I work as an editor at Marvel.

At that time, not only would Ethan's problem be solved, but a considerable reserve of resources could also be gained.

The scripts created during this period are large in scale and consume a lot of energy. Yang Qiu has already consumed a portion of the energy that the Ancient One accumulated over five hundred years. We need to find other ways to open source it.

Chapter 59 Hextech Research Institute under the Clock Tower

By the time Yang Qiu returned home, Tony Stark's press conference had ended, and news had already spread that Stark Industries' international weapons manufacturing and research division was about to close.

Yang Qiu turns on the TV now, and most of the channels he sees are discussing this matter.

It has to be said that some news media are incredibly fast at jumping on trending topics.

With too little time to write a formal draft, they used this pretext to let their thoughts wander freely, and the things they said were incredibly hurtful.

Some say that Tony Stark suffered mental problems due to the torment he endured during his disappearance, which led him to shut down the weapons manufacturing and research divisions.

Some say Tony Stark was a complete coward, terrified by the very weapons he invented.

In short, there were all sorts of rumors, but nobody cared about the extent of Tony Stark's injury or the reasons he gave for closing the department.

In normal circumstances, public opinion would not be so unified. Stark Industries' public relations department is not just sitting idly by; such a large company must have some friendly news media.

This time, however, someone who hated Tony even more than outsiders was secretly pulling the strings, deliberately delaying the public relations department's actions and bribing various media outlets to secretly fuel the flames.

In Yang Qiu's eyes, who had seen the original timeline, this person was quite obvious; he was one of Tony's "right-hand men"—Obadia-Stan.

Tony's disappearance in the Middle East is also closely related to this person.

The reason is simple: a mere conflict of interest. As long as Tony Stark is alive, he will be seen by outsiders as the absolute leader of Stark Industries.

Even though Tony doesn't have absolute control and some important departments aren't under his control, most people would still think that way.

This is not only because of Tony's high profile and extraordinary intelligence, but also because the Stark Industries is called Stark, and its founder is Tony's father, Howard Stark.

Over the years, Stan has amassed wealth and status, and now he wants to completely control the Stark Industries and use his own name as the company's name.

To achieve this, Tony Stark must die, but before he dies, Stan must acquire a technology that will sustain Stark Industries for life; otherwise, without Tony Stark, Stark Industries' position will quickly plummet from the top.

Of course, this technology already exists, namely the miniature reactor in Tony's chest.

This is an extremely dangerous technology that could directly shake the United States' hegemonic status, which it relies on oil. If Tony Stark hadn't been a typical white American, and if his father hadn't left him a wealth of connections before his death, there would have been only one outcome for an ordinary person: either he would have disappeared or he would have committed suicide, and the bullet hole from that suicide might still be in his back.

Yang Qiu's next script is also planned to revolve around this miniature reactor. If the mystical side really doesn't have some technology and science fiction products, it would be too unexciting.

Outside Stark Industries' New York headquarters, a crowd of reporters has gathered, disrupting normal business operations.

Pepper walked through the crowd under the protection of her bodyguards, without uttering a single word.

Pepper personally appreciates Tony's decision, but she is also more aware than Tony of the impact this decision will have on the entire Stark Group, and she is better able to keep her mouth shut, which is a way of respecting her profession.

Once inside the hall, the reporters who hadn't received invitations were finally kept outside by the doors. Pepper breathed a sigh of relief and finally calmed down a bit.

Just then, a woman approached and whispered in Pepper's ear, "Ms. Pepper, there's someone who looks like a government official waiting for you in the waiting room. He says he wants to see President Tony Stark, what do you think..."

Pepper rubbed his temples. Government personnel? Again? How many batches have there been? But having dealt with others, it wouldn't be appropriate to avoid this one.

"Take him to my office to rest for a bit, I'll be there soon."

Pepper said and quickly left. She had to go to the public relations department first. She was among the first to think that the public relations department's actions were not quite right. However, the head of the public relations department had just been admitted to the hospital yesterday. With that reason in mind, it was difficult for Pepper to directly confront them.

Several tens of minutes later, after arguing with the temporary head of the public relations department for a long time, Pepper walked wearily into her office.

The moment he pushed open the office door, he saw a man slumped in a chair. After hearing the door open, the man slowly turned the chair halfway around, then looked at Pepper with a sidelong glance, his right hand resting on his chin. Pepper recognized that expression all too well.

