Diana quietly flew out. To prevent alerting anyone, she purposely took a detour, approaching the road mentioned by the Black youth from the back of the factory area. However, there wasn't any heavily armed police presence, just an old patrol car parked by the roadside, with a chubby sheriff leaning against it, seemingly waiting for someone.
Diana observed closely again and found that aside from the police's handgun, there weren't any other weapons, nor were there any search warrants or similar documents, not really looking like they were here to cause trouble. Hence, she emerged from behind a building.
The chubby officer saw her and waved at her. Diana, with the Fire God Sword in hand, was not afraid of any tricks from him, so she walked over. The chubby officer shook hands with her and said, "Hello, I'm the sheriff of Billtge. You must be Mistress Prince, right?"
Diana nodded slightly, taking a good look at the officer and confirming he indeed wore a sheriff's badge. The sheriff sighed and said, "Arthur mentioned you, telling me to find you when I can't find him."
Only then did Diana recall that when they first arrived, after Arthur finished organizing their things, he left. When Diana asked him where he was going, Arthur merely said he was going to look around the area, unexpectedly making contact with the district's sheriff.
"I really appreciate the contribution you all made to the community. Finally, I have the money to maintain the engine of this old buddy behind me." The sheriff patted the old patrol car, then said, "Since the industrial area declined, most people moved away. I didn't expect people would move in."
"I'm very sorry," Diana said, "May I know what this is about?"
The sheriff opened his mouth as if to speak, then sighed and said, "Actually, had I known from the start that you were transporting the city's homeless here, I wouldn't have agreed to it. Despite our community already being in decline, with hardly anyone around, not minding the homeless living here, it can't be done in this manner, you know?"
Diana shook her head, not understanding. She had specifically chosen a place where there were already homeless people living, thinking that since the original homeless weren't driven away by the police, bringing more over wouldn't be a problem. Indeed, they had stayed here for several days without any police intervention—so why were they suddenly showing up now?
The sheriff shook his head and said, "If the homeless have the ability to find their way here, no one can control that. But forcibly bringing those from the city is different. You are ruining someone else's territory. I came to talk to you about this matter."
"What do you mean?" Diana squinted her eyes.
"You should know that selling drugs to the homeless is big business. Don't be fooled by the seemingly small number of tens of thousands of homeless in the city; most of them have addictions. That's not a small figure, and besides, the previous snowstorm took a batch, and before that, there was enough to feed an entire drug cartel."
"Are you saying drug dealers will cause us trouble?" Diana asked, "Since you've already met Arthur, you should know we are all superpower users, and we aren't afraid of them. If they're brave enough, they can come find us."
The sheriff sighed again and said, "I know the drug dealers you have in mind might just be street-level ones, but why don't you think about from whom they distribute? Where do those bulk drugs come from?"
Diana furrowed her brows deeply. The sheriff continued, "I've been working here for years, and I have some connections. I also know you all are good people. That's precisely why I advise you to stop. Besides, it won't successfully end, don't unnecessarily get yourself involved."
Suddenly, Diana heard a noise behind her, and another younger officer walked over, the sheriff nodding to him. Soon, another officer returned, and both officers got into the car, then the sheriff said to Diana, "Remember, we've conducted a search and found no dangerous items. You haven't shown any armed resistance. But they won't give up troubling you. If possible, it would be best to handle it quickly."
With that, he got into the patrol car and drove away. Diana turned around the area and found that the two officers were merely looping around nearby and hadn't approached their shelter.
Diana could already discern that someone had sent the sheriff for a sudden search, but because Arthur had given a prior notification, the sheriff merely came to go through the motions without intending to inconvenience them, even giving them a warning.
It seemed like nothing had happened, but Diana's heart was still hung up. Because, as the sheriff implied, this matter is far from simple—they might face repercussions extending far beyond the approaching snowstorm.
The first heavy snowstorm stabilized after the shelter quickly arrived. That day, the whole world was draped in silver, and the abandoned factory area appeared pure and white. The temperature dropped to its lowest of the year, forcing even this group of superpower users to wear cotton jackets.
Early this morning, Diana began organizing the manpower for snow shoveling; first clearing the yard, then outside the gates, and finally sweeping the rooftop to prevent the old roof from collapsing under the snow.
