"How did you do it?"
Tony Stark saw that there was basically no news online about the terrorist attack, and the newspapers had been completely crushed by the Global Daily. Quite a few papers had already gone bankrupt.
Only the Daily Bugle, where Peter Parker would work in the future, was still stubbornly hanging on.
Tony Stark had originally thought this public opinion battle would drag on for a long time. He had already prepared himself for a drawn-out war, yet in less than two days, all the negative coverage and public backlash had vanished without a trace.
"Spider Web has more than two hundred million users around the world. The channels through which those two hundred million people receive information and communicate are in my hands. That is equivalent to two hundred million points of information distribution. Which newspaper or news agency in the world do you think can compete with me?"
Zodhis said calmly. Black Queen had already followed the trail and dug out the masterminds behind the scenes, along with all those people acting with ulterior motives.
Quite a few of the officials exposed this time had dirt on them. The others were just sacrifices Zodhis had thrown out to divert attention, though since all the dirt was genuine, they could not really be called sacrifices.
Tony Stark was speechless.
With control over two hundred million information channels, no wonder.
After all, those two hundred million people were not just two hundred million people. They also had mouths, and the friends and family around them could all be counted as invisible channels of information. Once you thought about it that way, it became terrifying.
"Relax. I will not use this to do anything. I just want those people to understand what the rules of the game are."
Zodhis spoke with layered meaning. Anyone who refused to play by his rules would only be thrown out as a distraction.
And if even a distraction failed to shift public attention, then he could always send out an anti-hero to "uphold justice on Heaven's behalf." Since their evil deeds and crimes were too outrageous to ignore, and the law could not punish them, then that anti-hero could simply send them straight to hell.
A blade in the open and a blade in the dark.
All of it was to keep the power of superheroes firmly in his hands.
Anyone who coveted it had to die.
Under this unimaginable level of control, the process of turning the world toward superheroes advanced little by little, without anyone even noticing.
"Warning, warning. A Dragon-level disaster has appeared in Boston. All residents are to evacuate and take shelter immediately!"
"Warning, warning. A Dragon-level disaster has appeared in Boston. All residents are to evacuate and take shelter immediately!"
Sentinel robots in the streets and alleys sounded the alarm. As monster disasters became more and more frequent, the Sentinel robots responsible for early warning had burst onto the scene. They were spread openly across the entire United States, becoming the eyes of the Superhero Association and also the eyes of Zodhis.
"A Dragon-level disaster! Run!"
The civilians on the streets turned pale and fled in panic. The Sentinel robots were responsible for maintaining order, allowing them to evacuate the dangerous area in an organized way.
The superheroes were already on their way.
They needed to clear out the battlefield so the heroes could deal with the monster.
It had an ashen-brown face the size of a washbasin, and from its forehead extended a horn over half a meter long, with branch-like forks at the tip. Compared to its body, though, its face could already be considered extremely small. Even in its crouched posture, it stood five meters tall, while the two arms supporting it on the ground were as thick as stone pillars.
Its gray-brown body was made of some unknown tissue, with veins as thick as fists spreading across it in a horrifying pattern.
Overall, it looked like a rhinoceros beetle magnified countless times over.
Carnage Kabuto!
This was the debut Zodhis had prepared for the Hulk.
Only, a full year had already passed before it was finally brought out. It was only because Hulk, after all that communication and training, had come to understand that if he fought monsters, no one would hit him and he would also get to come out and play, that Zodhis finally created Carnage Kabuto.
For that, he had even spent more than a billion dollars building an amusement park for Hulk on an uninhabited island, where Hulk could come out and play for a while every day.
After Hulk had gone through this kind of training, Bruce Banner discovered that as long as he let Hulk come out to play, then for the rest of the time, even if his heartbeat exceeded the threshold, he still would not transform. This left him with a surge of bitter fury, as if all the years he had spent running, all the suffering he had endured, and even losing his girlfriend had been for absolutely nothing.
So after that, Bruce Banner laid down three rules with Hulk. Every day, he would give him time to come out and play, but once playtime was over, Hulk had to obediently go back, and after that, he was not allowed to come out again.
After being trained by Zodhis, Hulk had already developed the simple mindset of a five-year-old child. To him, this was far better than being constantly suppressed by Bruce Banner and never being allowed out, so of course he agreed immediately.
"This battle will be broadcast live the whole way through. Put on a good show, Hulk!"
Zodhis sat in the same helicopter as Hulk and patted him on the back as he spoke.
There was no helping it. If he did not float up a little, he could not reach Hulk's shoulder.
"Hulk smash monster to death!"
Hulk slammed his fists together and declared firmly.
"Good. Go on."
Zodhis opened the helicopter hatch.
Carnage Kabuto, who was currently rampaging everywhere, sensed a powerful presence at once.
It immediately lifted its head and looked toward the sky.
"HULK!!!"
With an earth-shaking roar, Hulk leaped out of the helicopter and landed on the ground.
The earth trembled.
At the same time, users on Spider Web also saw the battle.
"It's the Superhero Association's new S-Class hero, the Hulk!"
"So that monster is this Dragon-level disaster? It looks terrifying. Can the Hulk really beat it?"
"Are you kidding? Among the active S-Class heroes, aside from Dark Knight Zod, not even the Thing and Iron Man are a match for the Hulk."
Carnage Kabuto sized up the green giant in front of it, but Hulk had no such reservations. He charged straight in.
Carnage Kabuto immediately retaliated, attacking with its mouth. In one breath, it sucked in a huge amount of air, stored it in monster-grade lungs, then compressed it by force before exhaling with power.
And just like that, an utterly unscientific air cannon was unleashed.
Hulk was struck by the air cannon, but he only stumbled back a few steps before stopping.
Then, his face full of savage flesh, Hulk continued his charge.
Almost without a sound of wind, Carnage Kabuto crossed more than ten meters in an instant and appeared above Hulk's head. All Hulk felt was the sky darkening as two feet as heavy as mountains came crashing down.
Carnage Kabuto looked reckless, the kind that relied on overwhelming force to crush everything in its path.
But in truth, its brain had been modified as well, loaded with countless combat techniques. That gave it a far greater advantage in battle, while also making it much more cautious.
The dodge it had expected from the green giant never came.
Instead, Hulk stretched out both hands and grabbed its legs.
/-\
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