I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 717 I'm Finding Oil for America

Justin Hammer walked out of the prison, looking at his old but decent suit, lost in thought. Just yesterday, his application for medical parole had been unexpectedly approved. Hammer Industries had long been bankrupt, and he had little property left. Moreover, Tony Stark was riding high. He couldn't imagine how he had gotten out.

"Mr. Hammer?"

The door of an Aston Martin at the prison gate opened, and a gentleman in a sharp suit with a bright smile stepped out. This gentleman reminded Hammer of his past self, and the man looked somewhat familiar. Hammer immediately extended his hand to shake hands with the man, and then, somewhat uncertainly, searched his memory to find the man's identity.

“Mr. Dario Agger?”

"Yes, I know you have many questions, but please don't worry. The reason I'm looking for you is because I need a professional to help me manage Stark Industries."

Hammer looked confused upon hearing this. "Take care of what? Are you still asleep?"
"Excuse me, sir, you mean..."

“Roxon Energy is about to acquire Stark Industries. At that time, I will need someone knowledgeable to help me manage it. Oh, by the way, the White House will soon hand over the remaining assets of AIM to Roxon. I hope you can manage this part first. Get in the back car, your partner is there. I still need to go to the White House for a meeting.”

"My partner?"

Justin Hammer looked behind him in confusion, then couldn't help but ask, "Who?"

“Sigyah Stanislavsky, you might know his father, Obadiah Stanislavsky.”
-
A few hours later, at the White House, President Ellis and his cabinet attended a meeting on “National Energy Security” with the participation of Dario Agger, president of Roxon Energy.

"As is widely known, after Tony Stark announced his departure from the arms industry and his entry into the energy sector, energy prices, especially electricity, began to plummet across the United States. Tony Stark supplied vast amounts of cheap and efficient electricity to the entire country through his Arc Reactor—"

Agger paused abruptly, then looked at all the government officials present at the meeting: "So, I would like to ask you all, what is the price?"

President Ellis tapped his fingers on the table without saying a word. Agger nodded and began to explain: "The price is that the entire nation's energy security will be completely controlled by Tony Stark."

"Isn't this a bit of an exaggeration, Mr. Agger?"

"Scar-mongering? No, Your Excellency. Please listen to my analysis. The cost of electricity output by Stark Industries is already far lower than the cost of generating electricity through traditional methods for most power companies. This means that for every Arc Reactor put into operation, a local power company will be destroyed by Stark Industries."

"What followed was unemployment, bankruptcy, and an unprecedented energy giant controlling the nation's energy lifeline. Tell me, Minister, does the government have the right to intervene in Stark Industries if necessary? Or even the right to analyze and reverse engineer Colonel Rhodes's armor's arc reactor?"

Upon hearing this question, the Secretary of Defense shook his head dejectedly. The truth was, no. "That's right, that's the problem we have to face. The electricity that Tony Stark generates is available to everyone, but the Arc Reactor that generates that electricity belongs to him, and we have no way to interfere."

Agger dropped his conclusion: "This means that, except for certain sectors and corporations that insist on paying higher costs to maintain energy security, all of America's energy will fall into Tony Stark's hands—the last person to do so was J.P. Morgan, gentlemen."

"So...do you have any ideas on how to solve this problem, Mr. Aggle? The name Tony Stark alone is enough to make us give up many options."

The president remained silent throughout, with questions posed by his security advisors and ministers. When asked this question, Agger simply smiled and said, "It's simple. The reason Tony Stark's Arc Reactor is so competitive is because it's efficient and cheap. But what if we could be even more efficient and cheaper?"

Everyone looked at Agger, thinking he had built his own arc reactor. But the PowerPoint presentation Agger was showing contained something far more alarming: "We have made contact with Mr. Malekith, the ruler of Wat Alheim. If you don't know him, his country is hostile to the country of Sol, but that's not important. What is important is that in Wat Alheim, we have discovered oil reserves equivalent to three to five times the current global reserves, and these have not yet been fully explored."

President Ellis sat bolt upright, his eyes fixed on the long list of slides on the PowerPoint presentation, and asked incredulously, "Three to five times the global total?"

“That’s right. Rockxon Energy has drilled several oil wells, and they’re working. And Mr. Malekith is willing to sign an agreement with us—not Rockxon, but the U.S. government—granting exclusive mining rights to all of our country’s energy companies, except for Stark Technologies, which supports Sol.”

"Gentlemen, the era of Middle Easterners creating oil crises by controlling production is over, and the era of Russians making money by exporting energy is also over." Ager smiled. "We Americans will become the country with the world's largest oil reserves. After all, the indigenous people don't need oil."

President Ellis, somewhat incredulous yet intrigued, asked Agger, "What are the requirements of this agreement?"

"Well, it's very simple. The US government promised not to join Asgard in the war and declared that the Avengers' actions were purely personal."

Agger spoke casually, smiling as he looked at everyone. He was certain that no American president could resist such a temptation.

This is the simplest way to destroy the Avengers: put them on the opposite side of the entire nation. Malekith may be a bad guy, may be wicked, but if he can supply the Americans with this oil, then he can still be an ally.

Of course, one of the prerequisites for all of this is that the Dark Elves are inherently very powerful, and the Americans have no way to steal oil from them.

President Ellis pondered for a long time, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. Finally, he let out a long sigh and asked Agger a question in return.

"The Avengers raised the idea long ago that there might be a connection between Roxon Energy and Hydra. How do you explain that, Mr. Agger?"

(End of this chapter)