All those working raised no complaints because they'd just enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Hal somehow brought back a large pile of recently expired frozen steaks, of quite decent quality. They set up a giant barbecue grill in the middle, the stronger ones taking charge of grilling while those with less strength prepared salads or mixed sauces. Everyone feasted full and went out steaming hot to shovel snow.
But shortly after finishing the meal, Arthur brought back very bad news. He was clad in a sky-blue down jacket, shook off the snow as he walked into the factory, and waved to Diana and Ron, then said, "People from Billtge Community will come over soon."
"What are they coming for?" Diana inquired.
"To assess welfare actions," Arthur replied, "This is something I'm not quite clear about; Victor just helped me check it. Now, our harboring of the homeless falls under welfare actions, and welfare actions must pass the community's audit."
"Community audit? Does it mean we need their approval to help the homeless?"
"That's right. Just like those booths handing out relief meals, not just anyone can set them up. It requires community approval, the local police's record, and food safety checks. Of course, Victor has sorted it all out for us. But I'm still worried they're not coming with good intentions."
"What can they do?" Ron asked.
"If they believe our welfare actions don't align with the community's collective interest, they have the right to evict us."
"But they won't succeed."
"True, but we won't have the upper hand legally," Arthur said. "Once the community decides to evict us and we refuse to leave, any future legal issues will certainly not have the jury on our side if they discover we resisted the community."
Diana couldn't help but close her eyes. She rubbed her forehead vigorously and then said, "So how can we satisfy them?"
"Whether they're satisfied with us doesn't depend on how well we do," Arthur shook his head and said. "It only depends on whether someone wants to drive us away."
Diana recalled the sheriff's warning. She knew this hurdle would be hard to overcome.
The sun hung high, and most of the snow at the entrance had been cleared. Many people voluntarily took brooms to clean the snow at the back door. At this time, a car drove up to the factory entrance.
The few people still standing at the door became very nervous and almost immediately assumed a defensive stance. Arthur and Hal hurriedly ushered them into the house and instructed Barry to keep an eye on everyone, making sure they didn't come out.
Nevertheless, most people crowded by the windows to look outside, even the ones clearing snow had stopped working. They were too scared to be evicted; on such a snowy day, where could they go if they had to leave?
Four people got out of the car, two men and two women, three white and one black. Leading them was a middle-aged man in a suit. He came over and shook hands with Diana, introduced himself, and then said, "Sorry, ma'am. If we are to evaluate whether your welfare actions comply with regulations, I think we may need to go inside and take a look..."
Diana was about to interject when she saw the black woman behind him wink at him. Diana immediately changed the topic and said, "I think we should first discuss whether such a welfare evaluation is necessary. After all, all our procedures have passed inspection. Shouldn't you first show us where you think we're lacking?"
"This is just a routine evaluation," the man said. "We just need to go in, take some photos, write a few reports to prove we're doing our job. It won't take much of your time."
"No, if you can't identify procedural issues, or if you think there's anything wrong with our welfare activities, then I'm afraid we can't let you go in."
"Are you refusing the evaluation?"
Diana really wanted to refuse, but the black woman gave him another wink, so she had to patiently say, "Of course not, I'm just questioning the necessity of such an evaluation."
"Of course. Considering community development..."
"Pardon me, but this community hardly has any development," Arthur couldn't stand it anymore, interjected into their conversation, and then said, "There isn't even much of a community left. I suppose you were only recently transferred here, right? Where are you from? Who instructed you to do this?"
The man's expression turned ugly. Arthur continued, "In a situation where all procedures are problem-free, suddenly initiating an evaluation action can be seen as an unlawful inspection. If you can't provide a reasonable justification, we have the right to refuse it, and we'll recount this experience in detail in court."
The man still wanted to say something, but the white woman next to him pulled him aside, and the two whispered to each other. The black woman appeared to stand still, but she subtly pointed to her work badge on her coat. Diana, sharp-eyed, instantly noticed the name on the badge, and Victor quickly found the woman's contact information.
The man continued to pester for a while, but the Justice League wouldn't budge an inch. Left with no choice, they had to drive away. However, Diana managed to contact the black woman, and they arranged to meet at a more bustling street's cafe not far from there.
"I'm a social worker from the Billtge Community, and a native local. My mother used to be a female worker at this textile factory," the female social worker said as she looked toward the factory area with a slightly nostalgic gaze, then continued, "Now that the factory is closed and most people have moved away, it's not a bad idea to let those who need it more use the factory area."
"So what's really going on?"