The Great War, a conflagration that Europe had blundered into, became the single greatest accelerator of the Hemsworth empire. As the conflict dragged on through 1915 and into 1916, the United States maintained its precarious neutrality, but its industrial capacity was fully committed to the Allied cause. The Hemsworth Conglomerate was the primary beneficiary of this industrial mobilization, and Arthur Hemsworth's reputation swelled to that of a wartime industrialist of almost mythic proportions.
In Detroit, the Thorne Motors factories hummed with an almost supernatural efficiency. The moving assembly lines, a concept a few years ago that was an eccentric curiosity, were now a necessity. Thousands of military trucks and armored cars rolled off the lines, destined for the muddy, shell-pocked roads of the Western Front. William Thorne, once a struggling inventor, was a celebrated genius, but he knew the true mastermind was the young man in New York who had insisted on standardizing every part, from the engine block to the headlamp.
The most valuable of all the Conglomerate's assets was not a factory, but its nascent logistics network. Hemsworth Global Logistics, the shipping line acquired during the 1907 Panic, was now the backbone of Allied supply, transporting not just Thorne vehicles but also Apex fuel, Hemsworth-sourced rubber, and raw materials from around the world. The company was now a fleet of over thirty cargo ships, a powerful private navy that was making a fortune.
The money flowed back to the Hemsworth Bank, but Damon did not allow it to stagnate. He viewed every dollar as a soldier to be deployed. He used the war profits to make two crucial, and very quiet, acquisitions: a chain of major grain silos and a series of agricultural holdings in the American Midwest. The world would need to be fed after the war, and Damon intended to control a significant portion of the food supply chain.
The war also offered an unprecedented proving ground for the Airlines and Semiconductors pillars. At Vance Air Transport, Samuel Vance and his team of pilots and mechanics, now officially a government contractor, worked day and night. They not only supplied the military with reconnaissance aircraft but also pioneered a new concept: aerial freight. The flimsy, open-cockpit biplanes, once used to ferry bank documents, were now a vital link for delivering urgent military parts and medical supplies. The company was still a financial loss, but Damon was not concerned with profit; he was concerned with proving the viability of air travel as a commercial enterprise. The pilots were gaining invaluable experience, and Vance was building a database of air routes and navigation methods that no other company in the world possessed.
Meanwhile, in the New Jersey lab, the work of Hemsworth Labs was finally earning its keep. Damon had secured a massive government contract for the development of secure military radio communications. Dr. Elias and his team were racing against time, pushing the boundaries of vacuum tube technology and early solid-state crystal diodes to build reliable, portable radios for battlefield use. The war effort provided a perfect environment for rapid, focused innovation. By late 1917, the first radios built with Hemsworth patents were being tested in the field, allowing for a level of battlefield communication that had been previously impossible. The military was so impressed that they promised more contracts for a post-war military communications system. The final pillar, the one that would power the information age, was beginning to find its footing.
By the spring of 1917, the United States had entered the war, and the Hemsworth Conglomerate was perfectly positioned. The entire U.S. government, from the War Department to the Treasury, looked to Arthur Hemsworth for guidance and industrial capacity. The loans to the Allied powers, once a controversial move, were now seen as a brilliant, patriotic act. In return, the Conglomerate was granted unlimited authority to build and acquire any asset deemed vital to the war effort. The empire was no longer a shadow player; it was an official partner of the U.S. government.
Damon, now nineteen, had grown into a formidable young man. His face, once that of a boy, was now sculpted by ambition and a cold, knowing certainty. He had taken a more public role, attending government meetings and war council conferences, his every word carrying the weight of the family's immense power. Yet, his gaze often carried a chilling detachment, as though he were watching a movie rather than living in the moment.
The moral cost of this success weighed heavily on Arthur. One evening, as they reviewed the latest figures—the Thorne profits alone were astronomical—he turned to his son. "The men are being gassed in France, Damon. I've read the telegrams. Our trucks are ferrying them to field hospitals. My God, the carnage."
"It is a tragedy, Father," Damon conceded, not looking up from a report on French railway logistics. "But the war will end. When it does, there will be an unprecedented global need for reconstruction. The world will need our steel, our fuel, our vehicles, and our bank's capital. And we will be the only ones positioned to provide it on a scale never before seen."
"But at what cost to our soul?" Arthur pressed.
Damon finally looked up, his blue eyes as cold as a winter morning. "Soul is a luxury for those who do not build empires, Father. The world does not care how you make your money; it only cares that you have it when it is needed. We are not bloodthirsty profiteers. We are the architects of the future. The war is merely the fire that forges the steel of our dynasty."
The final six months of the war were a whirlwind of activity. The Conglomerate's expansion seemed limitless. With the government's blessing, they acquired insolvent European rail lines, coal mines, and manufacturing plants, all as a form of payment for their war loans. The entire European industrial base was now, piece by piece, being consolidated under Hemsworth's control.
When the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the world celebrated. But for Damon Hemsworth, the war was not over; it had merely entered a new phase. The phase of reconstruction. The Hemsworth empire was no longer just a financial powerhouse; it was a vast, international industrial machine.
As the celebratory headlines blazed across the front pages of the New York Times, Damon was already sending out a series of coded instructions to his managers around the world:
TO: William Thorne (Thorne Motors): Immediately halt military vehicle production. Begin retooling factories for the mass production of affordable passenger cars and a new model of agricultural tractor. The world will need to get back to work.
TO: Apex Fuels: Accelerate the acquisition of all new Middle Eastern oil concessions. The war has proven that the future of energy is oil. We must control the source.
TO: Hemsworth Mercantile: Secure all surplus military food supplies and logistical equipment from the U.S. government. Expand the Volume Depot network across the country. The returning soldiers will need cheap goods and affordable food.
TO: Vance Air Transport: Stop all government contracts. Begin designing a new, larger aircraft capable of carrying passengers. The world is eager to travel.
TO: Hemsworth Labs: Begin a transition from military radio communications to consumer products. The world wants information and entertainment. Build a prototype of a small, affordable radio receiver.
The war had been an unprecedented test of Damon's foresight and his empire's structure. It had proven that his interlocking industrial model was not only viable but invincible. But the greatest challenge still lay ahead: the turbulent Roaring Twenties, the looming Great Depression, and the rise of a technology that he, and only he, could see coming. The first phase of conquest was over. The phase of consolidation and true dominance was about to begin.