Gotham University. Inside the teachers' club.
Shiller leisurely arranged the cards in front of him, took a drink from the server, and calculated Victor's points while contemplating the timing for the flop.
The most popular poker game in Gotham is called "Dock Cards," a variant of Texas Hold'em, which involves guessing the points to determine the winner. It originated with dock workers, hence the name Dock Cards.
The teachers' club often played this game too, but this group of highly educated intellectuals, each with a mind full of tricks, couldn't rely on luck alone to win. It was mainly a psychological battle.
Shiller, a psychology professor proficient in the psychoanalysis method, should theoretically win easily. However, his luck was so poor that no amount of skill could compensate for it.
Moreover, the other professors weren't to be underestimated either; knowing that Shiller could analyze their psychology, each one's acting was on par with an Oscar-winning performance. Not only could they portray expressions and actions, but they could also feign psychological emotions. Coupled with Shiller's terrible luck, he often ended up losing more than he won.
Seeing Victor reveal a straight flush, Shiller let out a long sigh. He had consecutively drawn three small pairs and had to concede points to Victor each time. Today was yet another disastrous day.
Shiller gathered his cards, tossed them onto the table, and took a sip of icy-cold drink, which made him feel a bit better.
The first floor of the club was divided into two areas; the right side of the entrance was for card games, and the left side was a lounge area. Shiller and Victor got up, one following the other, and walked over to the lounge area.
As they approached, they heard some noisy sounds, and the professors sitting there seemed to be arguing about something.
Shiller and Victor went over and sat on the sofa by the window, asking the server for a towel to wipe their hands. Shiller was about to close his eyes for a nap.
Unexpectedly, Victor suddenly nudged his arm, gesturing with his eyes to direct Shiller's attention toward the television.
Shiller glanced over, noticing some people gathered on the sofa in front of the TV, quietly discussing something.
Shiller didn't pay much attention to what they were saying, but he saw a green bald head appear on the TV screen and vaguely heard some syllable like "Brainiac."
Shiller sighed softly, having a premonition that his peaceful days, which had only just begun, were about to leave him again.
The phone vibrated twice, and Shiller took it out of his pocket, seeing a message from Harley on the screen:
"Professor, are you free? I have a side job for you. Interested?"
"What side job? Collecting rent for you?"
"The drinks shop outside Gotham University, a face-to-face meeting. By the way, if Professor Fries is there, bring him along."
After setting the phone down, Shiller looked at Victor and said, "Harley said there's a side job for the two of us. Are you interested?"
Victor's eyes lit up immediately. Shiller chuckled and said, "It seems he's noticed you're short on cash lately."
Speaking of money, Victor sighed and said, "Only when you have kids do you realize how costly it is to raise them. Just taking Billy to check his skeletal issues cost me and Nora most of our savings. The projects I'm working on will take another two months to pay, and I'm worried about finding some quick cash to get by."
"I could lend you some, but I don't have much either," Shiller shook his head, saying, "Our new mayor's tax policies are both retro and futuristic. Most of my liquid funds are tied up in the storefront, and I'm not seeing any hope of breaking even yet."
"What kind of side job does Harley have? Surely it's not going to serve tea and water at the Young Avengers' headquarters?" Victor said while getting up, "I'd be up for that; it's better than haggling with project clients."
"Let's take a look," Shiller said, "There aren't many side jobs both of us can participate in at the same time; hopefully, it's not something like accounting."
The two strolled leisurely out of the campus. It was the blue hour as the day just turned dark, with the last bit of orange splattered on the road. Staring at it made the eyes seem to lose focus, making everything appear intensely vivid.
Arriving at the drinks shop outside the university, they waited a few minutes before Harley got out of a sports car and waved at them.
The drinks shop was already closed; after the employees left, Harley flipped the sign at the door and invited them inside.
Shiller glanced at the signboard on the counter, which seemed to showcase a brand-new flavor with grapes glistening with water droplets, tempting to the eye. Yet when Harley asked if he wanted a cup, Shiller shook his head faster than a rattle drum.
Shiller and Victor each had a cup of hot tea, while Harley made herself a large cup of ice, took a long sip, exhaled contentedly, and then leaned back on the sofa.
