Solomon paid no attention to the Avengers' ongoing operations to hunt down Hydra. To him, it was a joke—and right now, he was counting on that very joke to sustain his plans. Under the control of comprador elites backed by the U.S., the Hydra cells entrenched in Sokovia had somehow become a symbol of national conscience, a beacon of patriotism. The Maximoff twins had complained to Solomon more than once about the cruelty of the comprador class, insisting that even terrorist organizations and feudal systems were more progressive in comparison. As for how poor Sokovia actually was, the information Solomon reviewed told him this was a nation even Soviet Premier Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev had given up on.
After the Soviet Union's collapse, the country had suffered wave after wave of armed conflict. A pro-American government took power, the president became Washington's puppet, and efforts were made to turn Sokovia into a U.S. back garden. But reality proved otherwise—Sokovia's industrial base couldn't compare to Ukraine's, the land was rockier than fertile, and the only agriculture was tobacco. There was nothing of value to sell. Unsurprisingly, Sokovia became America's toilet paper, its tiny share of international news coverage overshadowed by neighboring Ukraine. If Wanda Maximoff hadn't been born with chaos magic, Solomon figured he would've found her training in the Sisterhood boot camp of the Immortal City.
That said, being worthless had its advantages—no one really cared about Sokovia. Surprisingly, even during the civil war, the locals managed to scrape by. The village where the Maximoffs lived had no strategic value, and since the last major civil conflict, it had remained untouched by war. At least they weren't digging through garbage like the poorest in the Philippines.
As a result, the Avengers were far from welcomed in Sokovia. On some level, they represented Western invaders and stood in alliance with the comprador-backed regime. But neither Tony Stark nor Steve Rogers realized this. One was a billionaire industrialist, and the other had never seen firsthand the aftermath of America's "democracy exportation." While Steve was starting to learn—he had developed some thoughts after witnessing the chaos in Latin America—he was still too busy chasing his old comrades to reflect deeply. As for Stark, he was completely immune to such ideas. Though he no longer sold weapons to the U.S. government and had lobbied for military withdrawals, he now took a more direct approach to combating terrorism.
He handled it himself.
Since the shutdown of Stark Industries' smuggling channels, those former U.S.-backed terror groups were left without high-tech missiles (not that they could use them anyway) or air support. And Tony Stark, clad in Iron Man armor, moved through their ranks like a god of war. Back when S.H.I.E.L.D. existed, this was a viable tactic—but now that S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone, Stark's war against extremist religious factions had to be put on hold. Left restless, the billionaire poured all his energy into chasing down Hydra remnants.
Solomon and the Immortal City watched from the sidelines with cold indifference.
Agent Natasha Romanoff regularly reported the Avengers' activities to him. Agent Victoria Hand was still hunting down Coulson's team, and Stephanie Malik—like a massive spider atop the Hydra intelligence network—waited to strike. Besides Stephanie, no one knew just how vast Solomon's power in the secular world truly was, or how much he controlled in assets.
He never hoarded wealth. Every cent he earned was reinvested into industrial development and scientific research. He could say with confidence that no one on Earth valued science and technology more than he did, and no one else possessed such a breadth of advanced knowledge. With the Sisterhood's ongoing rescue and recruitment efforts bringing in fresh blood, and small-scale factories operating around the clock, the Immortal City's armories were overflowing with high-tech equipment. According to Stephanie's estimates, once Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. were fully absorbed, Solomon would have enough strength to stage a military coup in parts of Africa—or even take half of Latin America.
He might even win another Falklands War—against the British.
But Solomon focused on development, not conquest. His thick stack of infrastructure plans filled Stephanie's files to the brim.
He wanted construction, not war.
Right under Wakanda's nose, Stephanie was recruiting scientists and researchers from around the globe to implement Solomon's Mars Foundry Project. The goal was to make the Immortal City entirely independent of Wakanda's industrial base and establish Mars as a future hub for manufacturing, high-tech research, and arms production. Along with the scientists, automated construction equipment was being sent to Mars—accompanied by a Celestial corpse soon to be excavated from beneath Antarctica's thick ice.
It would be the highest-level research project ever conducted.
No matter how loudly Shuri protested, Solomon refused to let anyone not on the Foundry roster participate. His reasoning was simple and unassailable: the Celestial corpses contained biochemical hazards and countless mysteries that only trained spellcasters could handle. As a professional, Solomon insisted on taking the lead.
King T'Chaka of Wakanda wasn't unaware of Solomon's schemes, but he had no choice but to cooperate. Wakanda remained a fragmented tribal theocracy where national leaders also served as spiritual heads, and tribal chiefs shared similar dual roles. Unless the nation faced total collapse, true unity was impossible. Even if T'Chaka wanted to act against Solomon, the agreement between the Panther Goddess Bast and the mage would block him.
This was the empire Solomon had built in just a few years. Aside from a select few, no one realized the young man studying in Oxford's library was a full-fledged warlord. No one knew his armed force had surpassed the militaries of many small countries. Stephanie managed everything flawlessly. To Solomon, she was like his left and right hands—an inseparable extension of his will. Cunning old Gideon Malik once tried to offer a suggestion, only to be ruthlessly shut down by Stephanie. She knew how long Solomon would live, and he had already mapped out her next hundred years. As a Hydra heir with immense ambition, Stephanie saw the future—and compared to Solomon's vision, the Malik family meant nothing. In her eyes, only someone like Solomon could lead humanity against alien threats.
But alien invasion was only a minor detail in Solomon's grand design.
Naturally, someone this busy had no time for the Avengers' renewed interest—especially now that they'd realized Solomon was legally an adult (nineteen). He turned down their invitation. He had more important things to do.
Thanks to the efforts of engineering teams, combat squads, and local labor, the City of Kitezh had finally been excavated from the thick ice and mountainous terrain—albeit with a rather aggressive method. To accelerate the timeline, the ever-optimistic artificial human Catherine ordered the permafrost above the Lost City to be blasted open. Using her clearance, she launched several high-yield bunker buster missiles, triggering a massive avalanche.
But clearing snow was far easier than digging through frozen ground—construction time was cut by nearly two-thirds.
At the same time, this display gave Sophia a glimpse of the Immortal City's might. The sky carrier had been too far away to fully grasp, but seeing bunker busters and artillery arrays in action made even the most devout locals think twice about clinging to their old beliefs. Of course, Solomon's assimilation policy wasn't overly forceful—Jacob's status as the undying prophet played a key role in bridging the gap.
For the first time, the Lost City welcomed its true master.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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