822: Chapter 822 An Unexpected Person: Kingpin Comes Knocking

"A bunch of useless trash! Trash! You're all trash!" General Ross's face flushed with rage.

He panted for a long while before calming the fury in his heart, suppressing his anger as he spoke: "Continue pushing forward with the Super Soldier Serum! Improve it, optimize it, and develop a stronger generation! Although we have a decent stock of the Abomination Potion, we must start looking for suitable candidates!

Put it into use. As for the subsequent issue of Hulk's blood, we'll wait for Hulk to appear again! I don't believe he can hide forever!"

The military established their next set of operational guidelines.

They were going to butt heads with the Akatsuki Organization!

As for how the military would go about it, the members of the Akatsuki Organization didn't care at all.

They continued living according to their own rhythm.

Connors, Ethan, and Banner—the three super-geniuses—were currently researching an advanced version of the Lizard serum.

They named it the Apocalypse Serum, also known as the Apocalypse Potion.

Its effect was similar to Captain America's Super Soldier Serum.

It significantly enhanced a person's physical attributes across the board.

However, they hadn't succeeded in its development yet, especially since it was being further optimized and refined from the Lizard serum.

The projected goal was to possess super self-healing abilities, maintain a human form without mutation, and have superhuman strength and agility.

To put it simply, it was a human-version Lizard serum that wouldn't turn the user into a Lizard Man.

It retained all the advantages.

This was their preliminary plan; later on, they would certainly optimize, refine, and upgrade it further.

They wanted to be able to mass-produce super soldiers!

The Akatsuki Organization still had too few people. It wouldn't be bad to use this potion to create some cannon fodder; there's strength in numbers, and they could help handle simple tasks. They couldn't have Tony and Peter doing everything, right?

As for robots... even with the powerful AI Xiao around, robots were still robots, and they were mostly used for base defense, protection, surveillance, and so on.

Tony planned to set up another base elsewhere, and Clarissa gave her permission.

The purpose of this base was to serve as a distraction, while also providing a place for the "outer members" who would join later, such as the cannon fodder using Apocalypse Potion No. 1.

As for Tony and the other four, they were the Five Divine Generals of Akatsuki! Connors, Ethan, and Banner were the Three Gods of Research! Although Banner could also be classified as combat personnel, since Hulk was there.

But Banner preferred to be a researcher in the rear.

The core team of the Akatsuki Organization had been finalized: eight people! Not counting the BOSS, Clarissa.

Therefore, more personnel were needed to handle external business and other tasks.

That was the purpose of the newly built base.

And with portals, distance wasn't an issue.

So Tony found a very secret and deserted place, tentatively located on an uninhabited island in the ocean.

Well, this island wasn't small, with an area of several kilometers, which was more than enough for a base, and there was also the underground.

Construction continued to use nano-construction robots.

Humans get tired, but machines don't. With full horsepower, they just kept grinding!

Just get it done!

The construction progress was flying.

Many aspects had to be considered, and numerous areas were divided, with plans for the first and second underground levels.

The Ground level was mainly for protection, surveillance, early warning, and reception areas.

The speed of construction wasn't an urgent concern, because Apocalypse Potion No. 1 hadn't been completely developed yet.

Once it was successful, they would have to recruit people, and screening would be a troublesome task.

They would leave those headaches for later!

In fact, recruiting wasn't actually that difficult—the Kill Lists, various retired soldiers... in any case, they had no loyalty to America to speak of.

With the benefits offered by the Akatsuki Organization, combined with management and force, it was guaranteed that even if they weren't completely devoted, they wouldn't have any thoughts of resistance.

Besides, when people who have experienced endless darkness finally encounter light, it boils down to two words: Loy! Alty!

Think about it: you work yourself to the bone, giving up countless hours of time, energy, and even your health, only to be met with heartless abandonment and a spot on a Kill List.

The worst part is that you don't die immediately; instead, you are tortured again and again until you die a miserable death.

No one cares about you, no one looks out for you, and they might even bully and humiliate you...

And at this moment, an organization that provides food and housing, a generous salary, can give you "superhuman strength," has a powerful backing, and never abandons its own, asks you to join them.

All you need to give is your loyalty!

What would you do?

Say no more: Loy! Alty!

So, in terms of recruitment, there was really no need to worry at all.

What they needed to wait for now was for the base to be built and ready, and once Apocalypse Potion No. 1 was finished, they could start preparations.

Several days passed.

Peter sent a message in the internal channel with a puzzled expression: "Hey everyone, I've run into a bit of a problem~"

"Oh? What kind of problem has our little spider encountered?" Tony immediately replied.

"Uh~ how should I put it? Someone wants to defect and join the Akatsuki Organization, and they've found me. What should I do?" Peter said, looking at the bald man in front of him who stood two meters tall and weighed 200 kilograms.

But he wasn't fat; he was a "monster" that was 90% muscle.

Kingpin! The Emperor of the Underground World in New York!

Peter Parker had heard of him and had some interactions, such as dealing with many of Kingpin's subordinates while acting as a vigilante.

Strictly speaking, he and Kingpin were in an adversarial relationship.

But he had never met Kingpin before; now he had.

The key point was that the Kingpin he met wanted to defect and join the Akatsuki Organization.

"Oh? Who?" Tony asked curiously.

"Kingpin."

"Kingpin?!" Tony's expression became somewhat strange.

Subsequently, Xiao sent Kingpin's information to everyone.

Everyone immediately knew who this person was.

Something wasn't right. Logically speaking, a person like that wouldn't be willing to be someone else's "dog," would they?

Why did he suddenly want to defect to the Akatsuki Organization?

"What are his requirements?" Tony asked curiously.

"Uh, what are your requirements?" Peter looked up at the man who had been standing quietly in front of him, waiting for him, and asked.

"The requirements are simple. The most important and core one is to protect my wife, Vanessa—for example, with that... bracelet," Kingpin said to Peter.

Peter also took a moment to look at the character analysis Xiao had provided.

Kingpin did not consider himself an ordinary criminal; he believed he was bringing order to New York and considered himself the "King" of the Underground World.

A gentleman on the outside, but cold and ruthless on the inside, with a pathological level of control, extreme patience, and profound shrewdness.

That was the character profile given.

Well, looking at him now, he was also extremely emotional; his wife was most likely his bottom line.

Peter's guess was correct.

Kingpin only deeply loved his wife, Vanessa, treating her as his sole spiritual support and the only light in his world. For her, he could give up the underworld, give up power, and sacrifice everything.

If anyone threatened his loved one, he would become crazed, lose control, and act without regard for the consequences.

"Can I ask why?" Peter asked curiously, while also opening the internal channel to broadcast the scene live to everyone.