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Chapter 177 - Chapter 177: Wings of Flight

That was a very nice dinner. Adrian was quite satisfied with Harry, apart from the fact that he might be Osborn's son. But even with that, Adrian had made peace with it. After dinner, he left his daughter to chat with Harry and went back to his garage to admire his work.

Adrian Toomes was once a name of great importance. He had developed a bionic individual flight apparatus called "Falcon," which was successfully adopted by the U.S. military's special forces. However, the Falcon gear later proved to have many flaws. Most of the pilots the military had painstakingly trained died in combat missions, and the high cost of the Falcon's manufacturing and training made the losses unacceptable. In the end, only one old set of Falcon equipment remained, and the last surviving pilot, Sam Wilson, had retired. As for the second-generation Falcon he had poured his heart and soul into… it also failed to gain the favor of the U.S. military.

If his equipment had just been rejected by Oscorp on the basis of cost-effectiveness, Adrian wouldn't have been so angry. But what was more infuriating was that Oscorp had stolen the anti-gravity system from his equipment and given him no compensation.

A strange noise came from behind him. Adrian turned and saw Harry standing awkwardly by a metal shelf with a wrench in his hand. Adrian smiled kindly. "What's wrong, kid?"

"Liz told me you were an inventor, so I wanted to see what you've invented. I'm very interested in this kind of stuff, Mr. Toomes."

Harry said this as he walked over to the second-generation Falcon suit. "Wow... are those wings? Can it really fly?"

"Right now? Not really. It needs a huge amount of electricity, which would drain my family's power bill."

Adrian smiled and explained why the large wings were just sitting there. Then he sighed helplessly and sat down.

"We're not doing so well financially, so I was hoping to use this equipment to bid on the military's next-generation single-person aerial mobility platform. Unfortunately, it failed. Oscorp's plan was favored by the military, so this thing became useless."

Oscorp...

"Did Oscorp compete fairly?"

Harry suddenly asked this question, and Adrian looked at him with great surprise.

"Why would you ask that, kid?"

"Because... well, you know, there are always rumors." Harry hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to reveal that he was Norman Osborn's son. He decided against it. Instead, he looked at the wings and said half-jokingly, "Even if you can't sell it, maybe you could use it for something else. Like, you could try putting on these wings and becoming a superhero?"

Adrian was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and shook his head.

"It's not that simple, kid. This is just a flight platform. I haven't built the corresponding exoskeleton armor or weapons yet. And I don't have the money for it." Adrian looked at the wings that might never fly again, a helpless smile on his face. "Besides, I don't know how to fight. I don't think I have what it takes."

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome America's protectors, the American Avengers!"

The next day, Adrian, who was brainstorming new ideas and sending his resume to Stark Industries and other companies in hopes of finding a new job, turned on the TV and saw a ridiculous piece of news.

The Pentagon announced in Washington that it would form the "American Avengers," a team of superheroes with the same authority as the Avengers but who would operate under the authority of the U.S. government and whose every action would be endorsed by the government. The Pentagon's spokesperson even proudly declared that "America has its own superhero team before any other country."

It was all so incredibly stupid. Adrian didn't know what the people at the Pentagon were thinking. Perhaps the Avengers and the government didn't see eye to eye and had a lot of conflicts, but at least before, the conflicts weren't public or intense. The Avengers were still considered by many to be America's superhero team, even after Black Panther joined.

But now, the Pentagon had created its own superhero team, and not only that, they had the gall to call it the "American Avengers." This could only prove one thing: the U.S. government was desperate to prove to the world that they could protect America from super-powered individuals. They had even revealed the real identities of all the members, to show that, unlike masked vigilantes, these superheroes were legitimate and compliant.

So what about the Avengers? What about the even more mysterious S.H.I.E.L.D.? Was the government trying to tell Americans that the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't be trusted? It was a really foolish move.

But...

Adrian frowned as he sipped his coffee. The Pentagon official was introducing the American Avengers, and Adrian was most interested in a soldier named Chris Powell. The introduction said he had mastered some kind of alien technology, a pure black high-tech suit. But what caught Adrian's eye most were the giant black wings on the back of the suit.

He remembered what Harry had said yesterday. Those wings could perhaps create a superhero.

Adrian suddenly became intrigued. With nothing to do, he took out a pen and paper and started designing a suit and weapons for his bionic wings, planning a complete upgrade for a brand-new superhero. He was unemployed for now and wasn't planning on building his own independent lab anymore.

Just then, he received a phone call.

"Hello, is this Mr. Adrian Toomes?"

"Yes, it is. How can I help you?"

The voice on the other end of the line was a pleasant surprise. "Hello, I'm Aldrich Killian, CEO of Advanced Idea Mechanics. We saw your resume..."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I've submitted a resume to your company."

Amid Adrian's confusion, the person on the other end chuckled. "Actually, we learned about your situation with Oscorp and submitted a request to the U.S. military to review your designs. Although the military didn't select your design, we are very impressed with your talent. A.I.M. is a company that has a deep partnership with the Pentagon, and we would like to invite you to join us to help us compete with Stark Industries and Oscorp."

"Oh... uh..."

Killian seemed unfazed by Adrian's hesitation and offered more information. "Did you see today's news? The American Avengers?"

"Uh, yes."

"The robot named Citizen V is an A.I.M. product. Of course, Citizen V is the name it took when it joined the hero team. Internally, we call it the 'Super-Adaptoid.' Does that prove our technological capabilities?"

"If you're interested in joining A.I.M., you can come in for an interview tomorrow, Mr. Toomes."

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