Become Kingpin and build a hero mercenary company.

Page 47

At the Association headquarters, Thor's arrival has brought unexpected "surprises" and challenges every day. Kingpin, like a master beast tamer, calmly observes and guides this powerful "thunderous beast," attempting to gradually bring its rampaging power into the orbit of "order." This process is destined to be anything but peaceful, but it will undoubtedly bring unprecedented possibilities to the Association.

Chapter 118: A Symphony of Thunder and Deception

Thor's existence was a constant source of mental stimulation for Loki. On one hand, he watched his simple-minded brother stumble and make a fool of himself in this mortal factory, filling him with contempt and a secret sense of pleasure. On the other hand, Thor's pure, extreme power, and the (though troublesome) attention he garnered within the Guild, instilled in Loki an inexplicable anxiety. He seemed to see another possibility—a path that didn't require so many schemes and tricks, but could win attention (even negative attention) solely through absolute power. This ran counter to his calculating philosophy of survival, which was adept at exploiting human weaknesses.

Thus began a dangerous game: Loki was no longer content with merely observing and learning, but began to cleverly exploit the chaos caused by Thor to create opportunities for himself, or simply to annoy Thor, thereby proving that "wisdom" was superior to "brute force".

One day, Thor was practicing his "control" at the training ground. His goal was to use a very weak current to precisely light up a row of indicator lights of different colors in the distance without damaging the circuit. For Thor, whose control was practically zero, this was torture. His face turned red as he carefully guided the hair-thin arc of electricity, but either the current was too weak for the lights to light up, or with a "whoosh," the entire row of indicator lights, along with the control panel behind them, would burst into black smoke.

Loki, who was "passing by," watched Thor's clumsy performance and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth. While Thor was completely focused and the surrounding monitoring personnel were also distracted by Thor's disastrous control, Loki subtly flicked a wisp of extremely faint magical energy from his fingertip, interfering with the sensor module of one of the indicator lights.

When Thor tried again, a faint arc of electricity trembled as it shot towards the tampered indicator light—

Instead of lighting up, the indicator light suddenly burst into a burst of sparks, as if there was an internal short circuit, and then went out completely, while the other indicator lights next to it started flashing abnormally.

"What's going on?!" Thor growled angrily, feeling he had been careful enough.

The technician in charge of providing guidance also looked puzzled, checking the equipment: "Strange, the readings show normal energy input, but the target response is abnormal..."

Loki, hidden in the shadows, watched with satisfaction as Thor's frustrated and confused expression turned to him. It was just a small trick, harmless in itself, but it successfully reinforced Thor's belief that "his self-control is indeed very poor," and also slightly satisfied Loki's mischievous nature.

On another occasion, the association arranged for Thor to participate in a "low-damage enemy control" exercise in a simulated city environment, with opponents being "bandits" played by low-level heroes from the association. The rule was to minimize damage to simulated buildings.

As the drill began, Saul kept in mind the instruction to "control his strength" and tried to stun the "bandit" with minimal force when swinging the hammer. However, he didn't control his strength well, and when he swung the hammer, he didn't hit the "bandit" but instead cracked the load-bearing column of a simulated residential building next to him, making the entire model building teeter on the verge of collapse.

Just as Thor was in a panic, not knowing what to do, Loki's voice came through a tiny magical device (disguised as dust) that he had secretly installed in Thor's communicator, with a concerned tone of "I'm doing this for your own good": "Brother, left! Use your lightning chains to bind that one that's trying to escape, but be careful with the voltage, don't exceed 50 volts!"

In his panic, Thor instinctively obeyed his brother's suggestion. He raised his hammer, summoning lightning—

“Sizzle——!!!”

A massive lightning bolt, exceeding 50 volts and powerful enough to disable a tank, roared out, not only scorching the actor playing the "bandit" (fortunately, the protective measures were in place, and it was just a simulation), but the aftershocks also plowed a deep, charred trench in the simulated street, and incidentally detonated several nearby simulated vehicles and fire hydrants, sending water jets several meters high.

