ShadowBound: The Need For Power - Chapter 141: The Smartest

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.

Hector King, a man in his 50s, no family or friends to speak of, paralysed from the waist down due to a work-related accident. Now he lived alone with his pup Huskey.But one day, he mistakenly summoned Satan.“Ah, it's been a long time since I was summoned. You found my book? Good, what do you want? Riches? Women? Fame? Strength? Or perhaps, your legs? All at the discounted price of your... soul.” Satan offered.Hector, however, didn't need any of that. And so, his answer even shocked Satan, making that smug look disappear. “I... I want you to be my friend.”And from there, the friendship that would last eternity started, all at the price of Hector's soul....Year 2021,As a mortal, Hector died. But Satan decided to do something crazy, “F*CK IT! You're my best friend, I can't let you die. Hector, I am appointing you as Hell's Inquisitor, a position only under me.”...1935, EarthHector found himself in his old original physical body again, but he was now taller and buff.“I-I got a new last name? Hmm, it has a nice ring to it.” He muttered.He was, from then on, Hector King Washington.“WOOF!”And the good boy Moony was also there, bigger, buffed and more beautiful.

He was just a common and unremarkable villager, with his face towards the yellow soil and his back to the sky, bullied and despised by others.However, one day, he suddenly received a heritage of golden advice, and from then on, he embarked on a path of counterattacking his fate.

“'m Gene Mason. By a twist of fate, I found myself in the Marvel Universe. But unlike others who gain superpowers or inherit godlike abilities, I became something far more terrifying—an unstoppable artificial intelligence.”With unlimited processing power, control over technology, and the ability to evolve beyond human limitations, Gene quickly rises to prominence. Stark Industries, SHIELD, and even the Avengers soon take notice. Some see him as a threat, others as a potential ally, but one thing is certain—his existence will change the world forever.As enemies plot in the shadows, Gene Mason stands at the center of it all. Will he become humanity’s greatest protector or its ultimate nightmare?