Once the Greens version of the Monster Disease Victim Cooperation Agreement was signed, it was immediately used by the ruling party as a political achievement and heavily promoted. The opposition party, not to be outdone, also came out to protest, making their own contributions.

The exposure of the Greens tribe sparked widespread debate. On Reddit, American users went wild sharing the cheerful birthday photo, with many claiming that the cake deserved a Nobel Peace Prize.

The leader of the Greens tribe even openly registered under his real name, Mark Freeman joined the Meteor Shower Watchers Forum and began sharing his old articles in the casual chat section. He openly criticized Twitter and Facebook for manipulating free speech and advised healthy people to stay away from deliberately crossing the blockade line of the Mississippi Delta. He also urged them not to become infected and turn into Greens as it wasn’t cool or fun at all. He encouraged family members to keep their distance from infected individuals.

These warnings were particularly sincere and believable when coming from Mark.

The short video Mark recorded quickly went viral worldwide, especially in China, which had also been affected by the Bohai Bay Kaiju landings. Despite the video being repeatedly banned, people still shared it through memory cards, flash drives, or printed copies, and by word of mouth, to spread the U.S. government’s handling of the Monster Disease infected individuals.

The practices of the Greens Tribe and the blockade have sparked both praise and criticism, but at least the Americans have found a way to respond to this kaiju blood-seawater disaster. People can now directly connect and chat with the Grimm Tribe leader online, which has eased the concerns of many anxious citizens. The public wants to know the truth—what’s the problem? How severe is it?—instead of endlessly listening to the government’s evasive and sugar-coated propaganda.

“We are not okay at all. Please help us!” Some Monster Disease victims raised this cry, which immediately gained sympathy from the United States and the world.

As a key figure in the cooperation agreement and the advocate for the palliative-waiting surgery (the new term for frontal lobe lobotomy), Matthew Grimm once again became the center of attention. Not only were mild Greens eager to sign emergency surgery consent forms, but even many healthy people were rushing to sign in case they were infected with the Monster Disease and lost their autonomy, potentially harming others. They hoped to receive isolation treatment immediately, and they posted these declarations on their social media pages with a message saying, “For my family and friends.”

Of course, there are also many opposing voices, arguing that civilized society should not regress to relying on such barbaric and outdated surgeries that strip patients of their emotions and rationality, forcing them to become docile and harmless. Other netizens mocked, suggesting that they should upload a photo of themselves volunteering at the Carnation Community with a Green Tribe member as proof, since it’s safe there now! If they can’t even do that, they should just stop being SJWs!

The online battles raged on, with various arguments and supporters for each side.

However, a small number of U.S. military and National Guard family members anonymously expressed their opinions, saying that it was better to become a “idiot” than to be shot in the head or turned into Swiss cheese, especially when the patient was a family member or friend.

Then, a brilliant journalist suddenly wrote a report pointing out that after Matthew Grimm broke up with Taiwanese supermodel Angie, he hadn’t had a new girlfriend for two months. The occasional tabloid gossip evidence was also weak. Instead, his public news was mostly about charity and the Monster Disease. The world’s richest man was going through an unprecedentedly long emotional dry spell. What was the reason behind this?

The journalist’s media outlet even conducted a poll on this, with options including “secret lover,” “health issues,” “new religious movement,” “abducted and transformed by aliens,” and “preparing to run for governor,” among others.

“I voted for ‘secret lover’ to help you, but the poll’s top choice is ‘new religious movement.’ It seems too many people are feeling uneasy about this,” Nemo shared the news with the world’s richest man while lifting weights. He didn’t mention that his Russian roommate had contributed a vote for the second option.

“Shit! My health is perfectly fine!” the billionaire responded without missing a beat, but then suddenly got a little angry and added, “Why is there no logically normal media outlet that lists ‘too busy with work’ as an option? I’ve been doing so much work, and the news reports it. Doesn’t that take time and effort?”

