Chapter 42

Today's second update, continue to support!

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The "uprising" that failed to even begin due to someone's appearance did not have as significant an impact on human society as the original plot.

However, even so, USR, one of the main responsible parties for this incident, still faced immense pressure from all sides due to the NS-5 robot malfunction.

Fortunately, Lawrence Robertson, who had built a vast robot empire and extended his influence into various industries, naturally possessed considerable "power."

After several days of questioning, investigation, and interest exchanges, this malfunction incident, which had not even truly begun, was quickly downplayed and resolved.

Of course, the swift resolution of the matter was not only due to Lawrence Robertson's network of connections and significant interests but also because Liu Rui'an had exerted considerable effort.

After all, the world of "I, Robot" or "Robots" indeed held great value.

Even if Liu Rui'an did not yet have the energy or time to play the game of unifying this world, obtaining more resources and technology through USR still brought numerous benefits.

Indeed, the hardware issues that had long troubled the Protoss were quickly resolved after acquiring the technology for quantum computers.

At the same time, a large number of technological advancements from various fields were collected through various channels.

What surprised Liu Rui'an the most was that his greatest gain from this journey was neither the space travel technology in its early stages nor the NS-5 robot technology.

It wasn't even the additional biotechnology tree but rather the nanite eraser, or more precisely, the nanotechnology it represented, which played a crucial role in the plot despite its limited appearances.

Although this technology was not yet perfect and had limited applications, the data collected already showed its high research and application value.

After spending a month in the "I, Robot" world, Liu Rui'an returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a significant haul.

In addition to a vast amount of data, he also brought back a large number of NS-5 robots.

Considering that the Three Laws of Robotics were not as perfect as Dr. Alfred Lanning had claimed, at least in Liu Rui'an's opinion, he made some simple modifications to these NS-5 robots.

On top of the original Three Laws, he added a "safety" measure, the Zeroth Law.

Liu Rui'an's thinking was simple: robots that could not be fully controlled by him were not good robots and had no reason to exist.

Fortunately, part of the underground base beneath the Umbrella Technology Building had already been constructed, and the area designated for the crossover zone was intentionally made quite large. Otherwise, the large amount of items he brought back might not have fit.

With the addition of these NS-5 robots, the construction progress of the underground base of the Umbrella Technology Building saw a significant boost.

After spending some time delivering a batch of disassembled NS-5 robots to the private estate where the original seaside villa in California was located, the construction progress there also improved considerably.

However, to the great surprise of all those who were paying attention to this sealed-off area, there was still no sign of reconstruction on the site where the villa had been demolished.

Instead, the entire hillside, with a significant investment, was transplanted with a large number of thick trees and various flowers, vines, and other plants, and even a considerable number of birds and animals were released, turning it into a lush, small forest.

Since the technologies obtained this time were relatively mature, Liu Rui'an only spent a few days arranging the research and manufacturing tasks upon his return before resuming his leisurely lifestyle.

Lying on a lounge chair on the rooftop terrace of the Umbrella Technology Building, sipping a delicious bio-drink, and watching the life secretaries in various bikinis playing in the swimming pool, he felt extremely satisfied.

"Boss, Phil is here," said Maria Hill, still in her black OL uniform, as she walked under the sun umbrella.

"Why is he here?" Liu Rui'an, wearing only a pair of swimming trunks, put down his drink and asked.

"He said he wants to talk to Boss," the cold and beautiful Maria Hill replied.

"Maria, you are a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Don't you know what he wants to talk about?" Liu Rui'an, moving his sunglasses to the tip of his nose, asked with a smile.

"I don't know," Maria Hill shook her head and explained, "I am now the CEO of Umbrella, and according to the relevant security regulations, I automatically lost my original clearance when I took this job."

"Is that so? Then the 'Black Widow' assigned to Tony's company is also in the same situation?" Liu Rui'an asked, feigning surprise.

"Her situation is different," Maria Hill, who was used to her boss's foresight, replied.

