Chapter 116: Wholesale of Armor and Tony's Nightmare

That occurred prior to the year 2000.

Because of a 'small conflict' between the Magic World and the Muggle world, America became the target for a show of force.

At that time, John, as the Wizard King, had no choice but to go and give a 'small warning', forcing America to come out and negotiate.

At that time, among the negotiators was Secretary of State Lute.

However, Secretary Lute was not the Secretary of State then, but a diplomat responsible for negotiating with the Magic World.

Time changed.

Unexpectedly, a small diplomat back then is now the Secretary of State, second only to the President.

It's no wonder Hattie was nervous.

Could an MI6 Agent not be nervous meeting the American Secretary of State?

If you asked Natasha to meet the Cabinet Secretary, she would also feel uneasy.

Hattie stood behind John, trying to lower her presence.

Secretary of State Lute turned to look at John. He saw the face and felt it was familiar, but couldn't recognize him.

It was as if someone had sealed a memory in his heart. Staring at John for a few seconds, he smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Wick."

"Hello, Secretary of State Lute," John smiled. "I wonder what brings you here."

A Secretary of State personally coming to the company—John wouldn't think he was here for tea.

After asking Hattie to make tea, John walked to the opposite side of the Secretary of State and sat down.

General Ross's eyelids twitched when he saw this move.

This kid really doesn't put the Secretary of State in his eyes.

Fortunately, Secretary Lute was a man of great composure. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone with the President to negotiate with the Wizard King back then.

In a sense, Secretary Lute saved America at that time.

It was also with this merit, coupled with the support of the former President, that he rose from diplomat to Secretary of State.

Secretary Lute spoke. "I've always wanted to meet you."

John raised an eyebrow slightly, waiting for Secretary Lute's next sentence.

"Stark Industries has closed its weapons department, and now, among the many companies that continue to provide weapons to the Department of Defense, only Hammer Industries is the most prominent."

Secretary Lute continued, "Steel Soldiers, weapon boxes... I'm sure you know that the military is discussing the next batch of orders."

"The country invests hundreds of billions annually into the military so that the country can defend against these dangers when they arrive."

"But those military expenses spent seemed so weak when the aliens arrived."

Secretary Lute's eyes were deep. Looking at John's young face, he said, "The appearance of Steel Soldiers has shown us the possibility of competing with forces from outside Earth, so we plan to increase our order purchase."

"However, for America, there is currently a tricky problem."

He stared at John, saying word by word, "A British Wizard controls this vast enterprise."

With his words, John already understood his meaning.

A foreigner controlling America's main military supplier?

Not to mention the government, even the citizens would feel resistant.

Hammer Industries is not the same as it was before competing with Stark Industries; it has become a sole dominant force.

The existence of Steel Soldiers, which can contend with aliens, being in the hands of a foreigner is truly unsettling.

What if one day Britain needs them, or if a conflict erupts, will Hammer Industries still provide weapons to America?

That needs a question mark.

"I can give you options," Secretary Lute said dominantly, allowing no refusal. "You become an American, or let an American become the President."

He stared at John. "It's not that I'm being unreasonable; no one would hand a gun to an outsider."

Hearing the options given by Secretary Lute, John smiled.

And he laughed out loud.

"Are you afraid of me?" John shook his head and said, "A foreigner, and a Wizard."

Secretary Lute tacitly agreed with this statement.

After all, throughout America, only he understood that terrifying Wizard the most.

A monster that forced the entire America to bow its head.

But he also understood that such beings must be rare.

Otherwise, Wizards would have long ruled the world.

For both public and private reasons, he did not want John to continue controlling Hammer Industries.

Just as he said, a foreign Wizard controlling these things is unsettling.

John couldn't help but laugh. "Who do you think your opponent is?"

"Is it the British? Or the Wizard?" John asked sharply.

Secretary Lute pondered slightly. John shook his head and said, "Neither."

"Hmm?" Secretary Lute furrowed his brows, wanting to hear what John would say.

John said playfully, "A month ago, there were countless alien invasions above this city, causing widespread destruction. The damage they caused left an indelible shadow on this powerful nation."

"The British? They are ultimately people of the same world, but if we face foreign aliens, that will be a crisis for all humanity."

John extended a finger. "You need a hundred people to control Captain America, so how many people do you need to control Thor?"

"A god. Bullets can't penetrate his skin, and missiles are just a hot bath to him."

He said with a half-smile, "Do you think the existence of these people will be more dangerous than a military enterprise?"

Secretary Lute fell into deep thought.

"We can all foresee the arrival of the Super Hero era. The arrival of the Chitauri sounded the alarm. Our enemy is not internal, but external—not outside this country, but outside this world."

John said lightly, "We also don't know how many Asgards there are in the distant stars, and how many Chitauri."

"What we need is to strengthen ourselves. No matter which country, they are all humans. They will die if shot, and it will hurt if burned."

"The era of hero explosion is coming, and more and more superhumans will be born."

"At that time, Superheroes will attract global attention. Can national laws restrain this group of people?"

Secretary Lute was completely silent.

Even General Ross looked at John differently.

It felt like meeting a kindred spirit.

The existence of Superheroes: one person can rival a nation.

Restraining such people is much more dangerous than a military enterprise.

External threats are far more dangerous than internal ones. If New York hadn't had the Avengers, the city would have been occupied by the Chitauri long ago.

General Ross felt this more deeply. He used the military's power extensively when pursuing the Hulk.

But that didn't have much effect; he could smash a tank with one punch.

Before, there was one Super Soldier. Now there's Iron Man, Hulk, Thor.

What about the future?

Who knows if more will emerge.

Compared to these matters, John, this foreign Boss, became less important.

However, Secretary Lute coming personally naturally means he's not easy to deal with.

"You are all using my energy, and you're still afraid I'll sabotage your weapons?" John said faintly.

General Ross paused. Could civilian electricity be the same as that for military industry?

It's not without reason.

The specific arrangements still depended on Secretary Lute.

After thinking for a long time, Secretary Lute raised his eyes again, and there was already a decision in them.

***

Inside Tony Stark's mansion.

This is a villa right next to the coast.

The interior is filled with various high technologies and also has Tony's favorite laboratory.

A month has passed, and Tony's laboratory has several new sets of armor.

And he is still making more.

This iteration speed... Ivan wouldn't know what to feel if he saw it.

The new armor all has a new control method, controlled unmanned by the artificial intelligence Jarvis.

It must be said that when a genius meets Jarvis, the effect will be amplified a hundredfold.

At this time, Tony was in the laboratory researching new Iron Man armor.

These days, he couldn't sleep.

A sense of urgency and anxiety lingered in his heart.

He had been waking up after only sleeping for an hour for a week straight.

He always dreamt of what happened in New York a month ago.

New York is still under repair now. He remembers that scene, the Chitauri soldiers swarming in.

The more he thought, the more anxious he became.

Sometimes, only wearing the armor made him feel safe.

Every time a situation appeared in his mind, he would build a set of armor to deal with that situation.

In the fully automatic production workshop, Tony dozed off for a while.

In his dream, his eyeballs moved wildly under his eyelids.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

The sound of the door opening rang out. He turned back abruptly, startling Pepper who had arrived.

"What's wrong, Tony?" Pepper asked with concern, seeing Tony covered in cold sweat.

Tony subconsciously said, "Me? I'm fine, I just feel my neck is a bit sore."

Pepper heard this and complained, "You can go back to your room to sleep."

Tony didn't care, saying, "I still need to supervise the production of Mark 13."

For a moment just now, he could barely breathe in his dream.

But he didn't tell Pepper any of this.

***********

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