Originally, everyone thought that after becoming director of the Divine Sword Bureau, Zodhis would settle down a little.
Instead, no one expected him to turn around and drop another bombshell.
"Life Restoration Device?"
From every corner of society, and across the entire world, people were stunned by what Zodhis had come up with this time.
"Gentlemen, some children are born without the eyes to see this world. Others are born without the ears to hear its sounds. Of course, even more people lose these things because of accidents. I have visited many orphanages for disabled children, and I have seen how they were abandoned by their parents simply because of congenital defects. Even after growing up, many of them still feel inferior to others."
Zodhis's publicity speeches were always direct, with almost no sentimental embellishment.
But precisely because of that, they struck people's hearts even more easily.
"So I devoted a great deal of time to research and created this Life Restoration Device. It can cure the vast majority of current congenital sensory disabilities and defects, as well as many defects caused by accidents later in life. Starting today, Blade Technology Industries will provide this service to disabled children."
"Let them regain the light.
Let them hear the beautiful sounds of this world once more."
The vulnerable had always been ignored by the world.
But once the reporters Zodhis sent from the Global Daily tore away that hypocritical disguise and exposed the bloody truth underneath, many people finally realized that there had always been so many people in this world far more unfortunate than themselves.
As a result, the global suicide rate somehow dropped by five percent.
That was because many people who had still been able to turn back, after seeing those who were even more unfortunate still struggling so hard to live, were deeply moved.
After all, human beings were the species most easily infected by collective emotion.
They no longer wanted to die.
They felt they had found the meaning of their existence, which was to spend the rest of their lives speaking up and fighting for this vulnerable group.
"You're a genius, Zodhis."
Natasha said it seriously.
Compared to Tony Stark, who had lately become more and more unrestrained, Zodhis, who carried the title of genius as well, was doing things far more valuable and far more meaningful.
Those words came from the bottom of her heart.
To her, Zodhis shone so brightly he hardly seemed human.
"Only now you think I'm a genius?"
Zodhis shrugged.
To him, these were only effortless acts.
But to disabled children, they were hope.
Zodhis did not mind giving hope to others.
This world was still better off with more hope than despair.
Now that he had come to the Marvel world, he could hardly do nothing at all.
Otherwise, what difference would there be between this world having him and not having him?
Since, in the original storyline, neither Tony Stark nor Reed Richards had used their genius brains to do anything truly meaningful, Zodhis would simply do it himself.
"No. You are a true genius."
Natasha said it almost involuntarily.
"Mhm. Keep praising me."
Zodhis said it without the slightest bit of modesty.
Natasha felt helpless.
But honestly, Zodhis's narcissism was attractive too.
Not to mention that Zodhis could now be called a great man in every sense of the word.
Tony Stark saw the current condition and harsh reality of those vulnerable groups that Zodhis had exposed.
With so many charities operating all over the world every year, what exactly had they been doing?
He had originally believed that being a superhero was nothing more than carrying out justice and saving the world.
But Zodhis's actions told him that what superheroes could do was not something that could be summed up in just those two phrases.
"...Looks like I've lost to this guy."
Tony looked at Zodhis, and suddenly felt a surge of heat in his heart.
"If Zod can do it, then there's no reason I can't!"
Tony wanted to create a Life Restoration Device too.
Nick Fury, meanwhile, fell into silence after seeing all this.
Clearly, he had started to lose his grasp on what kind of person Zodhis really was.
He had originally thought Zodhis was a merchant who would not lift a finger without profit, and the fact that he had so readily agreed to transform the Superhero Association into the Divine Sword Bureau had only reinforced that impression.
Now that he occupied the supreme seat of power as director of the Divine Sword Bureau, the order Nick Fury had received was to gradually weaken Zodhis's influence from within the Bureau and ultimately replace him.
And that was exactly what he had been doing.
After all, as executive deputy director of the Divine Sword Bureau, he had the authority to do it.
Yet at this very moment, Zodhis had made another move that Nick simply could not understand.
"Why is he doing this? For fame?"
Nick Fury narrowed his eyes.
He had never hesitated to interpret anyone with the greatest malice, including even Coulson, the subordinate he trusted most.
But when he seriously thought about it, if not for Zodhis, most people in the world would never have paid attention to this vulnerable group at all.
Because for most people, merely being busy with their own lives, their own entertainment, and their own suffering already took up an entire lifetime.
Who had the time to care about anyone else's hardships?
If he himself were as smart and as powerful as Zodhis, would he have thought of those disabled children?
Nick Fury answered that question with regret.
No.
He would only have used that intelligence and power to build more bases, so that S.H.I.E.L.D. could better control the global situation and maintain balance.
Disabled children and vulnerable groups were simply too insignificant when compared to the grand ideal of maintaining world peace.
But compared with that hollow, oversized goal of world peace, what actually touched people's hearts more deeply was Zodhis's action this time.
The capitalists could not understand why Zodhis was losing money just to earn applause.
The head of the major consortium that had once given Zodhis an oil field even called him personally to question why he was not properly researching a miracle cure for cancer, and instead wasting time on some Life Restoration Device.
"Zodhis, if you keep neglecting your real business, I will make you pay the price!"
Staff gritted his teeth as he spat out those words, then hung up the phone.
Half an hour later, Staff was arrested by the Divine Sword Bureau's Symbiote Corps after they stormed into his home, on the charge of threatening the director of the Divine Sword Bureau.
What a joke.
At the height of Zodhis's power, Staff was nothing more than the head of a consortium, yet he dared threaten the director of the Divine Sword Bureau?
Did he still think this was the backward age of capitalism?
This was the age of superheroes now!
The Staff Consortium was directly confiscated by Zodhis.
Though calling it confiscation was not quite accurate, because in reality, it had simply been converted into World Serpent's funding.
The supervisory department raised objections.
Then Zodhis produced more than enough evidence proving that Staff had indeed threatened him, the director of the Divine Sword Bureau.
Even if it had only been a verbal threat, did someone like Zodhis, whose authority was even more terrifying than Hoover's once had been, really need more evidence?
No.
Even if he had no evidence at all, he still could have crushed Staff to death just the same.
/-\
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