Nemo’s chest wound scales had already disappeared, but the gunshot wound had yet to fully heal. It didn’t stop him from doing some lower body and core exercises, and he continued with simple stretches every day.

Moreover, he couldn’t stay at Lakeview Villa forever. Once the negotiations at the river mouth were over, Nemo returned to his rented apartment, since he still owed Tolya a celebration.

After Angie found out that the protective talisman could turn into black scales to block armor-piercing rounds, she urged Nemo every day to come to her safe house to look for any fallen scales so she could make him another talisman.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Nemo had a gut feeling he wasn’t going to stumble upon those strange black scales at Angie’s place. Meanwhile, Tolya was stuck at home all day, being forced to study and throwing Nemo irritated looks whenever he got the chance. Hanging out too much with his Russian roommate would only risk people finding out his gunshot wound hadn’t healed yet. So, Nemo started heading to the Grimm Tower every day to work on his lost physical fitness.

Nemo walked briskly on the treadmill, begrudgingly helping Matthew look for news about himself, since the latter couldn’t conveniently check his phone. Nemo thought Matthew was deliberately showing off, as the billionaire could easily summon a virtual screen in front of his eyes at any time, or wear smart glasses if needed.

“You haven’t had a girlfriend in a while, huh?” Nemo, who had never been in a relationship himself, neither envied nor sympathized with Matthew. He was simply stating a fact. In this regard, he and Matthew were on completely different wavelengths.

“I want one. Why would you think I don’t? But now, women don’t look at me just because I’m rich and handsome. They see me as the leader of Grimm Group with top-tier security, and I’m ‘clean and disease-free,’ so it’s less likely that I’ll be infected by Monster Disease victims. But if it were me, I’d be scared! Besides, it’s not like I accept everything that comes my way!” Matthew flexed his strong arm, veins bulging, lifting the barbell high with unnecessary force.

“I’ve heard that many wealthy people prefer to buy professional services. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you. As long as both parties are adults and consent, it’d be a waste not to take advantage of your status as a Sugar Daddy,” Nemo said.

“So, did you buy it? It’s not like you’re broke right now. You should be able to afford a few nights of happiness,” Matthew said.

“As I told you before, I don’t like strangers. I’ll find someone on my own, slowly.” Nemo glared at him. “But it’s true that news reports say escort services and social clubs are seeing huge declines in business. Modern people are much more cautious about physical contact, and the rate of sexual assault reports has decreased as well.”

“I believe relationships should at least have some sparks between both people. I used to occasionally have that kind of partner, but recently, nothing at all. By the way, I don’t touch women who are taken. After all, I’m Matthew Grimm. I don’t need to lower myself like that!”

“What about the blonde twins?”

“We just wanted some fun... for several nights. They’re going back to Stockholm to continue their studies,” the billionaire smoothly replied.

“Keep flying the kite, and you’ll eventually find someone, Franklin.”

“Are you hoping I get electrocuted?” Matthew retorted.

The curly-haired youth didn’t respond and kept browsing the internet. He didn’t want to read more of Matthew’s gossip; even pet videos seemed more valuable.

“Nemo?”

“Why is it always me talking? Haven’t you seen any interesting news?”

“I haven’t, that’s why I’m asking you.”

“Mark, the Green tribe leader, posted a concept drawing of a ‘Leviathan’ goddess statue and explained the doctrine. They’re fundraising to have an artist carve it out of marble.”

Matthew almost slipped up. He quickly put down the barbell, sitting up and asking, “What?”

“Why are you so excited?” Nemo looked at the billionaire in confusion.

Matthew knew he had overreacted. He took a couple of sips of water and asked, “Isn’t Leviathan male?”

“The superhero rankings don’t list genders. The Book of Enoch states that Leviathan is female and could potentially reproduce more little Leviathans, becoming a sacred race that saves humanity. Mark hopes the artist will capture the atmosphere of ‘Madonna and Child’ in the statue, with a sense of fertility.”