The drill site was a complete mess, with water and electricity flying everywhere.

Thor stared in disbelief at his "masterpiece".

Loki, in the safe zone, covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

The subsequent investigation naturally uncovered abnormal magical fluctuations on the communicator. Loki innocently claimed that he had only "kindly" wanted to help his brother, but he hadn't expected his brother's control to be so poor, unable to even control the most basic voltage. Thor was speechless and could only glare angrily, his resentment towards Loki deepening even further.

Kingpin observed the two brothers' "interaction" with a detached eye. He was aware of Loki's subtle maneuvers but didn't immediately expose them. In his view, this was also a form of observation—observing Loki's cunning tactics, Thor's reaction under pressure, and the impact of this internal friction on the Association's overall operation.

[Sample 'L' (Loki) shows increased activity frequency. In its interaction with sample 'S' (Sol), it exhibits clear provocative and exploitative behavior.]

[Sample 'S' experienced decreased emotional stability and anxiety regarding their own power control.]

[Internal losses within the association due to the interaction between the two parties increased by 8%.]

The system provides objective data.

“As long as they don’t cross the line or cause substantial damage, let them continue,” Kingpin told Wesley. “Conflicts and friction can sometimes expose problems and promote adaptation. Record all the details, especially the way Loki uses magic to interfere and the characteristics of his energy.”

However, Loki's audacity grew. He became dissatisfied with these petty squabbles and set his sights on the Association's deeper territories—such as the "Strange Phenomenon Research Center" that he had long coveted.

Taking advantage of Thor's renewed practice of controlling lightning in a public area, which caused localized energy disturbances and interfered with some monitoring, he quietly infiltrated the outer perimeter of the research center. He wanted to observe the remains of the contained monsters up close, especially those samples containing strange, rule-based powers.

Using his superior illusion magic and stealth skills, he successfully bypassed several routine security checks and approached an isolated storage room marked "Highly Active Energy Residue - Dragon-Level ('Winter's Lair')". Just as he attempted to use magic to sense the situation inside—

“Beep—beep—beep—!”

A piercing alarm instantly resounded throughout the entire research center! It wasn't that he triggered a physical alarm, but rather that the "divine domain" fluctuations emanating from his magic, which were completely different from Earth's energy system, activated the sensitive detectors that Otto and Banner had set up specifically to detect non-standard energy intrusions!

The heavy isolation door slammed shut, trapping him in the corridor. A cold, intense light shone down from above, illuminating him completely. Several automated defensive weapons extended from the walls, locking onto his position.

"I knew it!" Otto's voice came through the broadcast, filled with suppressed anger and a smug sense of "just as I thought." "That cunning Asgardian won't stay still! Capture him!"

Loki's expression changed, and he immediately cast an illusion, blurring his figure and attempting to blend into the shadows. However, the energy field inside the research center was extremely stable, greatly reducing the effectiveness of his illusion.

Just then, Thor, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, saw Loki trapped in the corridor, struggling, and surrounded by heavily armed defenses, and was instantly enraged. He assumed the Association was plotting against his brother (although Loki did indeed have ulterior motives).

"Let go of my brother!" Thor roared, disregarding any sense of control. Mjolnir instantly erupted with dazzling lightning, and the lights inside the entire research center flickered violently once again!

A farcical "divine prison break" was about to unfold—

Kingpin's voice wasn't loud, but it was like ice water poured over someone's head, instantly suppressing the chaos on the scene. He had appeared at the entrance of the corridor without anyone noticing, and his field of order silently unfolded, forcibly suppressing Thor's impending burst of lightning power back into his body, and also causing Loki's illusions to melt away like snow under the sun.

Thor felt as if his power had crashed into an invisible wall, leaving him feeling incredibly suffocated. Loki, pale-faced, stared at Kingpin, knowing he had really messed up this time.

