"Yesterday's operation to wipe out the Black Mexican Gang in Hell's Kitchen was a successful police action. My men demonstrated outstanding combat proficiency and proved worthy of the badges on their chests. I would also like to extend special thanks to Umbrella Corporation for its tremendous support, particularly for providing an individual combat suit that played a crucial role in the operation."
Commissioner George spoke eloquently at the press conference, not only publicizing his own achievements but also slipping in an advertisement for Umbrella Corporation's Mars Armor.
Umbrella Corporation's publicity department quickly followed up, releasing some information about the Mars Armor, which immediately caused a sensation.
That afternoon, the U.S. military sent a colonel to learn more about it. This 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 robot manufacturing plant.
"I still haven't thanked Colonel Rhodey for your recent heroic 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 kind, President Wang. Protecting the safety of the country and its people is a soldier's duty. Shall we take a look at the Mars Armor?"
"Of course. But Colonel, you're already piloting a more advanced Iron Man suit. I'm afraid you won't be interested in our comparatively outdated Mars Armor."
Sharon Carter pushed over a set of Mars Armor, and Rhodey immediately opened it up for inspection.
"Does it use lithium batteries?"
"No. It uses the aluminum electrolytic supercapacitors we recently developed. They have far greater capacity and charging speed than lithium batteries. A ten-minute charge lets this big guy run at full power for an hour."
"Only one hour?"
Wang Khan waved his hand.
"That's already quite good. After all, only Tony Stark has an Arc Reactor. Umbrella Corporation isn't that impressive in the field of new energy."
Rhodey said nothing more and tried the armor on himself. He was extremely satisfied with the result.
As a career soldier and the pilot of War Machine, Rhodey was practically the military's most skilled and experienced expert on individual combat mechs.
He quickly discovered the Mars Armor's strengths. He even compared it with the Iron Man suit in secret and found that the Mars Armor's Evasion System was actually better than the Iron Man suit's.
"This evasion system is...?"
"Oh, it's the Spider-Sense System, the same system used by another Umbrella Corporation product, Smart Spider."
"Oh? That system can be used on 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 cost. But once our technology matures, we should be able to keep the price at around five million."
"Five million?!"
This time, Rhodey was truly tempted. The military had done plenty of research on War Machine recently. Even excluding the Arc Reactor, the armor's other components alone cost more than ten million usd in total.
More importantly, this 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 lab was all world-class machinery that he had personally modified. There was nowhere to buy them even if you wanted to.
So, even the wealthy U.S. Air Force could only assemble a team responsible for War Machine's repairs and maintenance. Mass production was simply impossible.
"Really, only five million? When can you begin production?"
"That will still take time. The Mars Armor has another important system under development, and there won't be any results in the short term. 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.
Earlier, Justin Hammer had been played by Anton Vanko, and the military had been humiliated along with him.
Although Hammer had gone to prison afterward and Hammer Industries had been carved up by capital, the new individual combat mechs were gone as well.
Anton Vanko had been focused solely on revenge and had never left himself a way out.
Moreover, he was one of the Polar Bears. 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 the latter's tragic life.
Therefore, when Anton Vanko went to kill Tony Stark, he had already destroyed all the technology. Afterward, all the remote-controlled mechs turned into fireworks and exploded. The U.S. military hadn't gotten so much as a hair, and its losses were no less than Stark Industries'.
As a result, they now desperately wanted to find a company to replace Hammer Industries. Osborn, Pioneer Tech, and other companies were all trying every possible way to worm their way in.
However, the military had first been stood up by Stark Industries, then burned by Hammer Industries. They were now extremely cautious and would not place an order unless they saw something truly satisfactory.
Conversely, once they found a company capable of replacing Stark Industries, they definitely would not 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 testing grounds for a demonstration. This drew the interest of even more senior military officials, some of whom even intended to invest in advance and send military experts to assist with development.
Wang Khan did not refuse. He handed all matters involving contact with the military experts over to Sharon Carter.
Catching the fleeting worry in Carter's eyes, Wang Khan sneered inwardly.
"Red Queen, the backdoor left in the system won't be discovered, right?"
"Please rest assured, Guardian. Unless they develop a more powerful artificial intelligence and their mainframe is also made of Vibranium, they will never be able to breach the firewall I set up."
Wang Khan was very satisfied.
"Appropriately speed up the Mars Armor's development. In six months, release the first-generation armor to them and let them taste a little sweetness. Once the U.S. military equips 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 can't analyze whether it would be interesting, but once you do that, you will definitely become the enemy of the entire world."
"Haha, the enemy of the entire world? That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? Don't worry. Before my strength is enough to crush the entire 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 already been located. It will arrive in a week."
Wang Khan rubbed his hands together.
"Fantastic. I've been waiting for this day for a long time. My Tai Chi has also made some progress recently. I wonder how much combat power Thor's Power plus Tai Chi can unleash."
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