Then Hal attracted dozens of people as well. Clearly, he had more persuasive power because the truck was full of supplies. There's really no need to spend this money if they were going to trick them away. So, besides some elderly, weak, disabled, some with relatively good physical condition also came along.
After arriving, they indeed found supplies and saw Ron and others seemed to be trying to install heaters, everyone started chatting, offering directions.
This group had been wandering for quite some time, they knew where the homeless had the worst time, or where people were most easily taken. Soon, more clues were provided. Barry and Hal fetched some people from relatively remote shelters.
At this time, some discordant scenes occurred; for instance, some people grabbed things, taking more than they could eat. However, Diana and Ron were seasoned veterans. They understood why these homeless would act this way because they felt this distribution was one-time only, once this batch was gone, there wouldn't be more, so of course they would take more.
The solution was quite simple, which is to haul supplies with one truck after another, specifically partitioning a place beside as a warehouse, placing a large amount of food in there visibly. They could take as much as they wanted; anyway, people weren't leaving, these instant foods wouldn't spoil, they could take them back and eat slowly.
The funds Victor could provide were almost limitless. Frankly, how much do these instant foods cost? Spending tens of thousands of US Dollars could buy several truckloads. Their spending speed couldn't even match Victor's funding pace, no concern about the cost at all.
Temporarily, there's no single room for accommodation, everyone squeezed together. However, this group was used to it, each had their own sleeping bag, come nightfall, they lay down to sleep, wake up to eat, eat and sleep again. Aside from two pregnant women needing special care, there's nothing else to attend to.
"This work is much simpler than I imagined," Diana said, "I thought it would be extremely difficult. I thought they would go crazy scrambling for things, or fight fiercely for places to stay, or else criticize us for not doing well enough…"
"They don't have the energy for that," Ron said, "people are almost starving to death, instinct in their genes drives them to muster all energy to accumulate nourishment. At least in the first few days, it won't be that exciting."
Indeed, as Ron said, none of those transported here went crazy. They didn't have the energy to go crazy, finally finding a household providing unlimited calories, wouldn't they bury their heads eating? The most common scene in the shelter was sitting on a sleeping bag, silently stuffing food into mouths.
The subsequent plan to bring people in proceeded relatively smoothly; all over the city, the gathering places of the homeless were scoured once. Those awaiting death had been brought here, entering into the "eat, sleep, and repeat" infinity cycle.
Actually, at this time, there were just a few hundred people in the shelter, those hovering between life and death weren't that numerous. Several times, they arrived late, tents left with only corpses inside.
But wanting to collect more people was more difficult. Those not in dire status dared not change, fearing there would be no food upon arrival, or being deceived. Then most of what remained were beyond control due to drug addiction.
Barry and the others' recent actions already stirred discussion in the homeless community. As they didn't hide anything, most people knew they were a group of superpower users with great empathy trying to save people. Many thought they could save, considering those who could go with them were lucky.
However, since they clearly stated the new shelter wouldn't provide drugs, had no drug dealers nearby, and managers were powerful superpower users, allowing no drug chaos, drug users were absolutely not going. Not being able to have drugs was scarier than starving to death.
Ironically, these people made up the bulk, most victims of chemical drugs; "fly leaves" were relatively self-disciplined. Drug issues gradually emerged within the shelter.
Initially, these people were quiet, not because of non-addiction, purely on the verge of starvation, brains lacked energy to manifest addiction, only thinking of food, appearing fine.
But after eating heartily a few days in the shelter and replenishing energy, addiction symptoms resurfaced. Diana's Lasso of Truth sparked but couldn't stop them from going mad.
During drug addiction episodes, people lacked sanity, either rolling on the ground or attacking others. Those shrinking to corners and trembling were regarded as exemplary. When population increased, Diana and Ron struggled to handle them.
More worryingly, upon sobering up, they begged the two to send them back to their original community where drugs could be obtained. At first, Diana firmly opposed sending them back; later, overwhelmed by their incessant clamor, she ultimately sent them back in a vehicle.
At this juncture, the shelter's inhabitants dwindled to about two hundred people. Not completely drug-free attendees, some only used 'fly leaves,' better off than chemical drugs, when ill, merely hissing, with less aggressiveness.
Then they were shocked to discover that, by their standards, there was no one left in Metropolis to shelter. Those remaining were either robust and refused to come or addicted, and needed to be sent back even if they came. Among tens of thousands of homeless people, genuinely due to physical frailty, lack of food, or freezing, only about two hundred were in such dire situations.
They busied themselves for so long, everything basically smooth and unbothered, yet not only failed to save all homeless, hadn't even saved a tiny fraction.