Kingpin's gaze first fell on Thor: "Impulsive, reckless, and disregarding consequences. Is this the responsibility of the Crown Prince of Asgard?"

Thor opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but under Kingpin's calm yet extremely oppressive gaze, he ultimately lowered his head in frustration.

Then, Kingpin turned to Loki, his eyes icy: "Playing tricks, testing the limits, mistaking the Association's tolerance for indulgence. Loki Laufison, your 'cultural exchange' privileges end here."

He ordered: "Move Loki to the high-security isolation room for a full security check and remove all unauthorized magical markings. He shall not leave the isolation area until he fully understands and commits to abiding by the Association's rules."

“As for you, Thor,” Kingpin said, looking at Thor, “three days of confinement to reflect on your actions. If you want to stay, you must learn to use your brain, not just your hammer.”

A farce instigated by Loki and fueled by Thor was abruptly brought to a close by Kingpin's absolute authority. Loki was "invited" to an isolation room by security personnel, while Thor, looking like a wilted eggplant, was taken back to his room.

Headquarters temporarily returned to calm, but everyone knew that as long as the Asgardian brothers were still around, such a "symphony" would likely be played again. Kingpin, meanwhile, was considering whether he should give these two overly energetic gods something truly challenging to do, so they wouldn't always waste their excess "talent" on internal strife.

Chapter 119: The "Presence Black Hole" and the Helplessness of the Gods

Loki was locked in a high-security isolation room, and Thor was also temporarily confined for reflection. The Hero Association headquarters seemed to enjoy a brief period of peace. However, this peace did not last long, as a new and extremely bizarre phenomenon of monsters, like mold spreading silently, began to grow in a corner of New York City.

When the initial report was received, the mission description was so vague it was baffling. It wasn't sabotage, it wasn't an attack, but a large-scale… “neglect”.

Midtown Manhattan, a large chain supermarket. Customers pushed shopping carts, their eyes blank, as if collectively sleepwalking. They walked past the shelves, seemingly oblivious to the dazzling array of goods; they brushed past each other as if passing through thin air; long lines formed at the checkout counters, but no one spoke, no one complained, only a deathly, chilling "order." Even the supermarket's security personnel and employees, like programmed robots, mechanically repeated their actions, completely unresponsive to the anomaly around them.

The first to arrive at the scene were Spider-Man Peter Parker and Daredevil Matt Murdock.

"Wow..." Peter squatted on the glass roof of the supermarket entrance, looking at the scene inside as if it had been muted and ignored, and felt a chill run down his spine. "What's going on? Have we all been cursed with the 'invisible people' curse?"

Matt closed his eyes tightly, his extraordinary senses fully activated, his brow furrowed: "Something's wrong...something's very wrong. I can 'hear' their heartbeats and breathing, and they're all normal. But their 'presence'...is being continuously and subtly 'erased' by some force. Not a physical disappearance, but a cognitive...ignoring."

Peter tried to swing into the supermarket on his web, landing in front of a customer pushing a shopping cart and waving vigorously: "Hey! Man! Look this way!"

The customer stared blankly ahead, pushing his cart past Peter without any obstruction, as if Peter were nothing more than air.

Peter then tried to stop a shop assistant: "Waiter! We need help here!"

The clerk wore a standard professional smile, but her gaze pierced through Peter, looking at the empty counter behind him: "Please wait a moment, I'll be there for you shortly." Then she began wiping the bare counter.

"Damn it!" Peter felt a wave of helplessness wash over him. "They can't 'see' us at all! They can't hear us either!"

Flint the Sandman and Max the Electro, who arrived later, encountered the same situation. Flint's obstacles made of sand were naturally bypassed; Max's dazzling electric lights failed to attract anyone's attention. All their actions seemed to fall into an invisible "black hole of presence."

