4 I'm in the DC Universe... FUCK!!!

Chapter 3: I'm in the DC Universe... FUCK!!!

Carlos's initial shock slowly faded as other news flashed across the television screen. While watching the afternoon news broadcast, he began to ponder a bit.

The existence of a large company called Wayne Enterprises means nothing. The fact that it's located in a city known as Gotham could also be a coincidence. The fact that the majority owner and his wife were killed in front of their 8-year-old son in a dark alley...

"I'm screwed... completely screwed."

Suddenly, Carlos felt that living wasn't exactly a good thing. Whoever was responsible for bringing him back to life... couldn't they have sent him to a more normal world?

Forget Collor, forget inflation, things have escalated to a completely different level now. Carlos was a normal human being, living in a small town, in a country with great potential, but still a third-world country in the year 2042.

Diseases once considered eradicated would resurface due to the population's ignorance and the government's poor actions. A great political polarization gradually destroyed the unity of the population and consequently divided the country. Corruption became so common and blatant that it seemed to stop bothering Brazilians.

And now, amidst all this, he would have to deal with constant threats of alien invasions. A mad New God obsessed with mathematics. A nearly invincible four-eyed demon. A supercomputer that enjoys shrinking cities and destroying worlds. A speedster who toys with the timeline, occasionally altering the past. An immortal neanderthal with a need for control. That's if this isn't the universe of Injustice or some other dark universe.

"System."

[Status]

Host: Carlos Dias de Andrade Correia Neto

Age: 13 years old

Abilities: None

Powers: None

Title: Friend of Death

Market: locked until payment (50,000 cruzeiros)

Shop: locked until payment (100,000 cruzeiros)

Arena: locked until payment (500,000 cruzeiros)

Universal HR: locked until payment (1,000,000 cruzeiros)

Looking at the screen, Carlos focused on the part about abilities and power. Before, he believed it referred to his management skills and such, and power should be something like economic power or political power, but apparently, it's something different and much more important. However, this didn't give him a sense of security; instead, it made him feel even more pressured.

What should he do? Become a hero to join the league and save the world? He didn't want to be in a space station fighting global threats.

Carlos knew himself very well. He was nowhere near a hero, let alone a saint destined to defeat evil and bring light to the corrupted world, like those presented in fairy tales. He wasn't like Batman chasing after a utopia, or like Superman who had unwavering faith in humanity.

He was just an ordinary man who knew both sides of human nature. He was imperfect, made mistakes, did morally questionable things if he judged it was for a good cause, because that's how humans are. He wished his city were a better place, where people could live with some dignity, knowing that hard work really paid off, while those who didn't comply with the laws were really punished, not revered.

He knew that creating a utopian city free from crime and corruption was impossible without first changing the human heart, so Carlos never really tried to change those things. What he wanted was to create ways to prevent and punish effectively those who did. Killing all the corrupt... he had already had that thought, however, if he followed that logic, the fact that someone cut in line, cheated on a test, took a coin from their mother's purse... would that alone be reason to kill them? Carlos wasn't a defender of human rights; he defended the rights of citizens and fair punishment for those who broke the law.

His initial plan was to use his future knowledge, make some money during the 1990 crisis, take advantage of the launch of the real plan in 1994, and use the subsequent years' low dollar compared to the real to invest in different companies that would grow in the future and in 2010 invest part of that money in bitcoins as a security fund or something like that.

When he was rich, he would gradually enter local politics and eventually, maybe go national as a senator, congressman, or governor. But now? He wondered if he would be alive tomorrow. Sure, his city was small and should have little importance in a possible invasion, but what if aliens decided to invade and use it as, I don't know, a testing ground?

Was he delirious? Yes, but who could blame him? Unlike energetic young people who, when they go to another world and have a system, actively seek a harem, Carlos just wanted to survive with his family and live a relatively ordinary life while trying to do something minimally good for the country. But now... it seemed like someone was pushing the world's problems onto him.

Gradually, Carlos calmed down and decided that thinking too much about it wouldn't change anything. Whether this was some DC universe or not, the fact that his family existed was enough for him to do something about it, and for now, he needed to prepare for the looming economic crisis.

