On Krypton, Drex Valen had not been born by chance.
Like all Kryptonians of his era, his existence had been engineered.
When two Kryptonians desired a child, they didn't conceive naturally. Instead, they used the Codex, designing and cultivating offspring externally, assigning predetermined societal roles before birth.
Drex's designated specialization had been clear from the beginning:
Weapons and materials science.
That foundation was proving invaluable.
His ventures into genetics and biological engineering had already pushed him well beyond his intended field, and without his rapidly evolving Kryptonian intellect, such cross-disciplinary achievements might have been impossible.
Still...
His true expertise lay elsewhere.
And now, he intended to leverage it fully.
The War God Armor became Drex's next masterpiece.
Unlike the Solar God Armor, which functioned primarily as a contingency suit, the War God Armor was designed for maximum offensive supremacy.
A true battlefield annihilator.
Its arsenal was extensive:
High-Frequency Combat Arms
Rather than simple arm blades, Drex transformed the suit's entire forearms into devastating high-frequency cutting weapons. Given his Kryptonian physiology, recoil and stress posed no issue, while vibranium internal coatings provided absurd levels of vibration dampening.
Twin Plasma Shoulder Cannons
Inspired by Predator weapon systems, Drex mounted dual plasma cannons on the shoulders. Each blast possessed enough firepower to obliterate a tank in a single shot, and that wasn't even their maximum yield.
"Thunder Angel" Remote Drone System
Mounted on the back were four autonomous floating laser cannons capable of:
Automated targeting
Lock-on assistance
Independent combat support
Projectile interception
These drones could function offensively or defensively, creating a mobile weapons platform around Drex himself.
For now...
Drex was satisfied.
Two armors were enough.
Further suit development could wait.
His greater priority remained:
World Serpent.
As Drex continued studying human genetics, he began noticing anomalies.
Marvel humanity wasn't identical to the baseline humans he remembered.
There were strange dormant genetic structures embedded in portions of the population.
One sequence in particular caught his attention.
Something that strongly resembled the X-Gene.
This discovery gave him pause.
If he artificially activated mutant genetics...
Would that trigger broader mutant emergence?
Would he inadvertently accelerate the rise of mutantkind?
Considering how absurdly powerful many mutants could become, Drex decided caution outweighed curiosity.
He shelved the idea.
For now.
Animal gene acquisition, by contrast, was comparatively straightforward.
Expensive, yes.
But feasible.
And fortunately...
World Serpent was making money.
A lot of it.
Beast Soldiers proved immensely profitable.
In many cases, they generated revenue even faster than Vitamin Infinity.
The reason was simple:
The world was always burning somewhere.
Mercenary contracts flowed endlessly from conflict zones, particularly the Middle East, where warlords, private interests, and oil magnates constantly sought powerful expendable assets.
Drex's enhanced operatives thrived in this environment.
War became commerce.
Commerce became expansion.
At the same time, Drex began preparing for his next grand venture.
A legitimate weapons empire.
His future acquisition of Stark's weapons division required infrastructure.
So he founded:
Blade Industries
Establishing a weapons manufacturing corporation in America was no simple matter.
Licensing.
Regulations.
Political barriers.
Industry hostility.
Even with Midnight Hotel's vast shadow-network support, the process drained nearly all of Drex's gold reserves and organizational capital.
The military-industrial complex was already dominated by giants:
Stark Industries
Hammer Industries
Hammer barely survived on Stark's leftovers.
A third competitor was unwelcome.
Still...
Drex persisted.
He strategically chose Washington rather than New York for Blade Industries' headquarters.
New York was expensive, overcrowded, and destined to become a superhuman disaster magnet.
Washington offered logistical advantages and political proximity.
As he navigated permits, supply chains, and infrastructure costs, Drex came to an irritating realization:
"Money disappears a lot faster when you're building an empire."
Still...
Time was on his side.
Tony Stark's kidnapping remained years away.
Drex had room to grow.
Two months later, Blade Industries officially launched.
It was operational.
But poor.
Public investors had little reason to back a newcomer over Stark or Hammer.
Drex needed leverage.
Something revolutionary.
So he unveiled exactly that.
Secondary Kryptonite Alloy
(Despite the misleading internal nickname, it had nothing to do with Kryptonite itself.)
Because Earth lacked Krypton's exotic minerals, Drex couldn't reproduce true Kryptonian super-alloys.
Instead, he engineered an inferior but still extraordinary substitute using terrestrial materials and Kryptonian principles.
The result:
A next-generation alloy superior to nearly every conventional Earth metal.
It wasn't as powerful as:
True Kryptonian alloy
Vibranium
Adamantium
But compared to aerospace metals, military alloys, and industrial composites?
It was transformational.
Science advanced through two pillars:
EnergyMaterials
And Drex had just revolutionized one of them.
Secondary Kryptonite Alloy potentially accelerated human technological development by decades.
Its capabilities were astonishing:
1mm thickness provided ballistic resistance comparable to 10mm steel alloy
Extreme structural durability
Heat resistance
Broad industrial compatibility
Military, aerospace, and naval applications
Tanks.
Jets.
Warships.
Missiles.
Armor.
Infrastructure.
Everything changed.
Drex priced it aggressively:
$8,000 per gram
Expensive.
But still vastly cheaper than Vibranium.
Demand initially remained cautious.
Military officials dismissed Blade Industries' claims as marketing theatrics.
Until Drex held a live demonstration.
That changed everything.
Researchers were stunned.
Governments immediately sought samples.
Drex even sent material offers internationally, including to China and Russia.
Predictably, every major power first attempted reverse engineering.
For over a month, no major contracts materialized.
Blade Industries workers began fearing collapse.
Then reality hit.
No one could replicate it.
And suddenly...
The orders flooded in.
Secondary Kryptonite Alloy became a true industrial revolution.
Its applications were too valuable to ignore.
Military contracts exploded.
Corporate demand skyrocketed.
Blade Industries transformed almost overnight from struggling startup into a global powerhouse.
Tony Stark himself eventually took notice.
Initially distracted by models and celebrity indulgence, he missed the unveiling.
But after JARVIS provided analysis, Stark secured samples through military channels.
His reaction:
Fascination.
He attempted replication himself.
And failed.
Tony quickly recognized the alloy's broader implications.
This wasn't merely a superior weapons material.
Its versatility made it viable across nearly every technological field.
For perhaps the first time in years...
Tony Stark had found a material innovation that genuinely intrigued him.
Blade Industries' valuation soared.
Then came the sharks.
Wall Street financiers.
Military branches.
Osborn Industries.
Hammer Industries.
Stark Industries.
Political dynasties.
Corporate conglomerates.
Everyone wanted a stake.
Everyone wanted access.
Everyone wanted Drex.
And just like that...
Drex Valen had done more than build power from the shadows.
He had begun reshaping civilization itself.