Steel Foot One

Attorney Matt—no, Consultant Matt now.

Consultant Matt truly lived up to his legendary workaholic reputation. Oaks was worried he might actually drop dead from overwork.

For Matt, serving as the Benevolence Society's legal consultant allowed him to put his ambitions into practice from the moment he enrolled.

Over roughly a year of development, the Benevolence Society had come into contact with people from all walks of life in New York.

At first, this hadn't been a problem—after all, they were doing charity work, and everyone welcomed that.

But as the Benevolence Society developed at breakneck speed, especially with Tony's Environmental Protection Foundation working with it and the society's own powerful ability to sustain itself, the cause began attracting all sorts of malicious attention.

Although the truly powerful figures vaguely understood that the Benevolence Society's real backer was the behemoth known as S.H.I.E.L.D., those without sufficient standing had no channels through which to learn of it.

And strictly speaking, the Benevolence Society had merely borrowed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s influence. The only force it could actually call upon was the influence of a senior agent like Melinda.

And whether Hela was willing to help depended on her mood.

As for Coulson, he was only involved because he was responsible for Tony's affairs, and Oaks had recruited Dr. Yinsen, who was closely connected to Tony.

Of course, Oaks's extraordinary healing abilities had also earned Coulson authorization for a higher level of access regarding Oaks.

So overall, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support for the Benevolence Society amounted to ordering gifts without paying and settling accounts by sending agents over to work.

As a result, many small and large forces that lacked sufficient standing yet were especially irritating set their sights on the Benevolence Society.

Especially now that Stark Industries had also fallen into decline, quite a few people had their eyes on this juicy prize.

But unlike other targets, the Benevolence Society's environmental cause had always been open and transparent, conducted under the sunlight and public scrutiny. It wasn't easy for them to resort to dirty tricks.

So fabricating disputes and taking them to court for profit was a pretty good approach.

Matt's legal aid had arrived at exactly the right time.

The sanctimonious yet bone-deep greed of these people further stirred Consultant Matt's sense of justice and gave him boundless enthusiasm.

Zhang's classmates had also completed their paperwork and come to the Benevolence Society for internships.

Even Oaks's alma mater, Cornell University, had begun contacting him regarding interns.

The Benevolence Society had entered a period of building up its foundations.

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

And after a period of adjustments and preparations, Dr. Yinsen invited President Oaks and the beneficiary—Benevolence Society vice president Blaze Clark—to come for a fitting today.

Blaze could barely contain his excitement.

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

Because of that, he could no longer work as a mercenary. He had also exhausted his savings and ultimately nearly froze to death on the streets.

On the other hand, it had also given him his current identity and accomplishments.

Although Chairman Oaks had entrusted him with heavy responsibilities, Blaze felt that as the Benevolence Society grew larger and its affairs increased, his disability was beginning to trouble him more and more.

He didn't care about his own inconvenience, but the fact that it prevented him from improving the efficiency of the work under his charge made him deeply blame himself.

Now, Dr. Yinsen, whom Chairman had recruited, had solved that problem.

Blaze looked at the strange object displayed on the laboratory platform—was that a mechanical lower leg?

"Good Lord, that thing looks heavy."

Blaze muttered softly.

"While I'm happy to have my left lower leg again, won't it crush the floor?"

"Don't worry. It's made from lightweight alloy."

Dr. Yinsen, who was carrying out the final adjustments beside the computer, looked up with a smile.

"More importantly, it's hollow."

"Sounds good. Maybe once you put it on, you'll earn yourself a new nickname—

Steel Foot? Or something like that?"

Oaks had originally intended to say Black Foot, but after looking at Blaze's tough appearance, he decided against it.

"Uh..."

Blaze scratched his head as Dr. Yinsen called him over.

"Relax, Mr. Vice President. We only need half an hour to finish, though there may be a little pain."

He put on a pair of rubber gloves and shrugged.

"After all, this is a fusion of machinery and flesh. It may feel somewhat stimulating at first, but don't worry, I have experience."

Watching him guide Blaze onto the operating table, Oaks couldn't help wanting to make a snarky comment.

Cutting open someone's chest and stuffing an electromagnet inside did count as a fusion of machinery and flesh.

After Blaze was secured to the operating table and given an anesthetic injection, the burly former mercenary's eyes widened.

Because Dr. Yinsen picked up an oversized wrench as large as Blaze's arm!

"I..."

Then he lost consciousness.

"Ah!"

Blaze suddenly opened his eyes. He felt strangely light all over. He was still lying on the operating table, but the restraints had been removed.

"You're awake? How do you feel?"

Hearing Dr. Yinsen's voice, Blaze shuddered instinctively—the last image of that enormous wrench had been far too horrifying.

"If not for President Oaks's abilities, I wouldn't have dared to be so drastic...

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

Seeing Blaze's face beginning to pale, Dr. Yinsen hurriedly explained.

"We succeeded. You can stand up now."

"We succeeded..."

Blaze turned his head and saw Oaks smiling and nodding at him. He made up his mind and slowly tried to rise from the bed.

Then he saw his new left lower leg.

It was a mechanical leg almost identical in shape to his original one. Its metal shell gleamed with an astonishing charm.

The charm of a hard man.

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

Blaze tried getting off the bed, standing up, and walking around twice...

Then he burst into tears.

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

"Don't get too excited."

Oaks gently patted Blaze on the shoulder, and a single sentence immediately calmed the burly former mercenary down.

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

"..."

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

Blaze left with endless gratitude to get used to his new leg, while Oaks and Dr. Yinsen went to the office.

"You succeeded, Dr. Yinsen. Congratulations."

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

Yinsen himself also breathed a sigh of relief. With the inspiration of the Mark I Armor, he had saved countless hours of work on muscle control and mechanical logic.

Of course, without Oaks's powerful healing abilities and technical support in neural connections, he could never have accomplished it.

The two high-fived. They both understood what this Mechanical Prosthetic, Steel Foot One, meant to the fledgling Oak Environmental Technology Company.

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

Just then, the television hanging on the wall broadcast a new report.

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

Oaks and Yinsen exchanged looks, and both turned their eyes to the television.