American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

508. Luthor’s Mixed Emotions.

508. Luthor’s Mixed Emotions.

Walking and chatting with Pietro and Kara, Alex and the others had already approached the Alliance Tower, located in the center of the city.

Originally, this building was supposed to be the most prosperous building in the world, built by Hydra, with various rooms for people to enjoy and beautiful young women brought in from all over the world.

During the time when Hydra fell, this building was subjected to inhumane destruction. Almost every faction tried to take a piece, and the entire building was left in chaos, with pillaging, burning, and killing.

However, although the interior facilities were destroyed and many items were looted, the building's framework still stood strong, and its foundation was solid. After Luthor took control of the region, he made this the headquarters of the Alliance.

Taking this building wasn't particularly difficult. With Clark leading the charge, Luthor had the chance to experience the thrill of commanding the Justice League. In the face of overwhelming power, local forces had no opportunity to resist.

Having learned from past mistakes, Clark had also wised up. He rarely voiced his opinions during meetings, mostly just following Luthor's direction. If Luthor said to go east, he went east; if Batman said to fight someone, he fought them.

With the help of these two of the world's greatest political and financial minds, the local factions of the wasteland were completely dismantled in less than a month.

The only challenge were the isolated parts of the world where supervillains ruled with iron fist, where humanity had degenerated even further. Most of the people had been thoroughly brainwashed and turned into death soldiers.

So, even though Clark had some reservations, he still made the hard decision to wipe out all the resistance forces there, leaving only the people who still maintained some morality and principles.

As Kara and Pietro had said before, Earth was now a united front. With no national divisions, the whole planet now had only one name—the Central Federation.

However, wiping out the resistance forces was just the beginning, and also the easiest task. The real challenge lay in the reconstruction of the wasteland that followed.

Luthor sat in the highest office of the Alliance Tower, his eyes bloodshot as he reviewed file after file in front of him. He hadn't closed his eyes in a long time. With the entire wasteland now in motion, he had even less time to rest.

"Madame Masque, please refill my coffee. Thanks."

Picking up his pen, Luthor signed his name on a document titled "Reptoid Species Management: Tropical Rainforest Island Renovation," wiped the sweat from his forehead, and spoke.

Upon hearing Luthor's voice, Madame Masque set down the materials she was holding, stood up, and took a cup of coffee to Luthor's desk, replacing the empty cup.

"Mr. Luthor, you should take a break. Work is endless, but your health is the most important thing."

"Thank you." Luthor thanked her first, then gave a wry smile. "The whole world is watching me. I finally managed to sit in this position, so of course, I have to work even harder."

Since Doctor Doom's death, Madame Masque and her faction had become a leaderless group. She not only took in Doom's doombots but also recruited the mafia forces under Count Nefarious.

As one of the factions responsible for rebuilding the wasteland, it was impossible to allow such a powerful force to remain outside their control. So, Luthor personally stepped in, and they held face-to-face talks.

Everyone knew how powerful the Alliance was, including Madame Masque. So, after Luthor provided the appropriate benefits, Madame Masque quickly disbanded her faction and joined the Alliance.

Now, Madame Masque had been appointed as the highest Secretary-General, serving Luthor directly and also helping him handle the paperwork for the wasteland's reconstruction.

However, there were rumors circulating that Madame Masque had surrendered because she had developed a crush on Luthor, but this rumor had never been confirmed.

"By the way, how's Mera's progress going?" Luthor sipped his coffee, suddenly remembering something, and asked.

Madame Masque thought for a moment and replied, "You must be referring to the salvage work in Atlantis. The progress there hasn't been smooth. Even though we deployed two hundred doombots, it's still not enough."

"How is that possible?" Luthor furrowed his brow.

"The war back then was too grand in scale. Atlantis suffered alien technology attacks from the Master of the World. The entire underwater kingdom was sent to another dimension, and the subsequent flooding destroyed most of the ruins."

Madame Masque said calmly. "We've tried our best with the salvage, but the results have been minimal. Only a few dismembered remains are left at the bottom of the sea, and most things have been carried away by ocean currents to other seas."

"Then why hasn't Mera submitted a written report? If this delays things here, our underwater reconstruction will be postponed again." Luthor seemed a bit frustrated.

"Mera's report was sent to Barbara. Due to the massive changes in the underwater terrain, our initial plans now have almost no chance of success. So, Ms. Barbara is now reworking the plans," Madame Masque explained.

