The conversation naturally ended on a sour note.
Neither Tony nor Rhodey secured the support or caution he had hoped for.
New York City, the sprawling metropolis that had endured the Fire Giant's scorching heat, had been recovering for some time.
Recently, it had finally begun showing signs of regaining its former vitality.
From the Stark Energy Group pouring enormous sums into the city's recovery to the Vought Group unveiling its superhero team, the Seven.
There were also numerous biotech companies and businessmen arriving from other cities.
Even some powerful independent operators joined in.
They all returned while New York was in deep trouble, trying to get its economy back on its feet.
On television and in the streets, everyone was shouting the same message everywhere: this city was about to spring back to life, so come back and settle down!
For a while, the battered city really did seem bustling, at least on the surface.
Major companies offered plenty of jobs, even spending heavily to entice workers from elsewhere to return and work in the city.
And no companies offered more positions than the Stark Energy Group and Vought Pharmaceuticals.
Together, these two companies directly created nearly 130,000 new jobs!
The jobs they created indirectly could even number as many as a million!
Those were figures other companies could scarcely imagine.
With the economy declining as it was, even the largest companies struggled to create tens of thousands of new positions.
Yet these two groups could actually manage it.
That was because the products or industrial supply chains they introduced were entirely unprecedented.
The Care Model Robots introduced by Stark Industries and the latest drugs released by the Vought Group.
Both were unique products, with no need whatsoever to worry about competition in the market.
Meanwhile, more outsiders tried