Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Gordon referred to "Half" as a whopping 50 million US dollars. And this "Old hyena," Gavin, isn't a Passa by last name; he's merely an agent. That sum of money was already enough for him to live a carefree life in later years.

High society is like a stock. When market confidence is high, the stock keeps rising. Everyone buys like mad, even if only to get a slight touch of it, to feel considerably more noble than others.

However, once market confidence starts to wane and people sense that the stock trend is poor and might drop, they sell as crazily as they bought. Some with a keen sense of smell start to think of ways to pack up and flee even before an actual drop begins.

The scandal of the Death gambling game was the harbinger of a market confidence nosedive. Although Gordon's subsequent arrest plan failed, this group of people was driven to act frantically, no longer orchestrating from behind the curtains but displaying a kind of desperate crampedness.

Apart from a portion of dogs that truly were tamed and obedient, most of the upper-class lapdogs are hyenas and vultures with the sharpest noses, able to smell blood from afar.

Even if their master is the one bleeding, they can't suppress the bloodthirst in their nature, all flapping their wings, showing their fangs, waiting for these noble prey to become weaker, then pounce in unison to tear them asunder.

High society backed into a desperate corner, but because of the preparations Shiller had made before, they failed to seize the opportunity to strike their enemy at the start of the chaos. Dragging it out, they instead mired themselves in quagmire, unable to move.

Like Gavin, professional managers have already started to waver. Loyalty doesn't put food on the table; opportunities to scoop enough to retire comfortably have always been rare. Whoever can seize it can retire with their whole body intact, enjoying wealth and honors in the latter half of their life.

Gavin agreed.

He promised to keep the warehouse incident a secret, to cooperate with Gordon as much as possible to maintain the cover-up, to keep his masters too occupied to deal with this matter, and then to find a suitable opportunity to disengage.

This is how Gordon easily got the arms, and leveraging the method Shiller had previously spoken of, he successfully set up the defenses at the heart of the Lower city area. His community became the safest place in the entire Lower city area.

The change this brought was apparent. Some skilled individuals from surrounding communities also wanted to join; they brought with them a large number of working-age labor, also expanding the range of Gordon's actual control into their long-inhabited communities, allowing Gordon to obtain more resources and to support a greater population.

This was undoubtedly bad news for the Upper Class. Once the Lower city area lost control completely, it would be a potentially fatal problem for them.

Despite them closing supermarkets and factories now, as if they didn't care about sales, that's because disorganized poor people simply don't have their own channels for resources.

If there's no food at home, go buy it at the supermarket; no money, then go work in the factories. That's all they could do. So, once they shut down both the import and export of resources, it's enough to make them suffer.

But as soon as they unite into an organization, they can establish their own channels for resource circulation, no longer needing middlemen to profit from the markup.

For instance, after controlling traffic routes, they could dispatch their own caravans to nearby farms to purchase food, rather than waiting for supermarkets to buy up the food and then having to go there to buy. Controlling factories, they could produce themselves, then sell, and even pay their own wages.

Although it hasn't reached that point yet, if it continues like this, self-sufficiency is only a matter of time.

Unable to limit the lower classes with resources, the wealthy closing down their own industries has become a self-imposed trap.

As the old saying goes, in this world, one can do without capitalists, but not without laborers.

Gordon has created a shelter safe enough to provide even more jobs. Many people will choose not to go back to the factory but to work directly in the community instead. This way it's closer to home and safer.

A factory without the workforce has to reduce efficiency. Due to the sudden nature of the event and orders not being fulfilled in time, the factory owners are liable for breach of contract charges.

To prevent this, they need more labor. To get people to work, they must compete with Gordon on wages, which means hiring workers at a high salary.

But now, the issue is that Gordon holds the investment funds of GTO. Although inconsequential to the entire Upper Class, the problem is that compared to the lower classes who have nothing, it is the Upper Class that could never unite.

Higher wages mean higher labor costs. Rush hiring a large number of workers in a short time requires substantial cash flow. However, with the cash-heavy retail industry halted, their cash flow is already insufficient. Simply put, they're out of money.

Why should I spend money to help out a competitor whose factory is delayed in orders and faces penalty fees because they can't hire enough people?

So, each factory owner in dire need of labor can only be seen as an individual. Although all the factory owners combined could definitely compete with Gordon, due to their lack of unity, individual factory owners don't have the cash to suppress Gordon.

This leads to them, as individuals, being unable to offer better terms than Gordon to attract workers. Factories are understaffed, unable to deliver on time, thus unable to recuperate funds, creating a vicious cycle.

Not being able to compete with Gordon within legal limits is one thing. But after Gordon acquired a large amount of firearms and weapons, they also lost their advantage in the realms outside the law.

