As John and Bobby, with Ulysses Klaw's help, set off for Wakanda, isolated from the rest of the world, the White House convened a security meeting. Its topic was no longer Asgard or the Nine Realms, but the human nations sharing the same planet.
Not long ago, the Department of Defense had submitted a detailed report on Wakanda, while a diplomat concerned with international affairs had also filed an application for international aid on behalf of the Wakanda Royal Family. By an astonishing coincidence, this Third World nation entered the sight of politicians and financial magnates for the first time.
The first report claimed that Wakanda possessed extraordinarily valuable mineral resources of unparalleled economic and military value. The second stated that a surviving member of the royal family had suffered persecution and had no choice but to seek international aid. It also mentioned, in passing, that the country's ruling class was incomparably brutal and that innocent citizens living in misery desperately awaited rescue.
With those two pieces of news colliding, even an idiot could tell that someone was pushing this from the shadows. Yet no one paid attention to that. Representatives from the political and economic spheres flocked to the meeting, caring only about whether the reports were true.
If Wakanda truly possessed abundant vibranium veins, then America would undoubtedly launch another large-scale overseas military operation and treat it as the next Kuwait.
The new energy technologies promoted by Stark Industries were gradually causing the Petrodollar System established by America to crumble. The conflict was growing ever sharper. Old financial conglomerates like Roxxon Oil had suffered devastating losses, and Wakanda's appearance was undoubtedly a spring in the desert, capable of diverting much of the nation's attention.
The White House East Room, which could accommodate three hundred guests, was packed with