The massive meteorite firmly pinned the Ghost Rider underneath it.
Subsequently, Zod Heath modified the planet's magnetic field, binding this magnetic force directly onto the Ghost Rider's body.
This was essentially equivalent to physically sealing him on this planet.
Unless he could break free from this majestic force of nature, he would probably never be able to leave this world.
The Ghost Rider struggled unwillingly, but he was like Sun Wukong pinned beneath the Five Elements Mountain. Furthermore, he bore the crushing weight of the entire planet's magnetic field on his body, making even twitching a finger an extravagant hope.
"Alright, that should be safe now."
Zod Heath looked with satisfaction at the seal he had created. It shouldn't be any worse than the sealing formations found in cultivation novels, right?
After finishing all this work, Zod Heath promptly left the scene.
Leaving the Ghost Rider all alone on this dead, freezing planet.
Returning to Earth, Zod Heath finally planned to start a massive operation.
Zod Heath actually somewhat agreed with Lex the Baldy's theories.
Lex Luthor!
This bald Lex was no simple character. Calling him Superman's lifelong nemesis was not an exaggeration.
He possessed a prominent reputation in the villain world, perpetually selected for the ultimate roster of the "Greatest Comic Book Villains of All Time," repeatedly squeezing into the top three on voting leaderboards. By the way, the undisputed number one on those leaderboards, the villain who defended the title multiple times, was the Joker. He was practically insurmountable.
Luthor was one of the smartest men on Earth, possessing ninth-level intellect. He had run for president and was the chairman of LexCorp, a company wealthy enough to rival a nation.
In his youth, he had been friends with Superman. Back then, Superman was still just a poor farm boy named Clark, before he wore his underwear on the outside and flew through the skies. The disparity in status and wealth did not become a hindrance to their friendship. They both belonged to the tier of geniuses, sharing a common language and getting along very well. Unfortunately, this friendship did not last. After learning Superman's true identity, Luthor severed all ties with him.
Luthor's mind was incredibly advanced, allowing him to see further than ordinary people. He believed that Superman was not a hero, but rather a threat to Earth. Because Superman repeatedly saved the world, humanity had become overly reliant on him, losing their drive to progress.
Exactly. Luthor believed that Superman weakened humanity's potential!
Faced with countless crises, humanity should have adapted and evolved. However, Superman cruelly halted this evolution. Therefore, Luthor dedicated himself to helping humanity eliminate this threat.
Although Zod was not as obsessively twisted as Luthor, he similarly did not want humanity to rely on him. To put it bluntly, he was just lazy and had no desire to be a babysitter for all of humanity.
You have to understand, in Superman's home of Metropolis, the construction workers did not even bother wearing safety harnesses. Why?
Because if they accidentally fell, there was absolutely no need to worry. Superman would catch them the very next second and safely return them to the ground.
Firefighters and police officers in Metropolis were also extremely passive. Why?
Because when a fire broke out, the firefighters did not even need to dispatch. Superman would arrive at the scene immediately, and with a single breath of freeze breath... What fire? Where? They could not see any fire.
The same went for the police. If an ordinary citizen encountered a robbery (and anyone daring enough to rob someone in Metropolis was already a rare breed of idiot), they only needed to scream. If they had the energy, they could shout out their address. If they didn't, it didn't matter, because Superman's super hearing could monitor the entire world simultaneously. The very next second, Superman would appear, subdue the criminals like lightning, and the police would only need to leisurely stroll over to make the arrests.
With humanity being protected like infants in this manner, it would be a miracle if they could evolve at all.
This was exactly why Zod Heath created superheroes while simultaneously manufacturing monsters. He wanted humanity to adapt to these disasters and subsequently evolve.
Now was the time for the very first major outbreak of monster disasters.
A great disaster named the "Monster Association"!
Multiple major cities around the world suffered from sudden monster attacks.
In the face of these monsters, the civilian casualties were disastrous, and the local military forces fared no better.
Aside from the weakest Wolf-level monsters that could be harmed by conventional weapons, the agility and physical durability of Tiger-level monsters allowed them to completely ignore most light firearms. In situations where superheroes were absent, in order to protect the safety of the majority of humanity, the military forces of various nations were forced to use high-yield heavy weaponry right in the middle of their cities.
Just the Wolf-level and Tiger-level monsters alone caused unimaginable casualties. This made many countries realize just how terrifying and troublesome these monsters truly were. And if that was the case, just how powerful was S.W.O.R.D., an organization capable of frequently dispatching these monsters, and even Demon-level and Dragon-level threats?
Similarly, the shadowy masterminds who had previously been plotting dirty tricks in secret to act against S.W.O.R.D., such as a certain five unnamed permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, only realized at this moment that S.W.O.R.D.'s existence was absolutely indispensable.
No matter how little face Zod Heath gave them, he possessed the ability to resolve monster disaster after monster disaster.
S.W.O.R.D. was also incredibly busy at the moment. Monster disasters had erupted all over the world. The three major races of the Skyfolk, the Seafolk, and the Subterraneans had emerged, along with a chaotic mess of Ancient Treants, Ancient Dinosaur-men, Hundred-Thousand-Year Cicadas, and more...
As a result, the superheroes were overwhelmingly busy, running around putting out fires everywhere.
As the most powerful and most important figure, Director Zod Heath could only sit steadily within S.W.O.R.D. headquarters to command the operations. There was no other choice. Under these circumstances, the higher-ups of the United Nations did not want Zod Heath to go out and fight. They wanted to use Zod Heath to stay informed about the state of the battles, and to ensure that S.W.O.R.D. would not fall into chaos due to his absence.
Of course, the absolutely most important reason was that Zod Heath was publicly acknowledged as S.W.O.R.D.'s most powerful superhero. With him around, if they ever found themselves in danger, they could directly request his backup, right?
Zod Heath naturally knew what these guys were thinking, but he did not care.
Right now, the financial district, second only to the American capital in priority, was the most important focus.
Because the monsters were on the verge of breaking through the defensive lines.
"Hold the line! Hold this position! If we let these monsters break through, America is finished!"
The urgently mobilized military forces fired madly at the charging monsters. Up in the sky, a full ten Apache helicopters engaged their autocannons and Hellfire missiles.
However, aside from a portion of the weaker monsters that successfully fell under the artillery fire, the vast majority of the monsters forcefully charged right up to the frontlines through the hail of bullets.
This terrified the capitalists in the financial district to the core.
Fortunately, right at this moment, a uniform row of Iron Mongers charged out, blocking the path of these monsters.
"Every single Iron Monger in America is right here. If even they cannot stop them, then we can only count on the superheroes. Damn it, if I had known, I would have ordered more Iron Mongers."
The capitalists gritted their teeth. It truly was a case of only regretting having too little of something when you finally needed it. Although they might not know the proverb about maintaining an army for a thousand days just to use it for a single moment, they felt the exact same underlying truth etched deep into their bones at this very moment.
/-\
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