"I see. Then please bring Phil here. I believe talking in such an environment will be more pleasant," Liu Rui'an said, pointing to the life secretaries playing in the water, and smiled.

"You're the boss, you decide," Maria Hill said coldly, glancing at the seductive swimming pool, and then turned and left the terrace.

Watching her alluring back, Liu Rui'an's eyes showed a hint of unusual expression.

After a short while, Phil Coulson, still in his S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, appeared on the terrace.

"Seeing you now reminds me of someone else," Phil Coulson said, sitting on a lounge chair that the life secretaries had just brought over, looking at the seductive swimming pool.

"Are you talking about Tony? Compared to him, I'm already quite conservative," Liu Rui'an said with a smile, shaking his drink and asked, "What flavor of drink do you want?"

"Bio-drink?" Phil Coulson asked, looking at the light purple liquid in the cup.

"Exactly, and it's not available on the market," Liu Rui'an nodded and replied.

"If possible, I'd like a mango-flavored one."

Phil Coulson, knowing that this drink was unobtainable even with money, naturally did not hesitate.

Soon, a life secretary with a hot body and a beautiful face, wearing a revealing bikini, brought a cup of bright yellow bio-drink.

"The taste is excellent," Phil Coulson said with a smile, taking a sip.

"Phil, aren't you afraid I might put something in your drink?" Liu Rui'an, holding a grape-flavored bio-drink, asked with a smile.

"Would you?" Phil Coulson, taking another sip of the mango-flavored bio-drink, asked in return.

"Alright, I wouldn't," Liu Rui'an said with a look of being seen through, and then got straight to the point, "To save time, let's get to the point. What brings you here today?"

After Phil Coulson explained his purpose, Liu Rui'an was not surprised but felt extremely disappointed.

He was not surprised because the purpose of this high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was simple: to find out the background of the new staff members who suddenly appeared in Umbrella Corporation.

Liu Rui'an had anticipated this question.

Jokingly, after the expansion of Umbrella Corporation, although they had hired many people from society, those were only peripheral members.

Not to mention the positions that could truly access the core of the company, even some seemingly unimportant but potentially vulnerable jobs were entirely handled by cloned individuals with implanted memories.

However, this naturally made a large number of people with unknown backgrounds a target of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention.

Fortunately, Liu Rui'an had the title of a prophet and had demonstrated sufficient strength in previous transactions and collaborations.

Otherwise, if it were another company that S.H.I.E.L.D. did not sufficiently value, Phil Coulson's visit would not have been so simple.

As for the disappointment, it was simple: apart from the purpose of investigating the background of Umbrella's employees, S.H.I.E.L.D. had still not provided any response regarding Skye and the Obelisk.

If it weren't for the information about Daniel Whitehall, one of the former Hydra leaders, Werner Reinhardt, which Maria Hill had previously provided, Liu Rui'an would have thought he had never mentioned it to them.

Fortunately, with the technological power currently possessed by Umbrella, they could still search for their target in the vast sea of people without relying on S.H.I.E.L.D.

The difference was that working with S.H.I.E.L.D. would be easier, while doing it alone would take more time.

After understanding Phil Coulson's purpose, Liu Rui'an's response was quite simple.

"Regarding the employees, I believe Maria has already communicated with you to some extent."

"These people are actually my subordinates from another world. Bringing them here is just to increase our self-protection capabilities."

Faced with this vague and clearly evasive answer, Phil Coulson, after a moment of silence, surprisingly did not pursue the matter further but changed the topic, saying:

"Liu, someone wants to meet you."

"Come on, the last time Captain wanted to meet me, it kept me busy for a while. Who is it this time?" Liu Rui'an rolled his eyes and complained.

"A big guy who can transform," Phil Coulson replied.

"Green?" Liu Rui'an, who already had a good idea who it might be, asked.

"Exactly, him, or more precisely, it," Phil Coulson nodded and confirmed.