The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 3519 Research on Cats and Dogs (Sixty-Seven)

When Merkel returned, it was like a blast of cold air from the far north. The temperature in Gotham had dropped that morning, and Schiller had to put on his winter coat when he went to pick him up at the airport.

Although Gotham's summers are hot, its winters are even colder. The La Nina effect is evident here. The temperature was close to 20 degrees the day before, but it was only in the single digits the next morning.

After getting off the car, Schiller tied a scarf for Aisha. But the little girl obviously didn't like the scarf wrapped around her neck and kept pulling it down with her hands, but unfortunately she didn't know the right way. She walked all the way to the airport hall but couldn't successfully take off the scarf.

Merkel came out quickly, smiled when she saw Schiller, and walked up to Schiller and hugged him.

"Good morning, Professor. Long time no see."

"Long time no see." Schiller patted his arm and said, "How is Moscow?"

Merkel sighed and said: "At this congress, it has been decided to shrink the territory again. I just don't know who will be kicked out this time."

Schiller smiled and shook his head.

What is very magical is that, unlike the general trend of the world, the situation regarding the Soviet Union in this universe is completely the opposite.

Normally, the Soviet Union would have collapsed long ago. But even if it didn't collapse due to accidental events, it is still in turmoil. The small countries in the union are all clamoring for independence.

But in Schiller's universe, perhaps because of the impact of two economic crises in a short period of time, everyone can only choose to stick together for warmth, there is no other way. Surrounding the behemoth, at least you can get a taste of the soup of the real industry, but if you go out on your own, you will really have nothing.

The difference is that the Soviet Union was more cautious in its decision-making, choosing the route of sacrificing the car to save the king. Through several conferences, some small countries that had been dishonest in the past were kicked out of the alliance.

When you are a member of the Soviet Union, you think this is not good, that is not good. But when you are kicked out, you will realize how miserable it is to be a small person around such a giant.

In all aspects, the Soviet Union has shrunk greatly, and is basically just a larger Russia. Because of the large-scale cessation of aid and support, its international influence is also much less than before, and it can be said to be extremely weak.

Fortunately, the United States was stabbed in the kidney by the Great Depression, and it was not able to bite the giant bear's body twice like in the historical timeline, and the wound did not heal. The degree of injury of the two was similar, and they did not have the energy to torment each other. The Cold War, which lasted for half a century, ended in a miserable defeat with both sides suffering.

The Soviet Union did not collapse, and Europe did not eat much meat. However, in order to survive, it did not deindustrialize like the normal world line. At present, it is just barely maintaining.

The two big guys were both badly hurt, which naturally benefited other countries. East Asian countries still ushered in their own economic boom period. Now they are actually in the best situation.

"Moscow is quite cautious. They also understand that they can't cut any more rotten meat. So I'm afraid that in the next few decades, there will be no major changes in their sphere of influence and foreign policy," Merkel said.

Then he asked, "How's Mexico?"

Schiller shook his head again and said, "After Oliver left, the revolutionary army was almost completely defeated. Many bases returned to the hands of the government army. However, there is still a small core force that firmly controls the area around Guadalajara. The two sides began to seesaw."

"However, in addition to the revolutionary army led by Oliver, some other resistance organizations have emerged one after another. The most famous one is a people's army in northern Mexico near the border. I heard that the leader of this army is very young and seems to be an admirer of Oliver."

"The CIA's small moves have never stopped. However, they are also trapped in the complicated political situation in Mexico. They fought with the KGB before, but failed to gain any advantage. Now they have entered a dormant period again."

"As for the U.S. Congress, they are still useless and cannot formulate any effective policies for the situation in Mexico. They can only hold meetings and quarrel day after day, trying to shift the blame to each other."

Merkel smiled and said: "In fact, it's much the same in Moscow. There are always meetings and quarrels. Especially in response to the current economic situation. Now there is a voice that wants to learn from its southern neighbors."

"It's really a changing world," Schiller sighed, but didn't say much. The situation in the Far East is too complicated to be summarized in one or two sentences. It's hard to empathize without being in the vortex.

"How about Gotham?" Merkel asked again.

"Same old story. You came back at a bad time. The temperature dropped last night." The two walked out of the airport lobby. After getting in the car, Schiller turned on the heater and said, "Maybe it's time to call the dark clouds back to keep warm."

Merkel laughed, then looked at her phone and said while flipping through the text messages: "I heard that the manor has been sold?"

Schiller nodded, turned the steering wheel and said, "Sold it to Miss Quinzel. Now it has become a playground for children. The bad news is that the new house has no garden and no longer needs a housekeeper. The good news is that I bought another store."