So they began adopting slightly forceful measures, bringing those unwilling to come, primarily relying on Barry and Hal using superpowers for transport. Most initially showed discontent, but seeing heaps of supplies, heaters, they relented.
Even many newly homeless, seeing stable accommodations, free food supplies, reassured survival for a while, started actively job-seeking. Although only small jobs available, better than life before becoming homeless.
They absolutely didn't expect to be first approached by the local Mob in their location.
Barry sneaked around the street corner again, peering around furtively. He had already picked out two targets, these two had just arrived here not long ago, hadn't used drugs, were in good health, and seemed to be intellectuals—a good choice for entering the shelter.
Just as he was about to rush over, he heard a "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sound behind him. Victor's voice rang in his earpiece: "Watch out! Barry, someone is shooting at you!"
A flash of blue light, and with a "whoosh," Barry ran off. He ran to the other end of the street, then turned back to look, finding several people in jackets crouching behind a car, shooting at him.
"What are you doing!" Barry shouted. He wasn't afraid of them, because he knew bullets couldn't catch him, so instead of fleeing, he questioned them back.
The other party wasn't polite either, pointed a gun at him, and said, "Kid, this is my turf. Get out!"
"Who are you? What do you mean this is your turf?"
"It means I'm the boss here, the people here are under my protection." The other party spoke in a strong street accent, leaving Barry feeling muddled. Luckily, Victor understood a bit and explained to Barry through the earpiece: "This should be the local street folks, the mob."
Barry suddenly understood, but he still asked puzzledly: "Why are they looking for me? I'm not against the mob."
"Listen, kid. I don't care what superpower user you are, you'd better not interfere with our business. Those people came here because they were supposed to, understand?"
"Totally don't understand." Barry answered honestly.
That mob member seemed to have never encountered such a situation, and could only say somewhat helplessly: "You tied them all up, who do we sell our drugs to? I'm telling you, this isn't as simple as you think. If the harvest isn't good, it's not just us who will come looking for you."
Barry actually still didn't understand, but he at least figured out that the mob members found him because these healthy homeless people were potential clients for drug dealers. By bringing them to the shelter, it was equivalent to taking away their clientele, so the mob wasn't happy.
It's important to know, the street mob's biggest income source is drugs, and their main clientele for drugs are low-income community members and homeless people. Although homeless don't buy a lot, they're considered stable; especially those with good health, even chemical drugs can be consumed for several years before dying, with significant profits in there. By taking these people away, the Justice League essentially made their money fly away, so of course, they're displeased.
But Barry absolutely didn't care. Not to mention these folks just have a few small broken guns, even the Regular Army couldn't stop him, he completely ignored these people, "whoosh," ran over and took away the two targets he had in mind.
After he left, the mob members looked grim. The leader spat in disdain and said, "Just wait, someone will make them regret it."
Such operations lasted about three or four days, and the number of people at the shelter finally surpassed a thousand. And because this was an entire abandoned factory area, there was no shortage of places to live.
Now, inside the factory area, they generally formed two groups: the elderly, weak, and disabled who are retired, and the relatively young who can still go out to find work. Among the young, many have skills, Victor helped them forge addresses, allowing them to return to their original industries, earning salaries much higher than temporary work. If things go fast, a week later they receive their first paycheck, and once they can manage, they're able to leave this place.
As for those doing temporary work, in a few months they can generally save enough for rent, leaving here is just a matter of time.
Those retired have no solution at all, after all, they're too old to do physical work; those with some technical knowledge have been out of their industry for too long, finding a job is difficult, they can only stay here indefinitely.
During the entire process, although there were disturbances and some verbal disputes, they were quickly settled, no big troubles occurred. On the contrary, many were doing what they could, such as cleaning, organizing items, or helping pregnant women.
Some people would mutually introduce jobs, those working informally or temporary jobs, would mutually recommend each other. Sometimes when a restaurant opens anew, one person goes to work, they can pull several people, fully complementing the kitchen's needs. Also, learning skills, too advanced ones can't be pursued, but learning to repair cars or furniture was still possible.
Lately, there's no need for Diana or Ron to organize them, as they'd spontaneously form a security patrol group, on shifts around the clock. Eventually, the patrol range even expanded across the entire factory area.
In fact, the wisdom of the masses should not be underestimated. On this night, when Diana habitually distributed food, a young black man suddenly climbed in through the window, ran beside Diana, whispered, "Ma'am, Vit and I saw someone sneaking around near the two big chimneys to the east..."
"Hmm?" Diana turned to look at him, then said, "Not someone from our side?"
"No, they don't seem like homeless people either. Vit said they look a bit like police. We didn't dare go closer, do you want to check it out?"
"Alright. Have your people come back quickly, hide here don't go out. I'll go with Ron to have a look."