Monster That Eats Heads

"Mr. Hawking, let me give you a heads-up, I'm determined to get this project."

Instead of continuing this vicious competition and letting Reed benefit, why don't you name your terms and I can compensate you?

This way you can gain something without taking any risks.

In another office, Victor looked at Hawking with a big smile and said...

If anyone else dared to compete with him so viciously, he would have plenty of ways to deal with them. To have reached his level, he certainly couldn't have used only honorable business tactics.

However, the person in front of us is someone who specializes in fighting crime, and he has two equally capable henchmen. Just today, the news reported that they prevented terrorists from hijacking a plane.

With his methods, they're probably not even enough to fill someone's teeth.

Therefore, the only way to resolve this is to sacrifice some of our own interests.

Hawking looked Victor up and down, then smiled and said:

"Since Mr. Victor has said so, it would be too disrespectful of me, Hawking, to refuse."

Okay then, then...

"Okay, okay, I promise you."

Upon hearing Hawking's conditions, Victor for a moment before agreeing.

Hawking's conditions were not actually harsh; he only required Victor's technology company to cooperate with the current Hero Alliance International Company in some business collaborations.

However, the majority of the profits from these collaborations go to Hero Alliance International Company, while his company is essentially working for free.

But compared to the profits from Reed's project, it's just a drop in the ocean, not worth mentioning.

"There's one more thing. I need Reed's help with my research on Gravity Chamber in the future. It's too dangerous for him to go to the Space Station. He can stay at your company's base and command remotely."

"My Space Station is perfectly safe, how could this be? Okay, of course there's no problem."

Victor initially wanted to argue, but when he saw Hawking glare at him, he immediately backed down.

To secure this project, none of these issues matter. Remote command is fine; the main objective is to collect data on the impact of Solar Storm on the evolution of life, and the focus will be on the research that follows once the data is obtained.

So whether Reed goes to the Space Station or not doesn't have a huge impact.

"Then let's sign the contract!"

Half an hour later, the two returned to their previous office.

"My old classmate, Mr. Hawking, has withdrawn from this competition. According to the terms he just proposed, the patent rights will be shared 50%."

You didn't contribute a single penny, while I contributed both money and the Space Station, and in the end, everything was split equally. You've really made a fortune this time."

Victor laughed heartily and extended his right hand to Reed.

Ben couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. What did he mean by not spending a single penny? The most important technology came from Reed. Reed had spent all his funds and three or four years on this project. He was the one who lost out the most.

They're really getting a good deal and then acting innocent.

But just as he was about to speak, Reed nudged him with his arm.

"Ben, I did this project not to make money, but to help all of humanity. That's all."

After quietly persuading Ben, Reed grasped Victor's hand:

"Make a deal!"

If Hawking hadn't intervened and brought the situation to its current state, he would have agreed to even the initial condition proposed by Victor.

It's already pretty good; at least the patent rights for the projects I researched haven't been completely taken away.

"Although there was a slight mishap, the result was great, wasn't it?"

Letting go, Victor smugly put his arm around the waist of the Invisible Woman beside him.

"Although Reed thinks differently from normal people and often messes up his teammates, he's actually not a bad person at heart."

Hawking, who had overheard their conversation, thought to himself.

After everything was settled, the Invisible Woman escorted Hawking and his two companions out of the building, and the three drove back to the Baxter Building.

"Mr. Hawking, thank you for your help just now."

As soon as the car started, Reed thanked Hawking.

Hawking, however, seemed somewhat surprised and said:

Why did Doctor Reed say that?

"When I was explaining the project just now, Victor listened very attentively, while Mr. Hawking, you were basically not listening, and your company is not involved in technology projects."

So."

Reed didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

He believed that Hawking was deliberately helping Victor by using underhanded tactics because he disapproved of Victor's behavior.

"You saw through me, but we all got what we needed. I also gained a lot, so I can't say I completely helped you. As long as you're willing to help me research a gravity device that can assist my training after the project is over, that would be great."

Hawking smiled.

Things were not as Reed thought. He simply couldn't understand the technical terms Reed used, and since he knew the nail experiment had failed, he naturally didn't care much about the project details.

But since Reed had misunderstood, he certainly wouldn't expose him.

"Mr. Hawking, rest assured, according to my calculations, Solar Storm will appear in space in six weeks, and I will be able to spare some time to help you study the gravity device in two months."

Reed roughly calculated the time and made the promise.

"Thank you very much, Doctor."

Hawking nodded in satisfaction.

Two months is fine. With Reed's mind, which is capable of inventing a space teleportation device, he will definitely be able to make leaps and bounds in Gravity Chamber technology. It's worth waiting a little longer.

Back at Baxter Building, after saying goodbye to Reed and Ben, Hawking checked the time and rode his motorcycle to the Mutant School.

He still lives at the Mutant School and spends a lot of time studying magic and training with Wanda every day, and now he also calls on Pietro.

As he gets older, Pietro's speed has increased, which has also helped his training.

Two weeks later, at Midnight.

As usual, Hawking, along with Peter and Jessica, fought crime in New York.

Recently, many people with special abilities have applied to join the company. Among them are people like Jessica who gained their abilities by accident, superhumans who are suspected to be Inhumans, and Mutants with various abilities.

However, none of them had the ability to meet Hawking's standards, and they were not qualified to become Super Hero and join the trio he had assembled.

So he reassigned them to other positions within the company.

In any case, the pay is definitely better than their original job, and there's no danger.

It's understandable, really. Aside from Mutants, there aren't many powerful ability users around right now, and if there were, S.H.I.E.L.D.. would have noticed them long ago.

Those Mutants who fit his criteria were either not yet born or had already been divided up by Professor X and Magneto.

However, recently, because the company has been doing well, he has been considering finding a time to talk to Professor X about having the school's Mutants join the company.

Join a few first, and once they've built a reputation and a fan base, announce their identities. This way, the public will be more accepting, and gradually change the public's prejudice against Mutants.

"Captain, there's a huge problem here! An unidentified group carrying a large number of weapons is chasing a... a black humanoid monster! Oh my god, that monster eats human heads!"

Peter's scream suddenly came through the headphones.