Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

"Did you see how the people from the Church got here?" Shiller asked Batman.

"Helicopter," Batman said. "They brought in over 200 people, almost all scattered throughout the village. The important figures have likely taken over the Church, where defenses are tight and hard to break through directly."

"Yes, we can't just show ourselves either," Shiller pondered. "Once they disarm us, we'll fall into a completely passive state. We must cause them some trouble."

Shiller thought, Old Silterk has been away for so long, but there must have been some activity. He definitely must have contacted the Church; it's just not very clear which faction he's in touch with, but the Church must have received his message.

The Great Prophet certainly didn't want Old Silterk to leak what was happening in the village because he hasn't gotten what he wanted yet. If the Pope were to receive the information, he'd be put at a disadvantage.

"Do you think the Great Prophet knows about Old Silterk's plan?" Shiller asked.

"I think he not only knows, but has been taking precautions all along," Batman said. "Old Silterk's attempt to profit from disaster has challenged the Church's authority, crossing his bottom line."

"Do you think he'll silence him?"

"Most certainly."

With a thump, a large box was placed on the table, the lock in the front clicked open, revealing stacks of green cash inside.

"Thirty thousand dollars in deposit, all here."

Bruce stepped forward to confirm the authenticity of the cash in the box, then turned to the man, "You're quite decisive. It seems he's been causing you trouble lately."

The rich man, who had previously been kidnapped by them, looked grim and after a moment of silence said, "I almost got blown up by them."

"They didn't put a bomb in your car, did they? That's quite bold of them."

The rich man's expression darkened even more. Just last night, his car, prepared for travel, had exploded. He came very close to being blown to bits.

The explosion had brought nearly all the police in the area, surrounding the entire villa district, but they failed to catch the one who placed the car bomb.

"We need to act fast," the rich man said. "I'm not sure what he's planning to take my life next time. Before that happens, I must kill him first."

"Rest assured," Bruce closed the box and said, "We've already found out that Silterk will be at the Broadcasting and Television Center for a news interview at 6 a.m. tomorrow. We'll enter the Broadcasting Center tonight and look for the best sniper position there."

"You're planning to shoot him?"

"Yes, a bomb makes too much noise and might not even kill him. Didn't you just dodge a bullet there?"

The rich man nodded and said, "Don't worry, once the job is done, we don't need to meet. I'll have someone put the money in your car."

"That would be best."

After the rich man left, Bruce turned to the pale knight and said, "I didn't expect you to have this skill. Have you used car bombs to deal with your competitors before?"

"No, they tried to use that thing to get rid of me," the pale knight said. "After so many attempts, I almost know how they work."

"It's true, the car itself is a big bomb. It's really not hard."

"Now that we have the money, what do you plan to do? Are you really going to kill Old Silterk?"

"Of course not," Bruce shook his head. "I'm not cut out to be a hitman, and I believe you're not either. Let's leave that to someone else. Get in the car, we're heading to the city center."

Bruce drove straight to the city center, found the city's largest mall, and the highest-end suit store there.

"You're not thinking of sneaking into the Broadcasting Center, are you?" the pale knight said. "Old Silterk might have seen us, cozying up to him would be useless."

"Who said I was planning to cozy up to him?"

While speaking, Bruce walked to the counter and greeted the clerk with a friendly smile, then said, "Hello, we're here on a business trip and our car turned over in a blizzard. The clothes we prepared are unusable. Can you get us a suitable suit?"

Seeing Bruce's handsome face, the clerk's smile became much warmer as she said, "No problem at all, sir. Please, follow me this way."

Several sales associates quickly came to their side, and Bruce said, "We're insurance salespeople here for inspection. We'll be meeting an important client later, so we can't dress too flashily, but the quality has to be good to show we value them."

One of the sales associates smiled and asked, "What kind of client will you be meeting? A manager? Or are they buyers of insurance products?"

"It's a major client who purchased insurance from our company, living over by Nelson Lake."

Bruce was referring to Nelson Lake, which was the wealthy district's villa area and likely the most upscale community around.

The sales associate nodded in understanding and led them to try on several suits made of fine fabric but with relatively conservative cuts.

Bruce and the pale knight were no ordinary men; clothes make the man, and while they didn't show much of their elegance in plain clothes, once they put on quality attire, their exceptional aura was immediately apparent.

Bruce looked at himself in the mirror. The suit he wore, although not comparable to his usual attire, was still quite decent among ready-to-wear options.

"Just these two," Bruce nodded and said, "Cash transaction."

The sales associate had no objections. Indeed, cash was more convenient for business trips, especially when purchasing expensive items; using a personal credit card might cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The two suits together cost 16,000 dollars, which is quite expensive considering they were off-the-rack. But Bruce paid the sum without blinking and chose some jewelry as well.

Before, they had broken into the safe of a house in the villa area, obtained several nice watches, which they now wore on their wrists, and found a bottle of fine wine in the liquor cabinet, which they took with them in a box.

After collecting these items, Bruce parked the car in a rather secluded underground parking lot, then found a nearby Lincoln—a model of luxury car that is comparatively low-key. He expertly broke in and hit the road.