Merkel was a little surprised. He said, "You want to open a store, Professor? Are you serious?"

"What's that tone of yours?"

"I mean no offense. But if you're going to do business, you can't be inconsistent. But I don't think you can stay in the store all the time."

"So the position of store manager is prepared for you."

Only then did Merkel realize that the car was heading towards the city center, and was getting closer and closer to the center.

"Oh my goodness, Professor. You're planning on opening a store here? Does that mean I'll have to sit in traffic for an hour every morning on my way to work?"

"Of course not. You can go to the other world. The key to running a store is also in the other world. I'll tell you in detail when we get there."

The car turned many corners and finally arrived at the city center. It was too early and there was not much traffic jam. It only took about ten minutes to reach the store.

"Wow, this glass is so beautiful," Merkel exclaimed. "It looks like it was taken down from Westminster Abbey."

"What a good metaphor." Schiller couldn't help but praise.

The two walked into the store together. Merkel looked around and said, "The decoration standards are so high. What did they originally plan to use it for? A museum?"

"Pretty much. An old magazine company was going to use this place as a sample publication room. Unfortunately, the Depression got in the way."

"What a nice house." Merkel turned around, shook the shelf hanging on the pillar, and touched the pattern on the wallpaper.

"This will be a great store for you in the future," Schiller said. "I don't have time to come here all day. You have to take good care of this place."

"It's fine if you're optimistic about it, but I've never done business before." Merkel shrugged and said, "It's a good thing you bought this place, otherwise the sales might not be enough to pay the rent."

"Although there is no rent, there is still property tax. The annual property tax is not small. And I won't pay extra for your insurance. You have to earn it yourself."

"It's a daunting task," Merkel sighed in mock sadness.

"But there is an advantage." Schiller leaned on the counter and said, "You don't have to sneak out to meet your friends in the future."

"You mean the KGB?" Merkel raised her eyebrows and said, "I have already left the KGB. I transferred my relationship with the organization a long time ago. I was supposed to be transferred to a factory in Moscow as a security guard. I found it boring, so I came back."

“Why did you quit?”

Merkel sighed and said: "The economic situation is not good. The KGB is also laying off people. I am British and I am not so trusted. My boss talked to me and I voluntarily withdrew."

"Don't you want to go back to England?"

"It's even worse there." Merkel couldn't help but frowned and said, "Although my family conditions are not bad, my parents are typical control freaks. If I go back, I might become the shame of the whole family in their eyes. So forget it."

"Okay, then do your best, Mr. Manager." Schiller patted him on the shoulder and said.

"What will this store do?" Merkel's frustration soon disappeared. He became determined again, and then counted on his fingers excitedly and said, "If I were to decide, I would open a potted plant store. This decoration style is very suitable for growing a lot of green plants..."

"Just give up on this idea," Schiller refused bluntly. "You can't feed anything except the little devil in the back garden. He has complained to me more than once that the fertilizer you added to him was burning him to death."

"Oh, by the way, there's Rokukaku, where is he?"

"He's a security guard at the Young Avengers base. Don't try to bring him here. He won't go with you."

Merkel showed a disappointed expression. Schiller looked down at his phone and said, "Pamela should be here soon. Then we can go to the market in the other world together."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a noise upstairs. Schiller looked up and saw Pamela staggering out of the upstairs office door.

"Oh my God, why are there so many chairs? I almost tripped over them," said Pamela.

"The upstairs hasn't had time to be remodeled yet." Schiller looked up at the stairs and said, "I contacted Waylon. I gave him all the office supplies upstairs. But he has to help me move the new furniture."

"What a good deal," Pamela said. "The tables and chairs are new. It's a pity that I don't need them in my lab, or I would have moved out."

"Waylon also needs to decorate his new office. Killer Croc's moving company is doing better and better, so he moved his headquarters to the Black Island. Maybe it won't be long before he becomes the king of mercenaries in Gotham."

Pamela laughed and said, "It's hard to imagine him moving with a bunch of killers. But times are tough, so what else can we do?"

As he was talking, a van pulled up to the door. Killer Croc got out of it, and there was a familiar person sitting in the passenger seat, that was Deathstroke.

"Oh my god, he really brought a killer with him." Merkel couldn't help but sigh. He was very familiar with the death knell. The yellow and black figure that rushed into the Kremlin shocked the world.

Schiller couldn't hold it in any longer: "The world's number one killer is bending over backwards for a few dollars and starting to move houses?"

Deathstroke walked up to Schiller, shook his hand and said, "Good morning, Professor. Someone is paying to kill you again. How much is this information worth?"

Good, Schiller thought, this world is crazier than he thought. Deathstroke has started to reveal information about his employer to make money.