After thinking about it, Pepper realized why she was familiar with it. Tony sometimes looked at the technicians with a similar expression, as if asking, "Why are you so stupid? You can't even understand something so simple."

Having seen this expression many times before, Pepper sat down in her chair.

Jess sighed deeply, reluctantly pulled a business card from his pocket, and slammed it onto the table. "I am a researcher at the Hextech Research Institute, a subsidiary of the Clock Tower."

Clock tower? Hextech?

What is this stuff?

Pepper was puzzled, but from the name she could deduce that it was a research institution. As for whether it was government-affiliated, she couldn't confirm it for the time being, since there were countless hidden institutions in the United States.

“The CIA, FBI, and even the Supernatural Rapid Reaction Force and the Strategic Homeland Defense, Attack and Logistics Agency have all been here once. They should have the information you need. I suggest you have your superior contact them directly,” Pepper said casually, placing the business card in a folder beside her.

“I have no interest in dealing with those people; it’s a waste of my time,” Jess said.

Pepper paused for a moment. She felt that when Jess said he was wasting time, he wasn't referring to contacting other intelligence agencies, but rather to contacting his superiors, which was exactly the same as Tony sometimes did.

“I’m here to see Tony Stark. He invented some kind of miniature reactor, right…” Jess continued, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"This is my company's top secret and my personal intellectual property. I'm sorry, I can't tell you this information. Someone, take this gentleman away. I have other things to do."

Pepper spoke fluently and expertly, then shouted something to the outside.

Jess stood up nonchalantly and shrugged, seemingly unconcerned about whether he would see Tony Stark or not, and was merely there for the formalities. "Suit yourself. Just a heads-up, someone has their eye on this thing, and they won't be asking through normal channels like I am."

When Jess said this, his expression was unusually serious, indicating that the person who had his eye on the microreactor held a high place in his heart.

Chapter Sixty: The Genius Scientist (Seeking Recommendations)

After Jess walked out of the Stark Industries headquarters, someone followed him from behind.

After they reached a slightly secluded spot, Genomi looked at the guy walking unsteadily ahead and couldn't help but say, "I thought there would be some sparks between genius scientists, but it seems like they haven't put any effort into it at all."

“Genius scientist, are you kidding me?” Jess crossed his arms and turned to look at him.

"Oh, I forgot, your IQ might not be high enough for you to make such a joke. There's only one genius scientist in the world... at most two."

Jess paused for a moment, then corrected himself, "As for that mortal you mentioned named Tony Stark, he is definitely not in this category."

I don't understand, why would Viktor be interested in a mortal's technological creation? What is he thinking...?

While thinking about something, Jess continued to speak with extreme arrogance, "As for you, a mere regular knight, don't give me any advice. I'm afraid I'll laugh out loud."

Genomi's muscles twitched, revealing his ferocious aura.

Jess glanced at him. "Wow~ Novice professional, you're amazing. You're as good as I was when I was ten."

Genomi did not refute it. The person in front of him was indeed a genius. Before becoming a researcher, Jess had already broken through the barrier of a junior professional and entered the intermediate level. The reason he had not yet become a senior professional was simply because he had devoted most of his time and energy to research.

“No matter what you say, if you don’t tell me who our enemy is,” Genomi said seriously to Jess, “I will definitely submit a report demanding that someone else be sent over. The reason, of course, is that the investigators lacked cooperation—no, they had none at all.”

"No, I won't allow it!" Jess turned around and glared at Genomi.

Genomi stopped arguing and simply opened the Ouroboros icon in front of Jess, displaying the page directly in front of him.

Hextech was involved in the design and development of some of the Ouroboros's features, so Jess recognized it immediately. The page Genomi was currently displaying was the complaint page, meaning this guy was really planning to replace him.

“Fine, I can tell you, the exchange starts today. You must obey my orders completely!” After a brief standoff, Jess chose to compromise. He couldn’t accept being replaced; he had to see Victor.

“If your orders are correct.” Genomi lowered his right hand. He didn’t want things to get too ugly, after all, Jess’s status and strength were higher than his. In fact, if Jess hadn’t gone a bit too far, he wouldn’t have used a complaint as a threat.

“Hmph! I’m always right…” Jeston paused, “most of the time.”

Genomi shrugged. He could tell that Jess must have suffered a setback not long ago, otherwise he would never have added that last sentence.

“This time, our enemy is called Victor, another brilliant scientist,” Jess began slowly.

