There was a saying that when high-dimensional extraterrestrial beings arrived on Earth, they discovered that the planet was controlled by something called "capital," while the beings known as "humans" were merely its slaves.
Human civilization had been built on oil, coal, and their byproducts. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation all depended on products derived from these two resources. Even hundreds of millions of people made their livings through industries spawned by oil. That was why control of oil and coal meant holding the lifeline of the global economy.
As long as they controlled oil, the tycoons could build the most prosperous cities in the world, even in the middle of a desert.
To maintain their power, capitalists had done everything they could. They bought off scientists and manipulated public opinion to promote the claim that oil was a nonrenewable resource, while suppressing the argument that oil was actually a renewable mineral.
On top of that, energy giants continually suppressed alternative technologies and attacked things like new energy and high-capacity batteries. It was like when cars first appeared: carriage company owners had launched newspaper campaigns attacking cars as "unsafe" and "slow," all because they feared cars would take away their business.
Even when Tony Stark abandoned the arms business and entered the new energy market built around the Arc Reactor, energy giants had targeted him, causing his stock to plummet.
If he hadn't had S.H.I.E.L.D. backing him, maintained good ties with the military through the arms business, and belonged to the venerable Stark Group, not to mention possessing the young master's unparalleled talent and the exposure he gained as a hero, Stark's fortune would have evaporated considerably.
Wei Xiuming's series of moves after taking over Osborn Group hadn't failed to affect the interests of established capital. Products that established capital had planned to introduce gradually and use to take over the market were suddenly pushed out all at once by Wei Xiuming, throwing their plans into disarray.
Take mobile phones, for example. In China, back when the average monthly salary was around a hundred yuan, a brick phone sold for twenty thousand yuan, with an additional network access fee of between six and eight thousand.
Later, phones with display screens and keypads, color-screen phones, and the like all sold for exorbitant prices, and upgrades came very slowly. Then one day, phones on the market suddenly became extremely cheap, and new products began to be developed at a breakneck pace. The reason was simply that China had mastered phone manufacturing technology, forcing capital to adapt.
And to extract even greater profits, capitalists deliberately designed certain products to be less durable, forcing consumers to buy replacements.
Osborn Group hadn't escaped attacks from capital groups, either. But S.H.I.E.L.D., the real major shareholder behind the company, used its influence to fend off attacks both overt and covert. Only then was Osborn Group able to establish itself by gradually expanding its market share.
Wei Xiuming had gone to such lengths to make vampires the public enemy precisely because he coveted the technologies in their hands—technologies that could propel human civilization forward by leaps and bounds. Only by wiping them out could humanity seize those technologies, paving the way for an upgrade to basic industry and an explosion in scientific progress.
On that point, Wei Xiuming could honestly say he was acting for humanity's sake. The knowledge obtained from Skrull ships, combined with the various blueprints and data stored on the USB Drive he'd gotten from the Infinite Flow Male Protagonist, was already enough to put him among the world's top experts. He only needed a tiny fraction of it to develop the Knight System.
But civilization was civilization because different ideas collided and mingled, allowing people to learn from one another, make progress, and develop together.
The technology of Earth in the Marvel World was already powerful and full of potential. In the future, the three great empires of the universe would be long gone, while Earth's civilization would shine brightly. It would even be able to build a time-space travel device no bigger than a wristwatch.
After Bill and the others left, Doctor Death rolled up his sleeve. The flesh on his right arm had been completely shattered and crystallized, leaving only the metal skeleton and some electronic machinery. Even a punch delivered with no more than Electric Current Propulsion had been too much for this body to withstand.
Suddenly, Doctor Death's eyes dimmed. He froze in place, like a running machine whose power had been cut.
In the five-star dormitory at Osborn Industries' research center, the real Wei Xiuming removed a helmet with a flashing indicator light and murmured to himself, "First an insect sample was stolen, and now someone's gotten into my room without setting off the alarm. Osborn Industries' security needs an upgrade."
A bald-headed figure had appeared in Wei Xiuming's dormitory without him noticing, watching him with a complicated expression.
The bald figure was a middle-aged woman, dressed in a strangely styled monk's robe and a yellow hooded cloak. Her face wore a serene, kindly smile, like a venerable monk or a worldly sage.
"Master Gu Yi." After Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Coulson, the Sorcerer Supreme Gu Yi was another famous mentor figure in Marvel's beginner village. Her reputation was especially impressive given that she was a mage.
In the Marvel World, the poor relied on mutations, the rich relied on technology, and only the highly intelligent could dabble in magic.
Lord Doom, Doctor Strange Stephen Strange, and Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark from another timeline—weren't they all geniuses who'd made magic their own? Storm and Scarlet Witch might barely count as mages, but they relied on their mutant abilities, using them as a foundation to combine with magic and unleash formidable power.
Thanks to the Infinite Flow Male Protagonist's USB Drive and the generosity of the Skrulls, Wei Xiuming had embarked on the path of technology, and his own abilities were developing steadily. But when it came to magic, he couldn't even get started without someone to show him the way.
Stephen Strange had been able to learn magic because Master Gu Yi had already assessed him privately as a potential successor, judging his character and aptitude. She might even have used the Time Stone to glimpse the future before confirming her choice.
Then, after Doctor Strange was in a car accident and fell into despair, she guided him all the way to Kamar-Taj, setting him on the path of magic—and eventually earning him the name Kidney Deficiency—Doctor Strange in the profession.
Wei Xiuming, on the other hand, was in a different position. Because of copyright issues, he came from another universe despite being part of the same franchise. His soul had nothing to do with the Marvel World, and he also had a mutant genetic structure. Put together, these factors meant that no matter how he tried, neither his body nor his soul could harmonize with magic built upon the laws of this world.
And, to a certain extent, Wei Xiuming was an invader in this universe, more or less belonging to the ranks of agents of Dimensional Demon Gods. That put him squarely within the Sorcerer Supreme's jurisdiction—and clearly, he hadn't come in peace!
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