Do what?
Bane's massive body seemed to freeze for an instant. He hadn't expected a question like that.
Ever since he had learned Batman's story in prison, defeating him and becoming the city's ruler had practically become an obsession. He had taught himself a wealth of knowledge, but it mostly concerned combat, survival, strategy and tactics, even engineering machinery and emergency medicine. As for the things Li Jie had mentioned...
They had crossed his mind before, but only fleetingly, and he had unconsciously brushed them aside.
"Batman maintains a false balance."
Bane considered his answer. "What I intend to establish is an absolute, efficient system with a clearly defined hierarchy. Your East End proves that, on a local scale, an iron fist and clear rules work."
"Heh." Li Jie laughed. "The most fundamental reason I succeeded was government funding and sponsorship from Wayne Enterprises. Where's the money for your absolute system going to come from? Keep dealing drugs? That'll plunge the streets back into chaos. Protection money? That'll drive every small business away, or make them secretly support your enemies. Besides, that kind of money is nowhere near enough to keep a city running."
"Wealth... will be redistributed through chaos."
Bane thought for another moment, then said quietly, "The old vested interests will be eliminated. Their resources will fuel the new order."
"Eliminated... there's really no need to dress up robbery and murder so elegantly."
Li Jie sat down on a nearby bench and patted the spot beside him. "That'll bring endless resistance and counterinsurgency. Every day of your conquest, you'll have to pay mercenaries to suppress it, and the costs will keep rising. Then what? Once you're king of Gotham, where will you hold meetings every morning? What documents will you approve in the afternoon? How will you get