Chapter Sixty: Information, News, Communication, Satellites

“Sir, there’s a document that requires your signature.”
Michael turned around to look at Felicia, took the envelope, and opened it, only to find a court summons inside.
“What the hell?”
Felicia explained, “Apparently it’s from a descendant of a shareholder. He claims he was threatened into handing over his shares, and afterward, someone tried to silence him.”
“How is he still alive, then?”
Michael was genuinely curious—since when had Kingpin become so sloppy?
“Supposedly, he hid under the bed. Did he see who tried to silence him?”
“No, he didn’t.”
Michael was speechless. How did the guy even dare to file a lawsuit?
“So what’s he suing for?”
Felicia shrugged; she found the whole thing baffling as well.
Unexpectedly, there was a survivor—most likely Kingpin had intentionally left a loose end, just to disgust Michael.
But this time, Michael was truly innocent. Some shareholders hadn’t been included in the original plan, which left a loophole.
Michael quickly bribed the judge and made arrangements with the coroner, striding confidently into the courtroom.
“Mr. Michael, according to your statement, your shares were all acquired from a man named Wilson Fisk.”
“Yes, Your Honor. I never met any of the shareholders directly. Once I realized someone was manipulating Osborne, I started paying attention to where the stocks were going. Eventually, I discovered that a man named Wilson Fisk had received Osborne’s shares. I tracked him down and paid a hefty sum to purchase those shares from him.”
Michael produced the contracts. “Your Honor, these contracts are evidence, and the stock market records of share transfers can also prove that everything I’ve said is true.”
The judge continued, “Where did you get the money for the purchase? To my knowledge, you’re merely a somewhat prominent biologist currently staying in a foster home.”
“First of all, I hold shares in Jack Enterprises and receive royalties from the drugs I’ve invented. Secondly, I’m also a shareholder in Stark Industries, so obtaining a large amount of liquid assets is no problem for me.”
The judge nodded.
Truthfully, this case was never winnable. The claimant had only his own miserable life left, didn’t see who was behind the attack, and the police had provided scant evidence. Tracing the shares’ final destination wasn’t enough to bring Michael down.
Most likely, someone simply disliked Michael and manipulated the case to tarnish his reputation.
“The verdict is announced: insufficient evidence. Michael Morbius acquired his shares through legitimate channels and is acquitted. This case is closed and cannot be appealed.”

In fact, the case shouldn’t have been declared final, but Michael had paid generously.
For Michael, time was money—he couldn’t afford to waste any.
Soon after, negative reports about Michael flooded the media, some even speculating about his ties to organized crime.
But such rumors were harmless until published; once reported, they became slander.
Michael countered by taking them to court and made a tidy profit in the process.
With the money from that victory, Michael approached several newspapers and news stations, commissioning a thorough cleansing of his public image.
The focus was on his past good deeds and academic articles released for free.
In no time, Michael became a household name.
He attended a few charity galas, staged some public acts, and instantly became a top philanthropist.
A decade of good deeds had gone unnoticed; but one report made him famous overnight.
This taste of controlling the news convinced Michael of its power, so he established several news stations dedicated to defending his and his company’s reputation.
Meanwhile, Michael learned from others that a certain politician had orchestrated the lawsuit against him.
This event made Michael acutely aware of the importance of information warfare.
“Should I launch a new satellite?”
Michael pondered.
He needed a satellite capable of monitoring information and providing rapid support, much like Tony’s satellite equipped with anti-Hulk armor.
Red Queen appeared before Michael and said, “There was originally a satellite launch project, but it was postponed due to Norman’s death.”
“Pull up the satellite launch plan.”
“Certainly, sir.”
The company’s existing satellites were primarily used for communications and navigation; the new satellite was also intended as a technological upgrade in those fields.
Now Michael required a surveillance and reconnaissance satellite that could also assist in combat.
The new satellite would function much like Tony’s EDITH system for Spider-Man, capable of detecting and identifying suspects and deploying drones for battle.
First, it needed a high-resolution telescope for ground monitoring, and then a weapons system.

But Michael realized his technology would keep advancing, meaning he’d need to launch satellites continuously—a troublesome prospect.
Finally, he found a solution: directly integrate a weapons manufacturing system into the satellite itself.
Much like Zeya’s system in Zero-One, the assistant could use the satellite to craft new gadgets at any time.
Red Queen could also reside within the satellite, expanding her computational and information transmission capabilities.
Thus, under the guise of revolutionary satellite navigation, preparations began.
He left rocket design to others, but took charge of designing the satellite himself.
His vision was for the satellite to handle daily communications, positioning, and monitoring, while providing firepower support in combat.
To ensure the satellite had sufficient energy and operational flexibility, Michael decided to abandon single-crystal silicon batteries and solar panels, opting instead for controlled nuclear fusion.
Currently, Angel International lacked the necessary technology, though research had been ongoing and led to the creation of Doctor Octopus.
For controlled nuclear fusion, only Tony had the complete technology—this was why Stark Industries became the leader in new energy.
Michael spent a fortune to invite Tony to build a reactor for him.
Business was business; Tony agreed without hesitation.
Together, they designed a reactor for the satellite, allowing Michael to pick up some tricks along the way.
Unfortunately, Michael lacked the new element; to build a miniature reactor, he’d have to use palladium as a substitute.
Compared to Tony’s new element reactor, the palladium version had lower output and caused heavy metal contamination, which had once poisoned Tony.
Of course, heavy metal poisoning isn’t irreversible; Michael’s physique could even ignore it entirely.
If the reactor were built into a suit, rather than being in direct contact with the skin, symptoms would be alleviated.
Besides contamination, power output was a concern.
Tony’s palladium arc reactor had experienced generational issues and was once unable to sustain the Mark II’s flight.
It wasn’t until he developed the new element that Tony no longer had to worry about energy problems.