The "Strange Phenomenon Research Center" immediately intervened in the analysis. Through remote energy scanning and data transmitted from on-site sensors, Banner and Otto discovered an unprecedented energy field. This energy field did not directly attack the body or mind, but rather interfered with the "cognitive priority" of an organism in response to external stimuli in an extremely subtle way, forcibly reducing specific "existences" (including heroes and their abilities) to a level close to background noise.

“This is a contamination targeting the ‘information reception and processing’ level!” Banner stared at the distorted energy spectrum on the screen, his tone grave. “It doesn’t destroy anything; it just causes ‘selective blindness’ and ‘deafness’ in those affected. Conventional physical attacks and mental resistance are virtually ineffective!”

Otto's mechanical tentacles rapidly calculated: "The energy source is in the supermarket's underground warehouse! The intensity is slowly increasing, and the area of ​​influence is spreading outward at a rate of five meters per hour! We must find and cut off the source as soon as possible!"

However, a problem arises: who should be sent? Ordinary heroes and staff, once inside the core area of ​​influence, would have their presence quickly erased, becoming mere "living background figures" like those inside, completely unable to perform their mission. The attempts of Sandman and Electro have already proven this.

“We need someone… someone with a strong enough ‘presence,’ or someone with a natural resistance to this kind of cognitive interference,” Wesley said, looking at the bewildered crowd.

Just then, Saul, who was confined to his room, heard the commotion and discussion outside through the communicator in his room (he had finally learned how to use it). He immediately became restless.

"Presence? Resistance?" Thor's booming voice came through the communicator. "Hahaha! Is there anyone with a stronger presence than me, Thor, the Prince of Asgard? Let me go! I want to see what dares to play such tricks on me!"

Kingpin pondered for a moment. Thor's divine life form and powerful will might indeed be able to resist this cognitive interference. Moreover, his confinement was mainly due to impulsiveness, not a matter of ability.

“Alright.” Kingpin approved. “Thor, mission objective: Infiltrate the underground warehouse, locate and destroy the energy source. Remember, your power is a means, not an end. Control the area of ​​destruction.”

"Leave it to me!" Thor excitedly picked up the hammer and rushed out of the room.

However, things are not that simple.

As Saul strode into the supermarket and headed towards the entrance to the underground warehouse, he wasn't completely "ignored" like the others. The people around him, with their vacant stares, would glance at him slightly as he passed, a barely perceptible look of confusion on their faces, as if they were seeing something "incongruous in the background," but they would quickly return to their blank expressions and continue their silent shopping.

Thor's presence was like a pebble thrown into a sticky swamp; it could create ripples, but it couldn't truly break the swamp's silence. He could feel an invisible force constantly eroding his "existence," trying to assimilate him into this wasteland of cognition.

"Hmph! A mere trick!" Thor sneered, his divine power flowing through his body, with faint flashes of lightning around him, forcibly dispelling the discomfort. Relying on his powerful divine essence, he managed to maintain his self-awareness within the "black hole of existence."

He successfully found the entrance to the underground warehouse and kicked open the tightly closed door (he controlled the force so that the door only deformed and did not fly out).

Inside the warehouse, the scene was even more bizarre. A haphazard pile of merchandise boxes lay scattered about. In the center, a massive, nest-like structure, composed of discarded packaging, plastic mannequins, and an unknown slime, was slowly pulsating. Curled up in the center of this nest was a thin young man dressed in a supermarket employee uniform. His eyes were rolled back, and he muttered incantations, emanating a disorienting energy fluctuation—this was the true form of the freakish "Presence Black Hole."

"Found you!" Thor raised Mjolnir, and lightning began to gather.

However, just as he was about to solve the problem with one blow, he found himself... having a little trouble locking onto his target.

The strange man was clearly there, but his senses kept telling him, "There's nothing important there," "It's just an ordinary pile of junk," "Ignore it." His fighting instincts and divine will constantly fought against this cognitive interference, causing his movements as he raised the hammer to appear hesitant and distorted, as if he were arm wrestling with an unseen opponent.

