Departure

Leo went to the school and completed all the handover procedures. He would be able to fly directly to Washington tomorrow.

It was not until noon that Leo left the school.

A call came in.

"Mr. Voss, have you given it some thought?"

He spoke softly as he walked toward the fast food restaurant.

"I need to meet the person truly in charge. If we really cooperate with Queens' largest force, I believe it would benefit our group as well."

"Come to Mike's Fast Food. I'm sure you know where it is."

Leo directly hung up on Voss Brandon.

Because Tony Stark was calling.

"Hey, Mr. Stark. How have you been lately?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? So, you're going to Washington tomorrow. Have you settled everything at home?"

Tony, clad in the Iron Man Armor, moved through the unfinished Stark Tower as he calculated something.

"There shouldn't be any problems. I can finally leave school, and I can focus on training properly."

"I heard there have been some developments in Queens lately. What happened?"

"I wiped out the biggest gang. I'm planning to somewhat unify the punks in Queens, so they can be safer too."

Tony's brow furrowed slightly. "Leo, it's not that simple. Do you trust the people managing them? Tell me their names."

"Don't worry, I have my own way of managing people. After I get to Washington tomorrow, I'm planning to leave directly. What about the Lakeside Middle School issue?"

"Simple. All right, Pepper's calling me back for dinner. I'm hanging up."

Leo had also arrived at the entrance of the fast food restaurant.

Knowing that Leo was coming, Zost and the others had waited at the entrance.

They had several more fresh wounds on them, but the excitement on their faces showed that things were under control.

"Boss, we've basically brought them all in. The rest are just insignificant nobodies. In all of Queens, we're now the only major force."

Dick stepped forward. "Boss, things look good right now, but people higher up have already started taking notice. If we don't have any connections on the legitimate side, this won't last long. After all, people like us can't exactly be brought into the light."

Leo glanced over them and smiled lightly.

"The boss of the Brandon Group will be coming later. I don't really understand the relationships involved, so I'll make the introduction. Zost, you negotiate with them. You can make concessions if necessary. I only want this place to be more stable."

Voss soon arrived at Mike's Fast Food, while his bodyguards remained outside.

Seeing Leo seated in the boss's chair in the office, with Zost and the other three men beside him who all looked like trouble, he roughly understood the situation.

So Leo really is the boss!

Zost stepped forward to speak with Voss, beginning to explain the current situation.

Queens had a population of around 2.3 million. It was densely populated and ethnically diverse, and the underground forces across the entire district were an enormous pie.

Voss had initially only intended to act as a link to get in touch with Leo, but after seeing Zost's development plan, he could not help but seriously consider a partnership.

Several hours later, they reached a consensus and officially established ties with the Brandon Company. That alone was enough to deter many covetous eyes.

Leo then left and returned home to say goodbye to Peter and the others.

Day Seven.

On Sunday morning, Leo carried a backpack and pulled a suitcase.

Without letting Aunt May and the others see him off, he went to the airport by himself.

Mr. Heck from the school was already waiting for Leo's arrival.

Karin and Walker were with him as well.

"Leo, your plane ticket has already been collected. You'll be able to board shortly. The Lakeside Middle School staff in Washington will also be there to pick you up and arrange the rest of your itinerary."

Heck handed the ticket to Leo. "Karin and Walker insisted on coming along. You have thirty minutes, so have a chat."

Karin's eyes were slightly teary as she gently hugged him and spoke softly.

"Leo, I know you were the person by the window that day. Even though you won't admit it, I know it was you. I'll keep it a secret for you, but you have to come back when you're in tenth grade, okay? Don't stay in Washington. It's too far away, and my dad won't let me go there."

"Hey, Karin, you and Leo haven't even been desk mates for that many days. When did you become so close?"

Walker called out from the side.

"Hmph, we're still closer than you and Mike are with Leo. You almost got into a fight with him back then."

Karin shot back indignantly.

Thinking of Mike, who might be gnawing on tree roots somewhere in Africa, Walker could not help but shudder.

"Leo, have a safe trip."

Those simple words were his farewell to Leo.

Leo nodded as well and lightly bumped fists with Walker. Though it had only been a week, Leo had come to acknowledge both of them.

"I'm off. I'll be back within a year at most. Bye."

"Bye-bye ×3."

Leo boarded a flight to Washington.

About an hour later, the plane landed at Washington Airport.

When Leo walked out of the airport, he couldn't find anyone there to pick him up.

Just as he was wondering about it, a black business van pulled up in front of him. Inside were Tony, Pepper, and Happy in the driver's seat.

"Get in, quick."

Happy called out softly.

"Why did you all come?"

Leo looked at them with a happy smile and climbed into the back seat.

Tony sat beside him, while Pepper was in the co-pilot seat.

Tony casually took off his sunglasses.

"Pepper's planning to buy a building in Washington. You know how it is—women just love buying this and that."

"It's going to be an office building for the new energy industry. You make it sound like I'm some kind of shopaholic."

Pepper flipped through the information on her tablet in the co-pilot seat.

Looking at the three of them, Leo chuckled.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark. I'll leave my luggage here. I'm heading to Wakanda right away. I have cultivation resources there, and this time I may be gone for quite a while."

Tony glanced at Leo. "Happy, pull over somewhere. Little Leo is in a hurry."

"Leo, aren't you staying for a meal?" Pepper asked, turning back to look at him.

"No. I'll be back the day Stark Tower is completed."

Happy pulled the car over by the roadside.

Tony looked Leo straight in the eyes. "Leo, I took care of the school matter for you. But there are some things I hope you won't keep from me either."

"Next time, for sure. I'll tell you when I get back."

Leo said with a smile. His feet lifted slightly off the ground, and he shot straight into the sky, disappearing before their eyes.

Tony was already used to it.

Pepper unconsciously looked up, even dropping the tablet in her hands.

Happy's eyes widened as well, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Pepper asked blankly, "Has Leo already reached this level?"

Happy was still completely confused. "What just happened?"

Aunt May spent the entire morning at home in a daze, looking at the photo the three of them had taken in Las Vegas last time.

Karin returned home, thought for a while, and decided to study at home for now, waiting until Leo came back before returning to school.

Class president Walker transferred to a high school in Manhattan on Monday.

Peter, meanwhile, played carefree with Ned.

At the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, research into the Tesseract was also proceeding at full speed, with a batch of energy weapons under design.