MM Racing Chapter 4379 The Justice League Assembles (27)
Chapter 4379 The Justice League Assembles (27)
Chapter 4379 Justice League: Assemble (Twenty-Seven)
“Could we set up a foundation?” Barry said, “to help the poor, to give them clothes and food, so they don’t freeze to death. Maybe we could help the healthy ones get treatment and reintegrate into society.”
“And then get kicked out?” Ron said. “I know that if we spend a lot of money and resources, we might be able to save some people, but it’s too inefficient, we have to admit. There’s too little we can do. That’s why we have to find an efficient way to solve problems for more people.”
"Is it possible to start with the general election?" Diana said. "Could we elect a better government?"
Everyone booed, especially the Americans. Arthur scoffed and said, "This election isn't about voting for your favorite party, it's about voting for the opponent of the party you hate. It's a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, and besides, it's not a lesser one either; it's just a way to vent your anger."
Diana sighed. She herself found it absurd; after all, these two parties had taken turns in power before, and when had things ever been good?
“I think we should make full use of our superpowers,” Ron said. “I can brainwash a group of people to be less excessive, at least in the medical or relief fields, and relax the conditions a little.”
“The problem now is that resources at the bottom are limited. If you order a group of people to allocate resources to a portion of the population, then another portion will miss out,” Bruce said. “And if you want resources to flow downwards, you can only change the upper-level structure, which is very difficult to change.”
"Can't you brainwash the upper class?" Victor asked again. "Perhaps I can control the Federal Reserve and make them give money to the lower class."
Even Barry was shaking his head at this approach. Anyone with a basic understanding of economics knows that simply printing money is useless, especially on a large scale. The end result is inflation and rising interest rates.
Barry scratched his head in frustration. Diana kept sighing. Arthur remained silent, his face grim. Ron even refused to eat his Oreos. Victor pursed his lips. Finally, everyone looked at Bruce.
"Have you heard of the Cold War?" Bruce asked.
Among them, only Barry, Arthur, and Victor are truly from the post-Cold War era. The others have all experienced it firsthand, or at least heard about it, so they all nodded.
“The social atmosphere during the Cold War wasn’t exactly good. Everyone was tense, feeling that a hot war could break out at any moment and the world could be destroyed. But we have to admit that material life was relatively good,” Bruce said. “Or rather, the social atmosphere was relatively mild, internal strife was not so severe, and people were not so indifferent to each other.”
Rong En nodded, deeply understanding the sentiment. He said, "Back then, many people were very united, especially scientists. They all believed that humanity could soar into the sky, and everyone was working hard for it. Even if there were some conflicts within the group, everyone could tolerate each other because they shared the same goals."
"But later, especially ten years after the end of the Cold War, the police department where I worked experienced a lot of mutual whistleblowing and backstabbing. Not only among colleagues, but also between police departments and between state troop police, they eventually stopped cooperating in the pursuit of criminals. This led to many serious criminals escaping."
"In the Cold War era, this kind of thing would have been almost impossible. Because once a scandal broke out, the entire state's police system would be overhauled, and not just the police system, but also the legislators would be thoroughly investigated. Because that big country really would use this kind of thing to make a fuss. We were also working our hardest, not wanting to lose to them, and wishing we could work 20 hours a day."
"Most importantly, we had abundant resources back then and could freely go to the supermarket to buy goods. When we saw in the newspaper that people across the street could only eat a limited number of canned goods or even frozen food, everyone was happy. At least we had more choices and more freedom. And because of the high level of happiness, people were generally more easygoing."
“At that time, the community I lived in did not exclude the people who had the accident. Instead, everyone would visit them in the hospital and give them some food that was about to expire that they could not finish. And those who had temporarily hit rock bottom were not too desperate, because they felt that, no matter what, it was still better than the other side of the river.”
“Of course, it was only those glorious few years,” Ron said, frowning. “Actually, towards the end, signs of trouble were already emerging. If the Soviet Union hadn’t collapsed, we probably wouldn’t have been able to hold on.”
“Yes, mental well-being is very important,” Bruce said. “When you stay in a cold social atmosphere for a long time, people become more aggressive and assume that everyone is unfriendly. This makes the margin for error smaller. What might not have been a big deal can turn into a situation where everyone suffers because of this.”
"So you mean..." Rong En seemed to realize something.
“As Rong En just said, improving their sense of well-being and making them feel happy is one way. Another way is to lower the standard of happiness, for example, by comparing themselves to other unhappy people or to a worse outcome they expect, they will naturally seem happy.”
"During the Cold War, Americans felt that the big country across the strait was extremely unfree, with everything being handed out and no choice being made. So they felt very fortunate to be able to shop freely in malls. Or, everyone thought that a hot war might break out, which would mean tightening their belts and even going to the battlefield. So if a war didn't break out, they would feel very fortunate."
“Wait a minute,” Diana interrupted him, then said, “I feel like something’s not right.”
