Taking Over the U.S. Military

"Yesterday's crackdown on the Black Mexican Gang in Hell's Kitchen was a successful police operation. My officers demonstrated outstanding combat discipline and proved themselves worthy of the badges on their chests. I would also like to extend special thanks to Umbrella Corporation for its tremendous support, especially for the individual combat armor they provided, which played a crucial role in the operation."

Commissioner George spoke eloquently at the press conference, not only publicizing his own achievements but also giving Umbrella Corporation's Mars Armor a convenient advertisement.

Umbrella Corporation's publicity department quickly followed up, releasing some information about the Mars Armor, which immediately caused a sensation.

That very afternoon, the U.S. military sent a colonel to learn more about it. That colonel was none other than Colonel James Rhodey, the other user of an Iron Man suit besides Tony Stark.

Wang Khan personally received him and brought him into the robotic processing plant.

"I still haven't thanked Colonel Rhodey for your recent achievements. If you hadn't joined forces with Iron Man, New York might have suffered enormous damage. Even Umbrella Corporation would probably have been dragged down with it."

"You're too polite, President Wang. Protecting the safety of the nation and its people is what we soldiers are supposed to do. Shall we take a look at the Mars Armor?"

"Of course. But Colonel, you already pilot a more advanced Iron Man suit. I'm afraid you won't be interested in our relatively primitive Mars Armor."

Sharon Carter pushed over a set of Mars Armor, and Rhodey immediately opened it up for inspection.

"Does it use lithium batteries?"

"Not lithium batteries. It uses the aluminum-electrolyte supercapacitors we recently developed. They hold far more power than lithium batteries and charge much faster. A ten-minute charge lets this big guy operate at full power for an hour."

"Only an hour?"

Wang Khan waved his hand.

"That's already quite good. After all, only Tony Stark has an Arc Reactor. Umbrella Corporation isn't nearly that capable in the field of new energy."

Rhodey said nothing more and personally tried it on. He was extremely satisfied with the result.

As a career soldier and the pilot of War Machine, Rhodey was practically the military's most capable and experienced expert when it came to individual combat mechs.

He quickly discovered the Mars Armor's strengths. He even secretly compared it with the Iron Man suit and was surprised to find that the Mars Armor's Evasion System was even better than the Iron Man suit's.

"This evasion system is...?"

"Oh, it's the Spider-Sense System. It's the same system used in Smart Spider, another Umbrella Corporation product."

"Oh? That system can be installed in armor too?"

Wang Khan nodded slightly, and Rhodey was tempted.

"How much does this armor cost to produce?"

"Since it hasn't entered mass production yet, we can't disclose the production cost. But once our technology matures, we should be able to keep the price around five million."

"Five million?!"

This time, Rhodey was truly moved. The military had spent plenty of time researching War Machine recently. Even excluding the Arc Reactor, the other components of the suit alone cost more than ten million USD in total.

More importantly, the thing simply couldn't be mass-produced. There were no machine tools on the market capable of manufacturing such high-precision mechs.

The equipment in Tony's laboratory had all been personally modified by him. They were among the finest instruments in the world, and there was nowhere to buy them even if you wanted to.

So, even the wealthiest U.S. Air Force could only assemble a team dedicated to War Machine's maintenance and upkeep. Mass-producing it was simply impossible.

"Really only five million? When can you begin production?"

"That will still take time. The Mars Armor has another important system currently under development, and there won't be results anytime soon. But don't worry, Colonel. At most two years. If your military is interested, I guarantee we'll supply you."

"Then it's a deal. We're very much looking forward to the Mars Armor, and we think highly of Umbrella Corporation."

The reason Rhodey was so eager, or rather, the reason the military was acting this way, was entirely because of that idiot Hammer.

Previously, Justin Hammer had been played by Anton Vanko, and the military had been humiliated right along with him.

Although Hammer was thrown in jail afterward and Hammer Industries was carved up by capital, the new individual combat mechs were gone as well.

Anton Vanko had been bent on revenge and had left himself no way out.

Furthermore, he was from Polar Bear. Though he might not have been particularly patriotic himself, he hated the United States to the bone. His father had been expelled by the United States back then, indirectly causing Anton's miserable life.

Therefore, when Anton Vanko went to kill Tony Stark, he had already destroyed all the technology. Afterward, every remote-controlled mech turned into fireworks and exploded. The U.S. military did not get so much as a hair, and its losses were no less severe than Stark Industries'.

As a result, they desperately wanted to find a company to replace Hammer Industries. Osborn, Pioneer Tech, and other corporations were all trying to worm their way in.

However, the military had first been stood up by Stark Industries, then burned by Hammer Industries. It was now extremely cautious and would not place an order without seeing something truly satisfactory.

Conversely, once it found a company capable of replacing Stark Industries, it would never let it go.

Thus, the Mars Armor successfully caught the U.S. military's attention. Wang Khan even had people bring a prototype to the military's own test range for a demonstration. This drew the interest of even more senior military officials, who even intended to invest in advance and send military experts to help with development.

Wang Khan did not refuse. He handed all matters involving the military experts over to Sharon Carter.

Catching the flash of worry in Carter's eyes, Wang Khan sneered inwardly.

"Red Queen, the backdoor left in the system won't be discovered, will it?"

"Guardian, please rest assured. Unless they develop a stronger artificial intelligence and their mainframe is made of Vibranium, they will never break through the firewall I set up."

Wang Khan was very satisfied.

"Speed up the Mars Armor's development appropriately. Half a year from now, release the first-generation armor to them and let them have a taste of the benefits. Once the U.S. military has equipped our armor on a large scale, the army of the world's strongest nation will become our private force. Tell me, wouldn't it be interesting to control them and have them flatten the White House and the Pentagon?"

"Guardian, I cannot determine whether that would be interesting, but if you did that, you would definitely become the enemy of the entire world."

"Hahaha, the enemy of the entire world? That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? Don't worry. Until my strength is enough to crush the whole world, I won't act rashly. But once I decide to move, Earth's order will reach the moment of great transformation."

"Enough of that. Have the raw materials for the Thor Serum been gathered?"

"One ingredient is still missing, but it has been located. It will arrive in a week."

Wang Khan rubbed his hands together.

"Excellent. I've waited a long time for this day. My Tai Chi has also made some minor progress recently. I wonder just how much combat power Thor's Power plus Tai Chi can unleash."

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