Marvel: The Imposter Inventor

Chapter 69 Hammer Industries, Regenerative Capital

Unfortunately, the development of the combat drone was only halfway done when Tony Stark intervened again.

As the largest source of funding for Orange Industries, Justin Hammer, the founder of Hammer Industries, was imprisoned on the spot, and Hammer Industries itself was liquidated and divided, almost going bankrupt before Orange Industries.

This directly led to the drone project almost being aborted.

The development process was fraught with difficulties and lasted for a year, although the combat drone was eventually launched.

However, this flagship product, which Gina had placed high hopes on, could only serve as Orange Industries' last lifeline, barely keeping the company from bankruptcy and preventing it from expanding further.

As for the end.

Naturally, it is the core component of Luca's [Dominator] pistol, the 'Ion Confinement Pistol'.

Perhaps it stems from the romanticism of being a scientific researcher and developer.

Unlike Gina's choice of 'combat drones' based on the company's existing resources and market assessment.

As the core head of the research department at Orange Industrial, Luca's father, Hermann, aspired to create a truly groundbreaking 'science fiction weapon'.

It must possess both the excellent aesthetics of traditional weapons and the futuristic core essence of science fiction works.

The ion confinement pistol, a powerful energy weapon, was clearly exactly what Herman wanted.

Of course, Herman wasn't blindly pursuing romance; otherwise, Gina wouldn't have agreed to allocate funds for research and development.

Compared to 'combat drones', if a 'ion confinement pistol' with combat capabilities can be successfully developed, then similar products such as 'rifles', 'submachine guns', and 'sniper rifles' could also bring a larger industrial market to Orange Industries.

Moreover, this high-end-looking weapon is a very attractive selling point, whether in order to negotiate orders or investments, and it is also more likely to save Orange Industries from the embarrassing situation of being on the verge of bankruptcy.

It could even be used to modify drones, potentially boosting drone sales significantly.

Unfortunately.

As it turns out, Hermann's achievements in high-energy physics were clearly somewhat inferior to his achievements in electrical engineering and programming algorithms.

Since Orange Industries was unable to recruit researchers of his caliber who could collaborate with him on research and development, the 'ion confinement pistol' remained merely an 'excellent toy' confined to the laboratory.

Extremely high manufacturing costs, short ion confinement distance, poor energy conversion rate, and all sorts of other problems were not fully resolved by Hermann before his death.

This is why, although these people have come to observe the weapons test, most of them are not optimistic about the new firearms that Luca mentioned.

While these people were chatting about gossip and their experiences from all over the world...

A few more people walked towards us from a distance along the long corridor connecting to the weapons testing range.

Among these people, the two walking at the front were clearly the leaders.

However, one of them was a young woman who looked to be only around 20 years old.

The woman was wearing a bright red dress, had dark brown curly hair, exquisite and beautiful features, and a sharp, edgy aura.

He always walks with his chin slightly raised, giving him an aloof and unapproachable air from a distance.

Her every move suggested that she was the master of the place, and that she was only there to attend a banquet for guests.

The newcomer's demeanor naturally attracted the attention of most people.

However, many people were not admiring the newcomer's beauty; instead, they frowned slightly.

"Why is she here too?" "And who is this?"

A few people who did not recognize the woman in red immediately whispered to those around them and asked.

"Who else could it be? The current head of Hammer Industries, of course. He hasn't even finished cleaning up his own company's mess, yet he has the nerve to attend Orange Industries' internal testing meeting?"

"Oh? She's the heiress of Hammer Industries, Justin Hammer?"

Yes, the person who came was Justin Hammer, the daughter of Justin Hammer, the former founder of Hammer Industries.

In the past, during the heyday of Hammer Industries, although it was far behind Stark Industries, ordinary people would not have dared to talk so casually about Justin Hammer's daughter, let alone the person in charge of Hammer Industries.

However, since Justin was arrested and imprisoned two years ago, Hammer Industries has been divided up by major competitors and the government and military, and its former power is no longer what it used to be.

Although Justin Jr., whose name differs from his father's by only one letter, later returned from overseas and took over the company again.

Because of her remarkable abilities and skills, coupled with her beautiful appearance, she was once very famous.

Ultimately, however, when surrounded by wolves, capability no longer plays a decisive role in the situation facing Hammer Industries.

For the next two years, Hammer Industries continued to decline rapidly.

It was only thanks to Justin Timberlake's efforts that Hammer Industries avoided bankruptcy that it was able to stay afloat, and afterwards, few people paid attention to Hammer Industries' movements.

Of course, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse. After all, it was once a large military industrial group worth tens of billions. Even though it has declined to this day, it is still not something Orange Industries can mess with.

The reason why people from Hammer Industries are here.

That's because when Orange Industries became a secondary supplier to Hammer Industries, it gave up some of its shares to Hammer Industries in order to allow Hammer Industries to manage its downstream industries.

Stark Industries may look down on these practices, but in reality, they are quite common in other large companies.

However, both companies later ran into bad luck and were too busy taking care of themselves.

Although Hammer Industries has always remained the third largest shareholder of Orange Industries (behind Gina and Hermann), it has never participated in any of Orange's decision-making processes in the past two years.

As for why Justin Hammer, who once stirred up trouble in the industry and gave Hammer Industries a last chance to breathe, would personally come here today, no one else present really knew.

As for the middle-aged man who followed Justin, always half a step behind.

Despite his ordinary appearance, gentle smile, and humble demeanor, he seemed to be just a butler or waiter.

But in reality, the others present were more familiar with him.

Heinrich von Stein.

Orange Industries' fourth largest shareholder, representing Regenerative Capital.

Venture capital firms that invested shortly after Orange Industrial landed in the United States.

Orange Industries experienced several ups and downs during this period, and the venture capital firm's shareholding also fluctuated, but it always maintained its position as an important shareholder.

Although Regenerative Capital is not well-known in the United States, it is actually very influential in Europe, or more precisely, Eastern Europe.

Orange Industries' current sales of military drones are largely due to orders secured by this investor's representative through connections.

It can be said that the other party is one of the important pillars that have enabled Orange Industries to survive until now.

(End of this chapter)