Weapons Expo

Puppies?

Noah's expression darkened.

"Why don't you see if these little puppies can bite your head off?"

Tony Stark's expression stiffened, and he did not respond.

He simply found Noah Allen irritating, so he had come over to pick a fight—not to court death.

He had absolutely no desire to get anywhere near creatures that looked so absurdly dangerous.

"Using little puppies like these as exhibits must have been hard on you."

After a brief silence, Tony Stark resumed his mockery.

Noah ignored him.

You could not indulge people like him. The more you indulged them, the more arrogant they became.

"Want to come take a look at my Jericho Missile? Now that's the aesthetics of violence."

Tony Stark did not care in the slightest about Noah's indifference and continued endlessly boasting about his latest weapon.

Only after quite some time, when Noah Allen still refused to take the bait, did he leave in boredom.

Showing off was only interesting when someone played along.

Without question, Noah had defeated him with indifference.

But as he watched Tony Stark leave, a hint of curiosity appeared on Noah's face.

"The Jericho Missile... if I'm not mistaken, this was the weapon that led to Tony Stark's kidnapping."

It seemed the plot of Iron Man 1 was indeed about to begin.

Noah thought to himself.

After a busy stretch, the Weapons Expo officially began.

Quite a few high-ranking military representatives entered.

They were the main customers.

Without question, the military's recent favorite was Stark Industries' products.

Watching the military head without hesitation toward the Stark Group exhibition area, Justin Hammer's face darkened in the Hammer Industries exhibition area, and he clenched his fist unwillingly.

Meanwhile, Noah considered how he should market his own products next.

But he did not forget to go over and join the excitement.

Tony Stark looked at the many high-ranking military officials and introduced with a proud expression:

"Ladies and gentlemen, behold Stark Industries' flagship product: the first new anti-gravity system, integrated with our independently developed rapid-response technology.

The absolute ruler of modern warfare—the Jericho Missile!"

As he spoke, a test-launch video of the Jericho Missile began playing on the holographic display.

Its breathtaking power left the many high-ranking military officials deeply tempted.

"Some people say the best weapon is one that never needs to be fired. I disagree. I believe the best weapon only needs to be fired once."

"This is an intelligently controlled cluster missile. Its features are wide destructive range and tremendous power.

"On top of that, it comes equipped with Stark Group's intelligent control system. It is absolutely the best on the market.

"Perhaps it has no other notable advantages, but tell me.

"What is the most important thing about a weapon?"

An Army colonel answered:

"Accuracy and power, naturally."

Tony Stark's lips curled up as he nodded.

"That's right—accuracy and power.

"No one can surpass Stark Industries' intelligent precision. As for power, after watching the video, do any of you still have questions?"

After Tony Stark finished speaking, the high-ranking military officials began whispering among themselves, most of them looking satisfied.

Clearly, they were very satisfied with the Jericho Missile.

The only question was how many they would order.

Watching Tony Stark's presentation, Noah had to admit that while the man was not an outstanding businessman, he was a terrifying genius.

To sell a product, the most important thing was not being good with words—it was having a product good enough.

After watching the Jericho Missile's explosion demonstration, he had to admit that its power was indeed frightening. The only problem was that it was a little expensive, with each missile costing more than five million dollars.

Still, it was worth the price overall.

Afterward, the buyers went to look around the other exhibition areas.

They placed orders for products at most of the booths, though the quantities varied.

These products might not measure up to Stark Industries' weapons.

But this was a matter of balance.

The military could not allow Stark Industries' weapons to dominate the market alone.

After that, they arrived at Hammer Industries' exhibition area.

Another massive order was placed.

If Stark Industries' products were high-end brands, then Hammer Industries' products were cheap street-stall goods.

They might not have been as good as Stark Industries' products, but they offered great value for money.

As a key target of military support, these buyers did not hesitate to place a huge order.

By the time afternoon arrived, Noah finally welcomed his first batch of customers.

"What is this? A dog?"

A Lieutenant General voiced his doubts.

Since he had come to the Weapons Expo, he believed these creatures had to serve some purpose, but it was hard to imagine these big fellows becoming qualified weapons.

Noah nodded. "That's right. This is Umbrella's flagship product this time: the 'Fighting Wolf.'"

After looking over the sizes of these big fellows, several people nodded. They really could be called wolves.

"To save time, why don't you introduce its advantages?"

The Lieutenant General spoke.

Clearly, he did not hold much hope for the Fighting Wolves.

Noah spoke confidently. "The Fighting Wolves are Umbrella's latest research product.

Unlike the immensely destructive weapons made by Stark Industries.

The Fighting Wolves were not created for large-scale battlefields.

They were created for urban combat.

Only on small-scale battlefields like that can they perform at their best."

Afterward, Noah brought up some of the Fighting Wolves' test data.

The Fang Fighting Wolf had been classified by the system as a Level 2 creature, worth 638 Cell Source.

Based on the genetic data he had obtained before, he had roughly deduced the system's classification method.

So-called Level 2 represented the level of a fully armed individual soldier.

Above that, Level 3 should, according to the system's classification, represent the limits of the human body—the level of Captain America.

The system's classifications were simple, but actual combat was far more complicated.

With that shield added in, ordinary Level 3 creatures were simply no match for the Captain.

Meanwhile, the Fighting Wolves enhanced by the T-Virus were worth 870 Cell Source. At the cellular level alone, they had already surpassed the Fang Fighting Wolves.

Taking the Fighting Wolves' immortality into account as well, he believed that while they could not reach Level 3, they were definitely among the strongest at Level 2.

As for Frank, even without enhancement, his body had been trained to peak condition. Combined with his years of combat experience, if there were no restrictions on methods, his overall strength should fall somewhere between Level 3 and Level 4.

That was also the main reason a Fighting Wolf squad could not deal with him.

Of course, real combat could never be judged through simple numbers alone.

The Lieutenant General glanced at the data, and his interest was stirred.

Explosive power beyond that of a cheetah, strength and bite force greater than those of lions and tigers.

Most importantly, they were unafraid of gunfire.

Good stuff!

I asked my editor today, and this book has a little over fifty follow-up readers. It's neither good nor bad. I instantly got a lot more nervous. I originally thought I would get a recommendation this week, but now I'm not so sure. Hopefully, it performs well when it gets recommended. I'm not asking for a thousand first subscriptions—just over 500 would be enough (praying seriously)...