"...No, I don’t think there will be more. Leviathan’s codename was just randomly given by the online community. The beast keeps changing, more like magic—it's illusory and won’t reproduce! Can you imagine Angie laying eggs in a lizard form?" Matthew seemed to be desperately trying to make up for possibly leaking sensitive information earlier, and was now speaking recklessly.

"I won’t ask if you've seen Leviathan’s human form. It’s one of Five Major Rules of Superheroes." Nemo said. "But you’d better not let Angie hear that. I'll just consider it leverage for the future, thanks."

Matthew sighed, " When I browse the Meteor Shower Watchers forum, some superhero enthusiasts seem crazy—writing millions of words of fanfiction or even creating their own movies—but it’s not as impactful as encountering them in person."

"Now you realize? It’s too late," Nemo replied, thinking that this fire would eventually burn Matthew himself. With the combination of the world’s richest man and a playboy, could there be better material for fanworks? Even though Nemo hadn’t specifically searched for this (worried it might affect his SAN score), he decided to let Matthew reap what he sowed*. Hmm, this idiom is quite fitting.

"Anyway, I think it’s great that Mark the tribe leader is now a global internet sensation. Many victims of Monster Disease, or ordinary people worried about their future, might see him as a beacon or bridge, but he knows he’s not great, just necessary. I can tell from his articles and replies to netizens. He always patiently says that before he got sick, he was just an ordinary journalist—not even full-time. Now, many major newspapers want to buy his first-hand reports." Nemo rarely praised someone so highly, especially someone like Mark, the tribe leader, who was just a passing acquaintance. "As for the patients, at least give them some hope. They’ve been fenced in with barbed wire; not allowing them to worship a goddess is too much."

"Let them worship if they want. I’ll donate a little too," Matthew said, pulling out his phone and tapping a few times.

"Can I interview you about how you’re feeling right now?" Nemo noticed that the fundraising for the goddess statue had just jumped up by several dozen dollars. The amount was quite normal, showing no sign of being from the world’s richest man.

"People must heal themselves," Matthew said. "I’m avoiding the broken windows effect. Compared to nuclear bombs, monsters, and alien villains, this is the real poison that will destroy America."

"That same poison can destroy any democracy," Nemo replied.

"Related to your superpower training, there’s something I hope you’ll agree to. Speaking of ‘healing,’ you’re currently incomplete, both in terms of abilities and memories. Even if you’re willing to give up your past memories, you still need to fill in those gaps. Otherwise, your superpowers might consume you, or you could be killed by enemies because you’re too weak. At the very least, you need to catch up to the assassin who shot you in the heart, right?"

Nemo reluctantly nodded. "What are you asking me to agree to?"

"Become a superhero formally! You don’t need to be super strong. What you’re already doing in the Carnation Community qualifies. No one says a superhero has to have superpowers. I actually think being Super Nice is enough."

"I don’t think I can do it..." Nemo knew without a mirror that his face must be full of wrinkles by now.

"According to the rules of your gaming world, pick a codename, prepare basic equipment, weapons, and supplies, and start with simple missions. Learn to avoid being killed by monsters or enemies first, accumulate experience, and find more allies. I’m not saying you should dress up and hit the streets tomorrow to fight crime, but we must keep moving forward. Since you've already mastered your first killing move, I need to back you up in this part. After that, it's time to focus on increasing practical combat experience." Every word Matthew said made it hard for Nemo to refute.

These supports weren’t free. Although the billionaire had never said it outright, his constant contributions to the public made Nemo feel that everything he had been enjoying so far wasn’t free. How much Nemo decided to give back to society would depend on himself.

Cunning bastard!

The billionaire had made it clear from the start that he wanted Nemo to join their side as a hero. This wasn’t a sudden plan—he’d been training Nemo with superhero-specific equipment, proposed a partnership with Angie, arranged regular superpower check-ups, and frequently joked about calling Nemo a hero. When Nemo refuted, Matthew would act as if he hadn’t heard it.

Now, Matthew Grimm was taking serious action.

* Nemo is using the Chinese idiom "自作自受" here, implying that Matthew might end up on the bottom.