Hawking, News Prodigy

"Tony Stark's celebrity gossip made the papers almost every day. You wrote about him, and so did everyone else. Where was the competitive edge?

On my way here, I saw plenty of people holding newspapers, all reporting on last night's incident. You should ask your subordinates and see how many copies of your Fifth Edition have sold so far today."

Seeing Jonah Jameson's reluctance, Hawking patiently explained.

He thought highly of Jonah Jameson. The man had founded the Daily Bugle himself and built it up to this point, so he definitely had some skill.

Perhaps Jonah Jameson's professional ethics were lacking, and his news reports were not exactly truthful. That was obvious from all his attacks on Spider-Man.

But that was precisely what Hawking valued about him. If he had truly high moral standards and stubbornly pursued nothing but factual reporting, Hawking would not have needed him.

After all, the news Hawking intended for the Daily Bugle to release in the future could not all be entirely true. When necessary, all kinds of falsehoods and exaggerations would be indispensable.

"Check how many copies of today's Fifth Edition have sold so far."

Still doubtful after hearing this, Jonah Jameson picked up the phone and called the Female Secretary outside his office.

A moment later, the Female Secretary called back to report:

"Boss, the Fifth Edition has already sold out."

"Sold out?"

Jonah Jameson froze for a moment, then shot up from his chair and roared into the phone:

"Quick... get Eddie into my office. Tomorrow's front page will be about Armor Man. I want photos of that Armor Man!"

In his eyes, nothing mattered more than sales. As long as sales were good, never mind Armor Man—even Masked Man would do.

Very soon, a young reporter with a camera hanging around his neck rushed in.

"Eddie, write me a report about that Armor Man. Then, I don't care how you do it—pay money or pull strings—get me some photos of that guy."

Seeing Eddie, the Daily Bugle's best reporter, Jonah Jameson immediately stood up and began issuing orders.

Now that he was in work mode, he had completely forgotten Hawking was there.

"Boss, should I write it positively or negatively?"

Eddie asked.

Jonah Jameson's eyes widened.

"Of course negatively. Negative reports are more interesting. Do you really need to ask me something like that?

Write that Armor Man was hiding his identity and might have been in league with those bank robbers. They had a falling-out over the loot and started fighting, then ran when they saw the police coming.

Yes, write it like that. Polish the details yourself."

"Yes, Boss!"

Eddie was not surprised. He immediately nodded. He knew his boss's personality better than anyone, and he had only asked to be safe.

But just as he was about to turn around, a voice stopped him.

"No. You can't write it that way. I want the entire report to be positive."

Turning around, he saw it was the Strange Teenager who had been sitting opposite his boss without saying a word.

"And you are?"

"I'm your boss's boss. If you don't follow my orders, by this time tomorrow, you'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed."

Hawking stood up with a smile.

Eddie immediately turned to look at his boss, Jonah Jameson. Jonah Jameson's mouth twitched.

"Do as he says."

"I'll tell you how tomorrow's news should be written. The headlines should be something like this:

Shocking! A god descends upon the mortal world to save humanity!

Terrifying! Someone actually caught bullets with his bare hands!

Unbelievable! A White Cloud capable of carrying people through the air appears in the Bronx!

Then praise God of War to the skies in the article. You can write him as God himself if you want. The point is to make everyone think he's a trustworthy Super Hero."

After saying that, Hawking pulled a stack of staged photographs from his pocket and tossed them onto the desk.

"These are photos of God of War. Use whichever ones you think fit."

"It's a real shame you didn't become a reporter!"

Jonah Jameson picked up the photos from the desk and looked at Hawking with admiration, feeling as if he had found a kindred spirit.

Not one of those three headlines mentioned the name "God of War," yet every key point had already been highlighted. The best part was that just one glance made people want to click in and see what had happened. It was absolutely brilliant!

He decided that all future Daily Bugle headlines would use this format.

After spending a while in the Daily Bugle building and finalizing tomorrow's front-page story, Hawking rode his motorcycle toward Queens.

At present, aside from some young people, everyone still preferred getting their news from newspapers, so the Daily Bugle's role was still quite significant.

"I wonder whether that Eddie just now was Venom's host."

Riding his motorcycle, Hawking suddenly recalled that Venom's symbiote host seemed to be named Eddie, and that he was also a reporter.

But he did not dwell on it. Even if it really was him, he was currently just a loser reporter. Besides, Super Heroes like Venom were relatively easy to recruit.

"Midtown High School. I'll check this place first."

After speeding along for a while, Hawking finally found the famous Midtown High School in Queens.

Finding Peter Parker in a place as large as Queens would not be easy, but finding a well-known public high school was much simpler.

At least, as far as he remembered, Spider-Man in most universes should have attended Midtown High School.

If this universe was not one of them, that was fine. At worst, he could make up a reason later and have Professor X use Cerebro to help find him.

"Hey, handsome, which class are you in? Let's get acquainted. I'm Lily!"

Hawking had just parked his motorcycle and had not even reached the school building when a provocatively dressed Blonde Girl stopped him on her own initiative.

Midtown High School was a city public high school, not an elite school or an expensive private school. There was no elite education, and the atmosphere throughout the school was fairly relaxed, so naturally its students came in all types.

Aside from the small number with decent grades, most were simply having fun, dating, and rebelling. Perhaps they would only start working hard once they reached college.

Hawking's nearly perfect physique, paired with his black jacket and the imposing Harley motorcycle he rode, naturally made him very attractive to girls this age.

"Girls overseas really are direct."

Hawking paused for a moment, then replied with a smile:

"Little sister, I'm not from your school. Can I ask whether you know a student named Peter Parker?"

"Little sister?"

The Blonde Girl raised an eyebrow and deliberately puffed out her chest.

"You don't look that old either. And besides, do I look little to you?"

"Oh, I didn't mean anything else. Obviously, you're very pretty—a real beauty. I just meant that I'm a few years older than you."

Seeing this, Hawking immediately explained with a smile.

He knew that girls going through their rebellious phase hated being treated like children.

Sure enough, the Blonde Girl's expression improved considerably.

"That's more like it. There is a nerd at school named Peter Parker, but I don't know if he's the one you're looking for."