Strictly speaking, a superhero team like the Fantastic Four doesn't have a true leader in the real sense.
After all, everyone has the same status; no one's position is higher than anyone else's.
But as long as it's a team, issues of authority and leadership are bound to arise.
Mr. Fantastic, Reed, might not have the ambition to be a leader, but within the Fantastic Four, his leadership is indeed higher than Jonathan's.
It's actually quite normal for this situation to occur.
Because Jonathan is indeed a bit too unreliable.
Even before awakening his superpowers, Jonathan was not a stable guy.
Not to mention Mr. Fantastic Reed and the Thing Ben, even his own sister, the Invisible Woman Sue, was constantly getting headaches from him.
In a team of four, three people think he's unreliable.
So, his status within the team is predictable.
Although Jonathan's personality is a bit wild and uninhibited, he's not stupid.
Like those reporters, he immediately understood the meaning behind Russell's words.
This...
Jonathan didn't expect Russell to give him absolutely no face.
If the cameraman in front of them hadn't still been frantically taking pictures, Jonathan would have lost his smile long ago.
Although these reporters didn't know the exact relationship between Russell and Jonathan, Russell's answer made them keenly sense the friction between the two.
After answering the reporter's question, Russell ignored the somewhat awkward-looking Jonathan and shot a tendril towards the building next to them.
Then, under the gaze of Jonathan and the reporters, he swung away from the scene using the tendril.
Watching Russell's disappearing back, Jonathan felt like a clown at that moment.
After Russell left, he had no desire to continue dealing with these reporters. Flames erupted from his body, and he transformed into the Human Torch, soaring into the sky and quickly disappearing.
This little interlude between Russell and Jonathan, without any suspense, made the front page of the news the next day.
After all, it was the first meeting between these two new and old superheroes.
Russell didn't take this little interlude to heart at all.
Two more days passed.
The first mass-produced Zaku battle suit was finally born.
Number 3 and Peter did not disappoint Russell, successfully controlling the cost to within 20 million US dollars.
After personally testing the scaled-down Zaku battle suit, Russell made a call to the Republican senator.
The product was out; it was time to meet and talk with these military brass.
In a manor in the suburbs of New York.
Introduced by the senator, Russell successfully met with three high-ranking US military officials, the lowest of whom was a Major General.
Among these three military leaders, Russell was surprised to find that he actually knew one of them.
General Ross!
Looking at General Ross wearing the uniform of a US Air Force Lieutenant General, several names quickly flashed through Russell's mind.
Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, Emil Blonsky...
He wondered if Bruce Banner in this world had mutated yet; he needed to find an opportunity to investigate after returning.
Although many names and thoughts flashed through his mind, Russell's expression remained unchanged, as if he didn't know who General Ross was at all, and he shook hands with them.
After some polite pleasantries, Russell didn't waste everyone's time and handed the Zaku battle suit information, which had been prepared in advance, to General Ross and the other two.
Although General Ross was very interested in super soldiers.
What he was interested in was super soldiers like Captain America, not high-tech individual combat armor like the Zaku battle suit.
However, even so, he still carefully reviewed the Zaku battle suit information that Russell handed over.
Although General Ross didn't show much interest, the other two generals were quite interested in the Zaku battle suit.
"Isn't the price of your battle suit a bit too high?"
One of them, an Army Major General named Jack, said to Russell.
"General Jack, whether it's expensive or cheap depends on what weapon you're comparing it to."
"The Jericho missile is also very expensive, but the military still likes it, don't they?"
The price of 120 million might indeed seem a bit expensive, but Russell wasn't worried about this at all.
Without similar competing products, unless the military could develop the battle suit themselves.
Otherwise, even if the price of the Zaku battle suit was somewhat inflated, the military would have no choice but to purchase it from him.
"The power of the Jericho missile has been proven in actual combat, but your battle suit currently only has data on paper."
General Jack continued.
"General, that's not quite right. The lack of practical proof is only because the battle suit has just started production."
"If the generals are interested, I can provide battle suits for practical testing at any time."
Russell replied, neither humble nor arrogant.
Although he was full of confidence in the Zaku battle suit, before seeing the results of the practical test, General Jack was still a bit skeptical.
He had seen too much data on paper and in theory.
Some military industrial companies even claimed they could produce a star destroyer cannon when trying to get military orders.
Although they didn't make a decision immediately, General Jack and the others still gave Russell a chance to prove the battle suit.
They were going to conduct a practical test of the Zaku battle suit at a military testing ground.
Russell did not refuse this arrangement.
Military orders are not easy to get!
If he didn't let them see the actual effect, no matter how powerful he claimed the Zaku battle suit was, he wouldn't be able to get a military order.
After agreeing on the time for the practical test, Russell left the study and planned to return to the lab.
However, as soon as he reached the hall, General Ross, who had been relatively quiet until then, suddenly came up to him.
"General, do you need something?"
"Let's talk in the tasting room."
Although this was the senator's manor, given General Ross's status, borrowing the senator's wine tasting room was not a problem at all.
In the wine tasting room.
Russell and General Ross sat opposite each other.
"General, why don't you just speak your mind?"
"I'm not very interested in your Zaku battle suit, but I am very interested in you."
General Ross looked at Russell with a serious expression and said slowly.
"Uh... General, I don't like men!" Russell said, frowning.
Hearing his topic, General Ross almost spat out the red wine in his mouth.
"You..."
Putting down his wine glass, General Ross looked at Russell with a serious face and said again, "I don't like men either!"
General Ross refuted him righteously.
"It's just you and me here, so I won't beat around the bush."
"I'm well aware of your identity in the underground world."
"I have a plan here that requires special individuals like you to join."
Although General Ross didn't explicitly say it, Russell could roughly guess what his so-called special plan was.
Didn't he just want a team of super soldiers like Captain America? It wasn't hard to guess!
"General, you might have misunderstood."
"Selling weapons to the military doesn't mean I want to become a weapon for the military. These are two completely different things."
PS: Please vote for recommendations, follow the reading, press 1...