Market confidence, like a boat going against the current, must advance or it recedes. Not being able to continue rising means a fall. The repeated setbacks in front of Gordon eroded the last bit of market confidence. The vacillation of a great number of middle managers became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The so-called round-the-clock vigilance can hardly guard against a thief within one's own home. To the upper class, the poor are like vegetables in the ground. Even if the whole lot withers, it would at worst mean they'd have a little less to eat.

But these middle managers who have been serving them for a long time are at least like cattle or tractors. They might seem docile usually, but once they go wild, they can truly be life-threatening.

They don't have to revolt right away, just a slight waver, a slight loosening of their grip on certain critical matters, is enough to give these pampered rich a hard time.

Although Gordon's initial arrest plan failed, he did not intend to give up. He still had control over the GTO, and the members of the squad have been collecting evidence and preparing for arrests.

Nightwing is not one to be idle, and Batgirl is pervasive. After the middle managers began to slack off, they seized the opportunity and caught a few big fishes.

It was the success of these operations that finally made Gordon understand why Shiller was so confident, apparently not taking the overhanging shadow above them seriously.

After all, are there truly elites among the rich?

Of course, there are. Whether it's the pioneers of the first generation or the reigning monarchs of the later generations, the fact that they can maintain such huge industries proves their capability.

But, are all rich people elites?

That's obviously impossible. Even if all wealthy people who control vast resources far exceed the average line, what about their offspring? Their relatives? Their partners? Their subordinates?

It's clear to see that not all can be outstanding. There's even a fairly large chance of finding fools. Scour their entire social circle, and you're bound to pinpoint a few heavyweights.

The essence of the upper echelon is resources, and the key to controlling resources is connections. To build connections, you must cast a wide net and catch many fish. If you can draw people in, you don't push them away.

Consequently, it's inevitable to have a few rat droppings in the pot.

It's hard to make a pot of soup delicious, but it's too easy to spoil it. Not just rat droppings, simply mix a few ingredients with clashing flavors, and you'll have a stinking mess.

In this respect, it's the proletariat who has the advantage, as they say, the barefooted fear not the shod.

As long as there's a fool in your circle of friends, clutching onto them could eventually threaten you. Shiller did just that.

Whether it's Miss Charabang or Fels, they're not that sharp. Their minds are not so quick, and they can easily be manipulated with little effort.

Of course, the wise should choose to decisively abandon the fools around them being manipulated, not letting themselves be dragged down.

But in actuality, it's not that simple. Building relationships also requires market confidence. My friendship with you is for mutual assistance in times of crisis. If your first reaction is to abandon, then why should I befriend you?

Often, what seems like loyal actions by the wealthy are in reality buying horse bone with a thousand gold pieces—exercising some benefits to instill confidence in their partners. Only in this way can they expand more connections and control more resources.

Furthermore, an established network of connections only grows larger, not smaller. Because by this time the class has solidified, there's no suitable mechanism for elimination, leading to the inability to filter out the fools, accumulating more and more of them, resulting in more vulnerabilities.

This is why the more solidified class structures become the more fragile they are. Find a key point to strike hard, and a whole bunch of people can be brought down. Essentially, it's not that the elites aren't smart enough, but rather there's an overabundance of fools that dilutes the chance of encountering the smart ones.

Therefore, dealing with the upper class seems difficult, but as long as the right method is found, it actually doesn't take much effort. Oftentimes, just starting the process is enough for them to play themselves to their downfall.

Shiller showed Gordon his approach and used Passa Military Industry to let Gordon understand what the correct operation method was. Gordon wasn't dumb; he immediately understood how to play the game.

After mastering the correct method of operation, Gordon naturally sought to eliminate future problems first. He took the initiative to contact Gavin, telling him there's no hurry to escape. 50 million dollars might be a lot, but who wouldn't opt for 500 million instead?

The owner of Passa Military Industry was not involved in the scandal of the Death gamble, but that didn't mean there were no other vulnerabilities. Gordon successfully persuaded Gavin and quickly dug up the old case of arms smuggling at sea.

Soon, Passa faced charges of smuggling, human trafficking, and terrorist attacks. The GTO struck hard, surrounding Pasa Manor.

Coincidentally, the helicopter the owner of Passa Military Industry used for travel was broken. As he left through the tunnel in his house, the tunnel in front of him suddenly collapsed. He was caught red-handed by Nightwing, who was following behind.

Now the situation improved, as the previous crimes were not yet proven, but the arrests and assaulting an officer were real and concrete. Arrested and thrown directly into a maximum-security cell without bail, no one's influence could sway the decision.

Now, it was the turn for the elites hiding in their safe houses to sweat profusely.