Steel Foot One

Attorney Matt—no, now it's Consultant Matt.

Consultant Matt truly lived up to his reputation as a workaholic; Oaks even worried he might actually drop dead from exhaustion.

For Matt, though, the role of legal counsel for the Benevolence Society let him put his ideals into practice right from the start of his enrollment.

Over roughly a year of development, the Benevolence Society had crossed paths with all sorts of people in New York.

At first, that wasn't a problem—charity work was generally welcomed.

But as the Benevolence Society grew rapidly, especially with Tony's Foundation as a partner and its own strong self-sustaining capabilities, the enterprise began attracting all kinds of ill-intentioned scrutiny.

While the real big shots vaguely knew that the Benevolence Society had the backing of the behemoth S.H.I.E.L.D., those lower on the totem pole had no way of finding that out.

Strictly speaking, though, the Benevolence Society was only borrowing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s influence; the actual power it could wield was limited to what Senior Agent Melinda could provide.

And whether that lady lent a hand depended entirely on her mood.

As for Coulson, he was only involved because he handled Tony's affairs, and Oaks had poached Dr. Yinsen, who was closely tied to Tony.

Of course, Oaks's display of superhuman healing abilities had also earned him higher clearance from Coulson.

So, all in all, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support for the Benevolence Society amounted to something like ordering gifts without paying and settling the bill with agent labor.

That's why plenty of smaller, annoyingly persistent factions—those without enough clout—had set their sights on the Benevolence Society.

Especially now that Stark Industries was on the decline, many saw this as a juicy target.

But the difference was that the Benevolence Society's environmental work was always transparent, operating in the sunlight under public scrutiny, making it hard for them to pull any dirty tricks.

So, cooking up various disputes and taking them to court for profit seemed like a solid approach.

Matt's legal aid came at just the right time.

These hypocrites, with their sanctimonious yet utterly voracious greed, only stoked Consultant Matt's sense of justice and fueled him with boundless passion.

Meanwhile, Zhang's classmates had already completed their paperwork and arrived at the Benevolence Society for internships.

Even Oaks's alma mater, Cornell University, had started contacting him about internship arrangements.

The Benevolence Society was entering a phase of building up its foundation.

Over at Oak Environmental Technology Company, after months of dedicated research, Dr. Yinsen finally announced in early November that a new generation of Mechanical Prosthetic had been successfully developed!

After a period of fine-tuning and preparation, today Dr. Yinsen invited President Oaks and the beneficiary—Blaze Clark, Vice President of the Benevolence Society—to come in for a trial fitting.

Blaze could barely contain his excitement.

Losing his left lower leg in an operation had been a major turning point in his life.

That incident cost him his career as a mercenary, drained his savings, and left him nearly frozen to death on the streets.

On the flip side, it had also led him to his current identity and achievements.

Though President Oaks had entrusted him with significant responsibilities, Blaze felt that as the Benevolence Society grew larger and the workload increased, his disability was becoming an ever more serious burden.

He didn't mind the inconvenience to himself, but the fact that his limitations slowed down the tasks he was responsible for filled him with deep self-reproach.

Now, Dr. Yinsen, recruited by the President, had solved the problem.

Blaze stared at the strange object displayed on the lab's platform—was that supposed to be a mechanical lower leg?

"God, that thing looks heavy."

Blaze muttered under his breath:

"I'm glad to get my left lower leg back, but will it dent the floor?"

"Don't worry, it's made of lightweight alloy."

Dr. Yinsen, who was running final checks on the computer, looked up with a smile:

"Most importantly, it's hollow."

"Sounds good. Maybe wearing it'll earn you a new nickname—

Steel Foot? Or something?"

Oaks had been about to say Black Foot, but after glancing at Blaze's rugged look, he decided against it.

"Uh..."

Blaze scratched his head as Dr. Yinsen waved him over:

"Relax, Vice President. We'll be done in half an hour, though there might be a bit of pain."

He slipped on a pair of rubber gloves and shrugged:

"After all, this is a union of machine and flesh. It might be a little intense at first, but don't worry—I've done this before."

Oaks watched him guide Blaze onto the lab table and couldn't help but want to make a comment.

Cutting a hole in someone's chest and shoving an electromagnet in there—that certainly counted as a union of machine and flesh too.

Blaze was strapped to the table, given a shot of anesthetic, and then the former mercenary's eyes went wide.

Because Dr. Yinsen picked up a wrench as big as his arm!

"I..."

Then he lost consciousness.

"Ah!"

Blaze snapped his eyes open, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. He was still lying on the lab table, but the restraining straps had been removed.

"Awake? How do you feel?"

Blaze heard Dr. Yinsen's voice and instinctively shuddered—that last giant wrench had been utterly terrifying.

"If it weren't for Chairman Oaks' ability, I wouldn't have dared to be so bold with the cuts...

Uh, don't worry, I didn't actually use an axe."

Seeing Blaze's face start to pale, Dr. Yinsen quickly explained:

"We succeeded. You can stand now."

"Succeeded..."

Blaze turned his head and saw Oaks smiling and nodding at him. He steeled himself and slowly tried to get up from the bed.

Then he saw his new left calf.

It was a mechanical leg, almost identical in shape to his original one, its metallic shell gleaming with an irresistible allure.

The allure of a tough guy.

"It feels... no different from my right leg."

Blaze tried getting off the bed, standing up, walking a few paces...

Then he burst into tears.

"Finally... I can get rid of the crutches. Thank you, Doctor... sob... Thank you, Chairman..."

"No need to get too worked up."

Oaks patted Blaze gently on the shoulder, and one sentence calmed the former mercenary brute right down:

"Dr. Yinsen's bonus will be deducted from yours."

"..."

"Haha, just kidding. Now go get used to it yourself. Oh, and don't forget to come in every month for maintenance and charging, dear Steel Foot."

Blaze left with endless gratitude to familiarize himself with his new leg, while Oaks and Dr. Yinsen headed to the office.

"You did it, Dr. Yinsen. Congratulations."

"Ah, I suppose I'm... standing on the shoulders of giants?"

Dr. Yinsen breathed a sigh of relief himself. With the inspiration from the Mark I Armor, he had saved an immense amount of work on muscle control and mechanical logic.

Of course, when it came to neural interfacing, without Oaks' powerful healing ability and technical support, he could never have pulled it off.

The two high-fived. They both understood what this mechanical prosthetic, Steel Foot One, meant for the fledgling Oak Environmental Technology Company.

Even if it didn't seem to have much to do with environmental protection.

Just then, the TV hanging on the wall broadcast a breaking news story.

"The town of Gulmira has been invaded..."

Exchanging glances, Oaks and Yinsen both turned their eyes to the screen.