Chapter 188: Picked Up A...
In the first half of the new year, Tony, who had undergone surgery to remove the shrapnel fragment from his chest and made a complete recovery, had already embarked on a honeymoon trip with Pepper.
Meanwhile, single dog Oaks had entered a phase of continuous technological research and development.
With the addition of Dr. Maya Hansen, a top DNA bio-coding expert, Oak Tree Environmental Technology company conducted further research on several specially modified plants and planned to strengthen the previously developed special plants by enhancing them.
These included integrated landscape aquatic plants for organic matter purification in water bodies and air purification, integrated landscape trees for air purification and organic matter purification in soil, super-fast organic matter decomposition moss, and super-strong sand-stabilizing and drought-resistant shrubs.
These four special plants were the primary targets for the next round of enhancements—not only enhancing them from seeds and seedlings but also developing an evolutionary fluid that would enable previously planted magical plants to evolve at a later stage.
With Oaks's Nature magic supporting their research, the progress of their studies went smoothly, and they could expand their breeding scale in the second half of the year.
The Ark Ship, "Nature's Guardian," was completed almost simultaneously with the Avengers Tower. The headquarters of the Benevolence Society and Oak Tree Environmental Technology company had relocated to this airborne base.
As planned, Nature's Guardian hovered above the Pacific Ocean, in the stratosphere while maintaining an invisible state.
The perfected Cosmic Energy-Arc Reactor hybrid energy system allowed it to be completely self-sufficient in terms of energy consumption.
The Benevolence Society's expertise in ecological technology had created a closed miniature ecosystem on the Ark, where no waste, including household garbage and wastewater, was discharged.
Skoll, the German Shepherd known as the "Sun Hound," remained as a permanent guardian on Nature's Guardian, while Hati, the Husky known as the "Moon Hound," resided in the Little rainforest to guard the portal.
Goose, as the mascot and logo, had moved to Nature's Guardian and taken residence in the new miniature ecosystem.
Moco and Coco stayed in the Little rainforest, taking turns serving as bodyguards for the Secretary-General of the Benevolence Society, Antonio, while also managing the small animals in the rainforest.
With the arrival of spring, everything came back to life.
In the United States, Arbor Day is a state holiday, it is basically held between April and May each year..
During this time, Oaks was extremely busy.
Thanks to the prominent contributions of the Benevolence Society, the national vegetation area had increased by 20% compared to the government's planned growth rate over the past few years, which was an astonishing number that continued to rise.
After the New York Battle, this rate almost doubled—
This was closely related to the increasing influence of the Benevolence Society.
Even Steve's motivational endorsements would end with a line like "Protect the environment, starting with me"...
As the leader of two organizations, both recipients of the United Nations Environment Programme's "Earth Guardian Award" and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Oaks himself received a number of speaking invitations that were no less than Captain America's.
Of course, these were public service speeches, not endorsements.
Even the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the International Red Cross invited Oaks to speak and awarded him honorary medals, thanking him for his rescue and protection of marine life during the Roxxon tanker incident and his outstanding contributions to protect citizens during the New York Battle.
Prior to the New York Battle, the Benevolence Society had already collaborated with several universities in New York and achieved remarkable results.
The first participating universities, Columbia University and Cornell University, gained tremendous exposure, social reputation, and academic achievements as a result.
After the New York Battle, Oaks's identity as a member of the Avengers became public knowledge and it further enhanced their prestige.
Therefore, in this spring, the Benevolence Society expanded its collaboration with schools to include high schools, in addition to the existing partnerships with universities.
The decision of the Benevolence Society was welcomed by major high schools in New York. For the initial pilot program, they would select one middle school and one high school from each of the five districts in New York.
So, in addition to the headquarters in Brooklyn, Oaks had been shuttling between the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island these days.
And the final stop was in the neighboring Queens, at the Queens Botanical Garden.
"...So, let's create a green future and achieve greatness.
You are the future of humanity, and may you use your own hands to create a green and beautiful tomorrow!"
"Wow—"
As the applause shook the roof, Oaks smiled, bowed to the children on the stage, and stepped down from the podium.
Antonio, Blaze, and the others continued with the promotional projects, while Oaks went backstage and opened the portal to return.
"..."
Then he saw a curious little face staring at him as he was about to step into the portal.
"What's that? Wow, it looks so cool! Is it a holographic image? Like Iron Man's? Or is it a portal? Is it the same as the one on Stark Tower? Will there be aliens coming out of it? Or are you actually an alien, Mr. Woods?"
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Oaks had to raise his hand in surrender. The little kid's mouth was like a machine gun, and it was difficult to withstand.
"Who are you? How did you end up here? Where's your teacher?"
Oaks looked at the boy with brown hair in doubt. This kid... wasn't he still in elementary school?
"You're still in elementary school?"
"I'm going to middle school in the fall!"
The little boy hopped over while giggling and couldn't help but glance at the portal.
"And it's this middle school. So, when I heard that the Avenger, Mr. Woods was going to give a speech here, I came to see!"
"I'm Peter Parker, Mr. Woods. You saved me when I was ten years old. It was at the Stark Industries Expo. Wow, I have to say, the way you effortlessly restrained that robot with a wave of your hand was so cool!"
"..."
Oaks felt a headache coming on.
Who? Peter Parker? The friendly neighborhood pajama baby?
"You're that kid with the Iron Man mask? Tony's overly enthusiastic fan?"
"Um... I did wear the Iron Man mask back then, and I am a fan of Mr. Stark. But as for being overly enthusiastic..."
Peter struggled for a moment but eventually gave up.
"Well, I guess I was pretty enthusiastic back then, but Uncle Ben and Aunt May said it was cute."
But before Oaks could say anything, the boy's little mouth started chattering again:
"Mr. Woods, where does that door lead? Were you about to go through it just now? Can I go and have a look?"
"..."
Oaks felt a twinge of toothache. He came to give a speech and ended up encountering a little spider...
"You came here by yourself? Did you tell your family?"
He glanced outside.
"And this is the backstage area. It's probably not open to visitors!"
"Well, I told Aunt May that I was coming to the botanical garden to listen to the speech, but I sneaked into the backstage area by myself."
Peter gestured with his hands.
"I'm good at playing hide-and-seek, and besides, there are no guards here!"
Oaks rubbed his chin. Indeed, there were no guards here, only staff members maintaining order. But they probably couldn't distinguish between a child who was already in middle school and one who was about to enter...
"Alright, you can come in and have a look, but you need to call your family."
After thinking for a moment, Oaks pointed towards the portal.
"Let's go. That's the new headquarters of the Benevolence Society."
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