However, Zodhis had not expected the situation to take a turn.
That turn was the United Nations wanting to transform the Superhero Association into an official government-recognized institution.
Zodhis pondered the matter meaningfully, wondering what exactly the United Nations was trying to do.
The full name of this organization, which claimed to specialize in researching and dealing with monsters and all kinds of disasters, was the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau.
Every country would establish a branch of the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau. Its agents would be spread across the world, and when carrying out missions in other countries, credentials from the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau would be enough to resolve any obstacle. It would maintain close cooperation with numerous superheroes and possess its own armed forces. To any regime, an organization like that was a terrifying existence.
At the same time, it would have the strictest employee ranking system, the most complete talent training structure, massive armed forces, and practically limitless funding.
Of course, the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau would also be responsible for handling the most dangerous incidents.
It would possess the authority to mobilize every department of any United Nations member state other than China, standing above America's own fearsome intelligence triumvirate of the FBI, NSA, and CIA as an institution of overwhelming privilege and power.
And with special funding approved directly by the United States Congress, Russia's Red Palace, Britain, France, Germany, and many other UN member states, along with a vast number of industries donated by wealthy tycoons to support its operations, this Special Operations Bureau had not even been formally established yet, and already countless perceptive people felt a chilling atmosphere from it.
They felt an inexplicable fear toward the future of such a powerful department, while at the same time, countless ambitious figures had begun to eye it with covetous intent.
Almost every farsighted person could see how terrifying this institution would become if left unchecked.
But it still appeared.
No one could stop it from being born.
Under normal circumstances, an institution with nearly unlimited power, minimal restrictions, and even its own industrial base should never have existed in the first place.
Or rather, it should never have reappeared within the framework of modern society's power structure.
Yet as monsters and all kinds of disasters kept appearing over and over again, and as countless people and institutions repeatedly confirmed that unless they were willing to use high-yield weapons and accept severe casualties and destruction, the only way to minimize losses was to rely on superpowered superheroes, the true masters pulling the strings behind America and many other countries could no longer sit still.
Not to mention that this new force was currently in the hands of a single person.
The so-called Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau was, in truth, simply a cooperation proposal they had thrown out.
Zodhis would serve as the bureau's director and wield terrifying authority.
However, the position of deputy director had to be held by Nick Fury, and in addition, a council would be established to restrain Zodhis's power.
In other words, they had already realized that superheroes were a war resource even more superior than war machines.
And since Zodhis controlled such a war resource, whether he intended to start a war or merely wanted to carry out justice, to countless politicians and capitalists, he was still uncontrollable.
He was still a latent danger.
After all, when faced with the overwhelming combat power of superheroes, they could hardly have the military drop thermobaric bombs or even nuclear warheads on their own heads.
So while secretly trying to recruit superheroes on one hand and absorb supervillains on the other, they chose to negotiate with Zodhis.
They also believed Zodhis was a smart man, one who would naturally understand the implication behind their move and the conditions they were offering.
Zodhis did indeed see through it very quickly.
And precisely because he saw through it, he was somewhat surprised.
Because from the very beginning, he had never expected the Superhero Association to keep going forever.
After all, this was not the world of One Punch Man.
An irrational institution like the Superhero Association simply could not go very far.
Right now, the only reason Zodhis and a whole crowd of superheroes who were openly trampling the law had not yet faced restrictions or restraints was because the threat of monsters still existed.
Otherwise, once the birds were gone, the good bow would have long since been put away.
But the nations of the world were not stupid either.
They were never going to keep quietly watching the power of superheroes remain completely uncontrolled.
Thus, the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau was the solution they had come up with after observing things for so long.
What surprised Zodhis was that the authority the United Nations was offering was enormous, so enormous it exceeded imagination.
S.H.I.E.L.D. itself was already a giant, but this Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau was even more outrageous.
It had even absorbed most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s functions.
In other words, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been slashed several times over and was no longer the all-powerful intelligence organization it once was.
One of the authorities possessed by the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau was the right to engage in cross-border operations without prior approval.
It could dispatch armed personnel to seal off chaotic situations immediately, without needing the consent of the local government.
Of course, that only applied in countries and cities where it had established branches.
That alone showed just how unimaginably vast its power was.
After reading through the conditions with great interest, Zodhis gave the matter some thought.
He was not surprised at all that Nick Fury would become deputy director.
Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had come under suspicion because of the emergence of superheroes and monsters, and Nick Fury had been dragged down along with it, that did not mean those politicians were fools who failed to recognize Fury's capabilities.
As for the council, however, it was unnecessary.
After a deep round of online negotiations with representatives from various countries, the representatives reluctantly agreed to cancel the council system.
But in exchange, they insisted on planting a supervisory department inside the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau.
All personnel in that department would be intelligence operatives from various countries, used to monitor whether the bureau abused its authority and the like.
They also never said how long Zodhis would be allowed to remain director of the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau.
Because everyone knew that question was meaningless.
"Step two, the laundering of World Serpent, complete."
The plan Zodhis had laid out over more than a year had now been perfectly realized.
Because the personnel selection for the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau had to pass through his approval, the various countries could not directly insert their own people into it.
And that gave Zodhis the chance to place World Serpent openly on the surface and use it in broad daylight.
Otherwise, why would he have pushed the Superhero Association so hard in the first place?
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)