"The aftereffects of the flooding, huh..."

"Yes," Madame Masque nodded and continued, "Ms. Barbara has done her best to redesign the structure, and the follow-up work will be handled by the Blood Nest to assist in the reconstruction of Atlantis."

"That's good. This will lighten my load a little. By the way, how's the situation with the roaming dinosaurs? They're the biggest headache for me right now," Luthor asked.

Back in the day, because dinosaurs were very rare, many merchants began transporting them out of the wastelands for resale after the supervillains took control.

However, as the dinosaurs consumed too much, most people couldn't afford to care for them. This led to incidents of malicious releases, and at that time, Hydra, the ruling organization, didn't care about such small matters, so they turned a blind eye.

By the time people realized what had happened, the dinosaurs had already become a part of the wildlife food chain. After decades of reproduction and migration, dinosaurs had spread across the world and frequently caused incidents of injury.

Now, Luthor was faced with this difficult mess.

"We've already arranged for Hulk to handle it, but the dinosaurs' range is just too vast, and it's difficult to control. The Alliance is working on building facilities, and once they're completed, we'll send most of the dinosaurs to an island," Madame Masque explained.

"A Jurassic Park from another world? That sounds like a good idea. We could even sell tickets later," Luthor nodded in agreement and added, "Let the patrols stay alert. We can't have any more incidents of dinosaurs injuring people."

"Yes, but although we've issued a directive banning people from entering the wilderness, many still venture out, and there are even some mercenaries who like to go treasure hunting," Madame Masque replied.

Upon hearing this, Luthor sighed heavily and gritted his teeth.

"If they want to die, let them. Right now, we don't have enough manpower to deal with everything. Once we finish up here, I'm going to deal with those troublemakers who keep going against me," Luthor said.

"There's also one more thing. Baron Blood has developed heavy industry on his side. He's asking which city we should expand next," Madame Masque said as she pulled a file from her folder and placed it on Luthor's desk.

Luthor put on his glasses and began reading. The file detailed the relocation and planning regulations for the Blood Nest's industries.

Previously, the Blood Nest had been a massive weapons workshop, with industrial zones dedicated to producing heavy weapons. After the Alliance's planning, these areas were converted into regular heavy industries.

They now focused on steel casting and salt-iron production, with other factories being modified for glass production and chemicals, constantly contributing to the construction materials needed to help expand the reconstruction plans for the wasteland.

Now, the Blood Nest was thriving, and they were looking for the next city to implement heavy industry to further assist with the wasteland's reconstruction.

After reading through the entire plan, Luthor adjusted his glasses and thought for a moment.

"Let's go with Hammerfall City. The disappearance of Thor's hammer has caused a significant loss of population there. By establishing heavy industry there, we can help revitalize the population," he said.

"Understood, I'll make the arrangements," Madame Masque nodded in response.

Watching Madame Masque return to her desk, Luthor sighed deeply, his stress evident.

Although he had truly become the leader of a planet, he wasn't happy. In fact, he was so busy that he didn't even have time to be unhappy anymore.

The fall of Hydra and other supervillains had left him with a massive mess. When he first took over the government, Luthor had been full of confidence, believing no difficulty could stop him.

After all, he commanded the powerful Justice League, and even the Avengers were under his management. He could say that Luthor was the 'king' of the entire wasteland.

But when he actually started managing and rebuilding, Luthor realized he might have been too young for this. Various chaotic issues piled up before him, and he found himself practically glued to his chair all day.

If the tasks had been particularly difficult or dire, it would have been understandable. But the problem was that even when a city wanted to be redeveloped into a tourist attraction, it required his approval, which greatly increased Luthor's workload.

Ideally, such matters should not even have been brought to Luthor's attention.

However, because the reconstruction of the wasteland was a holistic effort, if everything was delegated to local management, conflicts would likely arise during the subsequent rebuilding.

A simple example would be if the local government approved the establishment of a tourist area, but later Luthor wanted to build a high-speed rail line, which could conflict with the tourist area's construction.

If they had sufficient resources, it wouldn't be an issue. But right now, the wasteland was operating under minimal conditions, and resources were being saved wherever possible. Such large-scale industrial waste was something Luthor didn't want to see.

Therefore, reluctantly, Luthor had no choice but to take on all these responsibilities himself.

.....

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