Blade Tech Industries had now beco a genuine corporate titan.
At the very least, it no longer operated like Umbrella Corporation, with secret facilities scattered across every corner of the planet.
World Serpent, however, was a completely different story.
Its bases had already begun spreading across the globe like roots beneath the earth.
anwhile, Drex Valen's research into symbiotes had finally achieved a major breakthrough.
Combined with his belief that Zoanoids were already obsolete technology, World Serpent rcenaries no longer needed to undergo Zoanoid modification procedures after joining.
Instead, each of them could now receive a Symbiote Combat Suit.
These symbiote suits were biological weapons without independent consciousness. Drex Valen had redesigned them to resemble the Guyver bio-armor, though naturally, they were nowhere near as overwhelmingly powerful as the real thing.
Even so, once covered by the symbiote armor, an ordinary soldier's physical abilities would increase by ten tis.
Every single one of them could beat Captain Arica into the ground.
And thanks to the unique nature of symbiotes, even decapitation would not kill them outright unless the enemy used fire or sonic attacks.
At present, Drex Valen still had no way of breeding symbiotes capable of overcoming those weaknesses.
After all, among the countless symbiotes, there had only ever been a single successful serum specin. That alone showed how difficult this branch of evolution truly was.
Roar looked at the countless mindless "siblings" surrounding it with visible fear.
Honestly, it did not even know if they could still be called its own kind anymore.
From those symbiote suits, it could sense traces of Whiplash, Riot, and Ripper, as though they were grotesque hybrid organisms fused together into artificial lifeforms.
Due to lacking Kryptonian biochemical biotechnology, Drex Valen could not recreate the absurdly advanced living technology behind the Guyver units.
Still, considering that the Guyver itself was fundantally composed of bio-enhanced cells, Drex suspected the missing component was more of a programming issue than a biological limitation.
After months of research, he had finally managed to make the symbiote suits sowhat resemble true Guyver armor.
For example:
Head-mounted laser cannons.
Just developing the biological programming for that single weapon system had taken Drex Valen an entire month.
Even with a superhuman brain and electromagnetic manipulation, powers bordering on universal utility, it still required a full month of nonstop experintation before he finally succeeded.
The system worked by converting the host's body heat into infrared laser beams before firing them as concentrated attacks.
As for more advanced weapon systems like chest particle cannons, high-frequency blades, gravity cannons, or vibration spheres...
None of those existed yet.
The Guyver units themselves were already black-box technology beyond absurdity. Drex Valen had done everything realistically possible.
During this sa month, the Superhero Association officially partnered with Blade Tech Industries' Spiderweb platform.
Combined with the speech Drex Valen had delivered during the press conference a month earlier, countless people who had previously hesitated finally stepped forward and applied to join the Superhero Association.
Drex Valen himself had not been idle either.
Every now and then, he would deliberately create weak Wolf-Level and Tiger-Level monsters to attack various regions across the United States.
After all, he could not keep farming New York forever.
anwhile, the Superhero Association launched its own official website through Spiderweb.
The site displayed superhero rankings, completed missions, and incident reports. The move caused Spiderweb's user traffic to skyrocket overnight.
Combat footage was uploaded as well.
Partly, this allowed the public to understand how difficult it truly was for superheroes to fight cri and protect civilians.
At the sa ti, it also served as a monitoring system to prevent heroes from falsifying achievents, abusing civilians, or claiming fake victories.
In this regard, the Black Queen personally authorized the use of certain satellite resources from Blade Tech Industries for large-scale surveillance support.
Fans absolutely loved it.
The battle footage received overwhelming praise, with many users claiming this was the best possible way to understand superheroes more closely.
Each superhero also received their own personal hopage.
They could share parts of their daily lives, upload photos, interact with fans, and build public followings.
The results were explosive.
Take Ben Grimm, for example.
After permanently reverting back into the Thing once again, he had lost his previous relationship.
But after the partnership between the Superhero Association and Spiderweb, Ben gained enormous popularity following several successful monster suppression missions.
And along with the fa...
He found new love.
Venom Eddie experienced sothing similar.
He also belonged to the category of heroes who did not mind revealing their real identities to the public.
As a result, he enjoyed countless conveniences and benefits.
Most notably, the Arican governnt had begun actively trying to recruit him.
Still, Eddie was far more cunning than people expected. Despite the generous offers being thrown at him, he had not accepted any of them.
Articles flooded the internet nonstop.
"Full Breakdown: Webspinner's Defeat of the K-Gang!"
"The Daily Life of Iron Man Tony Stark!"
"Power Girl Climbs the Rankings Again!"
One report after another appeared endlessly.
Around the Superhero Association and its heroes, global discussion exploded like wildfire.
At this mont, nearly every hero within the Association wore the sa expression:
A mix of disbelief and reluctant acceptance.
Because honestly...
This felt amazing.
In the past, they had already been fairly famous despite trying to keep a low profile, leaving only their heroic identities known to the public.
People recognized them.
But never like this.
Not even Hollywood's hottest celebrities could compare to the level of attention they were receiving now.
At this point, superheroes themselves had practically beco the center of global culture and public conversation.
Of course, the biggest reason for this was Drex Valen continuously manufacturing monster incidents.
Humanity had begun realizing that superheroes were not optional luxuries.
Their power was necessary.
And once the Dark Knight Drex personally began endorsing the Superhero Association, the public image of superheroes suddenly changed.
Heroes no longer felt distant or mythical.
They beca approachable.
Human.
Ordinary people started realizing that heroes were not impossibly far above them.
And once that happened...
People naturally began to love them.
The psychology behind it was simple.
It was like suddenly eting a celebrity you had always considered untouchable, only to discover they could casually chat and laugh with you like a normal person.
Unless you already hated them, your opinion would almost certainly improve.
So people would even exaggerate the encounter while telling their friends about it until they eventually beca full-blown fans themselves.
And superheroes already possessed overwhelmingly positive public images to begin with.
After Drex Valen's promotion campaign, the effect was explosive.
There was also another unexpected benefit Drex had never anticipated.
Because the Superhero Association operated as a non-profit organization and rejected all outside donations and investnts in order to preserve its independence, avoiding the fate of becoming bodyguards for the rich or tools of politicians like the Hero Association in One Punch Man...
Even Tony Stark's sponsorship offers had been rejected.
What a joke.
Did Drex Valen look like he lacked money?
But according to Urd, Blade Tech Industries' financial support of the Superhero Association had created massive tax benefits for the company.
They gained public praise, strengthened their reputation, and legally avoided enormous amounts of taxes all at once.
Three wins with a single move.
The Superhero Association Headquarters Tower had been completed half a month earlier.
The enormous structure was now the tallest building in New York City, designed in the shape of a colossal pyramid.
"Everything ready?"
Inside a cargo truck parked nearby, a driver lit a cigarette with a match before answering the phone.
"It's ready."
He exhaled a long stream of smoke and lowered the lighter.
"Then begin."
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