Atlas—the titan who held up the sky in Greek mythology. Theseus—the king of Athens who slew the Minotaur.
Of course, the choice of these names wasn't out of reverence for Greek mythology—
In several versions, the CEO of Roxxon Oil is literally a Minotaur. This was just a little jab at him.
Besides, "Atlas Corporation" sounds pretty powerful, too.
Once the direction was set, Leo's research team moved quickly. They soon produced the first version of the plan.
The enhanced spider silk turned out to be a superbly conductive material. Peter's discovery meant that spider silk solution could replace copper and silver in electrical grids, offering a high-quality, low-cost conductor.
This didn't exactly surprise Leo—several Spider-Man adaptations had hinted that spider silk had excellent conductivity.
As for designing and selecting photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, it was child's play for Otto and Toomes.
Normally, the design process would require field surveys and testing. But in the hard drive Leo gave them, the amount of data was beyond belief.
Unlike residents of other cities, the people of Aldecaldos had a complete education system and placed great emphasis on practical data. Decades of surviving in the Wasteland had given them firsthand experience with nearly every terrain in America—and with energy solutions suited to each one.
When the corporations abandoned this tech, the locals scavenged the discarded generators. The data they salvaged became the backbone of the energy supply for each of their camps—essentially, their lifeline.
Rough around the edges, perhaps—but incredibly useful and impressively comprehensive.
The batteries used the same graphene tech as the octopus arms and exoskeletons, with standardized specifications. In emergencies, they could even be detached to power other gear.
Since spider silk solution degrades on contact with air, it was packaged inside graphene material, with an insulating layer added outside.
All these materials and technologies were being combined and repurposed. One by one, revolutionary civilian products were carried out of the labs, and the production know-how was uploaded into the control systems of line workers' prosthetics and exoskeletons. The production lines were adapted with minimal effort.
Leo worked from morning till night. As synthetic limbs and artificial blood hit the market, the company's valuation and revenue skyrocketed—and so did the system's tech points.
One week later—
[Advanced Materials Lab Progress: FlexiGraph Standard Energy Storage Battery Completed]
Developer: Dr. Otto
Description: Highly moldable graphene battery with an energy density of 500Wh/kg. Unit size: 5mm × 5mm × 2mm. Exceptional tensile and compressive strength. Can be embedded into mechanical structures for reinforcement.
Note: Mass production technology still in development.
Tech Points Awarded: +300
[Advanced Materials Lab Progress: Ultra-High Voltage Long-Distance Bio-Conductive Cable Completed]
Developer: Peter Parker
Description: Conductive cable formulated from genetically modified spider silk sac fluid. Tensile strength is 50 times that of regular steel. Conductivity comparable to silver.
Features: Surface coated with a protective layer. Resistant to shearing, easy to deploy, lightweight, and portable.
Note: Mass production technology is still in development.
Tech Points Awarded: +300
[Mechanical Structures Lab Progress: SSGI Photovoltaic Array / AAGI Wind Turbine Set Completed]
Description: Green energy generators incorporating FlexiGraph batteries, bio-conductive cables, and advanced turbine structures.
Capability: Designed to endure extreme wind and sunlight. Let nature unleash its fury—this tech can handle it.
Tech Points Awarded: +400
New Short-Term Goal: Convert fuel transport vehicles to electric.
[Advanced Prosthetics Lab Progress: Civilian Construction Exoskeleton Type I Completed]
Description: A simplified exoskeleton compatible with humans who lack neural interfaces. Operates through force-feedback controls.
Tech Points Awarded: +200
Current Tech Points: 10,700
The technology was fully ready, and everything had been loaded onto the cargo ships.
Leo invested all of his company's available liquid assets—40 million USD—into production, and everything was shipped via cargo vessels belonging to the African Union.
These ships weren't particularly large, but the advantage was that only T'Chaka, the King of Wakanda, knew the exact routes and sea lanes. Their confidentiality far surpassed that of air travel.
At the port, Leo watched as the goods were loaded into containers. Martin's security personnel temporarily moonlighted as laborers until enough manpower was available.
Frank carried a backpack, followed by a group of his former comrades. As they walked, some couldn't help but glance at their own limbs with a lingering sense of disbelief.
The Atlas Corporation's first batch of rapid response teams totaled 24 people.
Among them were snipers, machine gunners, demolition experts, assault troops, medics, communications specialists, scouts, weapons experts, and even engineers.
Once, they were decorated veterans. After the war, they became ordinary civilians with disabilities. The prosthetics had given them new lives.
Each one passed in front of Leo and expressed their gratitude. The last was Frank.
Leo spoke: "Remember to run baseline diagnostics with the chip every day while you're on the ship, especially your teammates."
Frank smiled. "Mission guaranteed, boss. Wait—you're saying baseline tests can be done with just a single chip now? That's high-tech."
The chip was actually a variant of the skill chip—it placed the user in a preset virtual environment to test their prosthetics.
The user's prosthetic had to be compatible with the chip's test interface for maximum effectiveness.
Still, real-world use would always be more effective than calibration tests.
"Technology is advancing," Leo shrugged. "But fieldwork is still the best test. Our communications might be unstable at sea—everything will be up to you."
"Don't worry, boss. We've fought plenty of tough battles on the water."
As he spoke, Frank looked past Leo.
It was T'Chaka, arriving at the port with his son, T'Challa.
The old king's eyes lit up when he saw Leo. "Leo, you can rest easy this time. The African Union is your firmest support."
"T'Challa will ensure this shipment arrives safely. The land transfer documents and registration papers are all complete."
"All the UN paperwork has also been finalized. The Atlas Corporation is now a fully legal international organization—no legal troubles ahead."
T'Challa would personally oversee the first shipment, as a gesture of good faith in the cooperation between both sides.
The young prince bowed slightly. Ever since Leo met him, T'Challa had maintained a remarkable level of humility—it had to be said, his upbringing was quite impressive.
When we think of it, T'Challa's arrogance in the original story was mostly directed at the chaos caused by the U.S. military and CIA types. Overall, he was indeed a man of quality.
Perhaps it was true: "When the granary is full, people understand etiquette. When clothes and food are sufficient, they know honor and shame." In this world, Wakanda may not have vibranium, but it has never suffered famine. Its citizens were significantly better educated than those of neighboring countries.
"Thank you for choosing the African Union as your next development site. On behalf of Wakanda, I welcome the Atlas Corporation."
After a brief exchange, T'Challa and his people boarded the relatively modest cargo ship.
The ship's horn blew, and it slowly departed the coast.
The African Union was poor. Their airlines were mostly controlled by foreign powers, but their shipping companies were not.
They didn't have massive super freighters that could carry hundreds of thousands of tons per trip—but they had plenty of small cargo ships.
The first ship, then the second, and more after that would slowly carry Atlas Corporation's high technology to the underdeveloped lands of Africa.
That was what T'Chaka hoped to see.
As the king watched the ship disappear over the horizon, he solemnly declared once more: "Leo, the African Union will always be your strongest backing."
"So will I. How about we share a meal? If you don't mind, I'd like to host it at my place."
"Of course not," T'Chaka nodded.
Walking with a king—it really did feel like slipping into high society.
[Meanwhile, on the other side of the world:]
[V: Goddammit, that idiot ran off!]
[V: Move already!]