Osborn Group's industrial R&D base had a mysterious laboratory. It didn't feel particularly high-tech; it was simply a very large space, with cables strewn haphazardly across the floor and tool racks and equipment arranged without any rhyme or reason. The only thing dividing it into sections was black-and-yellow hazard tape stuck to the floor. Aside from a few somewhat sophisticated automated devices, the entire lab looked more like a small auto repair shop.
But any single item in here would be a military product decades ahead of its time, revealing just how extraordinary the lab's owner was. There was the red-and-gold Iron Man suit displayed on a stand, for example, and the black armor hanging from chains, with a red bat emblem on its chest and pointed bat ears rising from its helmet...
This was the most secure lab in the entire R&D base. Only two people had clearance to enter: Norman Osborn and Wei Xiuming.
In one corner of the lab, several simple rooms had been built with foam-board walls. Once furnished with desks, chairs, and office equipment and hooked up to water and electricity, they served as offices and break rooms.
Wei Xiuming, wearing a lab coat and a gas mask, sat in a chair and repeatedly watched the footage captured by a high-speed camera. "The experiment was a success!"
The insectoids were powerful, but in terms of physical strength, they couldn't compare to the endless stream of superheroes and villains who would appear in the future. Their ability to move at such incredible speeds was what made them so difficult to deal with. As long as someone could keep up with them, taking them down was easy enough with a decent attack.
The Knight armor, built for display, wasn't equipped with weapons. Lieutenant Sonon had taken down the adult insectoid with nothing but his fists and feet, then passed out when the strain on his body exceeded its limits. His momentum carried him headfirst into a wall.
"Dr. Clark, your brilliance is unmatched." Osborn, fresh from a meeting with the Department of Defense, stood beside Wei Xiuming and showered him with praise.
Lieutenant Sonon had been rushed to the hospital. Before long, he would probably be widely publicized as a hero, inspiring the American military and civilians living under the shadow of the insectoid threat.
The Knight System had already caught the eye of several bigwigs. The orders and contracts would probably arrive within a couple of days. With America scaling back its overseas military operations, profits across the industries spun off from military manufacturing were set to plummet. The Knight System, however, was destined to make Osborn Group a rising star. Wei Xiuming was the one who had made all of it possible for him.
Most importantly, Wei Xiuming had an advanced understanding of genetics. The Osborn family had an inherent genetic defect, and Osborn had poured huge sums of money into saving himself and his son, Harry Osborn, from their congenital condition. Even with the military's investment, he had still managed to drag the enormous Osborn Group into ruin.
Five years earlier, Wei Xiuming had suddenly appeared before him and introduced himself, saying he needed Osborn's help to complete a research project. Osborn Osborn had an eye for talent. Recognizing the ability of Dr. Kent Clark, the alias Wei Xiuming had taken, he agreed to work with him.
With Wei Xiuming's help, Osborn then took off like a rocket. The company ventured into the research and manufacture of computers, communications equipment, automobiles, and weapons, as well as digital content, distribution channels, cloud computing services, and the development and application of new energy and materials. It quickly captured market share and rescued Osborn Group from the brink of bankruptcy.
And after the military sent over the few insectoid specimens it had, Wei Xiuming used them as the basis for developing a complete human enhancement program to repair his genetic defect.
How could Osborn Osborn let such an outstanding talent get away? He promoted Wei Xiuming again and again, giving him whatever equipment and funding he asked for. He even diverted research funds from other projects to him. Almost the entire R&D division of Osborn Group worked around Wei Xiuming.
When the Department of Defense put out a call for major companies to submit bids in response to the insectoid crisis, Osborn Osborn assigned an entire R&D base to Wei Xiuming. A few months later, Wei Xiuming had produced a finished product.
"My intelligence isn't exceptional, but my knowledge is among the best on this planet." Because he was wearing a specially made gas mask, Wei Xiuming's voice sounded strange, just like a movie supervillain's. "Mr. Osborn, there are two things we need to discuss before signing the contract. First, Osborn Group spent a total of 16.2 billion dollars this year. You need to publicly claim that this was the development cost of this weapons system. Taking the military's budget into account, each suit should be priced at 620 million dollars."
"Of course!" Osborn Osborn, usually as overbearing as a tyrant, replied cautiously. "The B-2 stealth bomber costs 1.3 billion dollars, but when you spread the development costs across every plane, the average price rises to 2.4 billion. Our armor is a product from the future. A price of 620 million dollars is a bargain!"
Wei Xiuming smiled and opened a file. It contained the full list of weapons for the Knight armor, various upgrade and enhancement plans, and even the blueprints for the final product.
You never put a product this far ahead of its time on the market right away. You sold an inferior version, or simply a test model. That way, you could make money off the intermediate versions, then apply to the Department of Defense for further R&D funding with a clear conscience. Having tasted the benefits of the Knight System, they certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass.
Osborn Osborn nodded in agreement. "It's just like selling cars. The real money is in follow-up maintenance and servicing. We'll be responsible for maintaining the armor and training its users after it's sold. Even an ordinary screw has to come from us. Charging twenty thousand dollars for one isn't unreasonable!"
Wei Xiuming continued, "Second, anyone who wears the Knight System needs a certain degree of physical enhancement. Otherwise, even the best fighter pilots will be no more than expendable. The enhancement program needs to be funded separately. It'll cost three million dollars per person, with food and lodging charged separately."
After saying this, Wei Xiuming reflected on the matter. He had once been a model young man raised beneath the red flag of socialism. How had he become such a greedy capitalist?
It was just like during the slave trade: slave traders stirred up wars between different African tribes, sold weapons to both sides for a profit, then bought the captives from the victors.
There should be a more fitting example here, but when he wrote it on a certain site in 2018, it was censored. After the setback, he wasted two years, so he wouldn't bring it up here.
Just think about it: insectoids didn't exist in the Marvel World. He had transformed the Skrulls aboard a spaceship into them. The meteorite that had destroyed the town was actually just that spaceship, along with some meteorite shells used as camouflage.
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