Marvel: The Imposter Inventor

Chapter 142 Cocktail Party, Cooperation (Second Update)

In Lower Manhattan, New York, inside a building that used to be next to the Orange Company.

The building has now been purchased by Luca and renamed Orange House.

Don't be misled by the name "Lower Manhattan." Although Manhattan Island is divided into several districts, none of them are particularly economically prosperous.

Even the infamous Hell's Kitchen is more chaotic than impoverished.

Or rather, in a highly capitalist city like New York, it is only individuals who are poor, not a particular region.

Even recently, the Upper East Side and Midtown area, where Stark Tower is located, have suffered extensive damage due to two separate alien invasions.

Surprisingly, housing prices in the Xiacheng District have increased instead of decreased.

The reason Luca was able to buy the building so easily was, of course, because the building was originally an asset of the Stark Group.

Stark, which had already invested a large sum in Orange Group, sold it to Luca at cost price.

Well, although the Orange Group also incurred a large debt as a result.

But given the current prospects of the Orange Group, banks would be even more eager for Luca to lend them more.

As for today, having just completed the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Orange Materials Technology, the invited guests are continuing to connect with each other at the subsequent reception.

The absolute protagonist of today's event is also the host of this reception.

Luca, who should have been the center of attention, was instead leisurely leaning against the bar, holding a wine glass and watching the lively crowd with boredom.

"Hey kid~ How old are you? Drinking isn't something someone your age should be doing~"

Luca didn't even need to turn around; just by hearing that somewhat irritating voice, he knew who it was.

"It's just Sprite in here, I have no interest in alcohol."

After offering a brief explanation, Luca finished his Sprite and then turned back to look at Tony with a mocking expression.

"What's up? I just saw you chatting quite happily with that pretty girl. What brings you over here?"

Upon hearing Luca's words, Tony immediately wore an expression of utter disgust, as if he had eaten shit, and said angrily.

"You little brat, did you already know that she was Hammer's daughter? Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Were you just waiting to see me make a fool of myself?!"

Yes, the person Stark approached to strike up a conversation with just now was none other than Justin Hammer, the current head of Hammer Industries.

After all, the other party is also one of the shareholders of Orange Industries. Although the group is the group and Orange Industries is Orange Industries, Luca couldn't possibly not invite them to such a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Tony must have been out of touch with company and industry news for too long, because he actually went up to Justin Hammer and struck up a conversation.

Right now, they've probably been tricked by the other party and have come here seeking comfort.

In fact, most of the guests present probably did not know the true value of Orange Materials, this newly established company.

But since Stark Industries is willing to invest heavily, others will naturally take it seriously.

Chasing highs and selling lows—that's just human nature.

However, Tony doesn't care much about company matters these days, so he naturally won't talk much about them when he comes to Luca's place.

Regaining his somewhat cynical attitude, he looked at the woman in the center of the party, surrounded by people, yet effortlessly chatting and laughing with everyone, and asked her somewhat jokingly.

"Don't talk about me, where did you find this beautiful secretary? I've never heard of her before." Hearing Tony's teasing, a strange look flashed in Luca's eyes, and he replied casually.

"Yes, I've brought them in. Unlike you, I don't have Miss Pepper helping me with everything. So naturally, I need to find some people to help share the workload so I can concentrate on my research."

Previously, Luca had been asking Samira to help him find a suitable secretary to facilitate handling company affairs.

There have been a lot of messy things going on at the company lately, so the need for a secretary has become even more urgent.

The woman named Lena Petersen was the one Luca selected from the information Shamira provided.

After using her these past few days, I can confirm that she is indeed exceptionally capable. Any task entrusted to her is handled perfectly.

Luca just felt like he'd seen Lena in that floral dress somewhere before.

However, there weren't any suitable people available at the moment, so I didn't dwell on it too much.

Just as Luca and Tony were having a pleasant conversation, discussing everything from clean energy to the extinction of dinosaurs...

Norman Osborne, whose eyes had barely left Luca's side the whole time, finally couldn't hold back and took the initiative to come over and start a conversation.

“Mr. Orange, I think we can perhaps talk privately about that thing you mentioned earlier.”

As he spoke, Norman Osborn glanced at Tony beside him, clearly not wanting to say more in front of 'outsiders'.

Norman Osborne immediately approached Luca, completely ignoring Tony's actions, which immediately annoyed Tony.

However, he guessed that the other party would most likely talk to Luca about company matters. Not wanting to ruin Luca's business, he could only roll his eyes, but stubbornly refused to move.

Seeing Tony's childish behavior, Luca shook his head and smiled, then stood up and spoke to Norman Osborn.

"Let's talk in my office."

“Name your price. I only need the formula and your preliminary experimental records. I can give you the patents and subsequent profits. After the drug is developed, I can also fully supply your mother, Ms. Gina’s, medication, so as not to delay her treatment.”

"You should know that with the lab you set up yourself, it will inevitably take a lot of time to complete the research and development of that kind of drug."

Norman Osborne had barely stepped into the office, and before he could even sit down properly, he had already impatiently stated his terms.

However, Luca calmly sat down behind his desk, opened a drawer, and began rummaging through something on his own.

“Mr. Norman seems to know quite a lot about this, but coincidentally, I’ve also been paying a little attention to your situation.”

"Although your wife is currently suffering from a genetic disease, the symptoms are very similar to those of synaptic cocooning, where base proteins are continuously synthesized and wrap around her own nerves."

"Either we address the root cause of the disease at its genetic level to cure it completely, or we can only rely on similar methods, using drugs to periodically break down the cocooning proteins on the nerves. Is that right?"

Listening to Luca recount his wife's illness to himself, he naturally knew more about it than anyone else.

He merely frowned slightly, already prepared for the young man in front of him to try and raise the price.

Unexpectedly, Luca rummaged through the drawer for a moment, then casually pulled out a file folder and tossed it in front of him, a strange smile on his face.

"However, there seems to be one mistake in Mr. Norman's investigation. The targeted drug you requested has already been developed by me."

"Now, I think we might be able to explore a different way of collaborating."

(End of this chapter)