They all realized that the owner of the factory land called to actually remind them: someone is trying to sue them under the guise of illegal land use and wants the factory owner to testify in court, but he refused.
But this doesn't mean the other party will give up the lawsuit, nor does it mean they can win, because they are indeed using the land illegally. But their illegal use of the land is due to the lack of a reasonable way to make it legal; there's no such provision.
"Is it still possible to bribe the community now?" Ron asked.
"I've been trying," Victor said, "I've been helping them solve some life problems with money, but they said, at most, they can say a few kind words for us if they are selected as jury members. It's impossible to stop the other party from filing a lawsuit."
"Some also warned me that it's best not to try to go against the forces behind it, or not only will we superpower users suffer, but also those we help."
"They're taking the homeless as hostages???"
"Exactly. If the homeless here are the kind who can only survive on relief food, it's a bit better; but there are also some who want to return to society, it's best not to get involved in a lawsuit, it can be fatal to ordinary people."
"Let them leave first," Ron decisively decided, "Before, we didn't give them money because we were afraid they'd loaf around. At this stage, we can't worry too much, give each a sum for rent and let them rent a place first..."
"There might not be enough housing resources at this time of season," Victor reminded, "it's better to first arrange for them to find black-market jobs that provide room and board. I've contacted several bosses, they have some job openings over there."
So Barry, Hal, and Arthur went to organize people for interviews. This time it's not just the young and strong, but anyone with some labor ability had to go. The final result, however, wasn't optimistic because the timing is awkward: it's too cold, no one wants to go out to eat, and it's not yet Christmas gathering time, so not many people are needed, but they managed to arrange some.
The homeless in the shelter also sensed the impending storm. To Diana's surprise, an elderly man approached her and said, "You can send us back, that is, back to where we originally stayed. We are more familiar there, it will be easier to survive."
"No," Diana said, "It's too cold outside. In this subzero temperature, tent living will surely freeze to death."
"We can take some things with us," the old man pointed to the warehouse beside and said, "There's a stove, some charcoal, and some compressed food, perhaps we can survive this snow."
"Perhaps?" Diana's eyes were filled with tears, she said, "Do you want me to send you into the muzzle of the roulette gun? How am I different from a murderer?"
The old man sighed and said, "The moment someone decides to pull the trigger, it's destined someone will die. It makes no difference if it's me or someone else who died before, because we're already finished. But this time is different, we need you alive, do you understand?"
Diana looked around, she didn't see disappointment in the eyes of the homeless. A woman smiled at her, not a grim smile, more of a warm encouragement.
"Honestly, we already knew we couldn't make it," the old man said again, "For us, just being able to eat one more full meal means one more day to enjoy the pleasure of being alive. But no one here wants you people to sacrifice so greatly so that people like us can find a bit of pleasure in a life that's near dead. It's not worth it, ma'am."
Diana finally broke down, she roared, "Human life cannot be calculated on whether it's worth it or not!"
"Then I'm afraid you're the minority, ma'am." The old man said.
Diana painfully covered her face. Ron held her, patted her shoulder, then said, "Now is not the time to act emotionally, we still have to think about ways to solve it. I'll give Batman a call."
Ron called Bruce, explained the current situation. Bruce pondered for a moment then said, "Alright, send those who really can't find a place to go to Gotham. My shelter here still has some spots."
This left Ron stunned, he said, "You mean, when the shelters in Metropolis are all full, Gotham's shelter still has space?"
"I know it may sound incredible, but Metropolis only has 68 shelters, Gotham has 523. Furthermore, I've prepared an additional 60 emergency shelter areas, even if you brought all the homeless from Metropolis over, it would still fit."
"Then why... alright, anyone with some sanity wouldn't want to go to Gotham." Ron rubbed his temples, but quickly caught on and said, "Wait, Gotham has so many shelters and so few homeless, why does it have such a bad reputation?"
Bruce didn't say much and hung up, but this sparked deep thinking in Ron. And he soon found the answer in the news site's front-page headline.
"New Human Factory? What is the Bill Tige abandoned industrial park shelter doing collecting a large number of near-death people?"
With a bang, Ron slammed his phone to the ground. His skin began to faintly flash green light, furious to the point of transformation. "Alright, alright, can't destroy, then smear, is that it?!"