Transformers Secured

New York, S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

It was late at night. Maria Hill had only just changed into her casual clothes and was about to get off work when she had to turn back and head for the director's office in her high heels.

Her heels clicked crisply against the floor, their echoes almost rhythmic.

It was so quiet that Maria Hill quickened her pace involuntarily, as though something were chasing her.

"Knock, knock, knock."

She looked up as she knocked, letting Nick Fury know it was her.

Nick Fury was cautious. He had even installed a camera outside his own office.

"Come in."

After a moment, Nick Fury's voice came from inside.

"There's news about Tony Stark."

Maria Hill pushed the door open, walked up to him, and spoke.

Nick Fury had been paying little attention, but at her words he immediately looked up, fixing his one eye on Maria Hill. "Where did the news come from?"

His paranoia made him consider where the information came from and whether it was a trap aimed at S.H.I.E.L.D. before he considered whether it was true.

As the king of spies, he instinctively trusted no one.

Maria Hill confirmed, "The news came from the Hellfire Club. They informed the military."

After all this time, the Hellfire Club had developed a powerful influence in many places. It even had people in both politics and business.

That was why the White Queen could easily pass the information to the military's upper ranks and secure benefits for the Hellfire Club.

It was also why she had given up her dream of stardom. How could being a star compare to this?

"The Hellfire Club?"

Nick Fury grew somewhat grave.

S.H.I.E.L.D. naturally knew about the club. Even one of its founders, Howard Stark, had joined the Hellfire Club, and his son, Tony Stark, had naturally accepted an invitation as well.

After all, America was essentially a society built on personal connections too. As for those who claimed America had no such social ties...

Of course people at the bottom saw none of them. They could never reach that level, and no one would even give them a second glance.

So, for the wealthy, joining the Hellfire Club served their interests. Otherwise, they might one day be set up without even knowing it.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had naturally investigated the famous club and discovered some of its secrets.

Although its agents had paid a price, with some even disappearing permanently, Nick Fury had learned that the Hellfire Club's upper ranks were not ordinary people, but Mutants.

Mutants had caused many incidents in the past. To those at the top, they were no mystery.

"Why would they do this?"

Nick Fury pondered for a moment and took the file from Maria Hill.

Without a doubt, they were exchanging resources with the military.

The military cared about Tony Stark more than anyone.

Stark Industries was a famous military contractor with deep ties to the military, and its weapons and equipment really did work well.

It was only natural for the Hellfire Club to seize the opportunity to make a profit.

As for how S.H.I.E.L.D. knew, it naturally had its own methods.

Nick Fury's suspicions eased somewhat. "Contact the military. We'll investigate Tony Stark's whereabouts together and formulate a rescue opportunity."

In any case, discovering the other side's base was a major achievement.

Whether Tony Stark was there or not, the military would act.

But as everyone knew, rescuing hostages was the hardest problem in the world.

If they were ordinary people, there would be no need to worry, but they were going there to rescue someone, so they couldn't be too rough.

Over the weekend, good news came one after another.

Star Animation's collected editions were selling well. Though they couldn't yet match DC's popular comics, they had already attracted plenty of attention.

The next step, naturally, was to spend money promoting them.

These days, everything needed marketing. Otherwise, how would anyone know your product was good?

So a barrage of advertisements was arranged, and "Pirate King" swept across America. As for the rest of the world, it still needed time to build momentum, and there was no attention to spare for arranging that yet.

"Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World" was a little less popular than "Pirate King," but for many people, reading it after Pirate King was also a refreshing change of pace.

Pirate King focused on passion, teamwork, and adventure, while Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World leaned more toward battles of wits and beautiful women, and was even somewhat harrowing...

After all, although the male lead could rewind time endlessly, that didn't change the fact that he had been killed countless times.

If characters like Emilia, Ram, and Rem hadn't been portrayed so well, it probably wouldn't have been this popular.

The resulting payoff was a surge in Li Chen's reputation points, which immediately climbed back above four thousand.

That might not seem as much as last time, but most of those reputation points had come from "Man of Steel."

Superman had become a worldwide sensation, bringing in so many reputation points all at once.

It was normal that the two comics combined still couldn't match Superman.

Comics were about a steady stream over time, and that stream would only grow.

For example, after all this time to build momentum, "Pirate King" was far more popular than when it had first gone on sale.

With enough for nearly five ten-pulls, Li Chen could hardly hold back.

Meanwhile, the deal with Hasbro over "Transformers" had finally been settled. Starlight Pictures had also contacted Michael Bay immediately, and he had agreed to direct.

Perhaps "Transformers" had given Hasbro confidence, because it even wanted to bring its "G.I. Joe" series to the big screen as well.

As a toy manufacturing giant, Hasbro had two trump cards: "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe."

Seeing how much attention Transformers was receiving, it naturally wanted to make a live-action movie of its other child too.

Compared with Transformers, however, Li Chen wasn't very optimistic about G.I. Joe.

After all, aside from nostalgia, it had nothing else going for it.

Unlike "Transformers," which had a natural advantage in North America. This was a nation of cars, and almost every adult had a car of their own, even if it was secondhand...

Moreover, audiences weren't going to the cinema to see the actors. They were there to see the Transformers.

But G.I. Joe had none of that, so Li Chen wasn't optimistic about it and didn't continue discussing it with Hasbro.

Hasbro didn't mind. There were so many film and television companies in Hollywood that it could always find someone else.

There was bound to be someone interested in "G.I. Joe."

Besides all this, Li Chen also took some time to check the news, but there was nothing about Tony Stark.

For no other reason than to quickly sell the stocks he held once Tony Stark returned. Otherwise, they would keep falling.

Then Li Chen stopped going out and devoutly prepared to draw!