In fact, this was precisely the special effect brought by the title of 'Ruler of a Nation'.
As the new ruler of Sokovia, all Sokovians were regarded as Darian's subjects.
As long as one was a citizen of Sokovia, they would automatically receive the buff from this special effect, with a slight increase in all attributes.
While this small attribute boost was nothing to Darian, its effect was quite noticeable for ordinary Sokovians, enough to instantly restore their physical condition to a healthy level.
And for well-trained warriors like Zemo, the improvement was even more astonishing; his physical fitness underwent a qualitative leap, making him comparable to a miniature Captain America.
In the game system's evaluation, Zemo, a man who wished for no super-powered individuals, felt nothing but 'Awesome!' about such a change.
Zemo couldn't help but once again congratulate himself on his choice; thankfully, he had desperately latched onto Darian's leg back then, which was undoubtedly the wisest decision he had ever made in his life.
Among those present, only Max did not receive this special effect.
After all, he was a pure American, not a subject of Darian, so he was naturally not within the title's buff range.
Upon discovering the wondrous changes happening within themselves, the Sokovians became even more convinced that Darian was a true God descended to earth, come to save Sokovia.
And now, this true God had actually become their monarch!
This was truly a great fortune for Sokovia!
To display this supreme glory, the Sokovians created a majestic new title for Darian.
Divine Lord Doom!
This title not only highlighted his divinity but also embodied his undisputed supreme status.
At the same time, it sent a declaration to the entire World.
Sokovia is a nation personally led and ruled by a true God!
Darian was very satisfied with this new title.
Compared to 'Evil Ghost' and 'Iron Glider,' the name Divine Lord Doom was infinitely better!
The name Divine Lord Doom quickly spread throughout Sokovia, soon crossing its borders and reaching the ears of people in other countries.
The outside World had already learned of the revolution in Sokovia and the ascension of a new king, but most simply laughed off the title Divine Lord Doom.
The mainstream view considered it merely an exaggerated political propaganda, or a deification tactic commonly used by a nascent regime to consolidate its rule, nothing new.
Moreover, Sokovia was just a small European country; its internal changes did not really attract much interest from the international community.
Of course, this was mainly due to HYDRA's efforts behind the scenes, deliberately covering up the many extraordinary events that occurred in Sokovia during this period, so the outside World only had some vague intelligence.
After all, Darian was one of HYDRA's people.
In other words, the entire Sokovia now belonged to HYDRA's sphere of influence, and they certainly did not want its secrets to leak out.
But to be fair, Strucker was still a bit confused.
Initially, he only wanted Darian to disrupt the domestic situation in Sokovia; now, how did he end up becoming the monarch of Sokovia?
Strucker now felt like he had sent an undercover agent to infiltrate a hostile organization, only for three years to pass, and then another three, and the undercover agent directly became the leader of the hostile organization.
However, this did provide many conveniences for his research Base.
With the protection of Darian, the monarch of Sokovia, the entire country served as an excellent umbrella for HYDRA's research Base.
Those illegal experiments that previously needed to be carefully concealed no longer had to worry about the risk of exposure; with just a word from Darian, these experiments could become legal.
However, Darian and Strucker had an agreement: no Sokovian citizens could be touched, including those volunteers recruited by Strucker into the research Base; all were returned to Sokovia.
These were his valuable resources, and of course, they couldn't be wasted like that.
In exchange, Darian provided Strucker with a large number of experimental materials, such as the private soldiers who had once worked for the nobles.
Their crimes were no less than those of the nobles, each facing at least three years, and most were not citizens of Sokovia but hired mercenaries from abroad.
Darian was troubled about how to deal with these people; imprisoning them would require providing food and drink, and there was also the risk of leaks. Rather than direct execution, it would be better to package them all and send them to Strucker's research Base as talent, contributing to scientific development.
Taking this opportunity, Darian made a suggestion to Strucker.
"Little Strucker, how about we cooperate?"
Strucker's mouth twitched slightly.
Before, Darian would respectfully call him Baron Strucker; now that his status had risen, he was actually calling him 'Little Strucker.' Wasn't he getting carried away too quickly?
Strucker said speechlessly, "How do you want to cooperate?"
Darian chuckled, "In the future, I will continue to provide some alien technology and talent for your research."
"In exchange, all your experimental progress must be shared with me, and your professional research team must also heed my command when I need them."
Since Sokovia was now his territory, Darian naturally had to make some long-term plans for its future.