"Damn it!" Thor cursed under his breath. This feeling was even worse than facing the Frost Giant head-on. He tried swinging his hammer, drawing down a thin bolt of lightning to strike the monster.

The lightning bolt shot out, but strangely veered off course in mid-air, striking a shelf and sending toilet paper flying everywhere.

"Hahaha!" The strange man (or rather, the consciousness within him) let out a sharp, twisted laugh that echoed through the empty warehouse, filled with mockery. "See that? A powerful god? In my domain, you can't even hit him! You and I are both unwanted 'beings'! Integrate, become part of the background!"

Thor was furious, yet utterly helpless. His power had nowhere to go, his fighting spirit was invisibly neutralized. He was like a lion trapped in a spider's web, possessing immense strength but nowhere to apply it. He began to understand why even Spider-Man and Sandman were at a loss. This wasn't a contest of pure power.

Just as Thor was caught in a dilemma, and even felt himself starting to feel a little "dazed", a voice he absolutely did not want to hear came through the temporary headset he was wearing, which connected to the command center.

It was Loki. Even when isolated, he clearly had ways to obtain outside information (or rather, Kingpin deliberately let him hear it).

“My dear brother,” Loki’s voice was laced with undisguised sarcasm and a hint of smug satisfaction, “it seems that your prized muscles and lightning bolts are utterly useless in the face of this little trouble that requires ‘thinking’.”

Thor was so angry he nearly crushed his headset: "Loki! Shut up!"

“Don’t be so irritable, brother,” Loki said slowly. “I just want to remind you that the core of this poor wretch’s power lies in distorting ‘cognition.’ And cognition is precisely related to ‘information’ and ‘deception.’ This is my domain.”

Loki continued, “A direct attack will only be deflected by his abilities. You need to disrupt his ‘information field.’ Use your lightning… no, not to strike him. Try to use the lowest power to disrupt the electromagnetic field and energy flow throughout the entire warehouse area in a comprehensive and indiscriminate manner. You don’t need to cause damage, just create ‘noise’ to disrupt his sophisticated cognitive distortion field. Like pouring mud into a pool of clear water.”

Although Thor disliked Loki's tone, he had to admit that the suggestion sounded... somewhat reasonable. He didn't have a better option at the moment.

"Hmph! Even if I do as you say, it won't be because of you!" Thor retorted stubbornly, but still did as he was told. He withdrew the destructive energy of Mjolnir and instead released an extremely weak electromagnetic pulse that spread out like static electricity.

At first, nothing happened. But a few seconds later, the curled-up monster's body trembled violently, and the energy fluctuations around him became noticeably disordered. The twisted smile on his face froze, replaced by confusion and pain.

"There's hope!" Banner in the command center exclaimed immediately, observing the changes in the energy readings. "Thor, maintain this interference level! The monster's force field stability is decreasing!"

Thor perked up and continued to output low-power electromagnetic noise. Gradually, he felt his "lock" on the strange man becoming clearer, and the force trying to "ignore" him was weakening.

Seizing the opportunity, Thor didn't hesitate any longer. He flashed in front of the monster as if by teleportation (pure speed). Without using his hammer, he delivered a simple and brutal chop to the back of the monster's neck.

"Ugh..." The strange man groaned, the white light in his eyes faded, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, the eerie energy field around him also dissipated.

Inside and outside the supermarket, everyone affected seemed to wake from a dream, looking around blankly, looking at each other, at the toilet paper flying everywhere, and at Saul standing at the warehouse door with a "praise me" expression, completely unaware of what had just happened.

Mission complete. The monster has been contained.

Thor returned to headquarters, having successfully resolved the crisis, but his face showed little joy. He had to admit that Loki's reminder had played a crucial role in this success.

