Back on Krypton, Zod had been engineered at birth to be a scientific specialist.
Krypton had one unusual custom: when two Kryptonians in love decided they wanted a child, they didn't conceive naturally. Instead, they used the Codex to design and grow the infant—entirely outside the mother's body.
Zod's designated field was weapons and materials science.
What he was doing now—bioengineering—was far outside that original domain. If his intelligence hadn't been increasing day by day, there was no chance he could have handled this kind of research.
The weapons for the War God Armor included:
High-Frequency Hand Blade:Not a wrist-blade like the ones in Guyver—but the entire forearm converting into a high-frequency cutting weapon. Zod's Kryptonian body could withstand the stress, and the inside of the armor was layered with vibranium coating, providing top-tier shock absorption.
Dual Plasma Shoulder Cannons:Inspired by the Predator's iconic design. Zod mounted two of them. One shot could wipe out a tank—and that wasn't even their maximum output.
"Thunder Angel" Drone Cannons:Four floating cannons deployed from the back, all laser-based. Each had auto-targeting, assisted lock-on, and full interception capability, shooting down anything that entered their perimeter.
With the Sun God Armor and now the War God Armor complete, Zod was satisfied. He didn't plan to create additional suits for the time being.
His priority remained the Beast Soldiers.
While studying human genetics, he noticed something odd. Either the genes of Marvel's humans differed from the ones he remembered, or this world simply wasn't normal—because he found genetic fragments that shouldn't exist in ordinary humans. He even suspected one sequence to be the X-gene.
But he resisted the urge to experiment. If the first mutant appeared in his hands, what if that triggered a worldwide mutant awakening?
Mutants were powerful and troublesome; Zod quickly shelved the idea.
Animal genes, on the other hand, were easy to obtain—if expensive.
Fortunately, the Beast Soldiers earned plenty of money. Their income outpaced even the vitamin∞ business. This world was filled with constant conflict—in places like the Middle East, mercenaries were always in high demand, hired by warlords and oil barons alike.
As Zod refined the next-generation Super Beastification Serum, he also prepared to launch a new company.
One intended to take over Stark Industries' weapons division.
Blade Industries (Blade Tech & Arms).
Registering a weapons-focused industrial company came with walls of restrictions. Even with the Continental Hotel's help, Zod and the Beast Soldiers burned through all the gold they had.
After all, America's arms market was already carved up between Hammer Industries and Stark Industries. Hammer only survived by scavenging the scraps Stark didn't want—mostly small arms.
And now a third competitor wanted to squeeze in? Even if Blade Industries had nothing built yet, it still made people uncomfortable.
Once the company existed on paper, Zod had to pick a location for factories, offices, testing grounds, and secure material supply lines—along with every certification imaginable.
He knew the future, so he avoided New York—the overpriced disaster magnet—and chose Washington instead.
"Money evaporates the moment you actually need it," Zod sighed. Fortunately, not everything had to be done at once.
It was only the early 2000s. Tony wouldn't be kidnapped for another eight years—plenty of time for Zod to grow.
Two months later, Blade Industries finally began formal operations—though painfully poor. Going public was impossible. Why would investors choose them over the promising Stark Industries or the slightly weaker Hammer Industries?
Out of options, Zod began selling Secondary Kryptonium Alloy.
This alloy wasn't true Kryptonian metal—Earth lacked the necessary minerals and alien isotopes. But using Kryptonian knowledge and terrestrial resources, Zod engineered a hybrid alloy.
It didn't match real Kryptonium, Vibranium, or Adamantium—but it surpassed most aerospace and industrial alloys on the planet. In science, advancement always came down to energy and materials.
The appearance of Secondary Kryptonium—combined with its performance—was enough to boost humanity's technological progress by perhaps fifty percent overnight. The other fifty percent would depend on future energy breakthroughs.
Because it wasn't as strong as vibranium, Zod didn't dare set prices too high. He charged only eight thousand dollars per gram—and demand was immediate.
At first, the military dismissed Blade Industries' so-called "next-century alloy" marketing. But once Zod held a live demonstration, the military researchers were floored.
Zod also had ambitions beyond America, so he shipped samples to both China and Russia.
Naturally, no one placed orders right away. They all first attempted to reverse-engineer it. A month passed, and Blade Industries' workers thought they were about to shut down.
Then the flood came.
Orders poured in nonstop.
This new alloy was nothing short of a revolution. With Secondary Kryptonium, tank armor no longer required extreme thickness—because one millimeter of Zod's alloy could resist the same force as ten millimeters of steel alloy. And usage wasn't limited to tanks: shells, bullets, missiles, carriers, jets…
However, Zod didn't gain any fancy titles like "father of new materials." He didn't care. More money mattered far more.
Even Stark Industries sent inquiries. Tony had skipped the expo to entertain a model, but after Jarvis briefed him, he requested samples from the military. The generals wanted to see whether Tony could replicate it. Zod had already patented the alloy, but if Stark reverse-engineered it and used it privately… well, who would know?
Yet Tony refused.
Once he examined it, he realized its performance was extraordinary—far beyond any alloy he'd worked with. What intrigued him most wasn't just its strength, but its versatility.
Its metallic properties allowed it to be used across virtually every major industry.
Tony didn't try to copy it. Instead, he grew fascinated—imagining new weapons he could build.
Because of Secondary Kryptonium, Blade Industries' market value skyrocketed. Then the investors appeared.
Wall Street financiers wanted in. The U.S. Army and Air Force wanted shares. Stark Industries, Oscorp, and Hammer Industries requested meetings for potential cross-holdings. Various corporations and old American families reached out as well.
/-\
~ PLEASE! don't forget to leave a REVIEW!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally.)
/-\
~# Keep the chapters coming - Support with Power Stones!
~# Every 50 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter