Chapter 308: Purchase, Lease, and Intent
Following Ivan Vanko's command, a depleted uranium alloy armor-piercing round, trailing electromagnetic blazing flames, roared out from the muzzle, striking the Behemoth God Armor at ten times the speed of sound.
Layers of blue light barriers, roughly a foot thick, flickered across the surface of the Behemoth God Armor. The round hit the blue shield, sending the Behemoth God Armor staggering back repeatedly.
With a loud clang, the Behemoth God Armor slid back several dozen meters before standing firm. The depleted uranium armor-piercing round had completely expended its kinetic energy!
With a clatter, the scorching hot warhead fell to the ground.
"Its anti-strike capability is excellent!" Gene's eyes lit up. A 120mm depleted uranium armor-piercing round, fired by an electromagnetic cannon, traveling at ten times the speed of sound, was enough to punch through the Federation's latest heavy tanks.
Yet, this armor was completely undamaged by such an attack. Only the color of the surface energy shield had faded slightly, clearly indicating that the Tang Group had fully grasped the Chitauri's energy shield technology.
After the armor's defensive test concluded, the electromagnetic cannon that Gene had eyed with envy was retracted back into the alloy floor.
The alloy floor once again parted to the sides, and this time the elevator brought up an alloy metal block. The alloy lock, shaped like a gym stone lock, was sprayed with the marking "20t".
Thump, thump, thump, thump. The black Behemoth God Armor strode forward to the alloy lock.
Click, click. Its five metal fingers gripped the handle of the alloy lock, effortlessly lifting it and tossing it several dozen meters away.
"Anyone wearing this set of armor will possess physical strength exceeding twenty tons!" Ivan Vanko introduced to Gene with a hint of pride.
After testing the strength, the alloy lock was transported back underground. Dozens of metal pillars of varying heights rose from beneath the testing ground, instantly making the terrain of the testing ground incredibly complex.
The Behemoth God Armor slightly bent its waist and quickly ran around these metal pillars. In the blink of an eye, it stirred up a gale within the testing ground. The detection instruments at the side continuously reported its running speed.
Fifty kilometers per hour, eighty kilometers per hour, one hundred kilometers per hour... Finally, the Behemoth God Armor's running speed reached an astonishing high speed of two hundred kilometers per hour! Moreover, it moved with extreme agility while running. It ran around the metal pillars in arcs, yet it never touched them once. No matter how complex the route, it could make the fastest and most appropriate reactions relying on its internal computing chip.
The metal pillars slowly retracted into the ground, and the sprinting Behemoth God Armor stood once again in the center of the testing ground.
A three-foot-thick tank alloy armor steel plate slowly rose a hundred meters in front of it. The Behemoth God Armor raised its right arm, and the armor plate on its right arm shifted, revealing an energy cannon port about the thickness of a fist.
After a brief charge, a white light shot out from the muzzle, punching a hole clean through the tank alloy armor steel plate.
"Fantastic!" Gene applauded and cheered non-stop.
Ivan Vanko tore open the wrapper of an Alpenliebe lollipop and popped the fruit-flavored lollipop into his mouth, unconcerned by Gene's fuss.
The cut-down version of the Behemoth God Armor had its firepower specifications strictly limited during the initial stage of weapon manufacturing.
The internal Arc Reactor energy source could support the main cannon on the right arm for one hundred consecutive shots.
However, besides this main cannon, the Behemoth God Armor could be externally equipped with over a hundred types of weapons. When moving with a full weapon load, the Behemoth God Armor's maximum speed would drop to one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, but the carried weapons were equivalent to the firepower of a reinforced platoon.
As Ivan Vanko explained, three modular weapon boxes rose from underground. The Behemoth God Armor walked over and easily carried the three weapon boxes on its back.
With a few low mechanical hums, two 15mm multi-barreled machine guns were mounted on the arms of Hercules Unit One, one on the left and one on the right. An 80mm mortar barrel extended from behind its head, and two 120mm large-caliber anti-armor missiles extended from its shoulders.
Armed to the teeth, this was the only feeling the Behemoth God Armor gave off! And this was only a small part of the weapon configurations it could choose.
Muffled gunfire rang out, and two long streams of flame erupted. The firing rate of twelve thousand rounds per minute lasted for a full three minutes, turning the steel plate target in front into a honeycomb.
