My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Then, in the Golden Dragon Kingdom of the fantasy world, Dr. Banner finally experienced a long-lost carefree life: no longer having to hide his identity, no longer having to face fearful and wary eyes, no longer having to worry about the Hulk going out of control, and no longer having to transform into a berserker and engage in close-quarters combat with various powerful enemies... Instead, he was able to use his intelligence in this fantasy world as an intellectual and an engineer.

While his manual skills may not rival those of Tony Stark, who possesses almost god-like stature, Dr. Banner, as one of the top comprehensive scientists in the Marvel universe, is quite capable of overseeing 18th and 19th-century engineering projects and debugging steam-age machinery. He can even adapt his work to local conditions and incorporate magical powers for minor improvements…

Even though his major wasn't quite a perfect match, he was at least a highly educated intellectual from Earth, capable of understanding blueprints sent from there without making any basic mistakes due to misunderstandings. From production lines for canned goods, matches, soap, and water purifiers, to rail transport systems and mail sorting systems used with magical teleportation arrays, as well as the construction of reservoirs and the laying of water pipes... Dr. Banner poured his heart and soul into these projects that changed the face of towns and villages, earning the gratitude and love of the local residents.

In gratitude for his efforts in implementing various Earth technologies and improving the productivity and living standards of the Golden Dragon Kingdom, the royal court bestowed upon him a title and a villa, and several divine churches awarded him medals and certificates of appreciation. Walking the streets of Totoro Town, Dr. Banner always received admiring glances, and a group of respectful and courteous disciples followed him to learn, giving Dr. Banner a great sense of pride as a teacher. Given time, even receiving divine favor like Tony Stark might not be impossible for Dr. Banner.

What made Dr. Banner even happier was that his new girlfriend, Black Widow Natasha, also managed to take on a long-term mission to thoroughly investigate the fantasy world (so that when she went to Totoro Town, she could finally become human and not be petted by Ainz and Shalltear as a black cat).

From then on, Natasha could stay with him in Totoro Town, or play the role of an adventurer in this fantastical world full of novelty and fun, travel around together, and use their magically formed bodies to have sex anytime, anywhere, without having to worry about the Hulk suddenly appearing and ruining the mood!

Phil clearly remembered that during his recent trips back to Totoro Town, he often saw Dr. Banner and Black Widow Natasha, the superhero couple, sitting side by side on a bench by the fountain in the town square, at the bar counter of a roadside pub, or on the rocks of the beach, showing their affection for each other, whispering to each other about something, and occasionally bursting into cheerful laughter...

In short, Dr. Banner is highly respected throughout Totoro Town. He is not only successful in his career but also enjoys a loving relationship and lives a very happy life.

If it were possible, Dr. Banner would really like to live in this dream forever.

Unfortunately, the technology doesn't seem to support this approach yet. Even if Dr. Banner's soul goes to another world, his body in the Marvel universe still needs to eat and drink regularly to survive, and needs to excrete and clean frequently to prevent it from smelling bad.

Therefore, Dr. Banner still has to wake up in the Marvel universe from time to time to take a shower, relieve himself, and eat, and then quickly go back to sleep to leave this oppressive world in his dreams. Although it has the appearance of escaping reality, S.H.I.E.L.D., the White House, the Pentagon, the World Security Council, and the local government of New York all expressed their strong support for this: in this way, the Hulk will no longer cause trouble!

—Aside from certain conspirators and terrorist leaders who want to use the Hulk for their own purposes…

So now, Dr. Banner has completely settled down in the Temple of Sleep, which is affiliated with Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He hasn't stepped out for several months and sleeps an average of 22 hours out of 24, which can be described as taking his stay-at-home status to a whole new level.

In fact, having been enjoying himself so much in the fantasy world, he hadn't paid much attention to things in the Marvel universe for a long time.

However, this morning, as Dr. Banner was sitting in the lounge of the Temple of Hypnos, as usual, drinking coffee and eating pizza during his short waking hours, he glanced at the newspaper headlines on the coffee table and was immediately stunned.

"...Tony Stark...announced his candidacy for the midterm elections? Running for New York State Senator? And possibly even running for president later?"

Author's message

P.S.: The investigation into the Chongqing bus crash revealed that it was caused by a fight between a brainless passenger and the driver, resulting in the deaths of everyone on board—such a ridiculous cause of death seems like something out of a novel. For example, in the Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress arc, a shrewish woman assaulting the driver could cause the entire bus to plunge off a cliff and die, or a spaceship crashing into a planet because a female driver was having sex in the car—absolutely plausible, scientifically sound, and based on fact.

