Chapter 179: The Rise of America and Kratos the King

Superman didn't sacrifice himself by using a Kryptonite spear in a last-ditch assault, nor did he meet a gruesome end by being impaled by Doomsday's bone spikes. He managed to avoid a sudden, tragic death this time.

Even knowing Superman would come back to life later—his coffin lid never staying shut—Atreus still avoided any involvement. Funerals of familiar faces were just too sorrowful.

Atreus expanded his senses, feeling the gazes around him. He suddenly understood the inner frustrations of the Avengers who often couldn't get the job done.

They were just...background characters!

The gap between heroes is sometimes determined by talent. Of course, Atreus had no interest in boosting the abilities of heroes like Hawkeye.

At that moment, neither Atreus nor the Avengers knew how troubled the White House and the military were. Their own corporations were running rogue, engaging in dark, dangerous experiments. Every time, heroes like Kratos had to clean up their messes. Where was the government’s dignity?

Especially when the data came in: the recent nuclear strike hadn’t killed Doomsday—it had nearly killed Superman instead. This left the higher-ups deeply conflicted.

If they didn’t rely on these superheroes, foes who could survive a nuclear blast were capable of destroying Earth. But relying on them?

What if one day, someone declared, “The rise of America, and Kratos is king!” They’d be doomed.

Their concerns weren’t misplaced. When Nick Fury suggested over the comms that Kratos leave his contact information, Atreus calmly replied, “I’ll step in when I feel it’s necessary.”

It was yet another refusal of the government's recruitment.

But what could the White House do? Last time, he had demonstrated an unrivaled teleportation technique, even infiltrating NORAD. Could they really threaten Kratos?

It was a tough situation.

Who could understand, my fellow citizens?

In the end, the issue was left unresolved.

After that, the legend of "Atreus Wayne, Wall Street’s top sniper" was further deified.

Once, twice, three times—each time traditional corporate elites caused chaos, Atreus shorted their stocks and walked away with enormous profits.

The wolves of Wall Street, who followed his lead, were thrilled. Even Tony, who usually wasn’t too interested in money, secretly followed Atreus’s short-selling strategy and made two billion dollars.

But where there are winners, there are also losers.

Lex Luthor, who was stirring up trouble, lost his company, founded by his father, and disappeared while being wanted by authorities as a top fugitive.

Remember, short selling requires borrowing stock, which Atreus and other market snipers did. Typically, large funds or major banks provide the stock.

This time, the unlucky one was *First Republic Bank*.

As one of the top banks in America, it couldn’t avoid investing after gathering deposits. Normally, it wouldn’t be an issue for Atreus to borrow stocks for trading, but he couldn’t keep profiting and then return worthless shares after the stock prices plummeted.

Atreus’s short-selling technique was almost magical. From Osborne, to Hammer, to Lex—all their companies went bankrupt, and their stocks became worthless. Atreus, leveraging his position, borrowed even more stocks for shorting.

This left *First Republic Bank* holding the bag for enormous losses, sowing the seeds of its eventual collapse.

After this, Atreus was blacklisted by banks and institutions providing short-selling services—many managers cursing his name.

Nevertheless, Atreus Wayne’s reputation on Wall Street as a ‘mortal’ was at its peak. He was hailed as the *God of Stocks*!

Until a stock god falls from grace, everyone hoping to strike it rich sees them as an idol.

Meanwhile, having made a fortune from LexCorp’s downfall, Atreus made a timely move, announcing he would bid for the reconstruction of the destroyed Gotham Harbor.

This was like a shot of adrenaline to the struggling cities of Gotham and New York.

No one knew that Lex Luthor, still on the wanted list, was locked away in Atreus’s remote island villa’s prison.

“Ah! Ah—ahhhhh—!”

Lex was enduring all manner of horrific tortures—things that made the top ten list of ancient punishments.

Anyone else would be long dead. Even in slow executions, no torturer could keep a person alive for three days and nights.

But Atreus was a ‘master healer.’

Well, to be precise, the energy he had obtained from the Witch had healing powers.

Atreus had never really had a chance to use it—now was the perfect opportunity. Worst case scenario, if it didn’t work, Lex would die. It wasn’t like Atreus was the one at risk.

As a result, Lex, once a handsome man with golden hair, became the most pitiful punching bag.

Each time Faora punched him, he didn’t die. Having over 206 bones in his body wasn’t even surprising anymore.

After a while, Atreus would heal him again.

It was like playing a shooting game where you intentionally kill enemies near their medics, only to kill them again once they’re revived.

Meanwhile, Atreus’s system kept giving notifications: "Congratulations, host! Your healing skill has leveled up..."

“Kill me! Kill me, you monsters!” Lex screamed.

Even if his wounds healed, bones mended, and fluids were replenished, the pain remained all too real.

Eventually, even without injuries, phantom pain made him scream in madness.

Perhaps the Lex Luthor from the history who was sent to Arkham wasn’t insane.

But this Lex? He was definitely going mad.

Faora vented her Anger with each brutal punch.

But after a while, it started to feel meaningless.

“Have you had enough?” Atreus asked calmly.

“Yeah. In the end, he’s just a clown. General Zod didn’t die because of someone like him; he died from his own obsessions.” Without looking back, Faora snapped Lex’s neck with a simple motion, as if killing a chicken.

Atreus casually collected the pitiful drop of red soul that emerged from Lex, then burned his body to ash with a flick of his flame powers.

“Master, may I be alone for a bit?” Faora asked.

“Of course,” Atreus responded casually.

He didn’t realize just how well his strategy of winning over hearts had worked until half an hour later, when his aide came to report that her Kryptonian ship’s engine seemed to have a problem.

After checking, Atreus found the engine was running perfectly—smooth and without any unusual noises. In fact, the engine sounded even stronger and clearer than before.

If there was an issue, it was that the engine lubricant seemed a bit excessive.

But that wasn’t really a problem.

Just like a new computer needs time to break in, only time would reveal whether the graphics card had been overused for mining.

Atreus played quite a few rounds of PUBG, helping the other side win some chicken dinners too, but didn’t find any issues.

He knew this Kryptonian mothership was now truly his.

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(End of chapter)