War Machine Mark Two.
A total upgrade over War Machine Mark One.
The four tal arms mounted on its back were inspired by Doctor Octopus and the eight-limbed design of the Iron Spider suit.
Its secondary krypton-alloy coating let it withstand hundreds of tons of pressure without deforming, and the internal shock absorption system had been improved as well.
The palm energy cannons had higher output and faster startup.
Its main weapons were the four chanical arms. Flexible, precise, and assisted by a built-in AI system, each arm carried twenty tons of force and was also coated in secondary krypton alloy.
If the Chinese saw it, they would probably cry out that it was a waste of a precious resource. After all, secondary krypton alloy had already proven its worth. It was not sothing to be thrown onto so-called weapons.
"Each chanical arm has twenty tons of force," Drex said. "It can simulate a human punch, and at full speed it can throw five punches per second. That kind of attack frequency is more than the Deep Sea King can handle."
The chanical arms were already absurdly powerful, though for Marvel's upper end, where heroes and villains regularly started at dozens of tons of strength, that was hardly shocking. This machine was built for a different level of combat entirely.
"The arms also have caras," Drex continued. "They can collect information from different angles. They're equipped with high-energy lasers too, which can cut and attack."
To demonstrate, the giant claw-like arm fired a red beam of laser light.
It sliced cleanly through a standard steel plate thirty milliters thick, then struck a tal sphere five hundred ters away and lted a perfect hole through its center.
"The current generation of tank armor can't stop that kind of high-energy laser," Drex said. "The palm cannon's effective range is three hundred ters."
That, too, was simply physics. Energy loss in the atmosphere was severe, so reaching three hundred ters was already impressive.
The Air Force major general stared at War Machine Mark Two with burning eyes.
As expected of Drex Valen.
In just one night, he had built a weapon capable of tearing a monster like the Deep Sea King apart.
The purpose of the four chanical arms was to make up for the weakness of human hand-to-hand combat. Arms and legs were short compared to a creature like the Deep Sea King, whose agility was almost unnatural, but these chanical limbs could perform all kinds of difficult maneuvers at high speed.
Drex even demonstrated the arms blocking machine-gun bullets at close range.
That worked because War Machine Mark Two's arms were controlled by a more advanced AI. It could multitask across several threads at once, processing combat from multiple angles simultaneously.
"How much?" the Air Force major general asked at once.
"Two billion," Drex replied.
The general stared.
"You've lost your mind. A light aircraft carrier under thirty thousand tons costs five hundred million dollars. Its carrier group runs seven hundred million. The aircraft add another five hundred million. The whole thing is twenty billion at most."
Drex looked at him with a tired expression.
"Major General, I'm only the manufacturer. I do not negotiate."
He spread one hand slightly.
"I make weapons. I develop them. If you want to bargain, talk to Uld."
Then he added, "Of course, I also have another War Machine model to recomnd."
He led the group over to the second machine.
Its silhouette was similar to the Hulkbuster armor, but the entire thing was a solemn black.
"It's that big?" the major general asked, startled.
"It's called the Iron Overlord," Drex said. "Its armor thickness is twice that of War Machine Mark One, though it does not use secondary krypton alloy. Its strength reaches fifty tons, and its defense is astonishing. The drawback is that it is slower than War Machine Mark One and Mark Two because it's so heavy. The right arm has a twenty-milliter gatling cannon, with the ammo box mounted on the back. The left arm carries a triple-launch missile system with ten rounds total. Its power core is also a magnetic flux fusion reactor."
Drex gestured toward it as he spoke.
"It was designed specifically for close combat. Big strength. Heavy defense. The tradeoff is speed."
The Air Force major general stared at the Iron Overlord, at the raw sense of force packed into its massive fra, and felt a chill of awe run through him.
It was easy to imagine it toppling tanks, charging through gunfire, and becoming an unstoppable wall of tal.
"How much?" he asked.
"Fifteen hundred million."
The general let out a long breath.
"I'll have to take this back and discuss it," he said to Drex Valen.
He clearly could not make a decision on the spot, whether about price or purchase.
"You're welco anyti," Drex replied.
After the general returned to the United States, the military imdiately learned that Drex Valen had put new War Machines up for sale.
And the prices were terrifying.
Soon after, they also received news that Drex Valen had begun recomnding his War Machines to other countries.
China was not much of a concern. The Deep Sea King might have looked frightening, but they had S.P.E.A.R. If a monster like that showed up there, it would probably not make it ten ters down the street before getting put down.
So China was not especially interested in the new machines.
But while the rest of the world was still reeling from the cost, the oil families of the Middle East moved first.
They cared deeply about their own safety, and they were also absurdly rich. Twenty billion dollars for one machine did not strike them as particularly expensive.
Drex Valen did not care much about how many new War Machines sold, either. If he kept causing trouble, the sales would rise eventually.
Besides, he did not want the superheroes getting too comfortable.
"We need your strength, Ben."
After the Deep Sea King incident, the Fantastic Three were not as confident as before.
Johnny Storm had always thought he was invincible. In his mind, even Dark Knight Drex Valen only won because of the armor. Then he got completely flattened by a sea creature.
So Reed went looking for Ben Grimm, who had returned to being a normal man.
"Reed, you know I do not want to beco that horrible thing again..." Ben Grimm said with a sigh.
He had seen the news after the fact and learned how everything had unfolded.
He understood that if he had been there, the Deep Sea King would never have caused such a massive loss of life.
But he did not want to beco that thing again. He could not beco human afterward. That was the part that haunted him.
"Ben, we're in this together," Reed said, not giving up. "We were all hit by that cosmic radiation storm. We all got powers. Doom may be missing, but he probably changed too. This is the power given to us by the Lord. It was ant to protect the world."
Reed knew Ben was the kind of man who could still be persuaded.
Ben's expression darkened.
"Do you think that form was a gift from the Lord to too?"
Then he suddenly roared at Reed.
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