Using his unrivaled command over atomic structure, Drex Valen forged a new supertal.
It was stronger than the absorptive Kryptonian alloy he had once created by combining raw Kryptonite with vibranium, because this one was built from the atomic level up. Drex could assign it properties and performance far beyond any ordinary tal or alloy.
Even a sheet only one milliter thick was enough to hold Hulk in place, and Drex had already tested that theory on Blonsky.
When Blonsky transford into a super-Abomination and went berserk, no matter how hard he attacked, he could not break through that razor-thin layer of supertal.
"Shouldn't break under Thanos's sword, either," Drex muttered dryly.
He sounded casual, but he was confident.
Unless Molecule Man himself showed up and accelerated molecular motion, that supertal would not be broken by physical force, energy, or even alterations to space itself. Even another electromagnetic master would have a hard ti tearing it apart so easily.
He had also used electromagnetism to make his own body ageless and effectively immortal. He would stay forever young, and as long as even one fundantal atom remained, he could be restored. Once he delved deeper into the atomic domain, controlling Earth's magnetic field beca effortless.
He could even reach out and affect the Moon.
A moonfall attack, right to the planet's face.
In other words, he now possessed the power to erase all surface humanity and every species living on it.
Blonsky only felt that Drex Valen had changed.
Changed into sothing... more dangerous.
"Drex," Urd said with a grim expression, "there's a consortium executive who wants to et you."
Her face wasn't exactly pleasant, and there was a simple reason for that.
Blade Tech Industries and the Arican consortiums were not even in the sa league.
Blade Tech was not built on pure capital. It stood on technology, patents, industrial engineering, and production power. That made it far smaller than the financial giants.
If Drex were ever targeted, their only real option would be to abandon everything in the United States and leave for another country.
As for imprisoning Drex?
That was impossible.
He had already developed a nanobot-powered armored suit. Who knew whether he might simply put it on and smash everything in sight?
The Black Knight armor was being re-evaluated every single day, and the researchers still could not fully understand what changes Drex had made to it.
One thing, however, was clear.
The Black Knight armor now had the combat power of at least three armored divisions.
The man who wanted to see Drex was Stav, the controller of the Arican Stav Consortium.
He was the textbook image of an upper-class old power broker: white, bald, fat, and aging, yet still full of authority. He looked to be in his fifties, but his social security records said he was already in his seventies.
Which made sense. n standing at the top of the world never needed to worry too much about things like maintenance.
He was busier than a president, and in truth, he possessed presidential-level authority.
That was Arica for you. A president was nothing special.
Back when the current presidential titan was still a real estate tycoon, Chairman Stav hadn't bothered giving him even the slightest respect. What was so upstart new-money capitalist compared to three hundred years of the Stav family's accumulation?
But now he had no choice but to request a eting with Drex Valen.
The reason was simple.
During one of his routine dical examinations, he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Luckily, it was still in the early stage, and there was a strong chance of curing it.
To Stav, though, it felt like a thunderbolt splitting his skull.
He had gone through countless checkups over the years without a single problem. Why now?
After several rounds of testing, and after quietly arranging for the entire family of the private doctor responsible for his examination to be sent to the bottom of the sea, Stav had no choice but to accept the diagnosis.
A lot of doctors said early-stage cancer had a good chance of recovery.
But in Stav's mind, anything short of one hundred percent was bullshit.
That was when he noticed Drex Valen.
Drex had a spectacular track record.
He had conquered AIDS, sothing humanity had failed to defeat for decades. More than two million patients had already recovered through Drex's special AIDS treatnt, with no recorded failures or deaths. Even inherited AIDS cases could be cured.
After that, Drex seed to vanish into silence.
He did not maintain a public social life like Tony Stark, that notorious playboy who had been missing for a long ti. Drex stayed in Blade Tech Industries day after day, while the whole world waited to see what earth-shaking invention he would unveil next.
One man crushing the entire global scientific community by himself was the kind of spectacle that made people's blood run hot.
Stav knew Drex existed. He had even considered swallowing him whole.
But the secondary Kryptonite Drex had introduced had brought enormous benefits to the entire world. Even the United States could not stand against the pressure of the entire planet. That ant very few people dared make a move on Drex.
A lot of old monsters still had too much life left in them, and they were all hoping Drex would eventually develop sothing that could extend their own.
So when Stav asked for a eting, several of those "old friends" called to ask what was going on.
Stav answered them with a cold laugh and complete familiarity, just as smoothly as he breathed.
As for Drex, he had no intention of going to see so capitalist in person.
He wasn't a top-tier scientist.
He wasn't a fellow powerhouse.
Why should he go out of his way to et so man who rely controlled the currency system for billions of carbon-based lives?
He had once commanded several planets as research bases and used two more as private backyards.
In terms of resources alone, Drex was richer than Stav by a ridiculous margin.
After Drex rejected the eting request, he made his stance clear.
If Stav had sothing to discuss, he could do it by video call.
Or he could co in person.
Naturally, Stav was furious.
He had lived his entire life in a position where even the President of the United States had to watch his mood. When had he ever been treated with this kind of disrespect?
But the situation was stronger than the man.
He was the one asking for sothing, not Drex.
And there was no way to secretly move against Drex either.
In the end, Stav had to send soone to negotiate with conditions.
He offered an amount of capital equal to twenty tis the value of Blade Tech Industries, in exchange for Drex conducting research on a special cure for cancer.
"These financial groups really do know how to throw money around," Drex said after hearing the offer. "Twenty tis the capital, just like that."
He sounded impressed, which was more than a little ironic.
So this was how Kirian and the others had sat on a mountain of treasure and still chosen to beco terrorists?
Still, he did not actually need Extremis to develop a cancer treatnt anymore. He could do it on his own.
But if he had Extremis, things would just be easier.
Stav also wanted shares in Blade Tech Industries, and for that, he claid he was willing to invest a large sum of money.
Drex refused, of course.
Then he raised the price.
One hundred tis the capital.
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