Marvel: Superman Strength in a World of Heroes

The moment he saw terrorists abusing civilians,

Tony Stark didn't hesitate. He wiped them out on the spot.

On his way back to the U.S., he even ran into some official military personnel.

Had a brief aerial skirmish with a few fighter jets.

And when he finally made it home,

He happened to run into his assistant, Pepper.

By then, Carl had already finished washing up.

He was now busy buying stock in Stark Industries.

Of course, he wasn't buying it through ordinary means.

Instead, he used a long position combined with leveraged financing.

Going long meant he was confident the stock would rise.

Leveraging allowed him to amplify the results of his investment.

For example, Carl used ¥2 billion in capital and applied 10x leverage.

That meant his effective influence on the market was like using ¥20 billion.

Naturally, such operations carried risk.

If you made money, you made ten times the profit.

But if you lost… you lost ten times as much.

But Carl, who already knew how things would unfold,

Wasn't going to lose.

All he needed to do now,

Was wait for Tony Stark to announce his identity as Iron Man.

Carl had seen him flying around in the armor, messing with fighter jets.

He didn't bother interfering.

After all,

He already knew Stark would handle it all just fine.

He could afford to wait.

, ,

But that wait dragged on…

For several days.

During that time, Carl kept close tabs on Tony Stark.

Yet, no press conference was held.

He didn't even meet with Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Instead, he simply went back to Stark Industries.

After all,

Obadiah Stane was already dead.

The rest of the board members?

Either lacked power,

Or lacked ambition.

Somehow, in just a few days,

Tony Stark had reclaimed control over Stark Industries.

And keep in mind,

This was after the company's market value had plummeted 65% because of him.

Previously, the board had even pushed forward another candidate

To take the reins of the company.

But that man didn't even dare compete with Tony.

Though Carl had to admit,

Tony's maneuvers were impressive…

He couldn't help but wonder,

Why no press conference?

Why not reveal himself as Iron Man?

As that thought crossed his mind, Carl suddenly remembered the reason.

In the movie from his previous life,

Tony had fought Obadiah, both of them suited up in Iron Man armor,

In the middle of New York City.

The battle had caused massive destruction.

People across the city had witnessed it.

But in this timeline…

Tony had only taken his armor for a single trip,

To a remote village.

News hadn't spread.

Some officials were aware,

But they'd kept it quiet.

As a result,

There was no opportunity for a press conference.

And naturally,

Tony Stark didn't need to reveal anything.

In truth, that wasn't a bad outcome.

But now that Carl had invested in Stark Industries…

This diverged from his original plan.

Still, Carl had no intention of forcing Tony's hand.

He wasn't going to step out and demand that Tony go public.

"If I lose money, then so be it," Carl thought.

He had plenty to spare.

, ,

At home, Carl sat comfortably at his dining table, enjoying lunch.

The dishes were all made by Tsukasa Monji,

A classic spread of oden and teppanyaki.

The flavors were fantastic.

『TV Announcer』: There are reports that earlier today,

『TV Announcer』: A fierce armed conflict broke out near Culver University,

『TV Announcer』: Between U.S. officials and an unidentified enemy force.

『TV Announcer』: Two sophomore students, Maggie and Wilson, witnessed part of the clash.

The news caught Carl's attention.

『Maggie (TV Interview Clip)』: That guy was huge! Like, a giant green monster!

『Wilson (TV Interview Clip)』: That's right!

『TV Announcer』: Maggie is a student journalist. She captured this footage with her phone.

『TV Announcer』: Due to a thunderstorm in Cloud Mist Mountain, the search for the "Green Giant" has been postponed.

Carl raised an eyebrow.

"This must be the Hulk's storyline."

He paused, then smiled slightly.

"Maybe Iron Man's situation will take a turn after all…"

, ,

In a run-down roadside motel,

A woman in a plaid shirt was cutting a man's hair.

The man's name was Bruce Banner,

A brilliant scientist with seven PhDs.

He was also known as the Hulk, the green behemoth of the Marvel universe.

The woman cutting his hair was, of course, his girlfriend,

Betty Ross.

The incident earlier that day?

That was Banner and Betty being spotted while walking near the university,

By U.S. authorities.

Before this, Banner had been hiding in Brazil for several months,

Trying to evade pursuit.

The whole ordeal had started months ago.

At the time, Banner and Betty were working on a research experiment.

But General Ross, who led the project,

Had kept the true purpose of the experiment hidden from Banner.

When Banner used himself as the test subject,

He turned into the Hulk.

Ever since then, General Ross had been after his mutated cells.

Left with no choice, Banner fled.

He lived for a time in Brazil,

Studying jiu-jitsu and learning ways to control his emotions.

But due to an unexpected incident,

His location was discovered.

He had to return to the U.S. temporarily.

And then, today,

Ross's forces caught up to him.

Banner and Betty barely escaped,

Now constantly on edge, dodging military patrols.

They were trying to locate someone Banner had been secretly in contact with,

Someone who claimed to have a way to reverse the mutation.

, ,

Meanwhile, in a dimly lit office,

General Ross, the man leading the chase, sat smoking a cigarette, visibly frustrated.

Today's operation had been a complete disaster.

Not only had civilians caught wind of the event,

But they'd also suffered heavy losses.

Even worse,

One of his soldiers, Blonsky, who had been injected with Super Soldier Serum,

Had gone down in the fight.

『Agent』: Sir, it's Blonsky.

A subordinate came in to report.

Blonsky,

The enhanced soldier Ross had placed so much hope in.

Hearing the name, Ross immediately followed the agent to the infirmary.

『Ross』: Does he have any family?

At that moment, Ross assumed Blonsky was on death's door.

He'd been pounded nearly to paste by the Hulk.

『Agent』: Ask him yourself, sir.

When Ross stepped into the room,

He was stunned.

The man who'd been half-dead, covered in blood,

Now had not a single visible wound.

『Blonsky』: General.

He sat up, alert and energized.

Ross gave a slight smile.

He tapped Blonsky on the shoulder,

And even the previously shattered bones had completely healed.

『Ross』: I'm glad you've recovered, soldier.

『Blonsky』: Thank you, sir.

『Ross』: How do you feel?

『Blonsky』: Furious. I want another shot at him.

, ,

It didn't take long.

Ross immediately called a tactical meeting,

Gathering his men to plan their next move.

Earlier, they had recovered Banner's old laptop.

And from it, they'd extracted a copy of his contact list.

That's how they knew,

Banner had been corresponding with someone using the codename "Mr. Blue."

Both "Mr. Blue" and "Mr. Green" had now been added

To S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal database.

If Banner slipped up even once,

Ross would know exactly where to find him.