Bab 63: Chapter 63: "True Commercial Competition"
Inside the office:
Seated at his desk, Samuel Young listened to Saint-Gilles' report while reviewing the data transmitted by Tyrants 001 and 002 through several holographic screens.
The data included a vast array of experimental reports, processes, and results, all of which indicated that Vought had hit a bottleneck in the development of the one-time-use version of Compound V or the 24-hour version (V24).
Despite the setback, Vought's research progress was still far ahead of the former Soviet Union and Atlas, given that Compound V was originally Vought International's product.
But now, all that data belonged to Atlas.
As for the raid, Samuel had only needed a few uses of [Reset] to test the U.S. ground-based defense systems, map out Sage Grove's terrain, identify the precise location of the database, and figure out how to deal with Stormfront.
To be honest, Samuel had considered sending Saint-Gilles to face off against Homelander directly, attempting to gather Homelander's extreme data before using [Reset] to rewind to the beginning of the raid.
But after a brief consideration, Samuel abandoned the idea.
His sons' physical and psychic powers would continue to grow as he "enhanced" them, and they had already undergone a qualitative leap. But Samuel decided to wait. He planned to expand his company's strength further and open more dimensional gates. Once his sons were truly powerful, he would arrange for the takedown of Homelander.
However, it was Stormfront who was dispatched by Vought to respond to the attack.
This female superhero was supposedly the first person to survive the injection of Compound V and gain superpowers. She was also the wife of Vought's founder, Frederick Vought.
Besides possessing basic superhuman strength, endurance, durability, and heightened senses, Stormfront could generate lightning-like attacks, causing explosions and using this ability for rapid flight. She also had a relatively strong healing factor, but it had its limits.
Based on her performance in *The Boys* Season 2, Samuel judged that Stormfront's physical defenses were far inferior to those of Homelander, Queen Maeve, and Soldier Boy. She was even beaten to the point of vomiting blood.
This highlighted her fatal weakness—while her skin, muscles, and bones were strong, her internal organs were relatively fragile. Overconfident, she had even allowed her left eye to be stabbed and blinded by a knife.
After being severely injured by Homelander's son's powerful laser eyes, her self-healing couldn't recover her injuries. She could only rely on external devices to maintain her life, eventually choosing to end it herself.
In contrast, the main universe's Stormfront had capitalized on the internet age, brought about earlier by Atlas, to market herself and expand her influence, attempting to brainwash the public.
Samuel speculated that it was Stormfront's active presence, combined with other concerns within Vought's upper management—such as the chemical plant explosion—that led Vought not to send Homelander to Sage Grove.
Since she came, she wasn't leaving.
Stormfront had to die.
On paper, without their "trench coat" restrainers, the Tyrants were unable to withstand 14.5mm anti-armor rounds using just their flesh.
However, the pilots were seasoned ARS veterans, and Stormfront—or most of Vought's "superheroes"—had never received formal military training. They relied entirely on their so-called "superpowers" to fight, and despite Stormfront's near-century-long lifespan, it was of no use here.
In close combat and situational awareness, the ARS veterans completely outmatched Stormfront.
Had it not been for the paralysis and high-temperature burns from the lightning, the Tyrants would have held a strength advantage, given that their arms could exert a maximum force of 50 tons, and Stormfront wasn't a strength-oriented "superhero."
Thus, using [Reset], Samuel precisely timed the air raid down to the second, ensuring that all objectives were completed before the U.S. rapid reaction force arrived at Sage Grove.
They successfully "acquired" Vought's research data, analyzed Stormfront's blood on-site, and uploaded the results to the *Ernio*, before finally using Atlas's unique metal-hydrogen bomb to erase all traces.
Of course, the metal-hydrogen bomb detonated in Stormfront's face was not a conventional hydrogen bomb.
Since Atlas obtained hydrogen battery technology from Universe Zero-One, it had invested heavily in the development of new energy sources and weapons.
Detailed data from Universe Zero-Two's RDA and the room-temperature superconducting minerals on Pandora had allowed Atlas to leap several, if not dozens of technological "steps," directly mastering controllable nuclear fusion technology.
This also enabled Atlas to control environments of extreme pressure and temperature—essentially, the ability to simulate the sun.
Metallic hydrogen, which requires extreme pressure to form and typically exists within the core of stars, can remain stable in conventional environments as a metastable substance. This metastable material could then be used to create "magnetic cages" to contain superheated plasma—
This was controlled nuclear fusion.
But safely obtaining metallic hydrogen required extreme pressure (about three million times atmospheric pressure) and extremely low temperatures, conditions that only Atlas, in the late 20th century of the main universe, could achieve.
And metallic hydrogen could be weaponized.
When detonated, an equal mass of metallic hydrogen releases about 40 times more energy than TNT.
Thus, Atlas was conducting multi-faceted research into weaponization, from individual soldiers to tactical and strategic applications.
The research on individual soldier weaponization was progressing slowly because the safety of the soldiers operating the weapons had to be ensured. But in the tactical domain, there had been significant success.
The metal-hydrogen bombs detonated by Tyrants 001 and 002 were experimental models. By using higher pressures to refine the metallic hydrogen and adding trace amounts of deuterium, they became more compact and portable while their destructive power was positioned between conventional and tactical weapons.
Green and pollution-free.
The billion-degree temperature at the explosion's center was enough to "vaporize" Stormfront, erase all traces connected to Atlas, and redirect the fallout onto Vought, making them experience what true commercial competition felt like.
As for the data and materials they acquired, they would greatly accelerate their research on Compound V, particularly the temporary enhancement serum V24 and targeted weapons that only attack those carrying the Compound V mutation.
At that moment:
"Father." Saint-Gilles, having completed his report, voiced a concern: "Should we prepare in advance for an overreaction from the U.S.?"
"The Public Relations and Investigation Departments will closely monitor the situation." Samuel waved his hand, dismissing some of the holographic screens, and smiled at his son:
"As for preparation… the consequences of the air raid are Vought's problem to solve. What does that have to do with Atlas? Our priority now is to prepare for the exploration of Universe Zero-Three."
"True." Realizing this, Saint-Gilles smiled as well.
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