements, replace the fresh blood with a bunch of useless people who can't figure out their own gender, and eat up all the equipment and training funds. The sharp blade will soon become scrap metal."
"I never said we did that." Ruth's answer was brief, but it was an admission.
"Gordon can't stop this, and neither can Batman. You can even make bribery legal, and no one can find fault with it."
Ruth blew on her coffee and didn't answer.
“The mayor asked me to arrange for his supporters to enter the GTO.”
Ruth finally sat up straight, stared at Schiller with burning eyes and said, "What do you mean? He wants to let those brainless, reckless men join the special anti-terrorist team?"
"You know, the qualities you mention are all advantages for counter-terrorism personnel."
"Don't be ridiculous. They don't dare to do that." Ruth seemed to relax suddenly. She said, "If they really dared to do something, they would have done it long ago instead of just holding up signs and shouting slogans."
But her mood didn't seem as calm as she appeared. She took a sip of coffee, which was obviously very hot, but she swallowed it anyway.
"You are the one who is kidding, ma'am. It seems that you only use one-sided negative words to describe them, but that is not your intention. It is just your bluffing out of fear. You know better than anyone that the difference between rich and poor people is not that big. They are not born stupid at all. On the contrary, most of them are warriors and wise men who lack a chance to soar into the sky."
Schiller leaned forward, looked Ruth in the eye, and said, "So tell me, how many of these people are there among the six million supporters of the Pale Rider?"
"You are bluffing," Ruth said coldly. "They have not received a good education, do not know what it means to obey orders, and have no courage. Even if they have all these qualities, you cannot screen them out, let alone let them fight terrorism."
"Really? Maybe I really can't do it, because I'm just an advisor to the mayor." Schiller suddenly lowered his voice, "Even the mayor can't do it, because he's just a small town boy who has struggled at the bottom. He neither understands nor can he control this city."
Just as Ruth was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Schiller say again: "What about Batman?"
Her heart suddenly tightened, as if it missed a few beats in an instant.
"Batman wants to control GTO, but he doesn't have to compete with you guys in a fair bid. He can do what you can do, because he is one of you."
"But he has a bigger advantage over you. It's not that he's richer, nor that he knows Gotham better, but that he stands on the side of justice and will truly do something for the lower-class people in this city."
Schiller put down his cup, leaned back in his chair, and said, "He can give you everything you can give. If he uses the money he used for bidding to buy people's hearts, he may be able to give more than you can give."
"But he can give you something that you can't give. He can teach them what justice is, what honor is, and tell them that they are fighting for the safety and happiness of their families. He will use practical actions to make them understand this."
"He can't do it," said Ruth.
"What can't be done? Let the poor fight for the poor?"
"Yes, because poor people are different from each other." Ruth took a deep breath and said, "They support different parties, have different political views, are of different races, different genders, different identities, and even eat different things. It is impossible for them to stand together."
That's right." Schiller nodded and said, "But what if Batman and the Pale Knight teamed up?"
Schiller sighed softly, as if expressing pity, and said, "The Pale Knight has a group of supporters with basically the same political views. Judging from what happened during the day, most of them can tolerate the differences of others and stand with them to attack you just because they support the Pale Knight."
"Batman is rich and powerful, and he represents justice in Gotham. He knows you better than anyone else, and he can use the methods you use to select the most elite among this group of supporters, train them, and use them to control GTO."
"That's impossible." Rose said, "The Pale Knight caused Batman to be imprisoned and made him reviled by everyone. It's impossible for Batman to cooperate with the Pale Knight."
Schiller shook his head and sighed, this time it seemed more like he was lamenting Ruth's IQ.
"Are you trying to tell me that the basis of cooperation is emotion?"
Ruth was choked. She knew it was not the case. The basis of cooperation was interest, and it would always be interest only.
Emotions do play a certain role in this. People will naturally be more inclined to cooperate with those they have a good relationship with, but the premise is that no one else promises more benefits. Even if they are mortal enemies, they can choose to cooperate temporarily when the benefits are great enough.
"You should be thankful that the Pale Knight had to choose to hurt Batman in order to gain power, which caused a conflict between them and caused them to lose their minds for a while."
"But they will soon discover that there are no two people in Gotham with more unified interests than them. They both want the city to become a better place, they both represent justice, and they both want to save Gotham once and for all."
"It's a coincidence, isn't it? In addition to their common interests, they even have a common enemy. Moreover, this enemy is so powerful that they have to join forces to fight it in order to gain a certain advantage. So what reason do they have for not cooperating?"
Ruth's face had turned very ugly and the coffee in the cup was almost gone. In order to regroup, she left her seat, went to the bar, ordered another cup of coffee and stood there until the coffee was finished before coming back.
This adjustment was indeed effective. She looked calmer than before. She looked at Schiller and said, "I admit that what you said is right, but why did you come to see me today?"
"Don't be impatient." Schiller shook his head. Ruth found that the attitude of the person she was talking to was always unpredictable. When you thought he should be proud, he would act very humble. When you thought he should retreat to advance, he would press on to win.
It was as if his definition of victory and failure was completely different from others, like a madman living in a dream and talking to himself - a madman who hits the nail on the head.
"Batman and the White Knight should have worked closely together, but they didn't. In addition to their slow response, there may be other reasons. What do you think?"
Ruth didn't want to follow Schiller's line of thought, but she realized at this time that Batman and the White Knight's hesitation was their last chance. Once the two of them joined forces, the situation would become very unfavorable for them.
Batman and the Pale Knight are both smart people, and they may indeed feel a little awkward because of past grudges, but they shouldn't have been unable to react for so long.
What is the final obstacle between them?
Suddenly, Ruth's tightly knitted brows loosened, a gleam of light flashed in her eyes, and she said the name: "The Joker..."
The corners of Schiller's mouth raised slightly, but Ruth, who was immersed in thought, did not see it. Schiller lowered his head, took a sip of coffee, looked at the time on his watch and said.
"I don't have much time left. As for the question you've been curious about, I can only tell you that I don't care who Batman and the Joker's enemies are, or whether the city is saved. I'll do as much as I can for the money I get."
Schiller stood up, and Ruth suddenly came to her senses and called him over, saying, "Who hired you to say this? Who? One of us?"
"I'm sorry, I can't reveal his name." Schiller shook his head.
"How much money did he give you?" Ruth stared at Schiller.
"Just being a lobbyist, $200 million."
"You are asking for too much."
"You are right. I have something else to do, so I won't bother you any more."
"Wait!" Ruth stopped him and said, "I don't need you to tell me who hired you, but I need some information about the mayor."
"for example?"
"I know he's taking a drug." Ruth stood up and seemed to have regained her confidence. She said, "This drug can improve his mental state, but it must be taken continuously. If you can tell me the information about this drug and the specific details of his taking it, I can give you 200 million."
Schiller smiled and said, "This happens to be what I'm good at. Deal."