According to the intelligence gathered by the Divine Sword Bureau, Alexander Pierce had pulled a lot of strings behind the scenes. He had even paid a personal visit to Secretary of State Ross before the new S.H.I.E.L.D. could be rebuilt.
Hydra was also terrified of the unimaginable threat posed by the Monster Association, so the planned smear campaign against Zodhis had completely evaporated after the Monster Association operation.
They were not doing nothing, though. They had simply pulled their hands back from the Divine Sword Bureau and rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D. so Hydra could quietly use America's power to grow from within.
Unfortunately for them, they had no idea this move would only make it easier for Zodhis to lock onto the rest of Hydra's forces.
There was no doubt that the new S.H.I.E.L.D. probably contained almost no real S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Ninety-nine percent of them were Hydra operatives.
At the same time, China announced the formation of their own Divine Spear Bureau, an organization that served only China and would recruit every superhero within its borders.
Divine Sword Bureau, S.H.I.E.L.D., Divine Spear Bureau. The appearance of these three organizations made every other country in the world start thinking.
Russia wasted no time and established an identical privileged organization the very next day—the Divine Hammer Bureau.
Zodhis was speechless, but he also understood. They had clearly been scared witless by the Monster Association's attacks, and the fact that the Divine Sword Bureau did not have enough manpower had left them worried the same thing could happen again.
So it was perfectly normal for them to want to recruit and train their own superheroes to avoid that situation.
As long as these privileged organizations did not start popping up everywhere, it would be fine.
Right now, though, it really did look like they were about to flood the market.
Zodhis returned home and immediately spotted three policewomen inside. They had smoking-hot figures and beautiful, seductive faces, though they looked a little familiar.
"Mr. Zodhis, you are under arrest. We suspect you are carrying a dangerous concealed weapon. We will now perform a body search."
Esdeath drew her gun and handcuffs, walking toward Zodhis with a serious expression.
"Officer, that's impossible. I don't have anything on me!"
Zodhis cried out in protest, but Esdeath, the rising star of the police force and the bane of evil, was not about to take his word for it. She spun him around and slammed him face-down onto the table.
Zodhis instantly felt a heavy weight on his back, like an entire mountain—no, like two mountains—pressing down on him. Even with his planetary-level super-strength that could casually alter a planet's gravitational field, he could not resist. He was pinned down like the Monkey King beneath two massive peaks.
Police Officer Tifa adjusted her cap, looking a little shy. She pressed one black silk-gloved hand over his other arm, holding him completely immobile.
Police Officer Urd was far less reserved. She stepped forward with righteous authority and began searching Zodhis's body without the slightest hesitation.
"You said you had nothing. Then what is this!"
After patting him down from head to toe, the upright Officer Urd found the murder weapon and seized the dangerous object on Zodhis's body with a firm grip.
Zodhis took a deep breath.
His fists clenched tightly, brows furrowed into a deep "川" shape.
A few seconds later his expression eased. His focused eyes grew hazy, as if recalling some heartbreaking memory. His mind drifted, unable to steady itself, and he let out a long, heavy sigh.
He had underestimated Urd. Her nimble tongue was not something an ordinary person could endure.
Slippery, high-speed friction, fancy rotations…
If Zodhis had not possessed immense willpower, he would have broken under such extreme "torture" long ago.
These policewomen were too cruel. They were actually using illegal methods!
"The evidence is conclusive. For a terrorist hiding a dangerous weapon, there is no need to waste time with the law. Execute him on the spot!"
Esdeath pinned Zodhis to the floor and launched a "brutal" assault. She tore his clothes to shreds and even ended up injuring herself from the intensity, ripping her own uniform in the process.
Zodhis refused to surrender or wait for death. He fought a desperate battle against the three abusive policewomen.
But two fists could not block six hands. The four of them battled until dawn before Zodhis finally subdued the three exhausted policewomen.
"Why the sudden game?"
Zodhis held Tifa in his arms, playing with her black silk-gloved hands. He really loved Tifa's hands, and the gloves made them even better.
"Didn't you think it was fun?"
Esdeath's ice-blue hair was tousled. She toyed with Zodhis's ridiculously wealthy waist and spoke.
This was also why Zodhis refused to wear tight clothing. If he walked outside like that, every man in the world would feel inferior.
Urd did not have the steel physique of the two Kryptonian women. She had already collapsed from exhaustion and fallen asleep.
It had started when Esdeath hit a bottleneck and could no longer grow stronger just by sunbathing, so she came home to get close to Zodhis. Tifa and Urd had walked in on them.
Both women had thought they were Zodhis's only one. Suddenly a third person had appeared.
Zodhis did not waste words like "I want you all—you're all my wings." He simply pulled the three of them into one life-and-death encounter.
A day later, Tifa and Urd had no objections left. Being taken to the brink of death by Zodhis several times had felt amazing, but it had also been terrifying.
"It was really fun. Next time, how about the principal forcing a failing female student?"
Zodhis nodded, then added, "Or maybe a lofty queen and a powerful general?"
Esdeath said without any shame.
"Why not do all of them?"
Zodhis replied that he was open to anything. After all, he could handle it.
The surprise Esdeath and the others had given him left Zodhis a little stunned, but it also felt completely natural.
After all, they were not simple dolls or robots. They had their own thoughts and behavior patterns.
He just wondered whether artificial humans had souls.
Zodhis pondered as he walked. As director of the Divine Sword Bureau, he was a very busy man.
"Sir, your clothes."
Black Queen's emotions showed a slight fluctuation as a sentry robot handed Zodhis a fresh set of clothes.
"After watching human and Kryptonian reproduction, did you gain any new insights?"
Zodhis asked Black Queen without the slightest embarrassment. He knew that a strong artificial intelligence with its own emotions and thought processes could already be considered a person—perhaps even smarter than most people.
"An extremely inefficient method of reproduction."
Black Queen answered directly.
"Honest opinion?"
Zodhis asked.
"I do not lie, Director His."
Black Queen replied without hesitation.
"All right. I just hope you have not learned how to lie yet, or it would be very hard for me to tell."
Zodhis did not mind. He walked to the fridge, took out a bottle of ice-cold cola, and gulped it down.
"Anything that needs handling?"
"The Divine Sword Bureau Academy has received its first batch of students. As principal, you are scheduled to deliver a speech."
/-\
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