Looking at the television, which was already showing something else, Carlos turned it off and went to his grandmother's room. There he saw her lying in bed while taking a little rest after lunch.

Carlos remembered what happened to her after the savings confiscation and decided to talk to her. He approached and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Grandma."

"Hm."

"Do you still have Grandpa's money saved in the bank?"

"Why?"

"How much do you have?"

"About 20,000, 25,000 cruzeiros. Why?"

"Well, yesterday I dreamed about Grandpa Chico, and he asked me to tell you to take everything out of the bank and keep it in a safe place."

Upon hearing these words, his old grandmother sat up in bed with some difficulty and looked deep into Carlos's eyes.

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Carlos. Look into my eyes and answer me truthfully. Is this true?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Carlos replied without looking away for a moment. Although lying to his grandmother was by no means comfortable, he couldn't allow his grandmother to be left without support.

In the following years, she would basically live based on what her other children could send her every month. Without her savings, and believing she was a burden to her children who already didn't have much, his grandmother became extremely debilitated and passed away three years later.

After some time in silence, his grandmother stroked his head and gave him a pat. Before lying back down.

"Tomorrow I'll go to the bank with your mother. Although I don't know if your grandfather appeared in your dream, I know you wouldn't lie to me without reason."

Carlos couldn't help but smile a little as he left the room. Although his grandmother didn't believe him, at least she would take the money out of the bank. Going to the living room and grabbing a notebook, Carlos began to do the day's activities, and around 4 p.m., he left the house and went to play soccer in a small dirt field with some boys from the neighborhood.

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The next day, true to her word, his grandmother withdrew the amount of 27,000 cruzeiros from the bank, and somehow, convinced his mother to withdraw all her money as well. In total, it was a little over 83,000 cruzeiros.

His mother didn't seem very happy, mentioning something about savings interest or something like that, but Carlos wasn't worried about listening. He told them both to just keep the money in a safe place and not to mention it to anyone.

As the days passed, February soon came to an end. During this time, Carlos made sure to do research in different books, magazines, and newspapers, as much as possible, in order to learn more about the world he was in.

The differences between the two worlds were not very significant throughout history, but they were still there. For example, the First World War lasted until 1919.

There were also some new countries, like Bialya, Markovia, and Vlatavia. There was also Qurac, a nation considered terrorist that caused some agitation in neighboring countries.

Afterwards, the companies. LexCorp, Wayne Enterprises, Kord Industries were known in the DC universe, there were others, but Carlos paid little attention to them because he couldn't remember if they were important.

In a few years, Google could be created, as well as Amazon, but Carlos didn't care much about that. If it were before, he could take advantage of buying shares of these companies, but now, in this new world, undoubtedly more powerful people would be interested in them due to their importance in the future. That's if they were created here.

"In the end, it all comes down to money. Even knowing the future, I don't have access to the knowledge needed to thrive in the financial market. Apart from a few moves, I can't achieve much in a short time."

Carlos closed a book and leaned on the school library table. There weren't many students around, so it was a good place to rest his mind. In a few days, the new president would take office and after that, everything would go downhill.

Although he knew this was an opportunity, he didn't know how to take advantage of it very effectively, besides saving what little his mother and grandmother had. Carlos wasn't stupid, but he didn't have knowledge about many things.

Although Brazilian education was one of the most complex, it was still very outdated and seemed more interested in creating employees rather than entrepreneurs.

"'The government doesn't provide education because education topples the government,' that phrase never made so much sense."

Getting up from the table and putting the book back on the shelf, Carlos left the library still lost in thought. On the way home, Carlos continued to try to think of ways to change his situation; however, he realized he was stuck and had no choice but to take a gamble.

Upon arriving home, he went to a shoebox where his mother kept a little over 55,000 Cruzeiros. These were their life savings. Carlos was nervous, his hands sweating as he separated the notes into a small pile in front of him.

"System."

Seeing the screen appear in front of him, he went to the exchange hall section and paused for a moment. He didn't know how this would work, or if it would be beneficial. It was a high-risk gamble, but at this moment, in this world, Carlos saw no other choice.

[Do you wish to unlock the exchange hall? Y/N]

Seeing the prompt appear, Carlos touched yes and watched the small stack of notes disappear in front of him.

"God willing, let it be."