Marvel: Master Of Role-Playing

Back on Earth, in his office, Reid felt a familiar presence—Martian Manhunter's telepathic connection.

"J'onn, looks like you've already left the solar system. You remember our plan, don't you?"

With subordinates like Joker and Luthor, Reid never had to worry. As villains and madmen, they wouldn't question his way of doing things.

But Martian Manhunter was different. As a hero, the moment he gained independent thought, he was bound to have objections.

As for what the system claimed—that those created through it couldn't refuse his orders—Reid always had his doubts.

The DC universe contained countless powerful entities, including gods themselves. If the system had absolute control over such entities, why wouldn't it simply erase Marvel's cosmic hierarchy and take its place? Why would it stay confined within Reid's body instead?

The "system conspiracy theory" had been overused in web novels, but Reid knew better than to dismiss it entirely.

And sure enough, the Martian's next words confirmed his concerns weren't baseless.

"Reid, Carol isn't a bad person. I don't think we should—"

"But being a good person is of no use to me. Do you understand, J'onn?"

Reid cut him off. Just as he had expected, once these heroes developed self-awareness, they would inevitably question his actions.

He was about to see what else Martian Manhunter had to say when, unexpectedly, the hero simply let out a sigh in the mental space.

"Alright, I understand."

J'onn didn't argue further. Whether some restriction was holding him back or he had his own plans, Reid couldn't be sure.

"But at least allow me to use a gentler approach," the Martian added. "Forcing control through trust isn't a good method. There are too many things in this world that can influence the mind. The risk of unexpected complications is too high."

He made a valid point, though Reid suspected this was simply an excuse to help Carol. Regardless, there was no need to press further.

He agreed. "Fine, but you need to ensure Carol follows my orders. There can be no mistakes. How you accomplish that is up to you."

"Understood."

The mental link severed.

...

Far away in space, inside the Kree cruiser, Martian Manhunter let out a quiet sigh.

"J'onn? What's wrong? Are you still reluctant to leave Earth?"

Carol had noticed the shift in his emotions and walked over.

J'onn shook his head and responded, "It's not that, Carol. Just… some other matters on my mind. But it's nothing to worry about now."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the Skrulls working around the ship.

Changing Carol wouldn't happen overnight. It was a long-term endeavor. For now, his priority was resolving the Skrull situation.

At present, there were no such aliens left on Earth. The few that remained had all departed with them.

According to Reid's plan, the Skrulls could never be allowed to find a true home. They needed to be sent back to Earth under the right circumstances. As for how they would be dealt with once there, Reid had his own ideas.

...

"Luthor, will you really obey my orders completely?"

Inside Luthor's office, Reid stood before him. After his conversation with Martian Manhunter, he had come to confront the man directly.

Luthor smiled faintly. "What do you think, boss?"

"I have my doubts about whether the system can truly control your mind," Reid said. "Because I know that you have an independent personality. You are Lex Luthor himself, largely unchanged."

Luthor nodded slightly. "You're not wrong. The system's control over us isn't as strong as you might think. We are bound to accomplish the goals you set, but how we achieve them is up to us—unless you micromanage every detail. We have free will in our methods. However, despite having our own consciousness, we ultimately came from you, the original. We think for ourselves, but our bodies come from you. The key to controlling us isn't the system. It's you, boss."

Luthor kept his explanation simple and said nothing more. Reid didn't press further, either. He could tell the man wasn't hiding the truth from him but was instead unable to speak freely, likely constrained by some unknown force.

And the only force capable of restricting these split-off clones was the system—something that hadn't shown itself for a long time.

Reid didn't dwell on it. Instead, he shifted the conversation to another recent development.

"I heard an interesting person has joined LexCorp, is that right?"

Now that they were no longer discussing the system, Luthor spoke more freely. He picked up a prepared document and handed it to Reid.

"It's someone you've been keeping an eye on."

Reid flipped through the file. The first thing that caught his attention was the photograph of a strikingly beautiful blonde woman.

"Susan Storm. Of course. With the Von Doom company at a disadvantage in its competition with LexCorp, it makes sense that she would choose the better option after leaving Reed."

According to the file, Susan had recently broken up with her overly rigid boyfriend, Reed Richards. She wanted to prove that her talents were no less than his—that she wasn't just an afterthought to a man who cared more about his experiments than her.

So she had turned to LexCorp, a company superior to Von Doom Industries in every way.

"You're 25 in this world's timeline, aren't you, Luthor?" Reid asked, putting aside the file.

Luthor smirked. "I know what you're thinking."

Both of them possessed the same level of intelligence and had access to the same information. Reid had already informed everyone about the possible upcoming events and the relevant characters from the comics.

So Luthor immediately understood what Reid was getting at.

"I do need an assistant. It's about time I got married. There's no Lois in this world, so Susan should be a good choice."

Susan herself wasn't particularly valuable. Her abilities all stemmed from the cosmic storm that granted her superpowers.

Without those powers, she was, at best, above average. She was far from being a genius. It was also possible that standing beside Reed Richards—a prodigy beyond compare—had simply overshadowed her potential.

But the real reason for valuing Susan so much, even more than the other members of the Fantastic Four, was simple.

Franklin Richards.

Her son.

This Omega-level mutant wasn't called Omega simply because his abilities reached that classification. No, Franklin Richards was Omega because that was the absolute limit of what he could be labeled as.

A child capable of creating entire universes at will, restarting reality itself. The only entity that could possibly suppress him was "The One Above All," the suspected embodiment of the writers' will.

And across countless parallel universes, one fact remained constant. While Franklin's father sometimes changed, his mother was always Susan Storm.

Luthor leaned back in his chair. "But you need to understand, boss. That Omega-level mutant might only exist because of Susan and Reed's genes. If she were to have a child with me instead, there's a good chance that Franklin Luthor wouldn't be nearly as powerful."

"I'm not after Franklin's abilities. I just want to make sure that power never appears somewhere I can't control."

Reid remained clear-headed despite Luthor's warning. He never believed that simply taking Susan for himself would guarantee the birth of an Omega-level mutant. Even if such an existence could be created, without enough power, he still wouldn't be able to control it.

What he wanted was simple—Franklin could not be Reed Richards' son.

He couldn't allow an beyond Omega-level mutant to be born into this world, even if it was just a child. As for power? He would find his own way to obtain it.

"I see. Then I understand."

Seeing that Reid wasn't blinded by foreknowledge or overly reliant on his advantage of knowing the future, Luthor relaxed.

Then, he made Susan's profile public within LexCorp's internal system and directly assigned her as his secretary.

"Boss, anything else? I need to figure out how to win Susan's heart. I doubt you'd be interested in that process."

"Good point." Reid nodded and left the office.

Captain Marvel's story had ended. Now, it was time for him to plan his next move.

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