Chapter 298, Chatting and Laughing with the Hulk (Part 2)

In the Marvel universe, supervillains are generally relentlessly pursuing power, while superheroes are generally averse to it.

Most kind-hearted people who have gained extraordinary abilities, regardless of their background, seem to prefer wearing a brightly colored uniform and wandering the streets day and night as vigilantes, rather than using it as capital to climb the ranks within the system.

Of course, even if they want to climb the ranks within the system, those superhuman abilities that only involve fighting and killing are of little use.

Moreover, the US government is fundamentally based on "money and power" and "serves taxpayers (the super-rich)." As long as you have money, you can build influence; you don't necessarily have to be involved in politics. On the contrary, some politicians often have less freedom and real power than big capitalists.

Tony Stark, of course, was no exception...

Furthermore, the fact that superheroes cannot rise to power through force is often packaged as a source of praise for their indifference to fame and fortune and their noble character.

As a result, with so many similar claims circulating, many superheroes with limited education have been misled into believing that they possess immense superhuman powers. Therefore, they argue that they shouldn't be encroaching on political rights, as it would be unfair and undermine democracy and freedom.

Dr. Banner, the Hulk, is certainly highly educated, but his situation is special; he's practically a ticking time bomb, so naturally he wouldn't dare to dream of power.

Moreover, as a science major, he is indeed not very politically astute, and in that respect, he is just as naive and easily swayed by others.

Otherwise, Dr. Banner wouldn't have been fooled by a few words from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and reluctantly became an unpaid berserker fighting aliens.

Therefore, when he learned that Tony Stark was running for Congress and might even run for president in the future, he instinctively felt some resistance.

Take a closer look at the slogans written by Tony Stark's campaign team, such as "Times have changed. Earth should unite and build a strong leadership to march into the universe as a united and powerful force, instead of undermining each other in front of aliens..."

"...Only under unified command can Earthlings unleash their full potential!"

"...Faced with the arrival of the space age, Earth should cease its meaningless struggles and unite to fight for the same goal..."

"...Humanity cannot engage in a game of power with an alien ruler who possesses at least an entire planet, and possibly dozens of planets, with the ridiculous appearance of nearly two hundred countries shouting together! Even if the nations of Earth cannot achieve rapid political unification, the role of the United Nations must at least be strengthened, and a highly respected leader should be elected to give it diplomatic power to deal with aliens, rather than just a farcical, loose coordinating body..."

While it hasn't reached the level of Hydra or Nazism, it's already clearly leaning towards right-wing conservatism.

This made Dr. Banner, who is essentially a moderate liberal, feel even more uncomfortable, to the point that his face wrinkled up.

"...Dr. Banner, you seem to think this is inappropriate? Do you think Mr. Stark is unqualified to run for Congress and President, meow?"

Seeing Dr. Banner clutching the newspaper with a troubled expression, Phil asked curiously.

"...Well...don't you think Mr. Stark's power is a bit too great? He already possesses such immense power, is the Sorcerer Supreme who controls global magical power, and is the chosen one of the Seven Gods...If he were to run for Congress and President, or even Secretary-General of the World Security Council, he would practically become a dictator or even an emperor. Moreover, his political views clearly lean towards the right wing..."

Dr. Banner curled his lip. "...This could pose a significant threat to liberal democratic systems."

"...Just because the ruler is too powerful, you want to replace him with an incompetent weakling instead of taking his place? Hmm, something sounds off about that. As far as I know, according to the laws of nature, it's only right that the weak submit to the strong, right? How can the weak lead the strong?"

If democracy is so afraid of the strong, then it proves that democracy should be flushed down the toilet! I think you should think about this from the other side, Dr. Banner. Since Iron Man already has the power to flatten the world, then…”

Phil blinked and said, "...If we don't give him a recognized political identity and bring him into the system, that would be a huge problem!"

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It is well known that the ruling order of any country is ultimately maintained by violence.

Whoever possesses the strongest military power can and should wield supreme power; this is an inevitable historical law.

If the above laws are not followed at a certain stage of history, then various distortions and abnormalities will occur in society.

The biggest problem in the Marvel universe is that the superheroes, who actually possess the strongest military force and a portion of the most advanced productive forces, have not obtained the highest power in the country, and they can hardly even share a portion of that power.

