General Ross sat watching the news on television,
his face clouded in a stormy scowl.
Nothing was going his way.
Just then,
The door opened, and the Major walked in.
"General, regarding the one suspected to be Superman…"
She placed a folder on his desk.
Carl had never bothered to conceal his face during any of his appearances.
So the mont Ross returned to headquarters,
he ordered his people to begin investigating Carl's identity.
"We've confird his background."
"Oh? Finally, a bit of good news."
Hearing that, Ross's expression softened slightly.
He instinctively picked up the folder and flipped through it,
asking without much thought,
"So… he really is Superman?"
"I can't say for sure,"
the Major replied honestly.
"But"
"This man, Carl Smith, has been living as a civilian in New York."
"A New Yorker? Just an ordinary guy?"
Ross's brows furrowed in surprise.
But then he muttered,
"Looks like he's been hiding deep."
"Well, since we've confird his identity…"
"Gather the team. Let's hold a strategy eting."
"Figure out how we're going to capture this so-called Superman."
"Yes, sir."
The Major nodded and left to carry out the order.
Ross remained seated, carefully reading through the file.
Carl Smith.
Age: 25.
Resident of New York City.
An ultra-wealthy businessman.
His net worth was estimated to fall between 20 and 70 billion dollars.
He owned substantial shares in Stark Industries, Oscorp, Hamr Industries, Pym Technologies…
In each company, he held significant equity,
qualifying him as a major shareholder.
In addition to corporate holdings,
he also owned multiple properties and two bars.
Twenty-five years ago…
"…WTF?"
General Ross cursed aloud as he reached the end of the report.
This wasn't just so rich guy.
Carl was a financial prodigy,
practically a god of the stock market.
After inheriting his assets,
he reorganized everything and saw his wealth multiply more than tenfold in just a few years.
"This… this is going to be tricky…"
Ross frowned deeply, falling into thought.
What troubled him wasn't just Carl's massive fortune.
That was a factor,
but only a small part of the problem.
What made things really complicated…
were the companies involved.
Stark Industries.
Oscorp.
Hamr Industries.
These were industrial titans.
And worse yet,
They all had direct military contracts with the governnt.
The fact that Carl owned shares in all of them…
Made the situation extraordinarily delicate.
The docunts suggested he didn't hold executive power,
But the amount of stock he owned gave him serious influence.
If they were to take any action against Carl,
those corporations wouldn't stay silent.
And especially Hamr Industries,
which had deep ties to several other governnt departnts.
Even Ross himself couldn't act recklessly.
"God damn it…"
"So now what, we just back off?"
Ross gritted his teeth.
"This guy… he might actually be Superman."
"What a waste… if we could study him…"
He let out a long, weary sigh.
He had thought the Major's report would bring good news.
But now,
He realized the situation was more tangled than ever.
"General."
The Major returned.
Ross looked up, and his mood worsened at the sight of her.
He frowned.
"What is it now?"
"Sir, the task force is assembled."
"We can begin the strategic eting on Carl Smith at any ti."
"A strategy eting?"
Ross blinked, then rembered what he'd said earlier.
Irritated, he waved it off.
"Forget it."
"No eting."
"Remove Carl Smith from the target list."
"From now on, "
"Any matters involving that man are to be handled very carefully."
The Major froze in surprise.
"Huh?"
Just monts ago,
General Ross himself had ordered them to prepare for operations against Carl Smith.
And now,
He'd completely changed his stance?
"What do you an, 'huh'?!"
Ross barked.
"Disband the eting. Let everyone get back to work!"
"O-okay, sir!"
The Major quickly saluted and turned to leave.
Although Ross's sudden shift confused her,
she wasn't in any position to question it.
He was the general.
And she was just a major.
It wasn't her place to challenge his authority.
"Wait!"
Just as she reached the door,
Ross called out again.
She stopped and turned back imdiately.
"Sir?"
"Don't let those folks in the war room leave just yet."
"Since they're already gathered, "
"Have them co up with a proper explanation for last night's ss."
Ah.
So that's what this was about.
"Yes, sir."
She gave a crisp reply, and left the office.
anwhile,
Carl was happily spending the day shopping with Skye.
That night, he even stayed over at her place.
For the next few days,
Carl closely monitored the stock market.
Just as he predicted,
Ever since Abomination's appearance,
and the leaked footage clearly showing Tony Stark's face,
Stark Industries' stock had soared.
The investnts Carl made recently,
Had already earned him over ten billion dollars.
But then,
Sothing unexpected happened.
His identity was leaked.
He didn't know whether it was eagle-eyed netizens,
profit-hungry shareholders,
or even an insider at Stark Industries,
But sohow,
People figured out that the "Superman" beside Tony Stark that night…
Was none other than Carl Smith,
a major shareholder in Stark Industries.
In the blink of an eye,
Over half of Arica now knew his na.
So even speculated that Stark Industries' recent stock surge
was directly related to his appearance.
Carl was caught a little off guard by all this.
He hadn't expected the news to spread that fast.
But he wasn't particularly bothered either.
"So I've been exposed. Big deal."
He didn't see any reason to panic.
However…
Two of Carl's girlfriends did call to ask questions.
After all,
neither of them knew about his superpowers.
They both expressed their desire to et up soon.
Carl naturally agreed.
That night,
Carl was walking outside with Skye when his phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
He answered casually.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this… Superman?"
The voice on the other end sounded vaguely familiar.
Carl paused, then instantly recognized it.
Tony Stark.
Back when Carl had purchased his shares,
he had used his real phone number.
So it made sense that Tony would find him.
"Tony?"
"That's right! It's ."
Tony sounded genuinely surprised.
"Wow, Superman, so you do know my number?"
"Nope."
Carl replied calmly.
With the ntal capacity granted by the Silver Superman Template,
recognizing voices was a trivial task.
Tony, on the other hand, seed at a loss for words.
End of chapter...
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