Russell was not surprised by the media and public speculation.
In fact, this was the result of his deliberate guidance.
As for the reason, it was naturally because he had some special thoughts about Gwen.
Otherwise, he would be too lazy to bother with these little tricks.
After casually glancing at the news reports, he turned off the TV.
Now, the name "Superhero Serum" had been spread.
In the days to come, as long as he continued to perform heroic deeds, the name "Superhero Serum" would become increasingly popular and eventually become a superhero as famous as the Fantastic Four and others.
By then, he could almost consider revealing his true identity.
After turning off the TV, he called Diana, who was on a business trip in Israel, inspecting newly unearthed ruins near the Dead Sea.
Israel was 7 hours ahead of New York, so time-wise, Diana should have just finished her day's work.
It didn't take long for the call to connect, and Diana's voice came from the other end of the line.
Russell first chatted with Diana about some lighthearted topics between lovers, and then told her about some of his recent activities.
Even if he didn't say anything, Diana would know what he had been up to during this time after she returned.
Rather than have Diana find out after she returned, it was better to tell her now.
This way, at least some unpleasant things could be avoided.
After listening to his account, Diana didn't say much, only reminding him to be careful.
At the end of the call, Diana gave him a small reminder in a seemingly casual tone.
Don't mess around!
Especially don't bring other women home!
Although Diana wasn't a germaphobe and even tacitly allowed some of Russell's little hobbies, not bringing other women home was the bottom line.
If he crossed this bottom line, Russell could guarantee that Diana would absolutely not mind letting him experience just how sharp the Sword of Hephaestus was.
Having lived with Diana for so long, Russell naturally knew what he could do and what he couldn't.
He wouldn't bring other women home even without Diana reminding him.
Things that could be solved by getting a hotel room outside didn't need to be made so complicated at all.
Besides, even if he didn't get a room, the car would work just as well.
There were always more solutions than difficulties; as long as he was in the mood, anywhere could become a battlefield.
After hanging up the phone, Russell sighed slightly.
Diana wouldn't be back for another week or two, which meant that during this time, he would still have to sleep alone, hugging a pillow.
Putting his phone aside, he opened an encrypted file on his computer.
As soon as the file opened, a photo of Gwen appeared in his sight.
Although he hadn't met with Gwen again during this time, he had commissioned a private detective in the black market to investigate her.
Gwen Stacy, 20 years old, a sophomore at Empire State University, currently interning at Oscorp.
Father George Stacy, Captain of the NYPD, mother Helen Stacy, housewife.
Gwen in this world didn't have a younger brother; she was the only child in the family.
After reading the information the private detective had investigated, Russell downed the whiskey in his glass in one gulp.
Fantastic Four Headquarters.
Baxter Building.
In the living area on the top floor, Johnny Storm, the most unruly member of the Fantastic Four, lay on the sofa, stuffing popcorn into his mouth while watching news reports about the Superhero Serum.
As one of New York's most famous superheroes, Johnny was no stranger to superheroes making headlines.
To be precise, he himself was a regular on these headlines.
Looking at Russell on TV, Johnny frowned slightly.
Although he didn't know who this newly emerged Serum was, the scenes of Russell facing the interview made him see something different.
This guy is very good at dealing with the media!
This discovery made Johnny feel an unspeakable sense of crisis.
Among the currently famous superheroes, Johnny Storm was definitely the one who knew best how to deal with the media.
Or rather, the one who loved appearing in front of the media and being surrounded by camera flashes the most.
Other superheroes wished they could stay completely away from reporters, while Johnny was the opposite.
If it weren't for Mister Fantastic Reed and his sister Invisible Woman Sue disagreeing, he even had the idea of inviting a production crew to the building for a 24-hour reality show filming.
After finishing the popcorn in the paper bucket, Johnny made a decision.
He was going to hold a press conference!
No sooner said than done, he crumpled the empty popcorn paper bucket into a ball and threw it towards the trash can like a basketball shot.
Airball!
The idea was beautiful, but reality was cruel.
The crumpled paper bucket thrown by Johnny didn't even touch the edge of the trash can.
Johnny ignored the errant paper bucket and got up, walking towards Mister Fantastic Reed's lab.
Although he had always wanted to be the leader of the Fantastic Four, unfortunately, even his own sister Sue didn't support him.
Upon arriving at Reed's lab, Johnny didn't stand on ceremony and directly stated his idea to Reed.
...
Russell didn't know what was happening at the Baxter Building; he was currently testing the armor in the lab on the second floor.
After this period of modification, Peter and Unit 3 had achieved some visible results.
The Endosym Armor had been modified by the two of them into the appearance of a Zaku.
At least from the appearance, it was like that.
The Endosym Armor was made of fully intelligent liquid metal, so changing its appearance was not difficult for the Endosym Armor.
To make the Zaku-shaped armor more consistent with the design blueprints, Peter and Unit 3 specifically created a beam rifle and a heat hawk for the armor.
The current Zaku armor was overall military green.
Except for the helmet!
This wasn't Russell's request, but Unit 3's own decision.
Military green body color, light blue helmet.
Although it looked a little bit uncoordinated, it was better than a green helmet.
To meet Russell's requirements for a firepower platform, the Zaku armor had more external ports than the original armor form.
On the back of the armor, a large number of external weapon interfaces were reserved.
Due to time constraints, these external interfaces were not yet connected to weapons.
Beam rifle, heat hawk, arc pulse cannon in the palm, and chest cluster cannon.
After briefly testing the performance of the Zaku armor in the lab, Russell disengaged the suit.
"Using the current armor as a prototype, develop a mass-produced model, remove the chest cluster cannon and palm pulse cannon, change the beam rifle to a kinetic weapon, keep the heat hawk, and add external weapons such as Gatling guns and individual anti-tank cannons."
"The material will be changed to ordinary gold-titanium alloy, and the operating system will retain only basic functions."
"The energy system will be changed to a charging form, with a battery life of three hours."
"Cancel the flight system and change it to low-altitude ejection flight."
"Try to keep the cost within 30 million US dollars!"
Russell's idea of making the Octavius Lab a military industrial giant wasn't just talk; he was genuinely planning to do it.
Since Stark Industries was gradually abandoning military orders, Russell didn't mind making the cake that originally belonged to Stark Industries his own.
Besides selling to the military, he also didn't mind selling to Hydra.
As for the price, 50 million US dollars per set should be fine.