Chapter 359 - 332 Evolution_2

Thoughts: Why the mission failed.

Clearly, had the robots used Critical Battle Mode earlier, they wouldn’t have operated in a rigid tactical configuration.

The Iron Soldier would have observed the opponent under its command, learned from them, adjusted its combat mode, and even tweaked its hardware to respond to attacks.

The first reason: Critical Battle Mode was activated too late.

The second reason: Had it not been for the need to cover the commander’s retreat, it could have adopted a more flexible form of attack with a wider range of tactical options.

There are many other reasons, but overall, the "human commander’s" poor decision-making indeed bears great responsibility.

As for Critical Battle Mode... the first principle is iterative optimization, achieving victory, solving problems.

This is the first problem it needed to solve.

Then there was the survival issue.

It grabbed a shield, obtained enough fuel from the small boat, and flew off into the distance.

...

"Deeply mourn the loss of Colonel Eric Stevenson"

The salvage ship didn’t find the shield, but the search team found this guy’s body on the nearby coast.

Before the body was discovered, Tony had sent a message, and now Lille understood what was going on.

[Lille: Interesting.]

[Lille: When you join a battlefield as a child, you harbor an illusion that others may die, but you won’t.]

[Lille: Stark, you are even more naïve than a child, even believing that the people you send to the battlefield won’t die!]

Combat records couldn’t find Eric’s kill records, but Lille didn’t want to explain so much, he didn’t feel Tony Stark would listen to his explanations.

What he could do was to hand over Eric’s body to the United States military according to the contract—

In the end, his four new employees would submit a testimony, stating that they had been mutinied on the ship.

The whole matter from Lille’s side looked clear: it was evident that the navy ship was full of Hydra.

But it wasn’t the same to others, this world seemed to have two sides, both narrators had two totally different explanations of the same event.

From the opposing camp’s perspective, it was purely Atlas who had secretly killed over a hundred navy soldiers!

People like Tony Stark can’t be convinced by words, if he were smart, he’d investigate on his own, anyways Lille always spoke the truth.

Lille was worried about another matter: Eric had a transmission rod sticking out of his head, what kind of thing uses a transmission rod to kill?

There were no signs of a struggle, only signaling that Eric had almost no resistance when he died, considering it was a frontal stab, the possibility of a sneak attack is very slim.

He trusted the attacker very much—

But the people on the ship were either dead or had joined Atlas, who else in the vicinity could he trust?

From the current situation, it seemed reasonable to consider that the terrorists near the landing site had connections, but seeing a robot, it was easy to think of the famously known AI in Marvel World—

Ultron.

Frank didn’t retain the shield, but after watching the combat video, Lille thought the outcome was quite good.

Because of the robot that appeared at the last moment, it fought just like... a low-grade Anti-Hulk Armor.

Fast, tough, and powerful, if it weren’t for Frank’s last-minute order to sink the warship, Carter might not have been saved.

And at the last moment, the robot, in its human-shaped version designed for flight, was almost like a prototype of Ultron or Mark Armor!

That thing deservedly came from Stark Industries, there was some gene technology involved.

Another thing to keep an eye on.

Lille rose from his chair and walked to the window.

Although he had increased his investment in territories abroad, his various companies in New York had already left deep marks here.

Safe, clean streets, revolutionary automated factories, the most advanced hospitals globally...

In one of the world’s most bustling cities, they were also among the elite.

The most advanced city control systems were influencing the communication standards and the progress of intelligence in all emerging electronic devices.

The most advanced brain-computer interface technology, the most mature Artificial Blood, leading many downstream departments and entrepreneurs hoping to enter the Prosthetics design market to expand the market.

There was also the civilian Exoskeleton equipment under development, ready to be used in everyday production and public safety, along with infrastructure technologies including batteries and super biological cables...

It could be said that the foundation had been laid; even if the company did nothing, they could watch the patent fees increase significantly.

If they maintained this momentum, in less than five years, they would become the world leader in high-tech, a privately-owned company wealthy enough to rival nations.

Choosing to invest in the Wilderness at this time was hard to understand.

He totally understood the company’s attachment to this place, but Lille was all too aware of the gap between them and their competitors.

Five years might not seem long, but in a world undergoing increasingly intense changes, anything could happen.

He was facing military-business-interest groups that had been amassing power for many years. Betting everything on Mei Country, one mistake, and it would only take a few months to nationalize all these assets.

And indeed his cautiousness proved necessary.

The television on the desk was broadcasting a piece of news that was as hot among the upper class as the news of Somali Sea pirates sinking a warship.

"Financial earthquake: The Republican Oil and Gas Company yesterday suddenly completed the acquisition and control of several companies, including global giants like ExxonMobil, Yankee Energy, Saudi Aramco, Total, Sky Natural Gas, Eni Oil, and other major energy giants."

"The company name will be changed, under the control of Roxon Energy Group, this behemoth might have already completed control over all critical aspects of global energy supply."

"Facing public and media skepticism, international anti-monopoly watchdogs, the Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies stated, although the expansion scale of Roxon Group is unprecedented, the investigation did not show that the company violated any anti-monopoly laws."

"Although the findings by the FTC relieved some of the public pressure on the company, several companies involved had already announced a production cut plan before this, and some analysts described this as banditry, casting strong doubt on the FTC..."

"According to the analyst, Roxon Group has now secured absolute control over more than 80% of the global crude oil supply.

They have the world by the jugular, such a company could even order any country to kneel and lick its eggs!"

"The CEO responded to such skepticism: since its inception, Roxon Energy Group has carried a noble mission: to secure the global energy lifeline, and we look forward to deep dialogue with all stakeholders, whether governments, businesses, or consumers.

We will strive to build a more prosperous, green, and sustainable world together."

[Unstable Energy is about to erupt.]

[Please prepare.]