As for the Superhero Association becoming an official organization, a lot of superheroes could not really understand it.
The main reason was simple. Politicians and capitalists had such terrible reputations that these superheroes, after seeing so many of the disgusting and rotten things they had done, instinctively did not trust them.
But Zodhis did not care at all whether they stayed or left.
The Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau was just a title that allowed World Serpent to appear openly and exercise privilege in broad daylight. Even if every single superhero inside it ran off, Zodhis could immediately pull in a new batch to replace them.
People like Tony Stark naturally understood very clearly what kind of benefits the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau would bring to superheroes, so they helped persuade the others, which was the only reason not all of them chose to leave.
Of course, there were still some superheroes who felt they could not walk the same path and chose to depart. That was unavoidable.
And so, Zodhis became the director of the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau.
Because he felt the name was too long and too awkward to say, he changed it to the Divine Sword Bureau. It had nothing to do with the space-based S.W.O.R.D. that Nick Fury would create later.
Zodhis set the Divine Sword Bureau's headquarters as a warship at sea, something similar to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier.
The difference, however, was like heaven and earth when it came to firepower and defense.
By the way, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Insight Program had already been cut off at the waist because of the Divine Sword Bureau's sudden emergence. Rumor had it that Nick Fury's face had been so dark that even other people could see it clearly.
The other person with a dark face was Alexander Pierce.
Hydra had worked tirelessly in hiding for so many years, finally infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. until it became practically Snake Shield, yet before they had even enjoyed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s privileges for long, the Divine Sword Bureau suddenly appeared.
Even worse, the Divine Sword Bureau's authority stood above S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. Originally, the plan had been to dissolve S.H.I.E.L.D. and have most of its agents join the Divine Sword Bureau.
But Director Zodhis of the Divine Sword Bureau rejected that outright.
He said he would personally choose who was allowed in.
Alexander Pierce had no choice but to try infiltrating the Divine Sword Bureau the same way he had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.
But the Divine Sword Bureau's power far exceeded his imagination.
When Dr. Zola attempted to hack into the Divine Sword Bureau's database, he was nearly killed on the spot and barely made it back at all.
And even after he got back, the Divine Sword Bureau traced his location.
If they had not urgently transferred his core body, Dr. Zola would probably already be sitting inside the Divine Sword Bureau right now.
After all, the Divine Sword Bureau was different from S.H.I.E.L.D.
Its field personnel were all superheroes.
Taking cities and conquering territory aside, there was no way Hydra's tiny little bases, with that handful of men and weapons, could ever block a Divine Sword field team already mixed with World Serpent agents.
"Agent Natasha Romanoff, we meet again."
Zodhis sat in the Divine Sword Bureau director's office, looking at the Black Widow before him as he spoke.
Judging purely from her appearance, this Black Widow, who did not look like Scarlett, was even more striking than Scarlett, with a body that was even more fiery and alluring.
"Director Zodhis, why did you agree to let me join the Global International Strategic Attack and Defense Logistics Special Operations Bureau?"
Natasha truly did not understand.
Many of her colleagues, including Hawkeye, had retired because they had failed to get into the Divine Sword Bureau.
Zodhis fell silent.
Could he really say it was because in the original plot, she was the only one who could actually carry the team?
Weak power was not a problem. He could strengthen that with the X-Gene.
But if someone's behavior patterns and way of thinking were weak, then there was no fixing that.
A whole bunch of grown men, and in the end it took a woman with stronger conviction to save everything, like a pack of overgrown boys who had never matured. Zodhis simply did not want them.
By comparison, Nick Fury, who lacked Batman's abilities but worried with Batman's level of obsession, was also extremely useful, which was why Zodhis had kept him in the Divine Sword Bureau as well.
In any case, even if Fury suspected something, there was nothing he could do, because the supervisory department had already become Zodhis's people from the very first day they took office.
On his first day as executive deputy director, Nick Fury had come to Zodhis asking for data.
Only Zodhis possessed the superhero database, and he had refused to open it to Nick Fury.
What a joke.
Nick Fury was reliable most of the time, but when he messed up, he messed up big. There was no way something as important as the superhero database could be opened to him.
After all, most superheroes at present did not want their true identities exposed.
Even though all the countries that had founded the Divine Sword Bureau wanted to know who these superheroes really were, Zodhis's secrecy measures were simply too good. He kept everything directly in his own head.
Unless Reed Richards himself could pull that information straight out of Zodhis's brain, no one would ever know.
Agreeing to keep superheroes' real identities secret was also one of the reasons Zodhis could openly insert World Serpent members.
After all, they did not need to register real identities. They only needed to register as Divine Sword Bureau agents.
That being the case, even if he brought in Red Skull, he could still pass as a Divine Sword Bureau agent.
All the countries could do was rely on their own intelligence personnel to investigate the real identities of these superheroes.
Unfortunately for them, they did not know that most of the superheroes in there were rootless water, with no real identity to be found in the first place.
"Director?"
Seeing that Zodhis had not answered, Natasha asked again.
"Your abilities are very good. And besides, if I didn't take you in, where else could someone like you, an old relic who survived from that era, go? Find a farm somewhere and spend the rest of your life as a farmer?"
Zodhis considered his words for a moment before answering.
Natasha paused, then smiled.
"Director, casually exposing a woman's real age is a very rude thing to do."
She stepped closer to Zodhis, studying this man of immense talent and overwhelming power.
Even Natasha, who had lived through that era and seen no shortage of remarkable, brilliant, handsome, and fabulously wealthy men, had never met a single one who could compare to the man standing before her now.
At the same time, what Zodhis had just said was an answer she had never expected, yet one that matched her own heart with startling accuracy.
She really could no longer adapt to a peaceful life.
Though she was always complaining to Nick Fury about the lack of vacation time and the low pay, the truth was that this act of carrying out justice was her way of redeeming herself.
She did not know how much she would have to do, or for how long, before that redemption was complete.
But if she had the choice, she would keep doing it forever.
/-\
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