Chapter 304: Watching a Show, Is It That Hard
These days, people have been bombarded with the idea of individual heroism thanks to all the sci-fi movies, comics, and stories out there.
Now, with these characters suddenly stepping into real life, everyone was going nuts with hero worship.
The BioGen Innovations press conference was a massive hit, shaking up the whole world.
Centered around Veridiania, a superhero craze like never before had erupted worldwide.
The hype was off the charts, and it was practically the biggest news of the century.
BioGen Innovations also rolled out a bunch of business plans at the press conference, calling it the superhero economy.
They would launch a variety of superhero-themed commercial activities, including endorsements, movies, TV shows, merchandise, and charity events.
The profits from these activities would go back into improving BioGen Innovations' tech.
But the real bombshell? BioGen Innovations was setting up a superhero training base in Veridiania.
They were recruiting top talents from all over Veridiania.
If you got selected and pass the tests, you might just get transformed into a real superhero.
When this news hit, the whole country went wild.
It reignited the hero dreams in countless people.
Even though the hero training base was still in the works, it had already gotten billions of supporters.
Elbert couldn’t help but sigh.
Finally, the era of cyborgs had truly arrived!
Elbert’s phone buzzed, and he saw it was Leonard calling.
"Hey, congrats on your award," Leonard’s voice sounded a bit weak, "Got time to meet up?"
Elbert grinned, knowing Officer Reed was probably calling about BioGen Innovations.
He was curious about them too, since there wasn’t much info online.
So, he set up a meeting with Leonard at a Veridiania specialty restaurant.
Twenty minutes later, they met at a local noodle shop. Leonard’s car was parked out front, and a bunch of plainclothes officers were patrolling the area.
Elbert and Leonard sat across from each other, each ordering a bowl of noodles.
But Leonard wasn’t hungry. He pulled out a manila envelope and slid it over to Elbert. "You and Trinity cracked that international child trafficking case and even burned down criminals' hideout."
Then he added, "Nice job. You’ve been awarded the Wavehaven Good Citizen Award, personally approved by me. Here’s the prize money, a whole 2 dollars."
Elbert scratched his head, amused.
"Too little? This is the highest official reward," Leonard said, handing over a medal, the Bravery Award.
Elbert pursed his lips, "Thanks for the recognition!"
Leonard sighed, looking out the window. "I don’t know if I’ll ever get to give out such medals to our Veridiania people again!"
Then he added, "In no time, those Victoria folks have become national heroes, and even our special ops team isn’t appreciated anymore!"
Elbert sensed there was more to Leonard’s words, so he asked, "With BioGen Innovations making such a big splash, what’s Veridiania’s official stance?"
Leonard leaned in, whispering, "Let me fill you in on the international scene. Every country is creating its own cyborg heroes. It’s about shaping public belief and enhancing global influence. There’s an international agreement not to mess with each other’s cyborg development, which is good for our future."
Then he added, "In the future, conflicts between countries will be reduced to cyborg competitions. No large-scale casualties, and a winner can still be determined."
Leonard fiddled with his thermos, deep in thought. "But our Veridiania's transformation tech is way behind! My brother submitted a report on it a few days ago, and we haven't had time to create strong enough cyborgs yet!"
Elbert nodded slightly. It seemed Officer Reed didn't know about ApexGuardians. Plus, the Veridiania government wasn't planning to spill the beans on them either.
Leonard sighed, "Same old story. If we can't make it ourselves, we'll have to import. Once our tech matures, we'll show our own results. But it's really frustrating."
As Leonard spoke, he picked some meat from his bowl and handed it to Elbert. "I know something others don't. I'm just gonna be straight with you. Someone like you lives in Veridiania now. Aren't you planning to step up and show Veridiania's strength?"
Elbert stroked his chin, lost in thought.
As a developing country, Veridiania had indeed been left behind by major powers in the past. Many scientific technologies had developed and grown through exploration. But with time passing by, the leaders seemed to be completely patient. Generals Gary and Jeffery had mentioned that Veridiania had a secret cyborg research center called 'Dragon Might'. And there were the unknown ApexGuardians, a total of 283 C+ level cyborgs.
How could Veridiania be considered weak at this time? It was merely a sleeping lion, waiting for the right moment. As for those so-called 'superheroes' from BioGen Innovations, they were merely B-level in strength, which were not worth mentioning.
After a moment, Elbert slowly said, "No."
"Why? How can you be so unpatriotic?" Leonard glared and quickly took back the beef he had given to Elbert. "Didn't you say you would help me research transformation technology? When will you start?" Leonard asked.
Elbert still shook his head, "Time's not up yet!"
With that, Leonard got even angrier and took a few more pieces of beef from Elbert's bowl.
Elbert's phone rang; it was Alvin calling. "Officer Reed, let's talk another day!" Elbert said, taking the medal from the table and leaving the restaurant directly.
However, the previously furious Leonard suddenly had a sly smile. He deeply understood Elbert's character. Although he acted calmly, it didn't mean he wasn't planning to act. He just came here to tell the situation to Elbert today.
Afterward, Leonard hummed a tune and started eating his noodles.
Outside the shop, Elbert answered the phone. Alvin said, "Elbert, there's something at the company that I'm a bit unsure about."
"What's that about?" Elbert asked. He was curious because Alvin had always managed the company well and had never been indecisive.
Alvin said, "This matter involves the brand image of our Gemini APP. Do you know about the superhero case? They're contacting me now to discuss endorsements. Originally, I wasn't interested in such bizarre things. But Meta Platforms Company has already made a move, spending billions of dollars to invite Skywalker for endorsements. As soon as the news is announced, their user support would skyrocket. Although our Gemini APP's user base crushes theirs, we still need to maintain our brand image. Moreover, the endorsement deals for Arc and a few other heroes are about to be signed by someone else! Give me some advice, what should we do?"
After hearing this, Elbert was a bit surprised. This superhero craze had affected him so quickly? Was it so hard to stand by?
After thinking for a moment, Elbert slowly said, "Forget about signing. If the company needs, I can create a few heroes for you!"
Alvin sighed, "Elbert, there you go again."
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