Zod's reason for hosting the KOF tournament, aside from gathering talent, was to obtain those techniques that pushed the human body to its limits.
With the Black Queen compiling and organizing everything, plus Zod's super brain, he only needed to watch once to master every method of muscle exertion, in other words, fighting techniques.
"No good. These are all just human killing arts. Is there anything that works as a killing art against monsters?"
After learning them, Zod shook his head.
In the Marvel world, enemies were not limited to humans or humanoids. There were all kinds of monsters.
Sure, Kryptonians did not need fighting skills. Superman could just punch and blow everything apart. But if Zod ran into Hyperion, Sentry, Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, or Gladiator, those "copycats"… no, those Superman-type opponents, technique would matter.
Not to mention when facing enemies that were monsters to begin with.
After researching for a bit, Zod returned to Blade Technology Industries' headquarters.
Construction of the Los Angeles branch had already begun. Ulde reported it would take about a year to complete, because the site was huge, roughly the size of two football fields, and it even included spectator stands.
"Boss, these are the files you need to review today."
Zod had just sat down in his office when a woman with fiery red hair walked in, dressed in a provocative office lady outfit, cleavage fully on display.
"And you are?" Zod asked. He obviously knew who she was, but he could not say it outright.
"I'm Natalie, Secretary Ulde's senior assistant," Black Widow said.
"And where's Ulde?" Zod nodded and asked.
"Secretary Ulde already requested leave from you. She has personal matters to handle."
Black Widow placed the documents on the desk. When she bent over, the deliberately unfastened buttons were extremely eye-catching. It was nothing special. She just wanted him to see what those buttons looked like.
But what surprised her was that her usual foolproof approach did not work on Zod. He only glanced once, then put his attention on the documents.
Was he putting on an act? Playing hard to get?
No. Black Widow was a veteran agent, only seven years younger than Captain America. She could read subtle facial reactions at a glance. Zod truly was not interested.
Zod lifted the file folder upright, blocking direct eye contact between them, then calmly admired Black Widow's "scenery" through his own angle. Clear as day, nothing hidden.
Black Widow stood by, waiting for instructions, though in reality she wanted more opportunities.
The recording she had brought back that day had stumped S.H.I.E.L.D.'s experts for hours. They could not even figure out where the door opened. There was no way to start.
HYDRA inside S.H.I.E.L.D. had also gotten that recording, and they could not analyze how the door opened either.
All they could say was that Zod Heath truly deserved his reputation as a genius. The door he designed had defeated every expert.
Brute force was not an option. Blade Technology Industries had more than fifty War Machines on standby at all times. Even tanks would have trouble doing anything.
The files Black Widow brought were not particularly important, but they included various updates.
For example, Blade Technology Industries' AIDS miracle drug had appeared out of nowhere.
The trillions in funding and effort poured into the field by private labs and national labs turned into nothing overnight. Investors lost so badly they nearly went bankrupt, pulling funding and demanding accountability.
Why did you people spend so many years and so much money with zero results, while Zod Heath produced results immediately?
And those who had devoted themselves to achieving breakthroughs in AIDS research were driven to the brink by Blade Technology Industries.
They had poured in too much: time, money, youth. Now it all went down the drain.
Even if they wanted to keep going, investors had already withdrawn. And if they tried to raise new funds, people were not stupid. There was a ready-made cure now. Why would anyone invest in you instead of saving money and investing directly into Blade Technology Industries the day it went public?
In desperation, some tried to report or smear the AIDS miracle drug, claiming the drug tests failed, or it had side effects.
But the AIDS miracle drug had a one hundred percent success rate. The moment it launched, it cured hundreds and thousands of AIDS patients.
Patients infected through maternal blood transmission, or born with inherited AIDS, practically treated Blade Technology Industries as a savior.
In that situation, Zod's personal safety faced serious threats.
S.H.I.E.L.D. received intel that the underworld had issued a bounty on Zod Heath. Two hundred billion dollars.
That amount made every assassin and mercenary go red-eyed. Those people did not care about "human interests." They only cared about money.
What consequences would come from killing a one-of-a-kind genius of the century like Zod Heath? Who cared.
Right now, many people with unknown identities had entered the United States, and their target was obviously Zod Heath.
Zod only wanted to laugh when he saw that.
With a simple search, the Black Queen found that most of the bounty money had been pooled by researchers whose livelihoods Zod had cut off.
As for the remaining researchers, they had also lost their prospects, but they only sighed that they were born in the wrong era and became background runners-up.
Zod had the Black Queen send invitations to those people. They were the ones with genuine scientific spirit, the truly qualified researchers.
Blade Technology Industries was already huge and wealthy. Supporting them was not a problem.
Besides, what they had learned was not wasted. They could keep researching.
Zod did not want AIDS miracle drugs and other miracle drugs to rely solely on the vampire virus.
Technology, or rather, science, needed to develop comprehensively.
If something could not be reproduced, it was not science.
Then there was the matter of acquiring YouTube and Twitter. As expected, both offers were rejected.
After thinking it over, Zod decided he would build his own platform instead.
And then there was the Daily Bugle, where Spider-Man Peter Parker worked. In America, news outlets still had a strong market.
But the Daily Bugle's owner refused to sell, which surprised Zod.
With that miserly personality, shouldn't he be delighted to sell if someone wanted to buy?
Zod could not figure it out.
The visitors at the gate
At that moment, outside Blade Technology Industries' front gate, a convoy pulled up nearby.
The men inside looked at the English abbreviation logo, "b.t.i.", and smiled with ill intent.
The gate security guard was still flipping through an adult magazine full of young models when one vehicle door suddenly yanked open.
A man in black body armor and a hood stepped out, holding an RPG.
"Holy shit!"
The Blade Technology Industries gate guard's eyes went wide.
/-\
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