After spending two days with his elderly father at the Celebration Festival, Fisher returned to Washington, as he still had a large company and tens of thousands of employees to support.
Thanks to Gigant's outstanding performance in the search and rescue operations in Afghanistan, Gigant secured more contracts, including logistical transport routes for the US military, security for officials, and even several state governments within the United States chose to hire Gigant to provide security for key targets within their borders, such as nuclear power plants and dams.
However, what Fisher didn't expect was that an unexpected person would visit Gigant today.
"Mr. Stark?" Fisher asked, uncertain, as he saw the flamboyant man lounging in his boss's chair.
"Long time no see, Mr. Adams. Your Gigant really put me through the wringer this time!" Stark extended his right hand to Fisher.
"Is that so? But I heard that our armored vehicle saved your life, otherwise you would have been blown to smithereens!" Fisher shook hands with him, then plopped down on the table, looking down at Stark.
"So, what brings you to Gigant? To persuade me to shut down Gigant's weapon development?"
"Would you shut it down?"
"No, why would I? In Boston, in Iraq, Gigant's weapons factory employs thirty thousand people. If I shut down the weapons factory, what would these thirty thousand families eat and drink?"
"..." Stark suddenly didn't know how to respond.
Although Stark's casual decision to shut down weapon development in the movie seemed cool, the cost was devastating. Stark Industries had nearly twenty thousand employees in its weapon development department. These two hundred thousand people could have earned high salaries, but after Stark closed the department, they had to find other ways to make a living. Even if they found new jobs, their salaries couldn't compare to what they earned at Stark Industries. Many employees had families to support. Previously, their salaries even allowed their families to travel occasionally, but now, even feeding themselves had become a problem. As a result, these employees protested daily outside Stark Tower, holding signs, and many even chose to sue Stark.
"If that's the case, then why did you still buy shares in Stark Industries?"
"Because you are Tony Stark. If you didn't have a backup plan, I don't think you would have decided to shut down the weapon development department, right?" Fisher said with an air of calm indifference.
"Yes, that's right. But I'm not here to talk about that. I hope to undertake a protection commission!" Stark took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Fisher.
"Protection commission? To protect Stark Industries' assets?" Fisher opened the envelope, only to find a report on the Ten Rings' activities in the Middle East, with Rhodes' signature at the bottom.
"There are tens of thousands of civilians in this region. The Ten Rings obtain manpower and supplies from them. The Ten Rings have been entrenched here for years, and to eliminate them, we must cut off their roots!" Tony Stark said with a serious expression.
"I thought you wanted us to take out the Ten Rings!"
"I'll figure them out. Those civilians are in your hands! I'll have Pepper come over to sign the contract in a couple of days, and the funds will be disbursed to you in installments!"
"Alright. By the way, Mr. Stark, I wanted to ask for your opinion on the mass accelerator!"
"Mass accelerator?" Stark turned to look at Fisher suspiciously. "With current technology, I think it's quite difficult. The launch trajectory and energy sources haven't matured yet!"
"Even the great inventor Stark can't do it?" Fisher remembered that there seemed to be an arc reactor beneath Stark Tower.
"Not yet, at least!" Stark shook his head. Once his current work was done, he could slowly research the mass accelerator with Fisher.
In fact, Fisher had long harbored the idea of building a mass accelerator. In his plan, Gigant was supposed to complete the construction of a space orbital station within three to five years and a deep-space base within ten years. For this, Fisher had heavily invested in recruiting NASA experts, and Gigant's R&D department was also developing extraterrestrial megastructures. However, due to funding and technological limitations, Gigant's deep-space plan was progressing very slowly.
This was also why Fisher sought out Tony Stark. A behemoth like a mass accelerator requires an unimaginable amount of electricity. An acceleration track over ten kilometers long can launch tens of tons of materials into outer space, and it can even double as a weapon—a cannon with a range of hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Are you afraid of that?
"I wonder what the next world will be like?" Thinking of the various monsters and ghosts that would appear in the future, Fisher couldn't help but feel a headache. Although he had been trying his best to improve his technology tree, just to have absolute power in the upcoming turmoil, his current psionic power was too weak, and it would take some time for the Star Beacon to reactivate.