Every powerful nation needs a professional team responsible for advancing its technology tree.
Modern warfare, in essence, is a technology race; whoever has a higher tech tree controls the initiative.
However, with Sokovia's current status as a small country with limited population, trying to build a professional research team from scratch would not only require massive resources but also a long time, making it incredibly difficult.
And right now, there was a ready-made top-tier research team.
It's important to know that Strucker's research team was capable of achieving some results even with the Infinity Stones on lokis scepter; this capability was no less, and perhaps even superior, to those top laboratories in America.
After all, ordinary HYDRA researchers had long been sent to various parts of the World as undercover agents; those who remained in Strucker's core team were the elite of the elite.
"Okay, no problem."
Strucker thought for a moment and agreed to the deal.
This deal sounded like a sure win; he gained research resources and an excellent experimental environment, and he could also share the alien technology of unknown origin that Darian possessed.
As for sharing the team?
This was not a cost at all; on the contrary, it would deeply bind their interests, and he could then conduct research peacefully in Sokovia.
It was a complete win-win, winning twice unilaterally!
Coincidentally, Darian thought the same.
To exchange a bunch of common interstellar goods for a top-tier research team, and also the World's top intelligence department, this deal was an absolute windfall.
Darian struck while the iron was hot, pulling out a stack of documents and smilingly pushing them across to Strucker.
"Since we've settled everything, why not sign these as well?"
Strucker looked down and saw'Sokovian Permanent Residency and Citizenship Application Form' written prominently on the cover.
He looked confused: "What does this mean?"
"Just some standard procedures."
Darian explained, "After signing and completing some simple formalities, you and the other members will officially become legal citizens of Sokovia, enjoying legal rights within Sokovia, and all experimental projects will automatically be upgraded to government-approved legal scientific research plans."
"This way, you no longer have to worry about being investigated by various forces."
"Even if the matter of lokis scepter is exposed later, and a certain top idol group wants to trespass into my country to cause trouble for you, they would first have to submit an application through diplomatic channels and then wait for notification; otherwise, it would be an act of sovereign infringement."
It could be played like this?
Upon hearing this, Strucker's eyes immediately lit up.
Although HYDRA had many of its own people in the high echelons of the U.S. government, they were still subject to various rules and regulations, unlike in a monarchy like Sokovia, where the entire country was Darian's personal domain.
If he said it was a legal project, then it was a legal project; if personnel from other countries trespassed into the territory without authorization, it would be a clear act of sovereign infringement, and international law alone could send them back.
Even the smallest country is still a country!
"Brilliant!"
Strucker slammed the table in admiration, even starting to consider whether to acquire a few more small countries as HYDRA Bases.
But then he thought better of it.
Darian's success was mainly due to his mysterious power and advanced alien technology, coupled with Sokovia's unique national conditions.
Even if HYDRA was incredibly powerful, it would be almost impossible to replicate Darian's operations.
Strucker, without another word, signed and fingerprinted the documents according to the procedure and arranged for all HYDRA members in the Base to process their naturalization in batches.
For those who constantly operated in the Shadow, nationality was never important; today they could be Americans, tomorrow Demacians, and the day after Leaf Villagers.
The moment Strucker and others officially became citizens of Sokovia, they immediately received the title buff of 'Ruler of a Nation,' with all attributes simultaneously increasing, and their favorability towards Darian permanently increased by +20.
Darian nodded in satisfaction.
Now, it wasn't that he belonged to HYDRA, but that HYDRA belonged to him.
With the research and intelligence departments in place, Darian began to tackle Sokovia's most pressing infrastructure issues.
Although a large amount of resources had been confiscated from the royal family and nobles, for a country that needed complete reconstruction, this was far from enough.
Especially regarding food, due to Sokovia's geographical conditions of many mountains and few plains, food production had been consistently low for years, relying heavily on imports.
Anything can be lacking, but food absolutely cannot!
However, this problem, in Darian's view, was not difficult to solve.
He had just acquired a diamond hoe, a veritable farming artifact; with a gentle swing over grass or dirt, even the most barren soil could instantly transform into rich, oily, fertile farmland.
As the ruler of a nation, Darian naturally didn't have to work the fields himself.
He called Quicksilver over, handed him the diamond hoe, and solemnly said, "From now on, you are the Captain of Sokovia's reclamation team. This diamond hoe is entrusted to you for land reclamation."