As the saying goes, "If you don't take what Heaven gives you, you'll suffer the consequences." Those superheroes with immense power, whether due to trivial factors like moral fastidiousness or public pressure, or perhaps because they only know how to throw punches but lack management skills, have failed to seize supreme power. This puts them in a position of potential threat, naturally attracting the hostility and suppression of those who benefit from the status quo.

Although it sounds despicable, the harsh reality is that no matter how many times superheroes save the world, in the eyes of governments and conglomerates, they are all despicable lawbreakers who will be suppressed and severely punished at any opportunity, and their propaganda will do everything possible to smear and slander them—regardless of whether they do good or bad things.

Or rather, it is precisely because superheroes do so many good deeds that they are hated by governments and conglomerates:

If superheroes could maintain peace, then what would be the point of having police, judges, and lawyers?

However, in the 21st century, human society has become much more civilized, at least on the surface.

Some extremely despicable and shameless things can no longer be done openly, otherwise the consequences of being exposed would be severe.

If those in power want to suppress and smear superheroes, they must find ways to manipulate public opinion and seize the moral high ground to gain the upper hand.

This is actually not difficult. Even ordinary people from the same ethnic group, sharing the same language and culture, can easily become divided in their thinking, leading to a situation where "one country, two kinds of intelligence," or even worse. In such cases, no matter how much benefit the stronger party provides to the weaker party, the weaker party will only take it for granted, showing no gratitude whatsoever. Instead, they will turn around and accuse the other party of having a patron's mentality and harboring ill intentions—for example, "You should spend more money to contribute as tourists," "The colonial era was good; we should have remained colonies for another three hundred years," "The other side's concessions are a Trojan horse plot," "They can't even afford tea eggs; how could they possibly make concessions? It's all a Chinese conspiracy," and so on.

In addition, the general public these days has been so misled by the media that they have forgotten the cruel truth of the survival of the fittest, and instead absurdly believe that the strong have an inherent obligation to take care of the weak, and even sincerely believe that the weak have an inherent right to order the strong around.

In short, when faced with superheroes who are as powerful as gods, ordinary people not only refuse to worship them, but also want to control them without paying any price. They want to brainwash them through public opinion and turn them into dogs that are leashed by their necks by morality and can be led around at will!

As a result, every good deed done by bad people is a pleasant surprise, while every good deed done by good people is taken for granted and even criticized. But such a thing that completely defies common sense is like a rabbit ordering a tiger or wolf around. How can it possibly continue in the long run?

Of course, governments and ordinary people each have their own flaws, but superheroes are not innocent either.

Don't forget, superheroes originally didn't have the authority to act as vigilantes; it's just that the police have always turned a blind eye to it.

These non-professionals often damage more public facilities and cause more collateral damage than the criminals themselves when suppressing crime.

However, they rarely take responsibility for this—are secular laws meant for superheroes?

Conversely, firefighters, police officers, and soldiers who do the same work as superheroes, despite their sacrifices, dedication, and efforts to save people, are subject to public scrutiny, laws, regulations, and the even more unpredictable "political correctness," and are easily punished... They are filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment as they watch superheroes act with impunity and create a mess without cleaning it up!

—With great power comes great responsibility? It's more accurate to say that with great power comes great courage!

Which of the vast majority of superheroes isn't audacious and reckless?

Calling them heroes, according to modern moral standards, is putting on a veneer of honor; calling them neutral super-strong individuals would be more appropriate.

(Of course, by ancient standards there's no problem—those great heroes of ancient times would basically be heinous villains by today's standards.)

In short, whether they are called superheroes or super-powerful individuals, they all believe themselves to be powerful and capable, above the law and the regime—and logically, this is indeed the case. From ancient times to the present, absolute equality for all has remained an unattainable empty phrase.

The problem is that the old powers refuse to relinquish even a fraction of their power and wealth, instead trying to use the superheroes as expendable commodities—exploiting the integrity of some extraordinary individuals to incite infighting and mutual destruction. This is a common tactic used by governments across the Marvel Universe.

However, Tony Stark has become too powerful in a very short time, especially after he took over the position of Sorcerer Supreme. The survival of any country on Earth can be said to be in his hands. Not to mention whether governments can do anything to him, even if they do manage to do something to him, it would be equivalent to pressing the self-destruct button on Earth. It wouldn't be long before Dormammu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension, would devour the Earth!