"What makes him different from me is that before he entered the Hextech Research Institute, he was a mage. What makes him similar to me is that he is also quite intelligent, at least much smarter than those guys in the lab who just repeat experiments."

"He was also my...my only friend, a month ago."

At this point, Jess looked quite dejected, while Genomi remained silent, waiting for Jess to continue.

"What I can't accept is that he actually wants to add an implant of alchemical technology to the next version of the armor design. That would improve the performance of all the armors and make the user absolutely obedient to orders. The only drawback is that from then on, that person's will would no longer belong to them."

Jess lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought, and his voice also became soft.

“I think this was an absolute mistake, so I cut off the power supply to his personal lab. I swear, I had no idea he was doing experiments with his own arm.”

Jess took a deep breath. "Then he disappeared. The lab got information that a high-ranking hunter, Van Helsing, had seen him near New York. I checked all the recent public information, and the only thing that might have attracted him was Tony Stark's miniature reactor."

"Because after leaving the research institute, his energy supply and portable power will definitely have problems. This may be the best alternative he can find right now, so I must find him before he does something irreversible!"

“So what should I do?” Genomi asked.

Jess gave him a surprised look.

“Don’t get me wrong, I still dislike you. If I could, I’d like to find a different teammate. But as a knight, I won’t refuse to obey the correct orders, and you seem pretty good,” Genomi continued.

"Hahaha, I've discovered you're still salvageable. Once everything's over, I'll personally give you a lesson; maybe it'll improve your IQ a bit," Jess laughed. His strength and status were superior to Genomi's, but Genomi had the right to replace team members. If Genomi insisted on changing players, there was nothing Jess could do.

“I take back what I just said,” Genomi said coldly.

"That's not important. Which path of knighthood are you following?" Jess asked.

"I used the Blood Qi path when I was an apprentice and a formal level, and the Bloodline path I used to advance to the beginner level was a weakened version of the Thunder War Bear," Genomi briefly explained his situation.

Jess scratched his head; he wasn't very good at this kind of thing and could only understand it from the words.

"Here's what we'll do: you follow Pepper and protect her secretly. Although I don't think Victor will take hostages, we still need to be on guard. That woman seems to have a good relationship with Tony Stark. If you have time, also protect Stan. He and Tony Stark seem to be related."

"As for me, I will go with Tony Stark to prevent Victor from taking direct action."

Jess was assigning tasks.

“I’m not an assassin or a stealth fighter; it’s impossible for me to stay close to Pepper without being detected,” Genomi said, glancing at Jess.

“Of course I know. There shouldn’t be any major problems inside that company. I checked their security when I went in. There’s even artificial intelligence inside. It’s unlikely that Victor can break through without making a sound. You just need to follow Pepper after he leaves the company,” Jess continued. His specially designed detector scanned all the defense personnel and weapons after he entered Stark Industries.

“Okay, give me a communicator. The ones built into Ouroboros are too expensive, especially for communicating with non-investigators.” Genomi held out his right hand.

“But it’s safe. All existing legendary spells and legendary-level abilities can’t break through its security barrier… Never mind, why am I telling you this?” Jess said, taking out a small, round object from his pocket and handing it to Genomi.

"Although the security is not high, it is not necessary to have too high security when using it on the surface. Just stick it on the earlobe and inject any amount of energy to make remote communication."

Chapter Sixty-One: What is the true name of the Stark Group?

In Pepper's office at Stark Industries, after seeing Jess off, Pepper took a phone from a drawer, walked to the window, and made a call to Tony, who was designing the Mark II at the villa.

“I’ve already checked what you asked me to look into. Besides the military’s protection personnel, only four people in the company had access to the original schedule,” Pepper said.

"Besides you, me, and Happy, who is the fourth one?" Tony stopped what he was doing and asked, but he already had a name in his mind, though he was unwilling to believe it yet.

“Mr. Stan,” Pepper said, uttering a name that didn’t surprise anyone, “Also, I went to the public relations department. The official reason for this public relations issue is that the former minister was hospitalized.”

"The hospital's test results indicate a severe allergic reaction. The allergen is new, and there's no evidence of intentionally consuming allergenic food. However, I checked the personnel files, and this minister was promoted by Mr. Stan. Although he didn't directly sign off on it, he did reject the promotion requests of other candidates..."

"Alright, let's put this aside for now. It could also be a leak from the military. I have something to do right now, I'll call you back later," Tony interrupted Pepper.