Tony Stark Disappears

"Humanoid creatures? That's impossible.

They simply don't exist on Earth."

Faced with Curt Connors's loss of composure, Noah said nothing, merely watching him with a smile.

Meanwhile, Soya Elvis wore a thoughtful expression.

He had never heard of humanoid creatures like this either.

But he had never heard of the T-Virus or creatures called Fang Fighting Wolves, either.

Perhaps the boss had control over some unknown region of the world, or perhaps they were simply alien species.

Both were possible.

Although there had never been any confirmed sightings of aliens, most people had heard of the legendary Area 51.

But as a researcher, he did not care about any of that.

He only cared about his research.

Curt Connors was the same. He did not care where these things came from.

He only wanted to find a way to restore his arm.

None of his previous experiments had used cells from humanoid creatures.

If he had such cells, he was highly confident that he could develop something.

"When can I start researching them?"

Curt Connors asked bluntly.

"Anytime."

Noah smiled happily.

At last, the gap in his research staff had been provisionally filled.

"Director Elvis, how is the Tyrant research progressing?"

At that, Elvis's face lit up with excitement.

"Very smoothly. With your research materials, we're confident we can produce a trial Tyrant model within half a year."

Half a year?

Noah frowned.

Too slow.

And that was only a prototype.

He had already cultured the Tyrant cells.

"Are there any difficulties?"

He was somewhat puzzled. With Elvis around, even if most of his attention was focused on researching the T-Virus's infectivity, progress should not have been this slow.

Hearing Noah's question, Elvis hesitated before saying, "Boss, we're short on money."

Once Elvis started speaking, it was as though a switch had been flipped.

"You haven't taken over the company for long, so you don't know much about its situation.

Although Umbrella used to be a biological research company, it was already on the verge of bankruptcy, so much of its equipment consists of outdated junk that should have been scrapped.

If we had top-of-the-line equipment on the market, I'm confident we could more than double our research speed.

Not to mention our laboratory alone..."

Seeing that Elvis was about to go on and on, Noah cut him off.

"Stop!

I just want to know how much you need."

He could save money elsewhere, but the laboratory was the highest priority.

Besides, he had just secured a massive order.

Even though there were still many places that needed funding, to put it exaggeratively, money was nothing more than a number to him now.

"Sixty-three million!"

"How much?"

Noah suspected he had misheard.

Although he had already gotten 150 million, he could not afford to spend it like that.

Seeing his boss's expression, Elvis realized that he had scared him.

He hurriedly added:

"Forty-six million. This forty-six million is the minimum budget for upgrading the laboratory. No matter what, we can't cut it any further."

Noah rubbed his temples.

Was one hundred and fifty million a lot?

Heh~

In just a few days, he had spent more than one hundred million.

Construction had begun on Umbrella's suburban research base, and the various budgets had already reached fifty million.

More investment would be needed as construction continued.

Now, upgrading the laboratory would cost another forty-six million.

Adding in the funding requests from the company's other departments, he almost felt as though he had really made a fortune.

Was one hundred and fifty million really that little?

Thinking about how Tony Stark had offered five hundred million dollars just to deliver a crate of beer, he understood.

Sure enough, my asking price was too low.

Once the Tyrant series comes out, let's see how I fleece... no, make money.

Glancing at Professor Connors beside him, who was still somewhat stunned by the tens of millions involved, Noah said:

"Professor Connors, over the next few days, take a look at what laboratory equipment you need and submit it all together.

We'll purchase everything at once then."

Only then did Curt Connors come back to his senses.

Forty-six million!

Such an enormous sum had been approved just like that.

His new boss was truly something else.

After returning from the laboratory, Noah immediately felt exhausted in both body and mind.

His first batch of products had not even been sold yet, but the profits he had not received were already nearly spent.

Sure enough, he was still poor.

Caroline had not returned yet.

Although her home had been repaired.

Her parents were not around anyway, so she had not left.

Naturally, Noah wholeheartedly approved of that.

With a beauty in his arms, there was no better life.

But when he thought of his parents, he thought of the Irish Mob.

Their existence was like a thorn in his throat.

There were many gangs in Hell's Kitchen. If he could not deal with the Irish Mob, he would not be able to intimidate the other gangs.

Especially since Anobella had an unclear relationship with Kingpin.

He even suspected that Kingpin had already obtained information about him and was merely waiting for Finn Cooley to make a move.

These underworld figures were each more cunning than the last.

That possibility was extremely high.

As he pondered, a call came in.

"Hello... Boss, there's news."

Noah narrowed his eyes at those words.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's there."

A cold glint flickered in Noah's eyes.

"In that case, you can come back. I'll handle what comes next personally."

The voice on the other end hesitated.

"You don't need my help?"

Noah laughed.

"Frank, I know how to kill people too."

With that, Noah hung up.

He had not expected Finn Cooley to actually dare reveal the location of his headquarters.

At first, he had thought that company was merely a front.

Later, the man he interrogated in the warehouse had also given up that address, which was what truly made him suspicious.

He had not expected it to be real.

If that was the case, then they could not blame him for going on a killing spree.

That should make Kingpin somewhat wary as well.

But now was not the right time.

The only cards he had in hand were Fighting Wolf and the Corpse-Eating Insects.

Of the two, Fighting Wolf was too conspicuous and unsuitable for retreating.

The Corpse-Eating Insects were, after all, only Level 0 creatures. He did not believe the Irish Mob headquarters had made no preparations against an attack by Corpse-Eating Insects.

He would wait a little longer.

The research into T-Virus transmissibility would soon be complete. After that, he would begin developing the Tyrant.

It took time for the company to cultivate a Tyrant, but his system had no such limitations.

Though it consumed somewhat more resources, as long as he had the theory, energy, and materials, he could easily create a Tyrant.

The Irish Mob headquarters would become the Tyrant's best testing ground!

While Noah immersed himself in research, a news story swept through the major newspapers.

"Playboy Tony Stark has gone missing while conducting missile tests in Afghanistan, suspected of being forcibly kidnapped by local armed forces."

"..."

"Tony Stark, the world's greatest butcher, has gone missing. The military has dispatched a large number of personnel for a search and rescue operation, but has so far found nothing."

Tony Stark had gone missing.

This also meant that Iron Man was finally about to appear!

Noah looked at the newspaper, then said to Caroline:

"Get ready. Once Stark Industries' stock drops a little further, buy up a large amount immediately!

I have a feeling that guy will not die so easily."