Not to mention that Tony also possesses the Reality Stone, which can change the world at will, and the Time Stone, which can turn back time. No matter how many superheroes were stacked together, they couldn't defeat him. Even if they were lucky enough to win, he could simply turn back time and start a new battle...

Therefore, not only should the nations of the world not suppress Tony, this powerful figure who has risen to prominence, but they should also respectfully provide him with a suitable position so that this "chosen one" can lead humanity into the space age and defend against various open and covert attacks from the multiverse.

—Nobody knows how powerful the Reality Stone is. If Tony gets annoyed, he could simply evaporate a person, an organization, or a country from Earth's history, leaving no trace of them... That would be utterly hopeless, wouldn't it?

In fact, even if Tony hadn't originally intended to run for office, the government would probably have found a way to give him a title and some power, turning him from "outside the system" to "inside the system" to reduce his instability—just like how the ancient Chinese court used high-ranking officials and generous salaries to pacify peasant uprisings, or how the Japanese court handed over the power to rule the island nation to the shogunate: when facing an enemy you can't defeat, the best way is of course to turn him into one of your own!

Conversely, if you don't bring a powerful destructive force into the system and manage it, do you want to push it outside the system and force it to rebel?

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"...In that case, Mr. Iron Man does need and should have an official identity that can represent Earth."

After listening to Phil's explanation of his point of view, Dr. Banner said, "...Otherwise, it would be really outrageous to let a private entrepreneur represent Earth in contact with aliens! It would seem like a complete lack of sincerity! But if we were to hand over the reins of the entire Earth to a dictator, even Mr. Tony Stark... even I would feel a little uncomfortable, and some guys would definitely stir up a storm!"

“...But you must acknowledge the reality: the strong deserve status and power, otherwise they will bring disaster upon themselves,” Phil said.

“…There will always be people who pretend they can’t see anything. You can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep…” Dr. Banner shook his head.

"...They can ignore reality, but reality won't change because they ignore it. An alarm clock and shouting might not wake someone who's pretending to be asleep, but a fist or a knife definitely can—or just turn them into a dead man..."

Phil curled his lip and said coldly, but then changed the subject, "...However, Dr. Banner, the next US midterm elections aren't until next year, and the presidential election is several years away. Why are you thinking about things so far in the future?"

Moreover, given your status and image, any remarks you make in public will most likely only backfire, right?

Dr. Banner thought about it and suddenly chuckled – he was well aware of just how terrible the Hulk's public image was…

"...That's true. There are more suitable professionals to handle things in this world. It's not my place to worry about it! Anyway, given Tony's temperament, he probably won't deliberately drive Earth to its doom... I'd better hurry up and finish eating so I can go back to bed and dream!"

Chapter 299, Professor Pym's Visit

However, just as Dr. Banner, the prototype of the Hulk, decided to stop caring about the vague national affairs, finished his cheese pizza in a few bites, and was about to brush his teeth and lie back in his sleep pod, a sizzling portal suddenly appeared in the temple's rest room.

Immediately afterwards, Tony Stark, draped in a levitation cloak and looking haggard and exhausted, emerged from a Kamar-Taj-style portal. He wearily stated that he was completely worn out and demanded that Phil quickly arrange a sleeping pod and a private bathroom for him.

Phil seemed a little surprised and asked him what had happened, and Tony didn't try to hide anything, immediately saying:

"...I just went to Xandar to talk to the governor about doing business and friendly relations, but I ended up getting a lot of angry comments—those aliens first questioned my Earthling identity, then suspected me of being an Earth fraudster, and finally demanded that I show them authorization from the Earth government...God! Where am I supposed to get that? There's no unified government on Earth anyway!"

There was no other way, so I had to return to Earth and discuss with the United Nations whether I could get the paperwork done, or at least have all the countries in the world recognize my status as the Sorcerer Supreme—with this status, I could barely be considered a guardian of Earth... Although I know that the United Nations is just a coordination platform and can't make any real major decisions, it can only issue some useless resolutions, but at least it can be a mouthpiece, right?

And what happened? Those incompetent bastards, not only refused to do their job as mere mouthpieces, but a bunch of petty people jumped out, making a huge fuss about holding me accountable for unauthorized communication with extraterrestrials and betraying Earth's interests! Damn it! Don't they realize that without me, how could Earth have entered the space age? What right would we have to deal with aliens? We'd probably still be trembling over some UFO that might land overhead at any moment!

