The New Element Destruction Bomb was a cosmic tactical weapon created by utilizing the fusionable properties of Element sg5903, paired with the appropriate triggering mechanisms.
Compared to traditional nuclear weapons, the New Element Destruction Bomb left behind no residual radiation. Yet, it could produce an explosive yield many times greater than a nuke in an instant.
The Umbrella Corporation accepted orders from all over the world—or so they claimed. In reality, they only sold to the five major powers.
Coupled with an advanced missile launch system, it boasted a flight speed of Mach 30, a maximum range of 30,000 kilometers, and a circular error probable of 100 meters. It could essentially achieve global strike capability, covering every single corner of the earth.
The missile launch system, dubbed the "Spear of Longinus," could be deployed not only on nuclear submarines but also on warships, fixed fortresses, and the like.
Such a powerful yet eco-friendly weapon greatly tempted the five major powers. They also knew that in the face of the new element warhead—also referred to as the "Spear of Longinus" element bomb—the world's radar and anti-missile interception systems were essentially useless.
At a terrifying speed of Mach 30, radar might not even have time to detect the Spear of Longinus before it struck its target.
"Damn you, Zodhis!!!"
The new head of North American Hydra slammed his fists onto the desk in front of him.
The emergence of the Spear of Longinus completely torpedoed the "Insight Plan" that the new Hydra head had inherited from Alexander Pierce.
They had poured an astronomical amount of money into it, and just as the Insight Plan was on the verge of activation, the Spear of Longinus had to make its debut.
If they launched their helicarriers with the intent of opposing the world, they would probably be blasted right out of the sky by the Spear of Longinus!
Even though the Spear of Longinus was prohibitively expensive—so much so that even the five major powers couldn't afford to procure many of them.
After all, Zodhis had slapped a $20 billion price tag on a single set, which included ten new element warheads.
The lethal radii of these new element warheads were 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers, and a maximum of 20 kilometers, respectively.
A single gram of the new element generated energy equivalent to the explosion of ten million tons of TNT.
Furthermore, Zodhis had implemented a clustered charge design. Outside the lethal radius, even a single centimeter beyond the boundary, the shockwave wouldn't damage so much as a hair. Conversely, because the destructive power was so highly concentrated, it drastically increased the probability of completely obliterating the target.
Currently, the Umbrella Corporation had only sold ten Spear of Longinus systems in total.
It wasn't that no one else wanted to buy them; Zodhis simply refused to sell to unknown entities or anyone who wasn't part of the five major powers.
He wanted to prevent a scenario where, due to the lack of nuclear radiation and environmental pollution, the Spear of Longinus became the go-to weapon for World War III.
Then, there was the matter of New York.
The war between the Chitauri and the Monster Association had just ended, leaving the entire city in ruins. As far as the eye could see, it looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Heaven knew how much cash it would take to rebuild.
It was foreseeable that the various parties would be squabbling over funding for a long time to come. Rebuilding an international metropolis like New York wasn't something that could be solved with a mere ten or twenty billion.
By international convention, the defeated nation in a war would normally have to cede territory and pay reparations. However, it was quite obvious they couldn't chase after Thanos to demand compensation.
As for the escaped Monster Garou, once they found him, they would either kill him on the spot or study the secret of his transformation from human to monster. Besides, Garou didn't look like he had a dime to his name anyway.
Under these circumstances, all the government could do was step up and offer some empty platitudes, putting out calls to action. But when it came to the actual heavy lifting, they would definitely need the capitalists to foot the bill.
It wasn't that the government was being stingy or unwilling to help; they were genuinely flat broke.
The US government's poverty was world-renowned. As a government that frequently shut down and almost went bankrupt whenever Congress refused to approve a budget, where on earth were they supposed to pull that kind of money from?
The capitalists, however, weren't exactly known for their high moral awareness either.
Businessmen succeeded precisely because they were tightfisted; it absolutely had nothing to do with any noble spirit of worrying about the nation and its people. In a few days, the White House would undoubtedly go knocking on doors asking for handouts, and the capitalists would undoubtedly reply, "We're broke, get lost!"
Stark was somewhat of an insider, and he could foresee the grim outlook for New York's future.
The other capitalists might lack that level of civic duty, but he had it.
Even now, his mind was already spinning with blueprints for the reconstruction of New York. Someone had to step up and take the lead on this, and he felt that someone had to be him.
Things played out exactly as Stark had predicted. In the aftermath of the war, the reconstruction of New York City became the biggest problem facing the metropolis.
This wasn't a situation where a few buildings had collapsed and they just needed to start over. After the Chitauri and the Monster Association had hollowed out the underground and deliberately triggered a massive collapse, New York was practically reduced to a giant crater several hundred meters deep.
Fortunately, Zodhis had established the Excalibur Bureau early on and conducted various practical drills on disaster evasion. The residents had been swiftly evacuated from New York by Sentinel robots before the fighting even began.
Otherwise, the casualties would have been astronomical. After all, this was likely humanity's first encounter with a "God"-level disaster.
The fact that there were only military casualties was already a silver lining.
Over the next month, the overriding theme for everyone involved was "broke." The New York City government went crying to the state government about their empty coffers, the state government went crying to the federal government, and then the President went knocking on the doors of the capitalists one by one to cry poor.
If this were a competition, the outcome would have been decided the moment the major insurance companies jumped into the fray—and the result would be completely undisputed.
Because if you asked who had it the worst in this disaster, no one suffered more than the insurance companies.
If they actually honored their policies, the insurance industry would have to compensate for the property and life losses of more than half the city.
Obviously, that was completely unrealistic. If they actually tried to operate that way, insurance executives across the country would have already started packing their bags to flee the country.
Anyway, after everyone shoved the responsibility back and forth, it all boiled down to two words: no money! The President spent all day lobbying and fundraising, practically wearing through the soles of his shoes, yet barely scraped together a fraction of the needed funds.
The international community inevitably went through the motions of fundraising as well, but everyone politely kept it to a minimum. They donated a token amount just to make a statement, essentially conveying a "we chipped in" sentiment before washing their hands of it.
Out of options, the White House began tossing out contracts left and right, hoping to attract independent contractors to help with the cleanup.
They offered highly lucrative terms, signing contracts with individuals and small crews to help clean up the battlefield, while intentionally or unintentionally leaving loopholes in the agreements that could be exploited for profit.
The tactic was actually effective. A massive influx of independent contractors was drawn in to help sweep the battlefield. Among them was the man who would later become the infamous villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming—the Vulture.
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