There was a complete silence in the huge hall when the world leader said that. One of the main reasons the world leaders accepted the invitation from the Avengers and SHIELD so fast was because the governments feared the Avengers.
By now they had understood that SHIELD was now the mercenary of the Avengers. Though SHIELD had never gone against the World Council, Wayne had handled the working of SHIELD in such a manner that the World Council now couldn't refute the works of SHIELD.
They had assurance that the Avengers would never try to control the world leaders, but blackmail by the Avengers was never out of the table. So in order to be on the good side of them, the world leaders had to show up on time and as fast as possible.
Now that such a weird and absurd plan has risen, many of the world leaders want to see how the Avengers will react to 'no'.
" You can say no. It's your choice and your right. We will not stop you nor will we intimidate you. But I will tell you this, if you don't act fast soon many countries will lose manpower because space travel is cheap now and due to less space many people will prefer to leave for Mars. Or some other planets for colonization. Mars has been under the control of SHIELD and Avengers, you not expanding the current will just empower us as a whole." Wayne replied.
"I know the smaller countries feel that they will lose, but let me assure you all that the boundaries will grow proportionately as space expands. This decision was taken after much consideration by the Avengers themselves and this also went through the vote of all the members of the Avengers." Wayne continued.
"So now the ball is in your court, ladies and gentlemen. Think of the extra space every country is going to get. Extra resources. And most importantly, Umbrella will release today's video to the general public. And being in the position of power I can say that you don't want the general public to be angry at you for a decision which is fueled by your personal decisions. And this goes for the people who act as dictators over their own countries."
"Classic carrot and stick." a world leader mumbled under his breath. That was what the Avengers wanted to tell the world leaders. They were pretty sure that the people would love their Earth to have more space. Though there would be opposition for sure but the good thing about public opinion is that it can always be manipulated.
And Umbrella had always made efforts to be good to the public. Helping people and having a massive influence on them. Umbrella pays huge attention to PR and thus all kinds of propaganda against them never worked.
The governments have tried before in swaying the public opinion against them before too and had failed horribly. In fact to stop the constant harassment of the government in some countries Umbrella influenced the political scenario and even changed the leader before.
Though John never liked politics, it never meant that Tony would not get involved. Surprisingly even Wayne got his hands dirty with politics to handle some situation of Umbrella as he too was a major shareholder of the company.
"So you are forcing us to accept this proposal." another world leader said.
"Force is a strong word Mr. President. When humans conquer a new place we never ask for the consent of the sentient animals around, when the Pokemons are conquered we take them away in pokeballs, that is what we define as force. Here we are leaving the decision to you and the public. If the majority decides for a change, the Avengers will proceed to take action, if not we can forget about the proposal even being drafted. Now the question is on which side of the decision are you?" Wayne replied.
All were silent listening to the explanation. The Avengers didn't actively force them to accept this decision, but they knew that if they opposed it, there might be major consequences in the future. Now all the countries rely heavily on Umbrella be it the transportation sector or the energy sector.
And going against them would be a fool's errand for everyone.
"The world leaders can make their decision by tomorrow. Since its a huge one, The Avengers and SHIELD would give them enough time to think on this before casting their vote. In the meantime, the leaders can enjoy the scenery here on the Ring and enjoy the privileges here. Thank you." Wayne gave the final announcement before stepping out from the stage.
He said what he needed to say. Now it depends on the leaders, to see on which side of history they were on.