He complained angrily, "...Trying to gain fame and climb the ladder by stepping on me? Do they think I'm easy to bully?"

(With several years to go before the events of Guardians of the Galaxy, even if Tony travels all the way to Xandar, he still won't be able to find Star-Lord and retrieve the Power Stone.)

After hearing this, Phil and Dr. Banner exchanged a rather subtle glance.

Dr. Banner coughed lightly and asked with concern, "...Um...Tony, is this a big deal? Will it cause you any trouble?"

"...Don't worry, it's not a big problem! These petty people are all talk and no action, just disgusting! I still have many old friends and new supporters in the political arena. They are all smart people who know that if we can't successfully break out of the cradle of the earth in this century, then human civilization is doomed...I've passed through so many hearings in the past without any major incidents, and this time will definitely be no exception."

Tony waved his hand dismissively and said, "...Besides, if those bastards really insist on nitpicking the legal statutes and getting bogged down in endless arguments, I have foolproof backup plans. I will never let those insidious and despicable people ruin something that concerns the safety of all mankind just with their words... But arguing with people is really tiring, it feels more exhausting than fighting ten giant monsters, so I came here to take a good rest..."

Hey, your backup plan isn't to use the Reality Stone and Time Stone to wipe those trolls off the timeline, is it?

In that case, these people would be as if they had never existed, and no one would even remember their existence, let alone seek revenge for them.

—Philip thought to himself with a hint of horror, but dared not say it aloud.

Dr. Banner seemed to have thought of something as well, and couldn't help but open his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything.

After all, the current global security situation and development trajectory are extremely abnormal.

It's unclear when it started, but governments and militaries around the world have become increasingly weak.

Whenever a supernatural crisis occurs, they either do nothing or are unable to do anything.

Or worse, they might be seduced by a supervillain or some other force and personally orchestrate the disaster and crisis.

So when disaster strikes, those politicians, tycoons, and generals who think they are omnipotent can only kneel down and pray, asking the gods to protect them so that the superheroes can defeat the powerful enemy—as for themselves, they are lucky if they don't collude with the enemy or make things worse.

However, once the crisis subsided, these incompetent politicians and tycoons, like venomous snakes awakening from hibernation, began frantically asserting their presence, and this time by attacking and smearing superheroes—exaggerating their flaws and mistakes to an extreme degree, fabricating accusations where none existed, and erasing their achievements. Then, under the guise of advocating for the people, they demanded that superheroes obey the law and order.

It can be said that they have taken petty and underhanded tactics to the extreme.

To make matters worse, many people also happily join the trolls in verbally attacking superheroes, refusing to express gratitude or even offer a hypocritical thank you. They accept the superheroes' protection without a second thought, watching them fight to the death against various powerful enemies, while simultaneously grumbling and blaming the superheroes for not arriving in time, causing them various losses...

Meanwhile, the incompetent government, eager to shift blame and alleviate its own pressure, is happy to join this smear campaign against superheroes, and even fuels it: although they know it is unfair to those superheroes who fought bloody battles—not only are they not rewarded for their merits, but they are also being attacked and persecuted, but in order to get rid of their own guilt, they have no choice but to ask the superheroes to do more work.

Since you're so enlightened, willing to risk your lives to save the world, then it shouldn't be a big deal to let you take the blame for a few more things, right?

Over time, a significant number of superheroes have become completely disillusioned with the government and dare not cooperate with the authorities for fear of being betrayed.

This was particularly evident in Avengers: Infinity War—faced with Thanos' invasion and the imminent destruction of Earth, the armies of various countries were rendered useless, governments were completely bewildered from beginning to end, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s response was extremely slow.

It completely lacks the passionate scenes of other science fiction movies where countries around the world unite to fight against an alien enemy.

—Seven billion intelligent beings in a glorious human civilization on Earth, and yet they have to rely on a private business owner (Iron Man Tony Stark), a few alien drifters (Thor, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, etc., who illegally entered the world), and two civilian organizations (the Avengers and the Kamar-Taj Sorcerer's Order) to save them! At most, add a tiny, long-neglected and ignored nation (Wakanda)...

Where are the wealthy and powerful American imperialists? Where are the Russian crooks? Where are the German Hans and Japanese civil servants who clock in and out? Where have they all gone?