"There's almost daily gossip about Tony Stark; you write about him, others write about him, so where's the competitiveness?
On my way here, I saw many people holding newspapers, all reporting on last night's incident. You should ask your subordinates about the sales of your fifth edition so far today."
Seeing Jonah Jameson's reluctance, Hawking patiently explained.
He still thought highly of Jonah Jameson; to be able to found the Daily Bugle himself and develop it to this extent, he definitely had some skill.
Perhaps Jonah Jameson's professional ethics weren't high, and his news reports weren't always so truthful, as could be seen from his constant slandering of Spider-Man.
But that's precisely what he valued about him. If his moral standards were too high, if he was too rigid and only pursued journalistic truth, he wouldn't need him.
Because the news he would have the Daily Bugle release in the future couldn't all be so truthful; when necessary, various exaggerations and falsehoods would be indispensable.
"Check the sales of today's fifth edition up to now for me."
Jonah Jameson listened, picked up the phone skeptically, and called the female secretary outside his office.
A moment later, the female secretary called back to report:
"Boss, the fifth edition has already sold out as of now."
"Sold out?"
Jonah Jameson was stunned for a moment, then immediately sprang up from his chair and roared into the phone:
"Quick… quick, tell Eddie to come to my office! Tomorrow's front page is about the Armored Man; I want photos of that Armored Man!"
In his eyes, nothing was as important as sales. As long as sales were good, never mind the Armored Man, even a masked man would do.
Soon, a young reporter with a camera around his neck rushed in.
"Eddie, write a report about that Armored Man for me. Then, no matter what method you use, whether it's spending money or pulling strings, get me some photos of that guy."
Seeing Eddie, the Daily Bugle's best reporter, Jonah Jameson immediately stood up and began to give instructions.
At this moment, completely engrossed in work, he had entirely forgotten about Hawking's presence.
"Boss, should I write a positive or negative report?"
Eddie asked.
Jonah Jameson glared:
"Of course, it's negative! Negative reports are more engaging. Do you still need to ask me about this?
Just write that the Armored Man is hiding his head and showing his tail, perhaps he's in league with those bank robbers, they fought over their spoils, and then ran when the Police arrived.
Yes, write it like that. You can embellish the specific details."
"Yes, Boss!"
Eddie wasn't surprised by the reply and immediately nodded. He knew his boss's personality best, and asking was just a precaution.
Just as he was about to turn around, he was stopped by a voice.
"No, you can't write it like that. I want you to write entirely positive reports for me."
He turned his head and saw it was the unfamiliar young man sitting opposite his boss, who had been silent all this time.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your boss's boss. If you don't listen to my orders, by this time tomorrow, you'll be one of the unemployed."
Hawking stood up and smiled.
Eddie immediately turned to look at his boss, Jonah Jameson, whose mouth twitched:
"Do as he says?"
"I'll tell you how to write tomorrow's news. The headlines should be something like this:
Shocking! A Deity Descends to Earth to Save Humanity!
Terrifying! Someone Can Actually Catch Bullets Barehanded!
Incredible! Flying Clouds Capable of Carrying People Appear in Bronx!
Then, in the content, praise the God of War to the heavens. You can even write him as God. The point is to make everyone feel that he is a trustworthy Superhero."
After speaking, Hawking pulled out a stack of posed photos from his pocket and threw them on the table.
"These are photos of the God of War. Use whichever ones you find suitable."
"It's a real shame you're not a reporter!"
Jonah Jameson picked up the photos from the table and looked at Hawking with admiration, feeling as if he had met a kindred spirit.
None of those three headlines mentioned the name "God of War," yet they had already highlighted all the key points. The crucial thing was that just by looking at them, one immediately wanted to click to see what was going on—it was absolutely brilliant!
He decided that the Daily Bugle's future news headlines would all adopt this format.
After staying at the Daily Bugle news building for a while and finalizing tomorrow's newspaper headlines, Hawking drove his motorcycle to Queens.
Currently, apart from some young people, most still preferred to read news from newspapers, so the Daily Bugle's role was still significant.
"That Eddie just now, I wonder if he's the host of Venom."
Riding his motorcycle, Hawking suddenly remembered that Venom's symbiote host seemed to be named Eddie and was also a reporter.
However, he didn't dwell on it, because even if it were true, he was currently just a lowly reporter, and Superheroes like Venom were also the kind that were relatively easy to recruit.
"Midtown High School, let's check there first."
Riding at full speed, Hawking finally found the famous Marvel Midtown High School in Queens.
Finding Peter Parker in such a large Queens was not an easy task, but finding a famous public high school was much simpler.
At least in his impression, Spider-Man in most Universes should have attended Midtown High School.
If this Universe was different, then it didn't matter; he could always come up with an excuse later and ask Professor X to help find him with the Cerebro.
"Hey, handsome, which class are you in? Let's get to know each other, I'm Lily!"
Hawking had just parked his motorcycle and hadn't even reached the school building when a very provocatively dressed blonde girl actively stopped him.
Midtown High School was a city public high school, not an aristocratic school, nor an expensive private school. It didn't have elite education, and the overall atmosphere of the school was relatively relaxed, so naturally, there were all kinds of students here.
Apart from a few with good grades, most were actually playing, dating, or rebelling, perhaps only starting to work hard when they got to college.
Hawking's almost perfect physique, paired with a black jacket and riding a domineering Harley motorcycle, naturally made him very attractive to girls of this age.
"Girls abroad are really direct."
Hawking was stunned for a moment, then replied with a smile:
"Little sister, I'm not from your school. May I ask if you know a student named Peter Parker?"
"Little sister?"
The blonde girl raised an eyebrow at his words and deliberately puffed out her chest:
"You don't look much older, and besides, am I small?"
"Oh, I didn't mean anything else. Obviously, you're very beautiful, a great beauty. My meaning is that I'm just a few years older than you."
Seeing this, Hawking immediately explained with a smile.
He knew that rebellious teenagers hated being treated like children.
Indeed, the blonde girl's expression brightened considerably after hearing this:
"That's more like it. There is a nerd named Peter Parker at school, but I don't know if he's the one you're looking for."
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