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[Frog] Chapter 210: The Propaganda War of the United States
🕑 Added 2024-12-12 16:37:30 +0000 UTCOn Earth, Alan stared at the souvenir his cute frog had just brought back from its journey in the game. His eyes revealed a trace of curiosity.
"This thing... is a bit tricky."
- [Chakra God Tree Sapling]: A special item from the world of Naruto, capable of absorbing all life on a planet and bearing Chakra Fruits.
As a fan of Naruto in his previous life, Alan was all too familiar with this God Tree sapling. It was practically the foundation of the Naruto storyline—plant it, let it grow, and you get the Ten-Tails.
"It seems the souvenirs Frog brings back from its trips aren't just random."
"They’re all significant, heavyweight items."
Take this God Tree sapling, for example—calling it the cornerstone of the Naruto universe wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
But...
The price for growing this sapling was immense: the life force of an entire planet.
Alan wasn’t exactly a saint, but committing such a cruel act still weighed on his conscience.
Besides, with his current strength, even consuming the Chakra Fruit after cultivating the tree wouldn’t provide much of a boost.
However, those flashy ninja techniques...
They were indeed intriguing.
"I’ll figure out how to use it later."
Alan stored the God Tree sapling in his system space, then turned his attention back to Frog.
The little frog was holding a few small square pieces of paper. Noticing Alan's gaze, Frog raised the papers proudly.
The game interface displayed several photographs—group shots of Frog and its friends. This time, besides humans, there were also a few frogs that looked quite similar to Frog.
Alan observed as Frog animatedly gestured, a chat bubble popping up over its head with changing text.
After a while, Alan finally understood what Frog was trying to say.
"Oh, so when you arrived in the Naruto world, you went straight to Mount Myoboku."
"And you were summoned alongside Gamabunta by Naruto."
"Together, you fought Shukaku."
Frog nodded happily.
Thanks to its help, Gaara's summoned Shukaku was defeated in no time. As a result, Frog had the chance to meet several members of the Konoha Twelve.
Alan glanced at the photos.
"Sakura, Hinata, Naruto, Ino..."
"No wonder you were gone for so long this time."
Alan chuckled and then said, "You must be hungry after such a long adventure."
"I’ll prepare some food and supplies for your next trip."
In the game, Frog nodded repeatedly with its little frog head, looking as adorable as ever.
While Alan shopped in the in-game store, Frog sat at its small desk, writing in its travel diary.
After purchasing supplies for Frog, Alan exited the game and sat on the sofa.
A short while later, a familiar figure rushed over.
Alan smiled and stood up. "Welcome back, world-saving Spider-Woman."
"Alan!"
Gwen leapt forward, hugging Alan tightly.
Then, in a trembling voice, she began to sob softly.
"Alan, I was so scared today."
"I almost..."
"Almost couldn’t protect Cousin Anna."
Alan gently patted Gwen’s back, comforting her in a soft voice.
"Alright, alright, everything’s fine now."
"Anna is resting peacefully inside."
"You’ve had a long day. Take a break."
"Mm."
Gwen replied softly but refused to let go of Alan, as if afraid he might vanish suddenly.
Despite her identity as Spider-Woman, Gwen, without her spider suit, was still a young college student who had just stepped into adulthood.
When she first gained her spider abilities, her childhood dream of becoming a hero was reignited. With Alan’s support, she had felt invincible during her time as a superhero.
But today, in the face of Loki’s despicable tricks, she experienced an overwhelming sense of helplessness for the first time.
If Emperor hadn’t shown up to save Anna in the end...
The consequences would have been unimaginable.
Only in front of Alan could Gwen shed her Spider-Woman identity and freely express her grievances.
They embraced for a long while before Gwen, her tone carrying a hint of complaint, said, "Didn’t Red Queen say you went back to the East? Why are you back so soon?"
Alan could hear the faint dissatisfaction in her voice, which meant her emotions had mostly been vented.
"I had just gotten off the plane when I received a message from the Red Queen," Alan explained. "So I immediately bought a plane and flew back."
Of course, this was a lie Alan made up on the spot, but it didn’t stop Gwen from being amazed.
"You bought a plane?"
"And flew straight back?"
Gwen's understanding of Alan's wealth reached a new height. What she didn’t know was that the cost of her Spider suit far exceeded that of a plane.
While Gwen was still holding onto him tightly, a soft cough sounded from upstairs.
Ahem..."
Hearing the noise, Gwen’s face flushed bright red as she quickly let go of Alan and looked towards the second floor.
"Cousin Anna, you’re awake."
Anna stood on the staircase, her complexion still pale but noticeably improved.
Anna gave Gwen a playful glare. "Looks like I interrupted our Gwen."
"It’s rare to see you being so proactive about hugging a guy since you were little."
"Cousin Anna..."
Seeing Gwen's shy demeanor, Anna stopped teasing her and instead turned a puzzled gaze to Gwen and Alan.
"Why am I here at your house? Wasn’t I at a banquet in Germany... and then..."
The last thing Anna remembered was being tapped on the chest with a glowing scepter. Beyond that, her memory was blank.
Alan explained, "Spider-Woman brought you here."
"The Red Queen has already checked your body, and you’re fine now."
Anna walked over to the sofa, sat down, and rubbed her temples. "What happened after that? How did I end up back in New York, and here of all places?"
As Gwen hesitated, unsure how to respond, Alan interjected. "The Red Queen recorded everything. You can see the details for yourself."
Soon, through the Red Queen's projections, Anna learned the entire sequence of events. Certain details that might arouse Anna’s suspicion had been preemptively edited out by Alan.
"So I almost died," Anna said with lingering fear.
When she saw herself being controlled by Loki and jumping off Stark Tower, cold sweat ran down her back. Thankfully, the Emperor arrived in time.
Just like last time at the NYPD station.
"But moving forward, the Emperor might be in danger..." Anna said, her brows furrowing in thought.
Gwen, standing nearby, said, "The Emperor is so powerful; there’s nothing to fear!"
Anna shook her head at her cousin’s naivety. "I’m not talking about physical threats to the Emperor."
"I’m talking about his reputation."
"Reputation?" Gwen looked puzzled, not understanding Anna's meaning.
Anna glanced at Alan. "Explain it to her. My head hurts."
"I need to process everything that just happened."
Gwen looked curiously between the two, feeling as though she were the only clueless one among them.
"Alan, what does Cousin Anna mean?"
Alan chuckled. He had seen through this sort of tactic long ago. Patiently, he began explaining to Gwen.
"Originally, the upper echelons of the United States planned to use this invasion incident to negotiate with Asgard."
"They wanted to leverage it to enhance their technological capabilities and tighten their control over Earth."
"But as you saw, the Emperor directly took out that diplomat."
Gwen thought for a moment and said, "The Emperor disrupted the upper echelon's deal with Odin!"
"So now the upper levels of the United States will see the Emperor as an enemy."
Seeing Gwen grasp the point, Alan nodded approvingly. "Exactly. They know they can’t defeat him in a fight."
"But remember, the United States is a master of smear campaigns and framing."
"Soon, there will be a flood of news about the Emperor across the entire country."
Gwen quickly caught on.
"They want the whole nation to hate the Emperor."
Anna glanced at Gwen. "Finally, you’re catching on..."
"This is the most subtle and insidious form of war on the global stage."
"And it’s the United States’s specialty."
"A propaganda war..."
—(To be continued)—
Comments
Madara305
Asgard
Parmar Yagnik
I know that perfect place to plant the seed LOL
