War Machine 2!
Its overall performance completely crushed War Machine 1.
The inspiration for the four metal arms on its back came from Doctor Octopus and the Iron Spider suit's spider legs.
The sub-grade Kryptonian metal coating allowed War Machine 2 to endure hundreds of tons of pressure without deforming, and its internal shock-absorption system had also been improved.
The palm energy cannons had higher output and faster startup time.
Its main weapons were those four mechanical arms. They were flexible, assisted by an internal AI system. Each arm had twenty tons of strength, and each arm was also coated with sub-grade Kryptonian metal.
If the Rabbit saw this, it would probably scream about wasting priceless resources. After all, sub-grade Kryptonian metal had already proven its value. It should not be squandered on so-called weapons.
"Each mechanical arm has twenty tons of strength. It can simulate a human punch, and it can throw five punches per second. At that attack frequency, that Deep Sea King can't take it," Zod said. To be honest, the arms' power was already absurd, but in Marvel, where superhumans start at dozens of tons like it is nothing, this barely counted as impressive.
"The arms also have cameras to gather information from multiple angles, and they're equipped with high-energy lasers for cutting and attacking."
The big claw-like arm demonstrated its weapons to the Air Force major general, firing a red laser beam that sliced through a standard steel plate thirty millimeters thick. Then it precisely hit a metal ball five hundred meters away, melting a clean hole straight through its center.
"Current tank armor can't stop this kind of high-energy laser at all. The palm energy cannons now have a range of three hundred meters as well."
Zod gave the numbers. Energy attenuated and dissipated badly in the atmosphere, so three hundred meters was already quite good.
The Air Force major general stared at War Machine 2 with bright, burning eyes. As expected of Zodhis. In just one night, he had built a weapon that could brutally slaughter a monster like the Deep Sea King.
Those four arms existed to replace the shortcomings of human close-combat technique. Short arms, short legs, you simply could not compare to a monster as unbelievably agile as the Deep Sea King. But these four arms could execute all kinds of high-difficulty movements, and they were insanely fast.
Zodhis even demonstrated a ridiculous move: using the arms to block machine gun bullets at close range. The reason was simple. These four arms were controlled by an even more advanced AI inside War Machine 2, capable of multi-thread control, doing several things at once.
"How much?" The Air Force major general could not wait to buy it.
"Two billion."
Zodhis named a number that sounded like it belonged in a fantasy.
"You're insane! A light aircraft carrier, under thirty thousand tons, costs five hundred million. A carrier group costs seven hundred million. Carrier aircraft cost five hundred million. That's only two billion total!" the Air Force major general blurted out.
It was just one War Machine. Could it possibly be worth more than an aircraft carrier, a full group, and its aircraft combined?
"Major general, I'm only responsible for the quote. I don't negotiate," Zod said with a sigh.
"After all, I'm responsible for producing weapons and R and D. If you want to bargain, you'll have to talk to Uld."
Then Zod added, "Of course, I have another War Machine model to recommend."
He led them to the second unit. Its shape resembled an anti-Hulk suit, but the overall color was a solemn, oppressive black.
"Such a big War Machine?" The major general was startled.
"It's called Iron Monger. Its armor thickness is double that of War Machine 1, but it doesn't use sub-grade Kryptonian coating. Its strength reaches fifty tons, and its defense is astonishing. The downside is that its flight speed is slower than War Machine 1 and 2 because it's too heavy."
Zod continued the introduction.
"There's a 20mm rotary cannon on the right hand, with the ammo box on its back. On its left arm is a triple-shot missile launcher with a total load of ten missiles. The energy core also uses a magnetic-confinement fusion reactor."
"It's a War Machine built specifically for close combat. Great strength, great defense, but the downside is lower speed."
The major general stared straight at the Iron Monger, at that overwhelming sense of power, especially the impact of a larger machine. It was pure intimidation.
He could already see it in his mind, flipping tanks, unstoppable, crushing everything in its path.
"How much?"
"One point five billion," Zod quoted.
The major general sighed. "I'll go back and discuss it, Zodhis."
He obviously could not make the call, not on bargaining and not on placing an order.
"Anytime," Zod replied.
After the major general returned, the U.S. military immediately learned that Zodhis had put new War Machines up for sale, and the prices were all painfully high.
Then they received another piece of news.
Zodhis had already started recommending his War Machines to other countries.
The Rabbit was easy to handle. Even though the Deep Sea King looked scary, they had the Divine Spear Bureau. A small fry like the Deep Sea King probably would not make it ten meters down the street before getting erased, so they were not particularly enthusiastic about the new War Machines.
While other countries were still shocked at how expensive the new War Machines were, those oil families in the Middle East made their move.
They valued their own survival above everything. And they burned money like water, completely unbothered by two billion dollars per unit.
Zodhis did not care about sales volume either. In the future, once he caused more trouble, sales would definitely rise.
Because Zodhis did not want superheroes getting too lazy.
"Ben, we need your strength."
After the Deep Sea King incident, the Fantastic Three were no longer as confident as before.
The Human Torch had always believed he was invincible. Even the Dark Knight Zod only beat him because of that suit of armor.
And yet he had been completely crushed by some marine creature.
So Reed sought out Ben Grimm, who had already returned to being an ordinary man.
"Reed, you know it. I don't want to turn back into that terrifying form…" Ben Grimm sighed. He had also seen the news afterward and learned the full story.
Ben knew that if he had joined the fight, the Deep Sea King would not have caused such heavy casualties.
But he truly did not want to become that terrifying thing again, because for him, there was no turning back once he did.
"But Ben, we're one body. We all endured the cosmic radiation storm and gained powers. Doom may be missing, but he probably changed too. This is power granted to us by the Lord, power meant for us to protect the world!"
Reed did not give up. He knew Ben was the type who could be persuaded.
"You think that appearance was also the Lord's blessing to me?" Ben suddenly roared at Reed.
/-\
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