Pietro looked reluctant: "I'm a super-powered individual, you want me to be a farmer?"
Darian casually added, "For every hundred mu of land reclaimed, a reward of ten thousand U.S. dollars."
Pietro immediately took the diamond hoe, straightening his back: "This glorious mission is entrusted to me! For the agricultural development of Sokovia, I am duty-bound!"
"Very good, very spirited!"
Darian nodded and said, "This concerns the nation's lifeline, so no slacking off. I'll have Max supervise you. He recently learned a set of Five Consecutive Lightning Whips from me. If he catches you slacking, be careful, he might whip you."
Pietro: "..."
There was a thought he didn't know whether to voice or not.
With his super speed, he already possessed the work efficiency of hundreds of people, not to mention now having the diamond hoe, a farming artifact, in his hand.
His figure transformed into a silver blur across the fields, the diamond hoe dancing in his hands, leaving trails of afterimages. Wherever he passed, soil flew, and the previously barren land instantly became fertile and soft.
In less than half a day, the once desolate outskirts of the city had been completely revitalized, transformed into a vast expanse of neat and uniform fertile fields, with various seeds sown and waiting to sprout.
Indeed, superpowers are more suited for construction than for fighting!
Under Darian's governance, the previously depressed livelihoods were visibly revitalizing, and the entire Sokovia was gradually improving.
After solving the most important food problem, Darian threw all other government affairs to Zemo, letting him handle them himself. If he couldn't handle them, he would hand them over to HYDRA, and only if it was truly unmanageable would he come back to him.
If he, the ruler of a nation, had to personally attend to everything, wouldn't being a monarch be pointless?
Thus, Zemo was promoted by Darian to Prime Minister, possessing power second only to the King, responsible for daily government administration, equivalent to a Chief Executive Officer, leading a group of HYDRA members diligently building the nation.
As for Darian himself, he leisurely became a fisherman by the lake in Sokovia.
Now, daily tasks were handled by the X Squad, and Sokovia was managed by Zemo and HYDRA, leaving him suddenly with nothing to do, and he began to enjoy a pleasant routine of gaming.
Players are all like this; at the beginning of a game, they frantically grind, always feeling like there are endless quests. But in the mid-to-late game, they slow down and begin to savor the leisurely moments within the game.
Soon, ripples spread across the lake's surface.
Darian casually lifted his fishing rod, and a plump bass, biting the hook, leaped out of the Water and accurately landed in the fishing net he had prepared beforehand.
The net was already quite full, with over a dozen large fish actively thrashing inside.
In contrast, Wanda, who was nearby, hadn't seen even a single fish scale in several hours, turning this lake area into Sokovia's most secret 'Air Force Base.' Anyone daring to risk their life to photograph it would likely get a taste of Chaos Magic.
"This isn't fair!"
Wanda watched another large fish enter Darian's net and couldn't help but stomp her foot: "Why do you always catch big fish over there? It must be a problem with the spot!"
After observing for several days, Darian found that Wanda's Chaos Magic seemed unstable, suddenly becoming very terrifying and even uncontrollable when her emotions fluctuated greatly.
Especially during Wanda's 'those few days' each month, her Chaos Magic was frighteningly red. In that state, Darian felt she wouldn't back down from a fight with Ancient One at all.
To prevent Wanda from causing any irreparable chaos in Sokovia, Darian took her fishing by the lake.
As everyone knows, fishing is one of the best activities for cultivating one's temperament.
Sure enough, during just a few hours of fishing, Wanda's emotions went through a complete roller coaster.
From initial high spirits, to wavering confidence, then to helpless confusion, followed by questioning life, and finally, complete numbness.
"This has nothing to do with the spot, it's pure skill. You still need more practice."
As Darian spoke, he gently flicked his wrist, and another lively large fish broke through the Water.
[Item: Automatic Fishing Rod (A fishing rod that can automatically fish, so fishermen no longer have to worry about catching nothing)]
It was indeed a cheat enabled by pure skill.
Just then, Darian suddenly received a call from Tony.
He ignored Wanda, whose face was redder than Chaos Magic, casually placed the automatic fishing rod on its stand, and pressed the answer button.
"What is it?"
Darian didn't call out Tony's name; if he had, Wanda beside him would probably have turned even redder.
Tony didn't waste words, arrogantly saying, "Do you have a potion that can heal life? Name your price, I want it!"
"Ten billion."
"..."