Marvel's Iron Lady

Yes, for an entire month, Miss Stark had been running around, busy with Norman's campaign for New York City mayor.

And with Wilson Fisk being thrown into prison, nearly every local resident noticed something was wrong.

Specifically, without the Kingpin holding down the criminal underworld in New York, various gang factions began to rise up.

Shootouts became frequent, and many New York residents reported hearing gunshots at night more than once.

What's worse—even without Fisk's restraint, these crazed gang members even dared to race on the streets.

They would race each other, race the police, or even race while shooting at one another.

The rising crime rate left the NYPD overwhelmed, with no way to manage the situation effectively.

There were simply too many gang members, and with the police stretched thin, it was nearly impossible to control this city of over ten million people.

To make matters worse, the term of the current New York City mayor was about to end, and naturally, he didn't have the authority to deploy the National Guard.

Despite many calling on the city government to come up with a solution, the situation could only be left to the police.

Miss Stark had heard about Spider-Man making headlines more than once, but she truly had no time to care.

Whether or not Norman could secure his position as mayor directly impacted whether her entire plan could proceed smoothly in New York.

Even though New York had become increasingly unsafe, she didn't spare any energy to deal with those gangsters.

Besides, the existence of these reckless gangsters was not a disadvantage for Miss Stark—in fact, it worked in her favor, didn't it?

It was precisely because they were fighting over Fisk's territory on the streets that ordinary New Yorkers felt their safety was threatened.

She had J.A.R.V.I.S. take advantage of the situation by promoting Disaster Control's personal injury insurance, making significant progress.

And when I say "significant progress," I mean it made a lot of money—more than enough to be described as a windfall.

Using her status, she withdrew a batch of long-stored military supplies from Stark Industries' inventory.

This batch of supplies either consisted of defective items returned by the military or products deemed unfit by customs.

Thanks to Stark Industries' precise craftsmanship, even with some defects, these products still had excellent appearances.

Relying on Fisk's right-hand man, James Wesley, and his special connections, she managed to sell them off.

And, of course, the buyers were those gangsters seeking to carve out territory and the New York citizens looking to protect themselves.

Oh, and let's not forget the NYPD, which was short-staffed—they also ordered a batch of police weapons to stock their armory.

Where there's conflict, there's injury, and at that point, the cheap medicines produced by Oscorp Pharmaceuticals became the perfect solution.

That's what you call profit—yes, a complete profit chain. This is capitalism, isn't it?

As New York City's public safety continued to deteriorate, most of its citizens and politicians could no longer sit still.

Unlike Miss Stark, who either teleporting or traveled with a large entourage of bodyguards, they couldn't afford to remain complacent.

So, under such pressure, Norman began to find the problems he faced in the mayoral race becoming easier to manage.

Many of his opponents either fell victim to shootings while walking down the street, thus being forced out of the race,

Or, because of the increasingly poor security situation, they chose to withdraw directly out of concern.

At this critical moment, Norman Osborn even rolled out a new campaign slogan.

"Launching a Special Operation Against Organized Crime—Creating a Safe and Stable Social Environment."

Setting aside whether there were real conspiracies behind his opponents' withdrawals,

After Norman launched this new slogan, his poll numbers only rose higher and higher.

His supporters now included not only businesses and companies whose interests were affected by the deteriorating security situation,

But also many Democratic voters concerned about their personal safety, who now stood on Norman's side.

In politically correct America, this wasn't impossible. Nearly everyone was hoping New York would quickly return to its former state.

And so, under such conditions, the election month soon came to an end—

In the midst of widespread attention and public expectation, Norman Osborn took the mayoral seat of New York City.

About a week later, thanks to the tireless work of the Disaster Control construction team, the headquarters building was nearly complete.

When Miss Stark appeared in her office, she was surprised to find that Norman was already there.

"Thank God you're finally here, Miss Stark—things are getting worse and worse."

When the two mahogany doors of the CEO's office were pushed open, Norman immediately walked over, a bitter smile on his face.

Seeing Norman's old face, Miss Stark frowned slightly, her expression showing some impatience.

For the past month, she had been with this old man constantly, even though he no longer looked so aged.

Perhaps thanks to the Extremis virus Miss Stark had given him, Norman had regained his youthful appearance.

Young, robust, full of energy—yet beneath that youthful exterior was an old man who could easily be her father.

The reason she helped Norman was because it benefited her. That was the only reason she would help him.

