Sure enough. When Pepper woke up, Iron Man recovered and tried to catch Talons, but they had already fled. The Assassin's Union killers were also gone, and no one knew who fired the last shot, so they could only accept the setback. The others were in a similar situation.
Then they discovered that entities like Oscorp and Roxon Corporation had risen to prominence, seriously threatening their groups. Now, even the most stubborn could no longer laugh.
They had no choice but to seriously think about what to do next. The idea of uniting had never crossed their minds, but wasn't someone introducing it from the outside?
"Do you mean we can co-operate in business?" Iron Man's face still looked pale. Brainiac had been ruthless, almost twisting his head off with the mech he himself created.
"Do you have any other options?" Greed asked, "You must know, your competitors aren't just those legal companies. Hydra and the Court of Owls will use any dirty trick they can. If you don't manage well, your lives will be at stake."
Iron Man's face turned grim. He knew the primary reason they could guarantee their safety was money. Not to mention that their group headquarters were built like permanent fortifications, even after construction, maintenance costs money. Without funds, no shell is safe from rust. Once they lost these protective measures, criminal organizations would immediately come for their lives.
This crisis made them realize their margin for error was not as large as they thought. Or perhaps it used to be quite substantial, but facing twice the number of crime organizations doesn't just mean more people. They each have their specialties and can complement each other; some deal physical damage, some use magic, others provide armor-piercing assistance beside—who can withstand that?
Previously, Iron Man insisted on transforming the Stark Group, believing he couldn't bring about his own ruin. Now he understood that outside of Stark Group, it was all tumultuous storms; reckless actions are not possible.
If Darkseid's invasion earlier made superheroes realize Earth isn't that safe, this time, it made these capitalists understand that it's not just about bankruptcy. If you make money too slowly, you can't compete with these villains dedicated to destroying the world. They might as well leave professional matters to professional people.
"Alright." Iron Man, with his flexible principals, said, "I can agree to joint operations, but I still want some degree of autonomy..."
"Then you need to think about your stake." Greed analyzed, "The more you invest in the cooperative operation, the larger your influence will naturally be. What do you think you can contribute?"
Iron Man gritted his teeth: "Extremis Virus."
Greed raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise: "Are you really willing to offer the technology of the Extremis Virus?"
"Not entirely." Iron Man said while crossing his arms, "I won't give them the original, but I can continually provide improved versions of the Extremis Virus, and even tailor them to their needs."
"That's enough." Greed said, "That can give you a massive advantage in joint operations. Who do you intend to lead?"
"Of course, Pepper." Iron Man corrected himself as soon as he said it, "…No, that's not possible. She's already injured and has to manage Stark Group's operations. I'll do it myself..."
"Are you sure?" Greed asked, staring at him. He couldn't believe Iron Man wasn't aware of his lack of business talent. Someone so smart could hardly be oblivious to this fact. It was just the unwillingness to admit it, coupled with the belief that he wouldn't self-destruct, that led him to keep trying.
"Why don't you go?" Iron Man gestured expansively, "I have to work on technology, I don't have time for these things. Besides, you have good relations with them, it's just perfect if you do it."
"You talk as though you're paying me a salary." Greed said, "Consultation fees are separate; this would require additional payment."
"Do I lack money?" Iron Man asked, "Alright, just go, the rewards definitely won't disappoint you."
"If you're leading, I'm not worried about the quality of the operation. However, you can't stay here forever; what will you do afterward?" Thomas looked at Greed and asked.
"I can teach Bruce." Greed said, "Although it might not instantly turn him into a business genius, learning how to maintain a certain model can keep things going."
Thomas nodded contentedly, as his biggest concern was Bruce. Among so many sons, each was impressive, yet there was one that was not reassuring, and naturally, he was particularly attentive.
He didn't care whether collaboration could make money, or rather, with Greed involved, profit was inevitable. He cared more about Spider Man's progress; since Greed was willing to teach, picking up a few tricks would suffice.
"How do you plan to handle the Luther Group? Thor won't easily let him go this time, and the Rebirth Alliance may not be willing to stop either."
"The key is Nick Fury." Greed said, "It depends on what price he wants."
"Do you want to save Luther?" Nick asked Greed. "I don't see the necessity of his presence at the Luther Group; you can completely ignore him and find your own way to control the Luther Group."
Greed shook his head, saying: "The key is that the balance of strength among these three parties must be maintained. Kicking Luther out of the Luther Group could make the Luther Group too powerful, what then?"
Although these words seemed somewhat like a personal attack, upon considering, Nick realized that's indeed the case. Luther wasn't very smart, and although his group control strength was slightly better than Spider Man's, it hadn't reached a level of overwhelming dominance; otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in jail, nearly causing the group to split apart.
