This Hardly Counts as a Drone, Does It?

General Davis maintained an all-business expression despite Li Wei's enthusiasm.

"You can coordinate with our people, but the military will take the lead. You are not to act on your own."

After all, Future Technology Company had no partnership with the military.

If the two sides had orders worth tens of billions, they would certainly be treated differently.

But after so many years of development, America's class structure had long since solidified.

There had still been stories of ordinary people rising to prominence in the last century, with Hollywood producing notable examples, but such cases had become increasingly rare in this century.

This was reflected across every industry, especially military contractors, which were all giants that had stood for decades or even centuries.

Naturally, those giants were unwilling to let upstart "little vixens" come and take a share of their pie.

That was why Future Technology Company had always faced suppression in the military industry.

Stark Industries was one of the main culprits!

"Alright, we'll begin now,"

Li Wei said.

"Whatever."

General Davis did not care. He turned, preparing to leave.

It was already something that he had shown up at all, and only because of S.H.I.E.L.D.

But before he had gone far, he saw drones flying directly out of their cases without anyone operating them.

General Davis looked around in surprise and indeed saw no one controlling them.

Li Wei was even standing leisurely to one side, watching the drones fly off in every direction.

"Is artificial intelligence controlling them?"

Natasha, the Black Widow, was quite curious.

"That's right."

Li Wei nodded.

"Then where did you get the satellites?"

Natasha continued asking.

Li Wei merely gave a mysterious smile.

Satellites? Weren't there plenty in orbit?

It was not as if he had to use satellites launched by his own company...

At that point, the military became interested in the drones.

The Griffin Drones were entirely different from modern drones. Their appearance alone set them apart, and they visibly carried weapons, which was what truly caught everyone's attention.

If drones could be used to launch direct attacks, they would be far more useful than reconnaissance drones.

However, General Davis could not bring himself to lower his pride, so he merely sent Colonel Rhodey over.

James Rhodes would later become War Machine, and he was Tony Stark's close friend.

He and Tony Stark had been classmates at MIT, and they had remained extremely close ever since.

After graduation, Rhodey joined the Air Force. Through his relationship with Tony Stark, he rose to the rank of colonel and became director of the Army Weapons Development Department, acting as the intermediary between the US Military and Stark Industries.

Their interests were deeply intertwined.

That was why, when Tony Stark was kidnapped, Rhodey had been as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

It was precisely because of those connections that Tony Stark later gave him an Iron Man Suit.

No one else could possibly have received such treatment.

"Can we see this drone's specifications?"

Colonel Rhodey ran over and asked.

Li Wei smiled. "No problem. Future Technology Company's products are fairly priced and honest for customers of all ages!"

He directly sent the basic specifications file to Rhodey.

After looking through it, Rhodey was shocked. These were capabilities that even Stark Industries' drones did not possess.

This was absolutely a product ahead of its time, seemingly decades ahead of the US Military.

The US Military had always used the most advanced weapons available.

Yet even so, it had still been utterly outclassed.

The exaggerated specifications even made Rhodey suspect the data had been faked.

Take its endurance, for example. So long as there was sufficient sunlight, it would not even need to return for charging.

Its range was even more astonishing. It could operate dozens of kilometers away from its controller.

It also came with radar and radar-jamming capabilities, preventing enemy detection. And, as expected, it carried weapons and infrared scanning equipment.

Even a highly trained special forces soldier would only be crushed if he encountered a Griffin Combat Drone alone.

How could flesh and blood contend with machinery?

"Damn!"

Colonel Rhodey's hand trembled slightly. Then he said solemnly, "We'll discuss it."

As director of the Army Weapons Development Department, he could actually make the decision himself.

It was just that the price still needed to be discussed.

Future Technology Company's quoted price was already over one hundred thousand dollars. For a drone this good, wouldn't the price reported upward have to be at least several hundred thousand per unit?

After all, a US Military aircraft carrier cost roughly thirteen billion dollars.

A drone this good costing several hundred thousand dollars was absolutely cheap!

There was plenty of money to be made in the middle...

Over the following days,

Li Wei seemed less like he had come to find someone and more like he was field-testing Future Technology Company's weapons.

First came the Griffin Combat Drones, which directly wiped out an enemy squad in the mountains.

Faced with such drones, the enemy completely lost any will to resist and fired wildly into the sky.

The Griffin Drones were indeed hit.

But unlike the drones used by the US Military, they did not fall out of the sky. They were completely unaffected and continued firing.

They easily turned every enemy soldier into a sieve.

When the footage was transmitted back, the generals went wild.

How was this a drone? This was a war robot!

So after discussion, they immediately chose to place an order.

Li Wei did not care about the price they set internally. As long as he made money, that was enough.

After all, Pentagon generals had few opportunities to make money. If they did not take a little more from the military budget, how were they supposed to support their households?

This was what Li Wei needed. Only by getting involved with the military would he have a chance to cooperate with them.

Future Technology Company's products were simply too damn good.

If they had been on the same level as other military contractors, the military definitely would not have chosen them.

But the products were too revolutionary for anyone to ignore.

After that, Rhodey also became interested in Future Technology Company's other products.

While continuing to search for Tony Stark, he tested those weapons as well.

Such as the Magnetic Storm Rifle and the Quasar Cannon.

Future Technology Company even had an electric shock shotgun called the "ARC-12 Thunderbolt." Its unlimited ammunition thrilled Rhodey, and it was immensely powerful, firing electric blasts with every shot.

This was the result of Li Wei's accumulated resources.

All those long years of lottery draws had not been for nothing!

However, they did not place many orders. They only requested a small quantity, clearly nowhere near enough to equip the military.

Li Wei also knew very well that the US Military wanted to reverse-engineer them.

Li Wei could only laugh at that.

These were weapons from Super Earth.

Humanity on Super Earth had long since entered space and fought bloody wars against all kinds of races, including the Terminids and the Illuminate.

If their weapons could be reverse-engineered so easily, Li Wei might as well give up military manufacturing!

Yet after several days, even under Red Queen's control, the Griffin Combat Drones still failed to find Tony Stark.

They destroyed quite a few locations, but they still did not find him.

Li Wei, meanwhile, kept posting updates on social media, such as how many sites had been destroyed that day, drawing maximum traffic.

But since he kept failing to find Tony Stark, many people had begun questioning him.

Especially after many major military contractors put pressure on the military, saying they had brought Li Wei in to find someone.

Not to sell weapons!

With no other choice, Li Wei could only take the initiative and search with the Black Widow.