Chapter 1130: Part-time, Payback, and a Power Struggle

Damn it! Aren’t you Batman? Why are you stealing an angel’s job? The tycoon glared at the charcoal head in front of him and cursed inwardly.

A moment later, he closed the box. “Deal.”

Luke nodded in satisfaction. “Jarvis, help me open the elevator doors. I’m leaving.”

Watching him walk to the elevator, Tony couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, how do I give you the research results?”

Luke threw him a USB without looking back. “There’s a way to contact me inside.”

Tony caught it.

Luke said, “You can leave a message if you need help. Of course, preferably at night.”

Tony’s lips twitched. “You’re not really a bat, are you?”

The image of a big bat spirit bustling around in a dark cave during the day popped into his head, and he felt it was quite funny.

Luke turned his head, and his blood-red lenses seemed to flash with disdain. “No, Batman is only a part-time job; it’s just like how your main role is the CEO of Stark Industries.”

Tony was lost for words.

He had been CEO for more than ten years, and it had only been a few months since he started his part-time job as Iron Man.

Batman had a point, and Tony couldn’t argue with that.

Tony pondered as Luke took the elevator down.

The Batman suit 2.0 wasn’t anything ordinary. It was slightly below Mark 4’s level, but only 30% at most.

Also, as a top genius in weapons development, Tony knew that the way the Batman suit and the Iron Man suit were designed weren’t the same.

As support-type armor for use in the city, the power system for the Batman suit 2.0 wasn’t any worse than Mark 4’s, and there were practically no weapons systems installed.

But it was also far more stealthy and agile than Mark 4.

Even if Tony had said that there was something wrong with the Batman suit’s stealth system, he had just been nitpicking.

There were always flaws in any real product. The perfect product only existed in dreams; a designer could only make choices based on practical needs.

The Batman suit’s current performance was enough to meet Batman’s requirements, so it was a mid-level product.

That was right, it could only be considered above average at most, and no more! The best armor will always be my Mark armor! The tycoon made up his mind, but when he turned around and saw the cooler which contained Life 1, his expression couldn’t help falling.

Fine, his puny life was also very important. If he wasn’t alive to do the research, the metal suit would quickly become outdated.

A little depressed, Tony walked over and picked up the cooler. “Jarvis, get my private plane ready. I’m going back to the Malibu villa.”

He usually liked to go back and forth between New York and Los Angeles in his metal suit, which was much faster than a private plane.

However, with Life 1 on him, it was impossible for Luke to fly at supersonic speed with such an important thing. He could only take the plane back.

Thankfully, he could still work on the plane, so it wouldn’t be a waste of time.

Thinking that, Tony put on his armor and flew straight to his private airfield.

Luke was feeling very cheerful.

He was too terrible at research, even in the pharmaceutical line which Tony didn’t pay as much attention to.

Even ignoring the flashes of inspiration Tony got as a protagonist, Luke couldn’t compare with Stark Industries, which could set up a complete pharmaceutical research team at any time.

It wasn’t just about the money, but about the overwhelming advantage of fame and power.

Thankfully, Luke didn’t care about honor so much.

This time, he had refreshed the tycoon’s abilities in his system. He had to give the tycoon something in return; helping him treat his stupidity would be enough to calm him down.

He could use Tony’s strength to complete his research on Life 1, and Luke had the most important raw ingredient, the Blood Orchid extract. There was no need to worry that he would be kicked out of the game.

It wasn’t because Luke was wary of Tony, but because Life 1 might really be something extraordinary.

In his preliminary study, this drug that was created from the Blood Orchid extract had some amazing power.

Treating external injuries was just its simplest and most obvious function. Sloan had said that it could also treat the damage to the body and brain caused by Physical Outburst and Curve Shooting.

This was damage at a genetic level.

Sloan had basically been making car tires out of gold and flaunting them on the streets.

If Tony Stark knew about this, he would definitely curse Sloan for squandering such a treasure.

However, it would already be pretty good if there were any results from his research on Life 1 in a few months. There was no need to worry about that for now.

Luke quickly tamped down his excitement and returned home to his own work.

The most important thing for now was still to clear the small instance that was Sentinel Services.

A set or even a few suitable sets of armor would double the gains from this instance. He had to be prepared as much as possible.

...

historical

A few more peaceful days passed.

Luke moved Carol and Lorna to another apartment building, where they continued to remain in hiding.

Their faces were fine now, but the Thousand Faces System couldn’t change their figures. The eye-catching difference in height between the two girls would easily draw attention.

Stacy and the other two girls had already moved into the employee dorms that the record company had rented. With the other employees as cover and no threat from Sentinel Services, they were very safe.

On the other side, the High Table was still silent, and no one made a move against the Boogeyman.

According to Gianna, the High Table was currently engaging in a power struggle, which was caused by the recent movements of Boogeyman John.

Following her resurrection as planned, she finally completed the coronation ceremony and officially became the head of the family.

Santino was dead, but the bounty he put up was still in effect.

Although it was very bizarre that the bounty put up by the dead Santino was to avenge his very much alive sister, Gianna, the ten million and the special contribution reward would draw another wave of hitmen.

However, the heads of those who wanted to make a fortune cooled a little after what happened to Tarasov, Santino, and the Fraternity.

Few killers would dare take this bounty; the chance to kill more than a hundred hitmen in one go definitely wouldn’t appear again.

More importantly, it was Boogeyman John who had violated the rule of the blood oath. Not only didn’t he kill Gianna, he had even killed Santino, his client.

However, as one of the twelve members of the High Table, Gianna refused to announce excommunication or a bounty, because she suggested that Santino’s bounty was against the rules.

It made no sense that Santino could use the High Table’s reward to put out a bounty on one of the twelve members, while the High Table insisted that John fulfill the blood oath.

If the twelve members accepted this behavior, then everybody could issue commissions in the future and assassinate one another, and the High Table would have to continue giving out rewards.

The High Table was divided on this matter.

Although she had yet to become one of the twelve when Santino gave John the commission, Gianna was one of them now.

If the blood oath which the High Table created could be used to force a killer to assassinate any of the twelve members, and they had to succeed no matter what, then what use were the twelve members’ authority and intelligence?