Moreover, letting the Court of Owls or Assassin's Union control Luther Group would bring no benefit, instead, leaving it with Luther would actually weaken the evil forces.
"Are you going to talk to him?" Nick asked.
"No. You handle Luther and Thor. But I assure you, once the joint business model is established, I'll immediately fund the Rebirth Alliance and fully support the reception activities. You can trust my work."
"I'm curious about your intentions." Nick said, "You can't take the money you earn from the joint venture with you, so what exactly are you trying to do?"
"The answer lies within the question." Greed didn't hold back from him, "I want to eliminate all factors that could affect the wedding from the start. Money is the most significant influence; without it, nothing can be done. If they're free to withdraw or inject funds, how could the wedding turn out well?"
Nick was somewhat speechless: "So you beat up the three major groups just to make them obediently fork over the money?"
"I always advocate independence and self-reliance; waiting for handouts leads nowhere. I'll take the money I need from their pockets myself."
"A distinguished reputation indeed." Nick sighed.
"I am doing this to resolve the economic crisis." Greed looked at Arrogant and explained, "Otherwise, when the wedding starts, someone will withdraw funds, another will squeeze the budget, this one will cause a fuss and stop funding if dissatisfied, that one will make demands and create chaos if unmet. How can the wedding continue then?"
Arrogant closed the newspaper and nodded. He knew the situations Greed described were very likely to happen because that's how it is in comics.
Whenever there's a major turning point in a character's life, something is bound to go wrong at some stage. If it goes wrong at the wedding, that's considered merciful; most likely, problems will arise during the preparation stage and cause setbacks.
Wanting to hold a wedding means you can't just plan for the wedding alone; to actually hold it, you must first control all the aspects that could potentially influence the wedding.
It's like eating a bowl of rice; you have to start by growing rice, or even by clearing the land first. If you don't personally control every step, then every step will encounter problems. No sprouting, no panicles, no fruits. The transport truck explodes, the rice cooker explodes. The bowl cracks, the chopsticks break. Even if you handle all those, the rice you eat might still be undercooked.
The entire American Comic World is a big embodiment of Murphy's Law; if things can go wrong, they undoubtedly will. But isn't that fortunate? Because there's someone who enjoys making things complicated for trivial matters.
Greed is the type of person who starts planning from growing rice just to eat a bowl of rice. He's not even starting from clearing the land; he's fighting a war with the neighboring country to occupy the land, with the motive just to eat rice. American Comics started with errors, and Greed started making amends from the creation; isn't that mutual effort?
Since arriving in this cosmos, he's been busy running in circles, eager to stir up everyone just so that the wedding funds can be stably procured.
"Have you gone to see Starfire?" Greed asked again.
"Not yet; I have an appointment with her this afternoon." Arrogant glanced at his watch, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing." Greed shook his head.
"Has Loki been captured by Thor again? Can he be held this time?" Arrogant asked again.
"Holding him is definitely impossible." Greed sighed, "I still maintain the view that Loki's issue can't be resolved within the Nine Major Kingdoms. They shouldn't be wasting efforts here."
"Seems like you've got another plan." Arrogant stated affirmatively.
"I always have a plan." Greed smiled, "Have you checked out the cathedral? How's the environment?"
"Don't mention it." Arrogant said with some headache, "I don't know if Lucifer mixed in some personal matters; while other buildings are retained as either-or choices, the cathedral is directly a combination. It's much bigger than the Milan Cathedral, and the Statue of Jesus is almost as large as the Statue of Liberty."
Greed paused: "Is it that big? Aren't there many security blind spots?"
"Of course, Natasha is almost going mad." Arrogant said, "Throwing in two hundred agents without a ripple; purely adding security personnel up to five hundred barely achieves seamless patrols, but there are still many blind spots. She's already planning to hire Mutants."
"That's pretty good." Greed nodded, "Mutants are crowd-pleasers, best suited for such open environments."
"I'm waiting for the defense map." Arrogant said, "Agents will try their best to eliminate all blind spots, but it's not guaranteed to be perfect. It might need Morbid to step in, as they are most familiar with cathedrals."
"I thought you meant the Bishop, but yes, the Bishop is most familiar with the backyard." Greed laughed.
"I did consider the Bishop." Arrogant frowned, "I thought about letting him be a Father. I'm afraid the usual Father can't handle it."
"That won't do. He's only read a few pages of the Bible." Greed shook his head, "Sending him is less fitting than sending Bruce; these two have similar knowledge about Catholicism."