As for Stark's commission, Fisher could only say that he still thought the problem was too simple. The chaotic conflicts in the Middle East could not be quelled by him simply eliminating the Ten Rings. If the Ten Rings were gone, there would still be the Nine Rings, the Eleven Rings. As long as he didn't deal with the big financiers behind these armed groups, trouble would sooner or later find him again.
However, Stark's commission contract still had to be carried out. With the experience from Iraq, Gigant quickly established a massive refugee settlement camp outside the Ten Rings' area of activity. The modular container dormitories came with various pipelines, and by simply connecting these container houses and adding different internal facilities, they could be transformed into rooms for various purposes: kitchens, dining halls, bathrooms, and infirmaries, all fully equipped. This camp, capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people, was built from scratch in less than a week.
Fisher had also underestimated the Ten Rings' actions in the region. When the camp had just begun to be established, a large number of overwhelmed local civilians, with their families, had already rushed to the camp's outskirts seeking refuge. Among these people were white-haired elders and infants still in swaddling clothes, but not a single young adult was to be seen. During the subsequent medical examinations of these civilians, it was discovered that many suffered from various chronic illnesses. Under the Ten Rings' enslavement, they performed all sorts of heavy labor for the group but received only a meager ration of food each day. Young adults were conscripted, women and children were molested, and the elderly were executed; these had become commonplace occurrences in their lives.
Komak, the commander of Gigant's True Sons, who was in charge of everything at the camp, stood on a high platform, looking at the long queue below, feeling a headache.
His True Sons had fewer than six hundred combat personnel, and nearly eight thousand refugees had already poured into the camp. Not to mention security issues, just feeding and clothing these refugees was already driving him crazy.
Moreover, the Ten Rings would not just stand by and watch Gigant take away their slaves. The noble warriors of God still expected these lowly people to support them. Didn't they just eat their food and sleep with their wives and daughters? These ungrateful fellows were trying to run away and collude with the white-skinned people outside the mountains. Then we should punish them on behalf of God!
The Ten Rings were well aware of the population movements within their controlled territory, but because Stark had destroyed their armory when he left, they lacked usable heavy weapons, forcing them to lie low and wait for Obadiah to provide them with new weapons.
And Obadiah did not disappoint. When Stark shut down his weapon development department, he delivered a large batch of already mass-produced armaments to the Ten Rings, including the Jericho missiles that the Ten Rings' leader had been longing for... "Whoosh whoosh whoosh ~"
The piercing air defense siren suddenly blared in the silent camp, followed by the cries of children and the rough shouts of soldiers, intertwining and echoing far into the dark night.
"What's going on?" Komak strode into the radar vehicle, pushing open the door.
"Sir, four missiles are approaching, and their target is us!" The radar operator, wearing headphones, stared intently at the flickering screen.
"Can we intercept them?"
"The regional air defense system just launched eight anti-aircraft missiles, but it was useless. The Jericho's terminal maneuver easily shook us off!"
"Then hand over control to the DETH air defense system. If the Jericho splits, the entire camp will be finished!"
"It's already been handed over!" The radar operator pointed to the four green dots that suddenly lit up on the screen.
The trucks parked in the four corners of the camp had silently started at some point. A huge lens-like mechanical structure slowly rose from their beds. The large mirror rotated, aiming at the rapidly approaching missiles in the sky.
"System fired! Confirmed hit, missile intercepted!"
There were no fancy beams of light. The invisible laser emitted by the mirror burned out the missile's guidance system and gyroscope in a matter of seconds. The Jericho missile, now blind and unbalanced, immediately began a Brownian motion, flying erratically, and finally plunged into the sand.
"Have you confirmed the launch location?"
"It's confirmed. The Predator drone has departed and is approaching the target area!"
"Target acquired!"
At this moment, the Ten Rings' militants were still standing on the hilltop, eagerly looking into the distance, ready to shout in victory when flames rose. But they waited for a long time, and no movement appeared, which made them quite puzzled.
"Boss, did we do something wrong?" A militant pulled out a flashlight and carefully read the missile operation guide in his hand. Because he was worried that these guys wouldn't understand, Obadiah thoughtfully prepared a version in the local dialect for them.
"Impossible, I followed all the steps!" The Ten Rings' leader snatched the booklet and flipped through it. The small booklet, only a dozen pages long, was quickly read.
"It doesn't make sense. Did that old man sell us fakes?" The Ten Rings' leader raised his head in confusion, only to find that a few sparks seemed to be rapidly flying towards him in the sky.