"A few days ago, soone placed an order on the Black Island website on the dark web, offering the equivalent of 3 million US Dollars in gold for Professor Schiller Rodriguez's life. Many people joked that the behaviorism school has finally made a move," said Deathstroke.
Shiller sighed lightly and said, "So why didn't you take the job?"
"Don't kid yourself. We all know who you are," Deathstroke said. "At least the hitn in Gotham won't take the job. We're broke, but we're not that stupid."
"However, I'm smarter than them. I have so personal ties with you, so I can sell you this intel. How much are you willing to pay?"
"Absolutely not 3 million." Shiller shook his head and said, "If you want, you can take the stuff from the other office upstairs, that's all I can offer."
"Alright. I heard from Waylon that the furniture is quite new, might even cover my insurance for the year."
Then he went upstairs to look at the furniture.
Shiller watched his back, feeling a bit helpless. It seed this old father figure was really short on money.
But it made sense. There were hardly any full-ti hitn in this world. If you only depended on killing for a living, you'd probably starve to death long ago.
Most so-called hitn were rcenaries. Besides killing, they also took jobs like delivering ssages, passing on information, or causing trouble for people.
With the current economic downturn, almost no one would spend money on this kind of thing. To survive, most people found steady jobs and occasionally did so petty theft to make ends et.
Shiller knew that the Deathstroke from this universe was quite old. Even if he mastered all the skills a hitman should have, finding work probably wasn't that easy either. Practically on the verge of starving, professional ethics naturally went out the window.
"The situation on Black Island is not good," Killer Croc said while examining the first floor's decor. "rcenaries earn their money easily but constantly live on the edge of life and death, so they spend without restraint—almost no one saves money."
"After the Great Depression hit, their inco is far less than before, and with high expenses on Black Island, most chose to leave. The majority found jobs in the city; so even went back to their hotowns to farm."
"Although these guys are not exactly good people, they do have so strength. I opened a branch over there and recruited a lot of capable n. My next step is to start a security company, specifically for the newly opened factories in the West District."
"You're quite the businessman." Pala gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Before long, among us, there'll be another monopoly."
Waylon grinned, showing sharp crocodile teeth that glead coldly. But in this context, it looked more like the glimr of wealth.
"How's Jack been lately?" Shiller asked again.
"He's been doing long-haul trips. The transportation industry is also in a slump; only long-distance runs can make so money." Waylon shook his head and said, "Everyone's having a hard ti. I heard our new mayor has set up a subsidy policy, but who knows when it'll be implented."
"It should be soon," Shiller thought aloud, knowing the Pale Knight. If it wasn't certain, he wouldn't announce it. Since it's been ntioned, they must have a plan.
Quickly, Waylon started loading the truck. The upstairs had office desks, chairs, cabinets, and nothing particularly hard to move. With Deathstroke and Pala helping, they finished in no ti.
Shiller gave Waylon an address to pick up the pre-ordered new furniture. Although the vendor offered delivery service, the freight cost was high, so Shiller asked Waylon for help.
anwhile, Shiller, Pala, and rkel went to the inner world market, looking for new supply channels.
On the way to the market, Shiller shared his ideas, receiving unanimous agreent from Pala and rkel.
"Although not many people travel now, those who do have the ti and money to do so. These people love buying quirky items to decorate their big houses," Pala said.
"I'm not worried about business, but the inner world isn't exactly a secret. What if soone envies our success and imitates us?" rkel asked.
"They don't have the money to buy such good stores," Pala said. "There aren't many buildings suitable for this kind of store in the city center, and most are old and worn out. Renovating them could cost as much as the land. In these tis, if soone had that much money, they wouldn't choose to open such a store."
"True," rkel nodded, "but I think we should diversify our inventory to make ourselves irreplaceable."
Shiller seed to rember sothing. He said, "Victor ntioned he could cut dense ice into rings; so he might be able to make other gemstones too. Perhaps we can sell those in the store."
"I can also get so plants to sell... Oh, co on, Professor, what's with that look? I promise they won't attack anyone!"
Shiller still looked skeptically at Pala.
"Alright, how about I make so dried flowers?" Pala said. "Dead plants shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Are you sure they won't be haunted?"
"Of course not!" Pala said confidently. "I have a drying box in my lab. I'll make a batch; you can try selling them. They'll be different from other dried flowers."
"Hopefully, in a good way," Shiller said, crossing himself.
Then they entered the market. Pala and rkel had never been here and were amazed.
rkel stared at a glittering little elf flying past him and said, "Are we really not allowed to sell these in the store?"
"Stop dreaming," Shiller said. "Even Zatanna would have a hard ti dealing with this thing. You'd better not ss with any living magical creatures; they're not to be trifled with."
rkel sighed in disappointnt.
