Turns out the one who called me was Taro asking if he had done the interview well. Ugh…

I was a little annoyed but decided not to hound him. I told him that he did a good job and hung the phone up.

With the mood totally ruined, I send Toga off and go back to what I was previously doing. I have been slowly changing her mind, she is still bloodthirsty but at least she doesn't want to cut me up too much. Also I used my ability to implant some thoughts in her like 'Thou shalt not kill or maim or harm Akira in any way'. So the only thing she can do is think about harming me but she won't be able to act on it.

I could have just compelled her to love me from the beginning but I didn't want to. It would have been boring and there would be no fun in that. While I am still brainwashing her, I want to preserve her personality and character as much as I can.

You could say I have cheat codes to raise affection for a character instantly but I use them sparingly to ensure a fun game. Still it is getting a bit too slow for my liking so I have to pick up the pace soon.

But that is a thought for another time as romance or love is not my priority and it never will be. Romance is but a joke when you can control minds.

Thus I continue looking at the reactions that the interview brought. People have a positive opinion of AIM now and will buy more products.

Also now that AIM has established contact with I-Island, I must visit it soon. That island is the pinnacle of technology at present and its vast resources are something that will tremendously increase my strength.

Right now I have considerable power at my behest but I can't stop or stagnate. I can't grow conceited as there are many people and groups that can still trample me. I can only hide in the dark and put masks on in the light to survive and thrive.

But I am not satisfied with just this, I want more power, so much so that nothing can stop me. In this world,there are only two ways not to be trampled on. One is to grow strong, strong until no one dares to step on you. Another is to turn into dog sh*t, something no one would want to step on.

Some would call my dream of conquering the world childish or a foolish endeavor. But I don't care, I who comes from a mundane life and one who lived shackled by the system,bound by the norms and rules of society have got a chance to live freely with power to do as I please.

I don't pursue the goal of world domination out of a misguided notion of making it a better place or anything 'good' or moral like that. I pursue it just because the process of it is enjoyable and it makes my life interesting.

Of course, I am still human and could fuck up by a mistake and get killed anytime but that doesn't scare me because at least this time around, I would have lived my life as I want with no regrets. Besides I will have to kill a lot of people on the path of conquest and domination or get them under my thrall and as a wise man once said, 'the only ones that should kill, are those prepared to be killed.'

Hydra is growing rapidly but we do not have enough elites. Most of them are cannon fodders and others are suited for other fields. I need more manpower and they must be able to fight on their own. I have many small time villains in Baroque works but none that are strong enough to tackle pros. I have plans on improving their overall quality but it needs time and resources and the overall result may not even be good enough.

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Most of the villains that I have are lower than C-rank and then the rest are C-rank villains with very few B-rank ones. As for A-rank ones, those villains are those that lead organizations like my own and are hard to find.

Also this country has imposed harsh laws on quirk usage so that means people are told to not use quirks which causes them to never train it and it remains weak. And then most of the ones who can't handle it and turn to villainy don't know how to use their quirks properly and are easily bested by the Heroes.

So I need more manpower and they should also be high quality. Sigh..

I can now see why All for one made Nomus. While the League of villains has villains, Nomu gives them an edge and acts as the heavy hitters taking the brunt of Hero attacks.

I could use robots but it has too many cons to be used practically. None of the robots are strong enough to go against the top pro heroes and even if they could, I won't be able to explain where they came from and it will like painting a big target on AIM saying, 'hey I sell robots to villains and you can't trust me.'

I have also been trying a new method of using my ability and if it works then it will make almost all the agents capable of infiltrating anything or any place.

Still thinking of a solution for the current issue, I turn on the TV to watch some news. Normally I wouldn't watch news but since information is the thing that will help me in my conquest. I bear with it.

Immediately, the news channel starts speaking some All Might nonsense and I change the channel and keep changing it until a hero that is like a Johnny Bravo lookalike appears in some sort of documentary news thing.

I pay attention as the channel states- " Captain Celebrity has announced the start of his new career here in Tokyo. Yes, its Christopher Skyline himself. This Japanese debut of one of America's Major League Heroes is sure to cause waves throughout our own Hero industry."

Then they show an image showing him carry an entire cruise ship while saving New York Harbor. I am shocked to see this but soon get over it.

This new hero is really strong and he can fly. He has two of superman's powers and while I don't think he has even a fraction of Superman's strength, it still gave me some insights.

I look him up and see many scandals and lawsuits against him. The media portrays him as a playboy hero who sleeps with many women and is involved in very un-hero-like activities. He seems like a regular douchebag but you can't just trust the media easily, they might be exaggerating it. They even have a name for him which is 'Captain catastrophe'

This guy seemed like the guy who would be on top of Stain's list.

But after seeing all this,I realize a few things and my horizons broaden. Until now I was under the impression that Japan was the strongest but now I can see the truth. The only reason Japan has such a low crime rate is because of the symbol of peace guarding it, All Might, might be the strongest Hero in the world but after him, there is a huge gap between him and the other Heroes in Japan.

Other countries have stronger heroes and villains.

But I was feeling happy now, I had an epiphany. If a Hero could come here and work here after coming from another country, what's stopping me, a villain from doing the same ?

With my scope broadened, I got the solution for my issue of manpower. If I couldn't find it here, I could go to other countries and increase my influence there and bring back manpower.

While Hydra's main bases will be here because Japan is the place where I have future knowledge and I can't leave this.

But other countries are also fair game, I will have to study and learn more before going to them but I have to do it.

After all, my end goal is to have the world beneath my feet and how can I ever hope to accomplish it if I stayed in one place.

Hydra shall rise and I will be the one to lead them. I will have to do it differently this time around and get it done quickly. But first I have to complete some pending work here.

And once that is done, a question arises, 'where do I start first ?'