The Clock Was Ticking
Viktor von Doom did not hide his name and openly and frankly made his actions public.
According to Latovinia law, Doom, who is not a member of the royal family, is not eligible to inherit the throne. Ironically, the position of third in line that he bought with money is real and recognized by the entire royal family. The former king of Latovinia declared Doom's status as a member of the royal family on various occasions more than once, and other members of the royal family also constantly filled in the gaps for the king for money—even though Doom did not change his surname to the royal family's surname.
Even under his false identity, Doom received a monthly allowance from the royal family, held a government position, and served as the honorary president of the Latovinia Education Foundation, which Doom funded himself.
The fact that a globally wanted criminal became the Monarch of another country is undoubtedly a slap in the face to United States. However, after several failed attempts at armed intervention, the United States did not make any further attempts. All it did was increase the number of personnel and equipment deployed to its military bases in Latovinia's neighboring country.
After just a few days of rest, Doctor Doom multiplied the strength of the Latovinia army several times over; the automatic air defense system alone caused the U.S. military to lose two squadrons of aircraft.
Looking at Victor Doom's resume, it's not surprising. He earned multiple doctorates from the State University of New York and is proficient in robotics, cybernetics, genetics, weapons technology, and biochemistry. If he hadn't come from a humble background and been controlled by vampires, he would probably be a Tony Stark -like figure.
The armor he was wearing, after technical comparison, was found to be the same model as the Iron Man suit that destroyed the ground force, indicating that Victor Doom had created this Iron Man suit on his own over the course of nearly a year.
Faced with this potential enemy with absolutely no possibility of cooperation, the US Department of Defense immediately listed him as the most dangerous supervillain to date. The originally planned bearded man was put aside, and instead Tony Stark, who was conducting research in the basement of his villa, was specially invited to the Department of Defense.
The young master was originally analyzing the documents left by his father, trying to find a new substance that could replace palladium as the new core of the Arc Reactor. He was very unhappy after his research was interrupted, but after all the information about Doctor Doom was placed in front of him, Tony Stark became more serious than ever before.
The files on Victor Doom were set aside, and Tony Stark examined all the images of Doctor Doom over and over again. These were several photos taken at great risk by spies infiltrating Latovinia, as well as battlefield records of the flight formations and ground forces that were wiped Doctor Doom, which were urgently transmitted back before they were completely destroyed.
As for what comes next, firstly, automated weaponry is sufficient to counter the United States army, eliminating the need for the Latovinia Monarch to personally intervene; secondly, what kind of advanced technology has Doctor Doom developed?
After a long time, Tony Stark came to a conclusion: his current Mark IV Iron Man suit was no match for Doctor Doom in terms of performance. Learning that Victor Doom had spent the entire past year on the run, without a large industrial division like Stark Industries to provide him with comprehensive technical support, the young master fell silent, then his competitive spirit was ignited.
After the successful development of the new Arc Reactor, he was confident that he could upgrade the Mark V Iron Man suit, and that it was only a matter of time before the Mark VI and subsequent models surpassed Doctor Doom's technology.
As for the scene where a wave of the hand sends out a burst of energy, the hit fighter jet is torn to pieces, but the pilot is unharmed, Tony Stark, who firmly believes that science is the only truth, dismisses the possibility that it is magic. He thinks it is some kind of unknown technology, but he just hasn't figured out the principles behind it yet.
Putting aside the highly classified documents that could only be stored as paper files, Nick Fury rubbed his temples and then dialed Coulson's number. "Coulson, is Kent Clark back?"
Coulson didn't sit idle after his injury, or perhaps some sense of mission prevented him from enjoying his vacation in peace. So, Black Eggplant transferred him to supervise Tony Stark to prevent the young master from getting carried away and continuing his debauchery while studying Howard Stark's remaining materials.
After Tony Stark was called to the Department of Defense to serve as a technical advisor on the Doctor Doom problem, Coulson was transferred to the Osborn Industries Base to work in the security department.
These two tasks show that Black Eggplant takes good care of this trusted subordinate. The work is easy and low-intensity, and the salary is the same. Most of the time, he only needs to read the newspaper and drink tea.
"He just arrived. After putting away the souvenirs he brought back from that country across the ocean, he's discussing tonight's menu with the chefs. Should I hand the phone to him?"
Coulson smiled as he looked at the handwritten menu in front of him, which was designed by the chefs based on the ingredients purchased that day. Kent Clark was in a very good mood after returning from that country across the ocean. He brought back a container full of trinkets, which he distributed as gifts to everyone in the Osborn Industries base. Even the cleaners received two small ceramic panda figurines.
The chef who had been serving him began preparing a dinner for others, though few were invited, and Coulson was on the list.
"No, let him get some rest." Black Eggplant was about to hang up, thought for a moment and said, "Tell him I've made all the preparations we agreed on; the rest is up to him."
Black Eggplant refers to the villainous organization "Conglomerate B". During the time Wei Xiuming was away from the United States, he was busy building the framework of this organization. To this end, he allocated a large sum of money to build a secret base. Through eighteen transfers, he built the framework of a large company involving many aspects such as medicine, beauty, electronics, film and television, real estate, and toy development.
This shell company also owns a series of machinery processing plants and chemical plants, and has obtained production licenses for certain important chemical raw materials; it has also acquired several film and television production companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy or have already gone bankrupt, in order to create the "artificial hero image" mentioned by Wei Xiuming.
In addition, under the false identity of Samuel Jack, he recruited many small factions that were at odds with S.H.I.E.L.D.., bringing them all under the banner of "Conglomerate B," creating the prototype of a villainous organization, and actively extending olive branches to certain "famous" individuals to expand his power.
All that's left are Kent Clark's hair growth tonic and scar removal serum. After investigating the sales and profits of these two products worldwide, Black Eggplant is confident that these two items alone can support the entire Conglomerate B's operations.