“Sacrifice is necessary,” Bruce said, looking at her. “I’m referring to ourselves.”
The others looked at each other and squinted.
With a click, the office lights came on. The politician in a suit pointed to the chair opposite him. The man in the jacket seemed a little flustered, but he pulled out the chair and sat down, then asked anxiously, "If I help, you won't make me pay compensation, and you'll even let me get back to my job, right?"
“That’s right. In fact, we’ve contacted many people with superpowers through the Superpower Management Organization, but none of them are willing to cooperate. We saw the video of you defeating the troublemakers that day, and we believe you have that ability, right, Mr. Hal Jordan?”
“I… do have superpowers,” he coughed, then rubbed his nose and said, “In fact, I went to an alien planet and underwent a series of arduous training sessions. I was the top student in that training program.”
"Then can you move the Capitol back to Washington?"
“Sure, no problem,” he said. “This ability is great for moving things. If you don’t believe me, I can demonstrate it for you.”
The other party gestured for them to proceed. The man called Hal took a deep breath, raised his hand, and the table floated up.
“This thing is too small, it’s not challenging enough,” he said. “Actually, I could make this whole building fly.”
“That won’t be necessary,” the politician said. “We trust you. As long as you can move the Capitol back to Washington, D.C., we guarantee you’ll get back your job as a test pilot, and all the compensation claims we’ve made against you will be dropped.”
“Okay,” Hal cracked his knuckles and said, “I can’t wait, when shall we begin?”
“That depends on you,” the politician said. “I require that during the move, you absolutely cannot injure the people inside, nor can you damage any of the machinery. It must be the same in the Metropolitan area as it is in Washington, D.C. Can you do that?”
"no problem."
"Do you need to prepare anything else?"
“No need,” Hal stood up. “If I move it back now, when can I get back to work?”
“Tomorrow morning,” the politician said, “if the Capitol is in Washington, D.C. tonight, you can go to work tomorrow morning.”
“Great,” Hal breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll go right now.”
A few minutes later, a figure glowing green appeared above the Capitol Building. He took a deep breath, and then the green light gradually enveloped the Capitol Building, and the entire Capitol Hill rose into the air again, flying towards Washington.
HAL was very fast, and the entire transport process was very stable. Before long, Capitol Hill landed in its original position. HAL was a test pilot with an excellent sense of direction. He even aligned the cracks in the ground, making it seem as if Capitol Hill had never moved at all.
He circled the sky a few times, very satisfied with his work. Little did he know, the Capitol was in an uproar.
"Who gave that damn guy permission to bring us back?!" a congressman roared. "The revote process is almost complete, what right does he have to bring us back?!"
“Damn it, it’s definitely the other side’s doing,” someone said through gritted teeth. “They just want to overturn the revote because they have the majority! It’s very bad for us if Capitol Hill stays in its original position until the final ruling is made!”
"Who is that guy glowing green?! Find out right now! Who ordered him to do something so stupid?!"
"So close, so close! I bet next week's ruling will definitely be in our favor; we could have had a revote!"
It was clear to the naked eye that one group of lawmakers was gritting their teeth and frantically making phone calls, while the other group was smug, obviously benefiting them from having Capitol Hill moved back.
“The Sky Eye Society is really unreliable,” one of the older councilors said. “Those agents have never accomplished anything; we always have to do it ourselves. What’s the name of this green superhero?”
"He said his name was Green Lantern, and apparently he used to be a failed test pilot."
How much money did he ask for?
"He didn't ask for money; he just didn't want to bear the compensation for the failed test flight and wanted to return to his original position. Should we let him go back?"
"Go back my ass! He can fly himself, why would he need to try? We need to make him work for us. Does he have any relatives?"
"I checked, and it seems he has a girlfriend."
“Go find him and ask him to talk to this superhero. What’s so good about hanging out with those hotheads in the military? As long as he’s willing to work for us, isn’t that much better than being a lowly test pilot?”
The next morning, Hal was all ready to go to the work base, but was stopped by the security guard at the gate.
"What are you doing? I'll say it again! You're fired! Hal Jordan, I advise you not to cause any more trouble..."
"How is that possible? Didn't anyone tell you that I've been reinstated? Didn't you see yesterday's news? I moved the Capitol Building back myself; they promised me that!"
"Go away, get out of my way. If you're reinstated, someone will notify me. We'll say we received a notification, but that's not true. Get out of here!"
Hal, unconvinced, took out his phone to call that person. But before he could even dial, another call came in.
"Hal..." His girlfriend's voice trembled slightly on the other end of the phone. She said, "Could you... could you come over? I have something I want to talk to you about..."
“Sorry, I have something to do right now,” Hal said, glancing into the base.
"But it's really important, please, please come here, I beg you..."
Hal knew his girlfriend was a very strong woman and wouldn't normally speak to him in this tone. He immediately realized something was wrong, gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and flew towards his girlfriend's house.
None of them will escape.