Chapter 25

Originally, I planned to find some time to write while at the hospital, but it turned out that I only managed to write half a chapter or less.

Today, I finally heard some good news from the doctor; the baby is "improving rapidly."

Damn, if they knew the medicine was effective, why didn't they administer it right away? I was already planning to transfer to another hospital when they finally did.

If everything goes smoothly, I can be discharged on Friday. For the next few days, I can only update once a day, so please bear with me and understand, everyone.

Once the baby is discharged, I will work hard to catch up on the updates I missed.

Lastly, I'm shamelessly asking for your support—bookmarks, recommendations, donations, and everything else, nothing can be missing.

...

Almost immediately after Liu Rui'an's voice faded, a fiery red "sports car" landed steadily and quickly on the platform where Tony Stark had landed earlier.

The streamlined shape of the "sports car" immediately caught the attention of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.

However, while the former thought it was cool and had Jarvis scan it right away, the latter, not being very tech-savvy, simply found the "sports car" super cool and subconsciously imagined what it would feel like to sit in it.

As the car door slid open automatically, a woman in a black OL uniform gracefully stepped out.

Maria Hill, a senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Throughout the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this female agent's appearance frequency is not high, and one could even say it is quite low.

Apart from a few appearances in "The Avengers" and a few guest roles in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," she is far less prominent than the superhero Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.

In Liu Rui'an's view, Natasha Romanoff's skills and professional abilities are indeed excellent, and even her figure is better than Maria Hill's.

However, from a personal aesthetic perspective, Maria Hill is more in line with his needs, which is why he made that request earlier.

To Liu Rui'an's surprise, the efficiency of S.H.I.E.L.D., or more precisely, Nick Fury, was quite high.

Not long after the discussion, Maria Hill had already reported for duty.

As for why he insisted on having a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent by his side, Liu Rui'an had his own plans.

Unlike her usual combat uniform, Maria Hill in a black OL uniform, though less fierce, exuded a cold and noble aura.

"Welcome, Maria Hill." Liu Rui'an, who had walked forward to wait, smiled and extended his hand.

"Thank you, boss." Maria Hill, quickly entering her secretary role, shook his hand.

Knowing that it wasn't the right time to delve deeply into this character, Liu Rui'an briefly introduced himself and then acted as the introducer, smiling.

"Let me introduce you, Maria Hill, my new secretary and CEO of Umbrella Technology."

"Hi, I'm Pepper." Pepper, knowing her boss's nature, stepped forward to avoid any awkwardness and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Hill." A smile appeared on Maria Hill's cold face as she shook hands.

If this had been before using the gene optimization fluid, Pepper might have felt a bit envious and jealous after sensing Maria Hill's cold and noble aura.

But now, except for that innate cold and noble aura, Pepper was superior in both appearance and figure.

"Specific cooperation matters will be handled by Maria. You can chat slowly." Liu Rui'an, acting like a hands-off boss, walked to the landing platform.

The situation that Pepper had been worried about did not happen. After the Bugatti-Vulcain luxury transport vehicle appeared, Tony Stark's attention was completely captured.

It's impossible not to attract attention when such a cool and advanced vehicle suddenly appears while everyone is still using private planes.

Moreover, although Tony Stark's private life is somewhat decadent, he is undoubtedly a technical genius.

When Jarvis reported the scan results through the wireless earphone he had put on while getting drinks at the bar, Tony Stark had no intention of being flippant or sarcastic.

"Liu, what is this?" Tony Stark, standing in front of the Bugatti-Vulcain luxury transport vehicle, asked with excitement.

"This is the Bugatti-Vulcain luxury transport vehicle. Length: 4.24 meters, width: 2.79 meters, height: 1.95 meters." Liu Rui'an pointed to the restored Bugatti-Vulcain and explained in detail.

"Maximum takeoff weight: 10,000 kilograms, empty weight: 7,000 kilograms. It can be manually driven and also fully automatically controlled."

"Two sets of nano-plasma pulse thrusters and a fission-based nuclear pulse system provide the power. How about it, pretty good, right?"