However, after Fisk had warned her, she no longer treated Norman as a fool.

This old guy definitely had something he was hiding from her and didn't want her to know, but Miss Stark didn't really care.

She already had two Infinity Stones, and if something truly threatened her, at worst, she could always escape.

Of course, rather than believing Norman, this slick middle-aged man, could pose a threat to her, she was more inclined to focus on other things.

Maybe Norman wanted to screw her over or break away and go independent—but none of that was really a problem.

She had the Infinity Stones in her hand, but she hadn't used them because she didn't want to break the rules of the game. However, if he dared to break the rules, she wouldn't hesitate to flip the table and slap him to death without a second thought.

"What happened? I saw a lot of damage on the way here. This isn't something gangs could have done, is it?"

She slowly turned around and hung her beige long coat on the coat rack behind her desk.

"It's actually Spider-Man—"

Now New York City's mayor, Norman Osborn sighed as he walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office.

The Disaster Control headquarters was built in the southwestern part of New York City, on a hilly terrain, occupying a section of public land.

Only the heir to Stark Industries could have the privilege of biting off a piece of American public land like this.

Once, it was Howard Stark who claimed a piece of public land on the outskirts of Washington, where Stark Industries was headquartered.

Now, it was Howard's daughter who, using her connections, secured a large swath of public land on the outskirts of New York City.

This area was once part of a forest park on the outskirts of New York City, and Miss Stark had paid a heavy price to acquire it.

The Disaster Control headquarters, perched on a mountainside, offered a sweeping view of the brightly lit New York City.

Norman stood in the best room of the headquarters, enjoying the best vantage point, gazing out at the city's landscape.

Yet—his expression didn't look so pleasant, especially for someone who had just gained immense power.

"Spider-Man… What did he do to make our Mayor Osborn so troubled?"

Miss Stark repeated the superhero's name, enunciating each word, her face showing a hint of confusion.

The future had already been altered in some ways, especially after Peter Parker had unexpectedly grown into a university student.

Miss Stark had J.A.R.V.I.S. investigate Peter Parker and was surprised to find that he seemed to have gained a few extra years of life experience.

It was certainly baffling, but if this was the cost of changing the future, it wasn't particularly troublesome.

"In fact, just last night, I received word that someone with the codename 'Shocker' was broken out of prison."

"And then, he somehow got his hands on explosives and went to rob a jewelry store in Brooklyn."

"After robbing the store, Spider-Man caught up with him, and of course, they fought."

Having just taken office as the mayor of New York City, Norman was understandably frustrated by such a mess right at the start.

Hearing this, Miss Stark's face showed a slightly odd smile as she slowly sat down in the CEO's chair behind her desk.

"Don't say a word—let me guess. What percentage of the city's roads were damaged? Two percent? Three percent?"

"Those damn bastards—I don't have time to deal with this. The gangs in the city are driving me insane!"

Norman didn't specify a number; he merely stomped his foot in frustration, expressing the anger he felt inside.

New York was an international metropolis covering over a million acres—

And this naturally meant that Shocker's battle with Spider-Man had caused significant damage to the city's infrastructure.

So, Miss Stark was more than happy to take on the order for city repair work, as authorized by Norman, representing the New York City government.

After all, why let outsiders profit? While many construction companies tried to win the contract, Miss Stark was practically family.

Having been the one to help Norman Osborn rise to the position of New York City mayor, he naturally chose Disaster Control over others.

Let's not even mention the damage done to the roads—sure, the road repairs were a hefty paycheck,

But beyond that, a lot of basic city infrastructure, such as streetlights, had been damaged.

All in all, Miss Stark secured a lucrative city restoration contract at a very favorable price.

This could be considered a great start for Disaster Control in terms of reconstruction work, and the ones paying the bill were New York's taxpayers.

After sending off Mayor Norman Osborn, Miss Stark's office became quiet once again.

"Gang factions, police, the National Guard, the FBI, S.H.I.E.L.D., superheroes, and supervillains."

"New York is undergoing a major transformation—and is gradually being dragged into chaos."

Miss Stark slouched carelessly in her CEO chair, a sly smile flashing across her face.

"Unlike you, I don't want to be a hero. I just want to survive—that's my reason."

If anyone were to barge into her office at that moment, they would surely find her looking like she had split personalities.

No one knew whom she was talking to, but it seemed as though she were losing her mind, staring dreamily at the city and muttering to herself from time to time.

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