"Bang, bang, bang!" With a few muffled thuds, the mortar fired three high-explosive grenades consecutively. The ten by ten meter steel plate target was blown into pieces amidst the loud explosions.
Next was the melee combat test. The Behemoth God Armor was equipped with chainswords. Powered by the Arc Reactor, the two chainswords could easily cut a Federation's latest tank armor in half.
The inspiration for these two chainswords came from Ivan Vanko's Whiplash. The gears of the chainsaw were made of secondary Adamantium Alloy. When the chainsaw rotated at high speed, the sharp chain teeth, combined with high-strength voltage and current, could, according to Ivan Vanko's introduction, cut even giant beasts from Beyond the Wormhole, whose entire bodies were made of diamond, into several sections.
"Mr. Vanko, isn't that a bit exaggerated? You know those monsters are a hundred meters tall, standing upright like skyscrapers. I don't deny that this set of armor is the strongest exoskeleton armor I've ever seen, but using this chainsaw to cut open the bodies of those monsters?"
It wasn't surprising that Gene was suspicious. A three-meter-tall exoskeleton armor was indeed sufficient for humanity, but for Kaiju comparable to skyscrapers, it could barely reach their feet.
Even if these monsters stood still and allowed themselves to be cut, it would take several hours to inflict a fatal wound on them.
"You Department of Defense personnel don't need to worry about this. This mech was designed from the start to face such large carbon-based life forms. We've done tests! Two units of this armor are enough to handle one Kaiju!"
With a hissing sound, the chest armor in front of the Behemoth God Armor slowly opened. A Hulking Man, about two meters tall, with muscles like steel castings – strand by strand, strip by strip, block by block, plate by plate – slowly walked out from inside.
"Mr. Kane?" Yuri exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you personally here to test the weapons!?"
Kane nodded towards Yuri. "This set of Behemoth God Armor was originally custom-made for me by the Weapons Research Department. No one is more familiar with the structure of this armor than I am! Boss just happened to send me back to the Federation to handle some business. I've been at the Weapon Experiment Base these past few days with nothing to do, so I might as well test the weapon performance for Ivan!"
"Mr. Kane! This set of armor from your Tang Group is indeed impressive, but... what's the cost? What's the cost of one unit of this Behemoth God Armor?"
Gene walked up to the Behemoth God Armor, affectionately stroking its arm, looking at the concise internal structure revealed by the opened chest armor.
He looked at Kane curiously.
Although he hadn't dealt with Kane before, he had heard of this number three figure of the Tang Group. After all, Kane had served as the former Director of the Presidential Security Bureau. Although his term was less than three months, he was a prominent figure in the Federation political scene at that time.
That period could be described as a bloody storm for the political scene and the military. Countless Federation high-ranking officials were suppressed, transferred, or secretly detained.
Many of those detained or dismissed held positions higher than Gene's.
Hearing Gene's question, Yuri stepped forward and said with a smile to Gene, "We have invested a total of 2.7 billion US Dollars in research funding for this project!"
Gene frowned. "That expensive?" Yuri shook his head and explained, "Leaving aside the engine system and intelligent control system required for the armor, and the money and effort we spent researching them,
For its defensive capability, this mech body needs to be manufactured using extremely expensive high-purity rare metal. This includes Adamantium Alloy, and even requires Vibranium coating. The manufacturing cost of one unit alone is several hundred million!"
As Gene listened to Yuri's introduction, his gaze wandered. The armor was indeed excellent, but unfortunately, if the cost was truly as Yuri described, the manufacturing cost of one unit would be several hundred million.
He pondered for a moment, then frowned and looked at Yuri, "How much does one unit of Behemoth God Armor sell for??"
"Five million!" Yuri's answer made Gene's face show an expression of disbelief. "That cheap?"
"Don't misunderstand, General Gene, this is a contract reached between the White House and our Tang Group. Please take a look!"
Yuri handed a secret contract to Gene. Gene took it, and after reading a few lines, his complexion suddenly changed drastically.
"Rental fee?"
This secret contract stated that the Tang Group would lease ten units of Behemoth God Armor to the Department of Defense for fifty million per year to assist in Federation national defense security.
"Mr. Kane, what does this mean?" Gene questioned, holding the contract in his hand.
