Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Shiller was sitting in the mayoral office, having sorted through the majority of the administrative files after the rise of the Pale Knight—all in less than three hours.

Bruce suspected that Shiller was practicing Immortal Cultivation, but he had no proof.

He had no idea how Shiller had managed to sort through the perplexing mass of documents in an instant, and by the time he realized, Shiller was already talking with several documents in hand.

"Have you contacted the ex-mayor?"

"Not yet," Bruce said. He had been watching Shiller work all this time and hadn't even started to look for the former mayor.

"Within half an hour, I want him in front of me; if that's not possible, tell him I already know about the incident at the G5 district's Xinhe Building."

Bruce had no choice but to ask the former staff for information about the ex-mayor, and it was Ms. Weiss who eventually provided the lead. Bruce made a phone call.

The other party's attitude wasn't great, but after hearing the words 'Xinhe Building,' immediately indicated a willingness to come over for a talk.

About 20 minutes later, Bruce met the ex-mayor, an ordinary-looking fat man with the typical demeanor of a politician. Bruce didn't say much, just opened the door and let him in.

The absence of the Pale Knight behind the desk seemed to startle him, but soon Bruce was also ushered out, unaware of what they discussed.

At any rate, the ex-mayor emerged with his face dripping with sweat.

Watching the ex-mayor leave, Bruce walked into the office and asked, "What was all that about?"

Shiller had just put down the document he was holding and said, "Nothing serious. After confirming the Pale Knight was taking over, the ex-mayor set up a few traps for him under someone else's direction, which I've now exposed. Naturally, they have to pay a price."

"That so-called building?"

"Yes, that was a stalled construction project dragged on for three or four years. Whoever got it would find it a hot potato. The ex-mayor deliberately concealed some information to misinform. If the Pale Knight had seen it, he could have easily mistaken the victim for the culprit, and then they could have capitalized on that misunderstanding."

"Looks like his position wasn't very secure."

"If it was secure, then he wouldn't be running out of money." Shiller aligned the documents to one side and picked up a new one, then said, "Call Kovar from the environmental department. I have some questions about the environmental protection funds."

Bruce went to find people again, and soon, a middle-aged man entered the office, and they talked for about half an hour.

Exiting with a pale face and sweat-stained forehead again.

"What happened this time?"

"Nothing much. Just needed to stir up a strike, which naturally requires funds. I've reallocated some money from the environmental department."

"They agreed to that?"

"I told them I needed it for a nuclear power plant." Shiller spoke in an even tone: "Once a tritium leak gets exposed, they will be able to get three times the current budget for environmental maintenance. Why wouldn't they agree?"

"Well, that should be a good thing for him, so why the expression?"

"Because I also told him that I would only spread rumors, but I wasn't actually going to do it. And the people behind him would definitely want him to make it happen to get a higher maintenance fee; if he fails, he's done for."

Bruce clicked his tongue, fully aware that if the guy's backers didn't know about this opportunity, they might contently take the current money. But the moment they realized the tritium incident proposed by Shiller could bring them such a benefit, they would undoubtedly pursue it at all costs.

But it wasn't easy to do such a thing. Everyone knows how dangerous nuclear power plants are. It's not impossible to mess with this, but it's not something a small head of a city environmental department could manage on his own. Once the pressure landed on him, he'd be finished.

At best, he might get kicked out for being inefficient in handling the situation, and at worst, it might end up being a suicide with eight bullets in the body, a cunning use of others to carry out a killing.

"So he agreed to the fund reallocation?"

"Not all of it." Shiller sighed and said, "The government infiltration runs too deep. I can only reallocate the portion that was supposed to end up in his pockets and those of his superiors. But it's enough to buy a few people."

Shiller then intermittently called several more people, all of whom arrived with keen interest and left with troubled faces.

After Bruce stepped in again, he noticed Shiller with a frown, so he asked, "What's wrong? Aren't things going smoothly? They all seemed pretty upset."

"The level of corruption here far exceeds my expectations," Shiller said. "They're very greedy; they have obviously been well-fed for a long time, forcing me to resort to some unconventional methods."

"So what you did before was the conventional approach?"

Shiller glanced at Bruce with dissatisfaction and said, "Of course, the most common political maneuvering there is. You don't even know this? How do you run Wayne Enterprises?"

"Our cosmos is in a better state," Bruce whispered. "And I've battled with Congress for three hundred rounds."

"That's more like it." Shiller looked up at the ceiling and said, "Whenever there's an unexpected incident, it's always the weakest link among us who deals with Congress."

Bruce's mouth twitched at the corners.

Shiller sat up straight and then said, "These people were demanding an outrageous amount, well beyond my budget. I had to use some information to threaten them, but it only works in the short term."

"So what now?"

