"I wasn't joking earlier," The Blacksmith said calmly, her tone devoid of emotion. "The network truly can't produce that much money at the moment."
"Before the appearance of the Flash in Central City, the network's business was flourishing. But everything changed when that scarlet speedster appeared."
"The network's revenue is now less than half of what it used to be, and it's continuously shrinking. These past few years have been difficult for many people."
Yuri felt surprised. If he understood the blacksmith correctly, was it the Flash who had ruined them? Even if what the blacksmith said was true, half the revenue still amounted to over twenty million dollars, not a small sum.
"The network isn't just me alone. I have over six hundred people under my command, including businessmen, doctors, hackers, scientists, assassins, and soldiers. They have risked their lives for the prosperity of the network, and I can't shortchange them."
The blacksmith was practically conducting an accounting session. Yuri had considered various possibilities, such as the blacksmith suddenly turning hostile and calling a group of network assassins to forcefully take the information from him.
Yuri never expected the blacksmith to be discussing the network's financial issues with him.
"The money the network earns each year is mostly distributed among my brothers. There isn't much left afterward, and once we launder the black money, it becomes even less. I truly can't produce the five million you're asking for."
The blacksmith crossed her legs, folded her arms, and maintained a poised posture.
"So, what do you suggest?" Yuri couldn't quite grasp the blacksmith's intentions.
"Two million in legal cash. That's the highest price I can offer. If you don't accept it, then this deal won't happen."
The blacksmith stated her bottom line directly. "I hope we can achieve a mutually beneficial outcome through peaceful means, but that doesn't mean I fear using force."
"Accept my proposal. It's beneficial for both sides."
Yuri pondered for a moment, although it didn't require much consideration. Two million for nothing? What more could he ask for?
However, the development of the situation still seemed highly unreasonable to Yuri.
"Why didn't you just attack me directly? To be honest, I didn't have high expectations that you would actually pay." Yuri asked, wanting to clarify things. He remained cautious.
"From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew it would be difficult to threaten you. The cost we would have to pay to forcibly take the information from you would far exceed two million in cash," the blacksmith replied matter-of-factly. "I'm not the kind of fool who sacrifices our own losses for the sake of pride. I'm a businessperson, as you said. Business is about fair exchange."
"Oh? You can see through my abilities?" Yuri maintained a composed expression on his face, but internally he was startled.
"I've been running the network for fifteen years, relying on this," the blacksmith pointed to her head. "McCulloch said you could turn invisible, but he couldn't determine your exact location."
"But that's absolutely impossible because the essence of invisibility is the distortion of light, and the Mirror Master is exceptionally sensitive to changes in reflected light. If your ability is a physical form of invisibility, then you can't deceive McCulloch's eyes."
Ghostfreak's invisibility can generally be considered in two forms. One is a natural invisible coating, a typical form of optical invisibility that distorts light to achieve invisibility while also protecting oneself from being burned by sunlight.
The other form is becoming intangible and passing through objects, where the ghostly figure exists without physical presence.
At that time, Yuri needed to constantly shuttle back and forth in search of McCulloch in the mirror. He was in an intangible state, so Mirror Master couldn't possibly see through him.
"So your superpower isn't optical invisibility, which means the level of threat you pose will increase significantly," the Blacksmith explained.
"There are other abilities that can achieve invisibility effects, such as high-speed movement, phase shifting, size manipulation, quantum invisibility, teleportation, and... magic."
"No matter which of the above abilities you possess, they are not something to be taken lightly."
Yuri was taken aback. The words were correct, but it seemed too logical and reasonable. How could an unknown villain like her have access to this information?
He remembered watching Marvel movies before, where both heroes and villains only knew about their own abilities. There were never true omniscient characters. If someone claimed to know everything, they were just fooling themselves...
How did this blacksmith in Central City deduce that he was a formidable opponent based solely on the clues of "invisibility" and "Mirror Master not seeing through him"?.
If a relatively unknown minor villain like the blacksmith possessed such intelligence. Then what about those highly renowned characters like Luthor, Batman, or Brainiac, who Yuri hadn't even encountered in DC? These individuals were known for their unparalleled intellect and strategic genius. How terrifying would they be?
Was it possible that they could decipher the secrets of his little timepiece?
At that moment, Yuri's mindset completely changed.
This world is not as simple as he imagined. When the registered superhumans exceeded over 13 million, all the movies and TV shows he had watched would lose their reference value.
Superhumans are not socially isolated individuals with autism. They have their own sources of information, their own social networks, gathering places, both lawful and criminal.
If the Blacksmith were just an underground black market boss in the Central City, there's no way she would have such a deep understanding of stealth-based superpowers.
In other words, if she knows so much about stealth abilities, what about other types of abilities? How extensive is Blacksmith's intelligence network? Even in a city with powerful superheroes, the situation is like this. Would a city without powerful superheroes really be better?
If it were better, then why do the Justice League frequently mobilize to various locations? For tourism? What is the significance of the establishment of organizations like the Super Investigation Department and such?
Yuri's idea of moving to Blue Valley Town began to waver.
Since he arrived in this world, Yuri had never felt such a strong sense of unease.
All he wanted was to live peacefully, but peace was a luxury in a world like this. Therefore, Yuri must quickly enhance his own power.
Fortunately, the omnitrix only requires one thing to enhance his abilities, which is to continuously capture new DNA samples.
Yuri planned to capture all the samples he could in Central City and Keystone City before heading to Blue Valley Town. Determined, Yuri quickly agreed to the Blacksmith's offer of two million dollars. After all, it would be a waste to let it go.
The Blacksmith, who had empty hands, obviously couldn't carry that much money with her, and Yuri couldn't conveniently carry so much cash out of the Flash Museum.
So, they agreed on a location to exchange the money, with each of them going at different times. The Blacksmith would hide the money first, and then Yuri would do his thing.
*****
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