Kane was holding a six-barreled autocannon that had just been used to test the armor, wiping the ammunition belt on it. Hearing Gene's question, he looked up and frowned. "Didn't the people from your Department of Defense tell you before you came? The Behemoth God Armor is currently only a first generation model, and it has extremely high requirements for the Pilot's physical quality."
"Training a qualified Pilot takes at least two years. The current crisis brought by the Wormhole won't give your Department of Defense that much time. Therefore, we have reached an agreement with the White House to lease the mechs and personnel to you for fifty million per year!"
Fifty million, rental fee, why did no one tell me? Gene's complexion instantly turned ashen.
No wonder this procurement inspection trip to Tang's Arms Company, according to procedure, should have required at least three people, but the secretary only notified him.
That old man was clearly calculating against him.
This was obviously because the high-level officials within the White House and Department of Defense wanted to keep this secret contract a secret, so the fewer people who knew, the better.
"Fifty million, and it's only the rental fee for one year, isn't that too expensive!"
Gene vaguely understood that he had been calculated against. If the news that the Federal Department of Defense needed to lease weapons to fight alien races got out, the Federal Government would likely face a wave of criticism immediately.
The Federal military expenditure is several hundred billion every year, and now they actually need to lease? Where did all that defense spending go?
Incompetence, corruption, with these labels attached, the Federal Department of Defense, and even the White House, would definitely need to find a suitable scapegoat to take the blame.
He, who was responsible for procurement and acceptance, was clearly the designated scapegoat. If this contract could be kept secret, it would be fine, but once it leaked out, he would face a military court-martial, or even die by suicide after being shot eight times in the back.
What Gene couldn't understand was, didn't they consider his old father, who had once served as a Congressman?
Although his cheap old father was paralyzed in bed, he still had a certain influence in the Federation political scene!
Gene clutched the secret rental contract in his hand, tempted to tear it up and leave, but reason told him that if he really did that, he wouldn't have to wait for the secret contract to leak.
He would die on the helicopter ride home.
The Federal Government had done this kind of thing before. Not long ago, a congressional corruption case involved several high-level officials from the White House, and was even vaguely related to that Black Person.
At the time the court session began, a witness, a lawyer, a Congressman, and a State Legislator, while traveling by helicopter to the court, died in a plane crash due to mechanical failure. The two government officials, along with the witness, turned into fireballs, and this corruption case involving the White House government ultimately came to nothing.
Just because he was in it, Gene understood this country better than anyone.
His expression changed, and finally, he squeezed out a dry sentence: "Fifty million US Dollars, isn't that too much!"
Kane and Ivan Vanko had walked to the side after introducing the Behemoth God Armor.
Yuri stood beside Gene, his full attention on Gene.
When he saw Gene's changing facial expression, he knew the deal was settled. He remembered something Boss Tang had said when they were chatting.
"In this world, no one is beyond being bought, it just depends on the price you offer! If you can afford the price, you can even buy God!"
He enthusiastically extended his hand to Gene.
Gene was startled for a moment, then shook Yuri's hand.
"Talking about money is so vulgar, isn't it?!" Yuri's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled:
"Look, General Gene, you and our Tang Group have dealt with each other more than once or twice. How about this, for each set of Behemoth God Individual Power Armor, we'll take a bit of a loss. The price for leasing them to your Department of Defense, how about ten million US Dollars per set?"
Good heavens, the annual rental fee increased from fifty million to one hundred million.
Gene didn't question Yuri about the price increase. He understood the unspoken rules here. Five million was for the Tang Group, and the remaining five million was for the Department of Defense.
He was silent for a moment, calculating this deal and the risks it brought him. Gene's heart hardened. "Since that's the case..."
"Let's order twenty sets for the first phase of the lease procurement! Ten sets are too few. Our Federal Army has too many Overseas Bases, and many overseas allies also need our protection—I'll handle the procurement side!"
Twenty sets. Yuri's eyes narrowed into a smile. As an arms dealer, he liked this kind of Partner who had guts and was greedy enough.
On the other side, Ivan Vanko leaned towards Kane, chatting with him cheerfully. "Boss Kane, does Boss have a mission for you bringing you back from the Underworld this time? Do you need my help?"
A heavy killing intent appeared on Kane's face. "It's about Beyond the Wormhole. Boss suspects it's some old acquaintances. Prepare thirty sets of Behemoth God Armor for me, I'll take some people to go take a look!"
(end of chapter)