"Where are we heading?" asked the Pale Knight.

Bruce smiled without saying a word, simply telling the Pale Knight, "Just follow my lead later."

The car meandered its way to the eastern part of the city. The neighborhood was clearly much more chaotic than the city center and suburbs, with denser crowds. Passing through this area, they were now approaching an impoverished part of town.

The model of car they were in looked quite out of place here; people walking by gave them strange looks.

They stopped in front of a small building. When Bruce and the Pale Knight got out, they immediately attracted the attention of the people around.

Bruce was unfazed and knocked on the door.

Soon, the peephole flickered, and a woman's voice emerged.

"Who are you?"

Bruce glanced at his phone and replied, "Ms. Theresa Binger? We are sales representatives from Siltex Insurance Company. We'd like to discuss the compensation for an insurance claim you filed previously."

The woman seemed surprised but still cracked the door open slightly. After sizing up Bruce and seeing his crisp, high-end suit, shiny shoes, and the watch on his wrist, she displayed a complicated expression.

As the door opened fully, a tired-looking woman about forty years old emerged. Bruce stepped in and surveyed the room's arrangement, realizing that they had only recently moved in.

The Pale Knight followed him inside, and without any hesitation, Bruce walked over to the sofa and sat down. Then he began, "I know you might be wondering why the representative you met last time isn't here. Let me reintroduce myself. I am from the public relations department at Siltex Medical Insurance Company, and this gentleman is a legal consultant."

The woman's face immediately showed an angry expression. Before she could say anything, Bruce continued, "We are deeply sorry for the bizarre incident that led to your daughter's death during her field trip. But we are also aware that you raised this issue in a governmental public opinion survey a month ago and even gave an interview to the Sigeltex Broadcasting and Television Center. That's precisely why we're here today."

Bruce's attitude was aggressive, and the expression of the lady named Theresa twisted instantly. She roared at Bruce, "You bunch of bastards, damned vampires!! Because of your insurance refusal, my daughter died in the hospital!! And you still have the face to come here?!"

"We fully understand your sorrowful feelings, but the government's public opinion survey is equally important to our company. We do not wish the published results to affect our customers' evaluation of our company."

The woman completely broke down. She said, "Because of my daughter's death, I divorced my husband! I didn't receive the insurance money, and I don't have a job, so I can only rent a place here!! I just want to expose your ugly faces like everyone else!! You will go to Hell!!"

"Please calm down, ma'am." Bruce stood up and with an indifferent expression said, "Our company is willing to pay a portion of public relations fees to have you withdraw the survey and tell the media that it was all a misunderstanding as compensation, how about 1000 Dollars?"

The woman's eyes widened. She rushed forward and grabbed Bruce's shoulders, saying, "My daughter is dead!! She's dead!! She should have had sixty thousand dollars in insurance for her treatment, but because of you, she's dead!!"

"Madam, you must understand that it's not our fault, we did not cause the anomaly, nor did we make you unable to come up with the sixty thousand dollars for your daughter's treatment..."

The pale knight tugged on Bruce's sleeve, signaling him to tone it down a bit, and he really wanted Bruce to look in the mirror and see how much he resembled a devil right now.

The woman, as if stricken by a severe blow, turned pale, her frame shaky, and she began to cry, covering her face.

"We are very sorry." Bruce continued in that same detached tone, "However, 1000 Dollars is the maximum amount we are able to offer."

"1000 bucks, ha, 1000 bucks!!" The woman let out a sharp scream, standing up and grabbing Bruce's collar, "How much does the suit you are wearing cost?! It must be over ten thousand, huh?! And this watch, probably a few tens of thousands, right?!! You'd rather wear these things on your body than save my daughter's life!! I will kill you, I will kill you!!"

Bruce pushed her to the ground with force, lowered his eyelids to adjust his collar, and said, "Madam, if you continue to be stubborn like this, then you won't even get the 1000 Dollars. Your daughter is already dead, you should now be thinking about your own life. To exchange a negligible assessment for some living expenses is good for everyone, isn't it?"

The woman seemed about to stand again, but the pale knight rushed forward to embrace her, saying, "Alright, alright, madam, calm down. We didn't come here today to conflict with you."

Bruce, however, impatiently glanced at his watch and said, "Don't waste words on her. If she doesn't want the money, there are plenty who will. Let's move on to the next one."

He then turned and walked out, and the pale knight had no choice but to follow.

As soon as they got into the car, he glared at Bruce and said, "Have you gone mad? How could you say such things to a mother who just lost her daughter?!"

"You think I'm mad too, right? That means my performance wasn't too bad." Bruce adjusted his cuffs and showed his phone to the pale knight.

The pale knight saw many addresses on the screen, there must have been forty or fifty of them, all appearing to be from the poorer communities, and he immediately realized what Bruce intended to do.

But still hesitating a bit, he said, "Even so, you shouldn't go too far."

"This is considered too far?" Bruce snorted coldly and said, "The ones who let them just accept this without question, they are the ones who are too far."