[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman":3,"chapter-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-425":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1721931,2198,"Chapter 425 425 — An Upgrade in Treatment","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-425",425,"\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For 40 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Patreon - Twilight_scribe1\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since Henry acquired the label \"naive and loaded,\" he had noticeably become more popular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the high-and-mighty industry elites—those who usually looked down on everyone—now greeted him with a few extra smiles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how you dressed it up, filmmaking was a high-risk investment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between creative accounting black holes and labyrinthine revenue structures, it was nearly impossible for outsiders to determine whether a film truly made money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when disasters like last year's Cutthroat Island happened—a $98 million budget with barely $10 million at the box office—it could bankrupt a studio outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was why Hollywood's \"Big Eight\" studios were always shifting. Sometimes they couldn't even maintain a full eight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An investor capable of sharing risk was valuable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An investor foolish enough to provide money without knowing how to reclaim it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Turning a blockbuster into a paper loss through accounting tricks was practically a traditional Hollywood art form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wall Street investors—frequent victims—knew that best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, newcomers kept diving into the pit, time and again proving just how deep Hollywood's hole could be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even insiders weren't immune. Many had seen promised backend profits vanish with a single phrase:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The film lost money.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So how could someone like Henry—backed by Stark Pictures and Stark Industries, seemingly an insider but essentially an outsider—not be welcomed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he wanted to, he could attend a party or banquet every night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if he wanted to go further—different encounters every night wouldn't be difficult either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Henry wasn't foolish enough to accept everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But neither did he reject everything coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he suddenly turned into a shut-in nerd who went straight home after work, he might very well receive a dismissal notice from Tony Stark the next day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, his primary assignment was to observe the West Coast—not to tinker with cameras all day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stark Industries didn't need him for scraps of technical development.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Missiles were consumables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cameras weren't.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry didn't deliberately curry favor with anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply chose whom to engage with based on temperament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that invitations were abundant, the power of choice had shifted to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure, many invitations still carried the subtext:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's an honor for you to be invited. Declining would be rude.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in reality, declining carried little consequence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry knew people viewed him as a fool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even leaned into the persona of a tech-obsessed bookworm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no one truly dared treat him as one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sony's lesson loomed large.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry Brown had walked away untouched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever role Tony Stark played behind the scenes, it spoke volumes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the FBI failing to prove Henry's involvement in the Sony explosion—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From another perspective, if someone left such obvious evidence that they landed in prison, would they even be worth associating with?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, \"naive and rich\" fueled his popularity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sony's loss reminded everyone—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was not easy to provoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like his boss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wealthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And sharp-edged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry accepted Hollywood's tentative olive branch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That, in itself, was a signal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next step?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Find the young man's weakness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Exploit his preferences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Control him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hollywood's initiation ritual rarely deviated from that formula.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes what destroyed a person wasn't venom or knives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes it was sweet words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seemingly sincere kindness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harder to execute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as effective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least the invitations insulting his intelligence had decreased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That made things simpler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, navigating elite gatherings required caution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If these events were like college parties—eat, drink, make eye contact, and slip into a room together—that would be easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, Henry's pre-reincarnation college life had been dull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Post-reincarnation?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He never even attended university.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he entered what he privately called \"Phase Two\" of diplomatic maneuvering with Hollywood, a very unusual invitation arrived at his desk at Stark Pictures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The envelope was crafted from high-quality 30-pound black linen paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seal was traditional wax—except the wax was gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not dyed gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Real gold flecks infused within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crest stamped into the wax meant nothing to Henry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was America.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not Europe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coats of arms here were either inherited claims of dubious aristocratic lineage—or self-designed vanity projects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Half of them had crowns, as if every European royal house had relocated to the United States.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The envelope bore the words:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To be opened by Henry Brown.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The handwriting was precise Gothic script—like medieval church manuscripts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Germany had used this typeface up until the end of World War II.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1980s Los Angeles, certain Black gangs wore Gothic-lettered shirts as identity markers. Later, hip-hop culture would revive it as fashion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this from some gang?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of caution, Henry retrieved surgical gloves from his drawer before breaking the seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside was not a thick stack of paper, but a single invitation card of equally fine material.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It carried a faint fragrance—not synthetic perfume, but the natural scent of crushed rose petals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The embossed watermark patterns were machine-pressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The decorative laurel motifs, however, were hand-painted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Symmetrical at a glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imperfect upon inspection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The invitation listed a time and place:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day before Easter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An old manor in the outskirts of Los Angeles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the most unusual detail was the signature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mystikos Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry couldn't immediately recall any known organization by that name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But instinctively—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He disliked it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon closer focus, he identified the reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the floral fragrance—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the faint metallic scent of blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Subtle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost imperceptible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But unmistakable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let me know what should I do\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your support means everything—let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>",948,"2026-06-06T15:31:22.542Z",1,"novelbin.me","7d06ad79b5a13fc1db8b9cc4431275658478bf9ebc9407af04c05452f6f04dee","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-426","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-424",556,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-cover.jpg"]