"The information was fabricated by me, just some speculation based on potential developments. It's useful during individual discussions, but if they start comparing notes, it might fall apart."

Shiller looked at Bruce and said, "Get your super villains to cause some trouble for them, make sure they're too busy to check their accounts."

"I can't guarantee that the pale knight won't find out."

"I'm not asking you to kill them, nor incite them to strike, not even to fight. Just use some tactics to keep them tied up, understand?"

"Be more specific," Bruce said. "I'm afraid what I'm thinking and what you're asking might not be the same."

"Some of them belong to the same camp; you should sow discord among them. Some are at odds with others; you should escalate their conflict. Some have money; you should make their money problematic. Some are without money; you should give them hope of making money. Have I made myself clear enough?"

"Even clearer," said Bruce.

"If they work for the same master, create some work troubles for one and frame another. If they each serve their own interests, then push them into conflicts of interest. If there's a benefit to be had in some matter, let them scramble for it. If there's only harm, have them throw it to each other."

"Can you give me an example?"

Shiller sighed, knowing it wasn't that Bruce couldn't do it; he simply wanted to know how to do it.

Shiller pulled out a document from a folder and said, "Allen Tansy, five-year extramarital affair history, has an illegitimate daughter who's just started elementary school. Tell this to his father-in-law."

"How do you know about this? Did you find out?"

"He contacted the education department for his daughter's school enrollment, taking a spot from a charity foundation's special quota. The process is legal, but something seems off."

"And his father-in-law..."

"A member of the upper class, the one he works for."

"Well, it doesn't seem like a very unique method."

"What kind of unique methods do you want?" Shiller asked with some confusion.

"I thought you would have more..." Bruce drew out his words, pondering as he spoke, "some methods I've never seen before that are particularly effective. I wanted to learn this from you."

"This is the most effective method. Because it works, it's classic," Shiller said, somewhat helplessly looking at him. "You seem to be very obsessed with those ideas that spark in the moment, but those alone can't get the job done. Take a look at this."

Shiller handed Bruce a document, and with one glance, Bruce knew it was the approval document for the terms of a land transaction.

He read the document carefully, compared it with some legislation in his mind, and nodded, "Judging from the document alone, there are no problems."

"What about this one?" Shiller handed him another.

"That's a charity foundation's special enrollment quota approval application." Bruce immediately realized this must be what Shiller mentioned earlier, the clause about the little supervisor's daughter's schooling.

Bruce looked over the document and also felt there were no issues; the process seemed reasonable. Now he sensed something wrong, so he looked at the land transaction document again.

But after looking over it, the word "legal" was all that was written throughout.

Such documents weren't surveillance cameras; they couldn't show who the parties involved in the transaction were – the information was just too scant.

"What's with this document?"

Shiller pointed at a map on the nearby table, and Bruce walked over to see that this B26 district land was adjacent to the X15 district, where the chemical plant pollution had occurred, sitting about 15 miles east of the factory area, with approximately 23 miles of bordering land.

Bruce's brows furrowed deeply.

"I appreciate your detective talent, but political struggles require a keener sense of smell," Shiller stood and walked over, adding, "Why do you think they want to buy this land?"

"To check for air pollution?" Bruce guessed with a frown. "I just didn't expect them to commit so much capital; this land isn't cheap."

"That's the crux of the issue," Shiller pointed at the transaction document. "After review by the municipal department, the land transaction process is legal, but the key lies in why such a land deal requires government department review."

Bruce stalled for a moment; he had only just realized this issue. In America, all land was private, and government departments shouldn't interfere with land transactions unless the nature of the land was special.

"The land requires government approval for the transaction because approximately 20 square miles to its east there is a natural forest area that could impact the local ecosystem and air quality. According to Section 263 of the State Natural Ecological Protection and Environmental Protection Act, such land transactions must be approved by the municipal environmental protection department."

Bruce felt as if some clues in his mind were starting to connect, but the picture wasn't yet clear, so he turned and asked, "Does this have anything to do with the chemical pollution incident in X15 district?"

"If it didn't, I wouldn't have shown you," Shiller said. "After the chemical plant pollution case occurred, the transaction approval request was sent to the municipal environmental department's desk, and it would ultimately end up in the mayor's hands."

"This would make it very easy for our mayor to realize that there is an ecological reserve forest not far from the chemical plant, and this natural forest could affect the air quality of an entire area."

"So what?"

"Our mayor is known to be a good man; he would be very concerned about the pollution of this forest, and to prevent it, he would send someone to check immediately."

"But he won't find anything," Bruce said. "Because the pollution was fabricated by me, just to teach a lesson to those land speculators."

Shiller walked back to his desk and placed another document in front of Bruce, and Bruce furrowed his brow deeply the moment he saw what was on it.

"Groundwater pollution? Heavy Metal exceeding standards? How is this possible?"