8 The Iron Brotherhood
This should be the last chapter of the day.
From now on, it will be one chapter per day, but as an incentive, here are the goals for extra chapters beyond the daily ones:
200 power stones - 1 extra chapter.
300 power stones - 1 extra chapter.
400 power stones - 1 extra chapter.
Top 10 - 2 extra chapters.
Top 5 - 3 extra chapters.
Top 1 - 4 extra chapters.
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Reward Achieved: 100 power stones - 1 extra chapter.
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"Without the Tesseract, it's impossible for us to run simulations and create the exact conditions to endow anyone with Carol's powers. And I'll have to try to obtain Carol's blood herself to perfect the process... not that it's difficult. In two years, it will be easy, and if everything goes well, Carol will be my second wife and will collaborate with the process." I said with a mischievous smile.
Of course, I won't rush. I still have to meet her in person and see if we'll get along.
About four years ago, I couldn't save Dr. Lawson. I was afraid of introducing technology around her, and she might notice it. And when the accident happened, I didn't act; I wasn't ready to face the entire Kree civilization, and I didn't want the hassle of doing so while protecting Earth from their attacks.
Unfortunately, four years ago, I didn't have nanotechnology; otherwise, I could have collected all the data and even saved Dr. Lawson quietly and without attracting the Kree.
"Hey, Jarvis. How are the calculations for the inferior version of Extremis going?" I asked.
[Well, sir, your idea of a medical crib filled with nanobots that enter the body, repair, and return to the crib is the most suitable. It also aligns with your idea of collecting memories and DNA from everyone using the chamber. But the problem lies with the world's medical industries. You would be undermining their profits, which could lead to serious consequences and attacks, resulting in material damage and negative publicity...] JARVIS said, explaining a long list of issues that gave me a headache.
[The best course I calculated is to use the crib as a technology to cure various types of cancer. Cancer is a relatively common disease, and creating a cure would be in the interest of both the poor and the rich. Nobody knows when cancer might strike and ruin their lives, and even the shareholders of major pharmaceutical industries don't dare to play with cancer. Additionally, curing cancer would gain strong support from the massive tobacco industries.] JARVIS explained his analysis.
It didn't deviate much from what I had already been thinking. In the future, when I establish myself better in the medical industry, new cures might be revealed through the regeneration cradle.
"Well, go with what you said. Send and discuss the plans with Pepper." I ordered.
Well, for me, it's good enough, but I'll let Pepper decide. My job is to create problems, and hers is to deal with my problems.
[Sir, you may face obstacles in the attempts of others to appropriate your technology and discover how you are curing cancer.] JARVIS warned.
"Well, the technology is mine, and I can do with it as I please. If they try to steal a crib, you know what to do." I said, shrugging.
If they try to steal it, the thieves will discover that there are hidden weapons within the walls.
Unlike Tony from the movies, where helicopters come to fire missiles at his house and there are no defense measures, wherever I go, I leave defense measures.
Now, even if they destroy all my weapons, they still won't get anything from the crib after its self-destruction.
Anyway, I have money, power, influence, and cunning, so it's better not to provoke me.
...
The days stayed the same, and in the blink of an eye, two years have passed while I've been living in my garage.
This time, besides creating things, I did something different.
As I realized that I wouldn't be able to regenerate people's limbs for commercial purposes anytime soon, I decided to mimic Killian.
I used JARVIS to contact disabled soldiers and gave them a chance.
Well, I won't just give them power, even if they're not a threat to me. Without them knowing I use nanobots to access their memories and learn about their personalities and secrets.
For those who are good, Extremis would simply ensure their loyalty while retaining their free will.
As for those who were bad and cruel, unfortunately, they lost their free will and were forced to become good people. I even changed their appearances because I didn't want those who suffered at their hands to see the villains in glory. Not that their faces would appear when they acted as masked heroes.
All the soldiers had secrecy guaranteed by Extremis, which had access to their minds, and they also received a good salary.
The Extremis I applied to them is not the same as my Extremis that no one could control. Theirs is an Extremis under my control.
Regarding the mission I gave them, I ordered them to be heroes. I baptized them as the Iron Brotherhood.
Iron refers to me, their creator, the Iron Man, while Brotherhood has a somewhat military connotation... well, I admit I didn't put much thought into the name.
Anyway, it was both a way for me to have some fun and a way to stop thinking that I could be out there helping to end injustice in the world as Iron Man.
Well... it's good to be rich. Do you feel bad for not doing something? So, pay others to do your work and you to feel better.
Anyway, there were many disabled soldiers worldwide, so it was no longer just the United States that had defenders now.
Everything I did was anonymous, so no one knew about my involvement.
The Iron Brotherhood had only access to Extremis, but they had recently improved their combat methods by directly infusing knowledge into their brains through Extremis—inspired by the Matrix movie.
Now, they had enhanced strength, agility, resilience, and healing factors, in addition to effective combat skills.
The brotherhood are doing good deeds all over the world, although governments were getting a bit jittery about this powerful force that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Attempts were even made to kill some of my soldiers to study their bodies, but they failed because the brotherhood moved in teams and escaped quickly.
However, each time this happened, the Iron Brotherhood united and sought revenge against those who had attacked them. Which usually deterred further attempts.
