The Pentagon command center.
Smoke hung thick in the air, stinging everyone's eyes, but no one had the mind to turn on the ventilation system.
On the battle map, the flags representing the Allies were surrounded on all sides by a sea of scarlet Hydra emblems. The positions along the Western Front had collapsed completely.
Captain America was gravely wounded and unconscious, his fate unknown.
The news was graver than the loss of ten divisions.
It had robbed the entire nation of its backbone.
"What does the medical department say?"
The secretary of defense's voice was hoarse, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the battle map.
"It's bad."
"What about the two gods?"
"Soldier Boy is pinned down in Belgium by the Perfect Corps. Every time he destroys an enemy, he has to withstand the impact of a spatial explosion. He's already showing clear signs of fatigue.
"Human Torch... his flames are the bane of those monsters.
"But Hydra changed its tactics, using human-wave attacks to isolate him on the Eastern Front. He can't get to France to help."
"So all we can do is watch as the defensive line is torn apart?"
Their planes, tanks, and artillery had been reduced to expensive scrap in the face of those bizarre "perfect beings."
It was a war they neither understood nor could win.
"Report!"
A communications officer rushed in, looking frantic, his voice trembling. "Mr. Lynn Morris... in his capacity as chairman of Foresight Holdings, requests an emergency video conference with the Department of Defense, the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and the Congressional Military Committee!"
"Foresight?"
The secretary of defense frowned.
What did he want?
At a time like this, as a businessman?
"Put him through."
The secretary of defense waved a hand wearily.
He wanted to see what the man who had shaken up the entire world order was really after.
Soon, the conference room's main screen lit up.
Onscreen, Lynn Morris's hair was immaculately combed.
His calm composure stood in glaring contrast to the apocalyptic atmosphere in the command center.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen."
Lynn's voice came through the speakers.
"Sorry to disturb you, but I believe what I have to show you may turn the tide of this frustrating war."
He didn't mention Captain America, Soldier Boy, or even those damned "perfect beings."
"First, regarding our mutual friend, Captain Steve Rogers."
Lynn gave a small wave, and a detailed medical report and a slowly pulsing vital signs monitor appeared on the screen behind him.
"Tragic, isn't it?"
"Gods bleed too. But fortunately, the biotechnology division of Foresight Pharmaceuticals has made a small, insignificant breakthrough in its research into high-energy particle erosion."
The image changed, and a blue gel sealed inside a glass container appeared on the screen.
"Biostabilizing gel, an experimental product. It can suppress the energy erosion in the captain's body and buy us precious time."
The military's top medical experts had been helpless, yet a pharmaceutical company had come up with a solution?
"Of course, stabilizing the captain's condition alone isn't enough."
Lynn's expression remained calm.
"We need weapons to strike back."
He snapped his fingers.
A 3D model of a grenade appeared on the screen.
"A repulsion-field grenade, a prototype the engineers at Foresight Mechanics rushed to make overnight. It can't inflict physical damage, but the pulse it releases can effectively neutralize energy explosions within a fifteen-meter radius for three seconds."
"In other words, when a perfect being self-destructs, our soldiers will have three seconds to survive."
A chorus of sharp intakes of breath rang out in the command center.
This thing... was practically tailor-made for this war!
"That's not enough, either."
The screen changed.
The design for a highly futuristic suit of individual powered exoskeleton armor appeared before everyone.
"Individual powered exoskeleton armor, code name 'Sentry.' It's still only a preliminary model. The inspiration came from my reverse engineering of some Hydra technology."
"It can triple an ordinary soldier's strength and defense, and allow him to run at over forty kilometers an hour while carrying a load. Most importantly, repulsion-field emitters can be mounted on its chest armor and arm shields."
The generals stared at the design, dumbfounded, their minds blank.
They felt as if they weren't attending a military conference, but watching a science fiction movie from fifty years in the future!
Repulsion-field grenades, exoskeleton armor...
While they had been worrying about the war, Lynn Morris, that shameless bastard, had already built a business empire capable of providing everything for it!
"Mr. Morris... what do you want?"
The secretary of defense knew perfectly well there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Lynn had bared his fangs, and he was bound to have demands of his own.
"What I want is simple."
Lynn finally smiled. To the generals, that smile was even more terrifying than Red Skull's sinister grin.
"I need money, vast amounts of it, to perfect these technologies and put them into mass production."
"At the same time, on behalf of Foresight Pharmaceuticals, I'm announcing that we've made a breakthrough in our penicillin purification process. Production will double."
"I'm willing to supply the military in unlimited quantities at a patriotic price."
At the mention of penicillin, the generals' eyes lit up.
On the battlefield, it was as important as bullets.
"Your conditions?"
"The conditions are simple."
Lynn raised one finger.
"I need the military to open all its wartime supply-chain channels to every subsidiary of Foresight Holdings."
"From steel and rare metals to chemical raw materials, transportation, and logistics... I need priority."
The entire command center fell silent.
Everyone understood.
Money wasn't what Lynn Morris wanted.
He wanted control over the lifelines of this war!
He wanted to embed his business empire like blood vessels throughout the nation's war machine!
"That's impossible!"
A general in charge of military production shouted instinctively.
"That would put a private company in control of the nation's economic lifelines!"
"Is that so?"
Lynn fixed his gaze on the general through the screen.
"Then please tell me, apart from this, what choice do you have?"
"Will you use your soldiers' flesh and blood to fill Hydra's factories? Or will you tell the families waiting for their fathers and husbands to come home that their heroes died for nothing because of your incompetence?"
Yes, did they have a choice?
They didn't.
When conventional warfare failed and political maneuvering became a joke, whoever could bring hope of victory had the power to define the rules.
The secretary of defense closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, only resolve remained in his eyes.
"The committee agrees to all your conditions."
"A pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen."
The smile on Lynn's face grew brighter.
"The first shipment of biogel and repulsion-field grenades will reach the front within twelve hours. As for the captain... I'll go bring him back myself."
The video call ended.
The command center was deathly silent.
After a long while, the secretary of defense murmured to himself.
"Did we... bring in a savior, or unleash a monster more terrifying than Hydra?"
No one could answer him.
Because everyone was pondering the same question.
When this war ended, where would the behemoth known as "Foresight" go from there?