In the isolation room, Loki watched Thor's complex expression on the monitor, elegantly picked up a glass of water (provided by the Association), and smiled slightly.

"It seems even the simple-minded Loki sometimes needs a bit of cunning to guide him when he's lost," he muttered to himself, a glint of triumphant gleam in his eyes. This "remote assistance," though it didn't immediately restore his freedom, undoubtedly planted a seed in the hearts of Thor and Kingpin—that Loki was not without value.

Jin looked through the system, examining the mission report and the interaction data between the two brothers, his gaze deep.

[Mission 'Presence Black Hole' completed. Sample 'S' (Sol) exhibited limited resistance to certain types of cognitive interference, but showed significant weaknesses in tactical responses.]

[Sample 'L' (Loki), under constrained conditions, provided crucial tactical advice, demonstrating a profound understanding and potential application of information-level capabilities.]

[Assessment: The two capabilities are complementary. Recommendation: Explore the possibility of cooperative operations under controlled conditions.]

“Complementarity…” Kingpin repeated the word under his breath. Perhaps, these troublesome Asgardian brothers were more “developable” than he had anticipated. Of course, that was on the condition that they could learn to get along within the framework of the rules.

Chapter 120: A Chain of Nightmares and Forced "Cooperation"

The "Presence Black Hole" incident had barely subsided when alarms blared again at the Hero Association headquarters. This time, the energy readings were even more frenzied, and the threat assessment skyrocketed. New monsters had appeared, and not just one, but dozens erupting simultaneously in the Brooklyn industrial area like a plague! They were being called—"Chain Reaction."

These bizarre beings come in various forms; some resemble moving piles of metal scrap, others flow like acidic slime, and still others are merely distorted shadows of light. But they share a chilling characteristic: any form of energy impact or physical destruction, once it affects one of them, will cause the damage and energy it receives to be partially transferred and amplified in some way that cannot be fully analyzed, randomly detonating other nearby individuals!

Peter Parker and Daredevil Matt were among the first to arrive at the blockade. Peter attempted to use his web to restrain a metal monster dismantling a factory, but the moment the web stuck, an acidic slime monster nearby suddenly expanded violently, spewing out an even more corrosive acid. Matt precisely struck the energy node of a shadowy monster with his guide cane, while another metal monster in another direction exploded as if struck by an invisible hammer, its fragments scattering like shotgun pellets!

"Damn it! They're one entity!" Peter shouted into the communicator, dodging the acid and metal fragments. "Hitting one is like hitting a whole bunch! It even strengthens them!"

Flint the Sandman attempted to suppress and isolate the monsters with a large-scale sandstorm, but when the sand came into contact with certain monsters, the energy contained within was absorbed and transformed, causing other monsters to mutate. Max the Electro dared not release electricity easily, for fear of triggering an uncontrollable chain reaction of energy explosions.

The scene was chaotic, and the conventional tactic of taking them down one by one was completely ineffective. The heroes' attacks not only failed to eliminate the monsters, but seemed to be "feeding" and "strengthening" them, causing the area of ​​destruction and the strength of the monsters to continue to increase.

Inside the "Strange Phenomenon Research Center," Banner and Otto looked at the real-time data and images transmitted back, their expressions extremely solemn.

"The energy transfer efficiency is over 35%, the transfer path is unpredictable, and there is a significant nonlinear amplification effect!" Otto's mechanical tentacles moved rapidly through the air, his tone unusually urgent. "This is not a simple energy link, it's more like a... mandatory 'damage sharing and proliferation' rule!"

Banner stared intently at the energy flow model: "This 'rule-based link' between all individuals must be broken simultaneously, or an attack method unaffected by this rule must be found. Otherwise, any single-point attack will only exacerbate the disaster!"

Just when everyone was at a loss, Loki, locked in the isolation room, once again "listened in" to the battle situation through special channels. His voice, carrying a lazy "I knew it" tone, transmitted to the command center via internal communications: