However, now that Odin had left with the army of Asgard, New York was no longer under the occupation of the divine forces; it had returned to the jurisdiction of the United States.
But only the high-ranking officials of the United States knew that all of this was merely a facade...
Yesterday's battle had not only shown them how powerful Asgard was—easily wiping out the invading alien army and even casually blowing up their mothership in outer space.
It also made them understand that Asgard's help in exterminating the invading Chitauri was not out of goodwill toward humanity, but purely for the sake of one person's face.
The identity of that person was actually no longer a secret among the U.S. high-ranking officials; it was...
The leader of the World's number one Superhero organization, the Spider Family; the man hailed as the World's most powerful Superhero; the person in control of one of the World's top companies, Parker Industries...
'Spider Monarch' Ryan Parker!
That's right, Ryan's identity had, to some extent, already been exposed.
At least among the human elite, it was no longer a secret...
Since he founded Parker Industries, since he publicly saved Gwen at school, and since his very conspicuous height and build were highly similar to Spider Monarch's...
As long as someone investigated with intent, it was easy to conclude that Ryan was Spider Monarch.
Especially since Ryan had killed so many cabinet members in New York yesterday in this Universe, the U.S. high-ranking officials almost thought Spider Monarch had completely lost control. Therefore, they sent the army stationed outside New York, intending to take the opportunity to kill this potential threat.
But they didn't expect that before the army even entered the city, the troops, along with the military Base that dispatched them, were blown up by Asgard's Bifrost Bridge.
So when Ryan returned from the other Universe today, he found that the U.S. officials not only didn't cause him trouble for slaughtering the 'thugs,' but were even vigorously promoting the Spider Family's contributions in the Battle of New York!
Especially Ryan himself, as 'Spider Monarch'; the newspapers were practically praising him as a saint!
Phrases like 'Spider Monarch is a living Jesus,' 'a Superhero who surpasses Captain America,' 'the light of humanity,' and 'possesses a heart of gold'—these halos were placed on Ryan one after another!
This left Ryan, who saw the news upon his return, completely stunned.
However, he immediately figured out what those politicians were up to.
It was simply because, in terms of raw power and the forces backing him, they couldn't kill him or control his influence, so they started putting him on a pedestal.
The higher he was praised and the more positive halos he had, the more constraints there would be on him, making him less likely to act as recklessly as before.
They wanted to push Ryan onto the moral high ground and use morality to 'kidnap' him!
Of course, that was just the thinking of those foolish politicians who were mere ordinary humans...
As a superhuman among superhumans, would Ryan feel more constrained the higher he was praised?
Of course not. For him, with great power comes great beef. Because his reputation was higher, his territory would only expand!
So, those foolish politicians' little schemes were destined to fail; he wouldn't be like Homelander, becoming bound by his own reputation.
But this was actually quite good; at least he didn't have to hire PR to maintain the Spider Family's image, as the officials were helping with the beautification themselves.
For example, regarding the Battle of New York, all the newspapers only mentioned the huge contributions made by the Spider Family. The news of Gwen accidentally killing one thug and Ryan 'accidentally' killing almost an entire district of criminal guys in Green District wasn't reported at all.
It was as if those thousands of dead guys never existed in this World economic center to begin with...
And this was naturally credited to the FBI, who made the 'victims' families and witnesses shut up.
In this Marvel Universe where superpowers were everywhere, the FBI might not be very effective against superhumans, but their deterrent power over ordinary people was still extremely strong.
His return this time was earlier than Ryan expected, and with the Spider Family's reputation being 'maintained' by the officials, he didn't need to handle it.
Plus, he wanted to cultivate the autonomy of the Spider Family, so although he was back, he didn't announce his return immediately. Instead, he went to the other side of the World...
Eastern Europe...
In the slums of Sokovia, a pair of young, handsome, and beautiful people were mingling with a crowd of protesters, holding signs and marching to protest their government's incompetence, which had left them homeless and their families destroyed.
The exceptionally outstanding pair in the crowd was naturally the Maximoff twins before they gained their powers: Pietro and Wanda.
But what neither of the siblings noticed was that on a building above their heads, another handsome and beautiful pair was also standing.
Moreover, the woman's appearance was strikingly similar to the Wanda below!
She was, of course, the Wanda from the other Universe—a powerful Scarlet Witch who had already awakened her Chaos Magic to a level sufficient to tear Thanos apart with her bare hands!
Wanda looked at her 'brother' below. The dead grayness in her eyes, caused by the departure of all her loved ones, gradually began to reignite, welling up with hopeful tears: "Brother..."
The man beside Wanda, however, was not her brother Pietro from the other Universe, because that Pietro had long since gone to cosplay as a lotus root—covered in holes!
The newcomer was Ryan, who had accompanied Wanda here.
As a 'local,' Ryan naturally had no reason to let the Wanda from another Universe run around his Earth alone.
After all, this Wanda was a dimensional strike against almost all superhumans and humans on Earth besides himself!
If he didn't keep an eye on her and someone ticked this lady off, there would be big trouble.
And...
It was also time for him to abduct the Wanda of this Universe!
It just so happened that this time he had found an extremely 'knowledgeable' teacher for the Wanda of his Universe from the other Universe, who could help her awaken early and become stronger as quickly as possible...
The reason Ryan was so urgent about recruiting the Wanda of this Universe and making her stronger was naturally because of the Inheritor Family that the Tri-colored Spider had shown him in that Strange vision when he first got the six infinity stones.
Although Ryan was confident, he wasn't arrogant; he naturally wouldn't prepare to face the entire Inheritor Family alone.
So, his return this time was to start gathering some truly powerful superhumans in the Marvel Universe!
The first target was the Scarlet Witch of his Universe!
And after Wanda, he would also go to recruit another magic genius—that would be our medical master, Dr. Stephen Strange!
After Strange, the third one would be...
"Are you saying you're both here to apply to become members of the Spider Family?"
"Exactly!" x2
"But... setting aside whether the Spider Family is even hiring externally, haven't you come to the wrong place? This isn't the Spider Family; it's... the headquarters of Parker Industries!"
Felicia, acting as Natasha's assistant, looked at the two 'weirdos' in front of her—one in red and one in blue, both wearing skin-tight suits and hoods. Her eyes couldn't help but twitch violently, and her hand was already hovering over the red alarm button under the desk.
As soon as she pressed it, the security chief of Parker Industries, the Valkyrie, would immediately charge in and throw these two weirdos cosplaying as Spider-Man and Captain America out!
Hearing Felicia's words, Captain America and Deadpool stared at each other. Simultaneously, they pointed at each other's noses and greeted: "Motherf—, it's all because of you, you damn fake, that you f—ed up your father's good business!"