As expected, once the topic turned to his area of interest, Tony Stark quickly got into the zone.

For over half an hour, one question after another was asked.

For these questions, Liu Rui'an did not hide any data that was not core information.

After all, since Maria Hill had already ridden in it and could drive it openly to Stark Industries, how could S.H.I.E.L.D. not know about it?

"How fast is this thing?" Tony Stark, surprised that someone could also master such advanced technology, asked somewhat reluctantly.

"The speed is pretty good. What? Want to try it out?" Liu Rui'an, seeing the competitive spirit in the other, smiled.

"How do we test it?" Tony Stark, eager to try, asked.

"Simple, you use your Iron Man suit, and I use my transport vehicle. Let's see who's faster, how about it?" Liu Rui'an smiled.

"Where to?" Tony Stark asked.

"Let's make your beach house the destination." Liu Rui'an, eager to experience the luxury villa, suggested.

"No problem. What about the loser?" Tony Stark, stretching, asked.

"It seems you want to make a bet. How about this: if you lose, you give me the villa."

Before the other could react, Liu Rui'an continued, "If I lose, I'll give you the formula for the gene optimization fluid. That's fair, right?"

"Add the transport vehicle to that." Tony Stark pointed to the red "sports car."

Faced with this clearly unfair demand, Liu Rui'an's response was surprisingly straightforward.

"No problem."

"Tony, what are you doing?" Pepper, who was discussing the bio-drink cooperation, asked as she saw her boss putting on the Iron Man suit.

"Nothing, just going for a ride. What do you want to eat? I'll bring it back for you." Tony Stark, in the process of suiting up, replied.

"Be careful, Tony." Pepper, knowing it wasn't that simple but also knowing it was useless to ask, warned.

Maria Hill, who had just started her new job, glanced at Liu Rui'an and, getting a reassuring nod, said nothing.

"Do you want me to give you a head start?" Tony Stark, now in a suit that was very different from his previous one, said confidently.

Looking at the suit, Liu Rui'an understood where the confidence came from.

The Mark 40 ultra-high-speed armor, nicknamed "Shotgun," is designed for speed and can fly at over five times the speed of sound.

Mach, or the speed of sound, means this high-speed armor can reach up to five times the speed of sound.

"No, no, that would be unfair. Let's start together." Liu Rui'an shook his finger and walked into the Bugatti-Vulcain.

"As you wish."

Seeing his plan succeed, Tony Stark immediately activated his Iron Man suit and hovered outside the open platform.

As Jarvis's countdown reached zero, Tony Stark, in the Mark 40 ultra-high-speed armor, quickly disappeared into the New York sky.

The Bugatti-Vulcain's door, which had just closed, slid open again, and Liu Rui'an poked his head out.

"Maria, remember to wait for me at the company after finishing the cooperation talks."

"Sure, boss." Maria Hill, still cold and elegant, nodded and reminded him, "You go ahead."

Liu Rui'an gave a thumbs-up and then gave the order to take off.

"Maria, aren't you worried?" Pepper, watching the red "sports car" rise slowly, couldn't help but ask.

"No, I don't need to worry about this."

Maria Hill, with a double meaning, continued discussing the bio-drink and other business cooperation with Umbrella Corporation.

Meanwhile, the Bugatti-Vulcain, having locked onto the destination and detected Iron Man's direction, instantly accelerated.

Although the restored Bugatti-Vulcain only had two sets of nano-plasma pulse thrusters, its speed was truly impressive.

It's not surprising, considering it can travel from Earth to Elysium Station in less than an hour, which is far from slow.

With the fission-based nuclear pulse system, its endurance is also quite long.

Thus, when Tony Stark arrived at his beach house at top speed, he saw a familiar red vehicle already parked on the helipad.

"Damn it!!"

Seeing his plan completely fail and having to give up a villa, Tony Stark felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

"Wait a minute!" Tony Stark, suddenly realizing something, said with a grim face.

"Jarvis, did you detect any abnormal mental waves targeting me at the industrial building earlier?"

But Jarvis's answer was:

"No, sir, everything was normal."

Page break for AD start

Page break for AD end