The group strolled casually. rkel began getting into the role of store manager, asking about the purchase prices of handmade products, or approaching any magical creature he saw on the road holding sothing interesting to inquire about it.
Pala was purely sightseeing, and he thought he could also pretend to be a magical creature and sell so of his plants here. Many of the plants he cultivated were quite suitable for the magic realm, mainly because magical creatures found it easier to handle these aggressive plants.
anwhile, Shiller was contemplating the news brought by Deathstroke. Who would pay to have him killed?
It's actually not hard to guess. Just answer two questions, and the answer becos clear.
First, who's been going against the professor lately?
Second, who can afford to pay the equivalent of 3 million US Dollars in gold? Or rather, why is it gold?
The answer to the first question is obviously the aliens invading Earth, who think they've found the Justice League's weakness and won't stop until they see so results.
The answer to the second question is also aliens. Everyone knows "antiques in tis of peace, gold in tis of chaos." The gold price isn't high right now; using gold instead of US Dollars is a losing deal. Anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't do that. The reason for using equivalent gold is probably because they don't have any human currency other than gold.
It's normal for aliens to use gold as a general equivalent because gold is a relatively rare elent throughout the cosmos. In so lower-level civilizations, it's considered a universal currency. Many Green Lanterns are also allocated a gold quota for ease of movent on a planet's surface when they go on missions.
So, apart from Malafax, the other alien, Zod, is the main suspect.
He likely didn't guess that Shiller is the professor; it's more likely that Malafax communicated the information to him sohow.
Malafax first encountered Shiller at Gotham University, and later saw him again at Middleton Town. Anyone with a bit of brains could figure out that Shiller is not simple.
Since the plan against Jonathan didn't work, they might as well try targeting Shiller. What if they get lucky?
Zod is very smart. He didn't show up personally like Malafax did to abduct Jonathan but instead placed an order on the dark web, using a more human thod to deal with Shiller.
This way, he doesn't have to expend his own energy and can judge Shiller's true strength through the harassnt of assassins.
If the assassins fail, it would indicate that Shiller being the professor is highly likely, and then he could go all out against him later.
It could be said that Zod is several levels smarter than Malafax. Or rather, this general is different from the antisocial Malafax; he doesn't have evil desires that could drive him insane, making him appear more rational and wise.
Unknown to Shiller, this is indeed a smart move. Unfortunately, Zod underestimated the survival pressure brought about by the Great Depression. Even the top assassin, Deathstroke, has to work hard to make a living, and selling intelligence about an unachievable task to the target yields the most profit.
Since he already knew Zod's plan, it was no big deal for Shiller.
Although he knew that great rewards attract the brave, the people of Gotham must know he's not to be ssed with, but the outsiders might not. Surely, quite a few people would choose to take the risk.
Unfortunately, he was also busy managing the shop during this period. If soone ca every other day, just dealing with the bodies would be troubleso enough.
But Shiller had a solution. On the way back to the new shop, he called Amanda. Wasn't this the perfect ti to boost her performance?
"Hello? It's ... Yes. You've heard about this too? Seems like a lot of people are selling information... That's right. This is a great opportunity to prove the importance of the Federation Shield to Congress. Alright, I'll wait for you at the Gotham University Office."
After returning to the new shop, Waylon had already obtained new furniture. It was nothing much, just a bed, a bedside table, and a wardrobe.
The house itself was already well-furnished, and there was no need for more decoration. After Waylon directed the workers to place the furniture in the designated spots, Shiller gave them so tips and started cleaning.
The chanical lab at Gotham University had introduced the latest cleaning robots, which were selling quite well. They were as good as, if not better than, the later smart cleaning robots.
To avoid dealing with the vacuum cleaner, Shiller had ordered one; it had just been shipped and hadn't arrived yet. So, he just did a simple dusting for now, and the rest of the cleaning in the shop would wait until the robot arrived.
"I ordered so goods," rkel knocked on the door and said. "About 6,000 US dollars. Professor, should I send the invoice directly to your office?"
"Send it to my ho," Shiller said. "I'll write down the new address for you... You can send it here."
Shiller wrote down an address for rkel and also gave him the mailbox key. Then Pala and rkel busied themselves in the shop, deciding where to place those items.
Shiller drove back to Gotham University because he knew Amanda wouldn't make him wait long. Sure enough, after being stuck in traffic for half an hour and driving back to Gotham University for another half hour, Amanda was already there when he arrived at the office.
Shiller guessed that he must be in a nearby city between Gotham and tropolis, always keeping an eye on tropolis.
It's no secret that tropolis is under a state of ergency. Many people are watching.
As soon as Amanda ca in, she got straight to the point, saying, "That guy has posted the highest dark web bounty this quarter, and a lot of good hands are heading this way. Many of them are international criminals. If we work together to take them down, there'll be no shortage of benefits for you, professor."
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