"Did you watch the TV broadcast?" Harley asked, "There's this green-skinned guy who's quite impressive; he claims he can support the entire human race fairly. What do you think?"
Shiller hadn't paid attention to Brainiac's broadcast, but with Harley mentioning it, he had a rough idea of what tricks the guy might be up to.
Brainiac, claiming to possess 12-level intelligence, is considered the smartest being in the cosmos. Compared to universal overlords like Darkseid, this guy prefers displaying his intelligence. If he can achieve his goals through intellect, he wouldn't resort to force at first.
It seems he's exploiting Earth's Great Depression as a weakness and started drawing illusions for ordinary people.
"I didn't pay attention," Victor said, "I drew a straight flush that hand, and I didn't care what they were talking about."
Harley looked a bit helpless, her expression and eyes seemed to say, "I've really had enough of you two fossils."
She briefly recapped what Brainiac had said and done, then looked at the two of them with some curiosity and asked, "What do you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean his proposal, to use ultimate artificial intelligence to allocate global resources and achieve true fairness."
"If he wasn't so smart, I might believe it a bit," Shiller said, "but he himself is an emotional intelligent being. How is he better than those rich people?"
"Exactly," Victor agreed wholeheartedly, "He has his own emotions, so he has his own interests and needs, naturally leading to Greed. Expecting him to selflessly contribute to humanity, you might as well just go to sleep early and dream on."
"Do you guys think he can't do it?"
"From his strength perspective, he certainly can, but he won't do it because it's not beneficial to him. Unfortunately, not everyone can see this," Shiller said.
"Alright, Justice League is off work."
"What?"
"Justice League's official website just posted a notice; they solved the previous disaster and are now going on vacation, leaving us to fend for ourselves."
"Not surprised." Shiller sighed but still said.
"Don't you think they lack a sense of responsibility?"
"They're just smart enough," Shiller chuckled and said, "If they often malfunction, then no one would have high expectations of them. If there's any mistake thereafter, people will just think that's how the Justice League is."
"The official website is in chaos," Harley sighed too, leaning back with her arms bent and then stretching her shoulders. "Some think Brainiac makes sense; some people are so much wealthier, which is unfair. If Brainiac could step up to take charge, it wouldn't be a big deal to let him rule Earth."
"Others think different races have different minds; this guy is full of nonsense and completely untrustworthy, and the Justice League should quickly eliminate this damn alien."
"Some even think the Justice League could cooperate with Brainiac, using his computing power to reorganize Earth's order, providing more living space for the poor."
"Some have already texted Brainiac, asking his opinion on certain races, groups, and types of people, but it seems no answers have been received."
"Others simply texted him saying they would support his rule of Earth if he could eliminate certain types of people. Of course, this caused a lot of dissatisfaction."
"People are angry yet fearful, hoping someone would step up to take charge, but the Justice League is really on vacation, with no one reachable, not even Luther Group's inquiry and complaint hotline."
"The people who are anxious aren't ordinary folks," Shiller said slowly, "According to what Brainiac said, the worst outcome is just to maintain the status quo. Conversely, if Brainiac truly does it, the poor might have their day."
"Exactly, now Congress is most anxious," Harley said, taking a big sip of her drink. "They closed the messaging channels, ordering everyone not to text Brainiac."
Victor couldn't help but laugh, "This is a bit like accusing the fire brigade of illegally entering homes."
"Is that all they've done?" Shiller, already prepared, still clicked his tongue in wonder.
"Pretty much, but many countries' governments are doing the same, some even completely blocking the news, so ordinary people know nothing."
"The sideline you mentioned is related to this?" Shiller asked.
Harley nodded, suddenly looking a bit excited. She placed her hands on the table, shaking the ice in her cup, making a "clack clack" sound.
"Don't you think we should have an organization?"
"What?"
"An organization for the villains! Every cosmos has one!" Harley slapped the table and said, "Injustice League! X Task Force! Crime Syndicate! Super cool, right?!"
Shiller couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly.
"First, I'm not a villain," Shiller stuck out one finger, "Secondly, Battleworld is for the development and exchange of experiences between various universes, not for you to pick the worst."
Harley slowly stretched out five fingers.
"Annual salary of 500,000 US Dollars."
"These names are too unpleasant, pick another one."