Creating a Company

"Yo, if it isn't our genius boy Jack. How are you—" Stark was about to make a sarcastic remark at his own little rival in love, but before he could finish, Chen Changsheng presented the fruit basket he had brought.

An enticing fragrance wafted from the fruit basket. Tony Stark's mouth, which had been speaking just moments before, involuntarily began to salivate. After taking the basket from Chen Changsheng with astonishing naturalness, Stark's movements suddenly froze.

What's going on? Don't I have obsessive-compulsive disorder? I can't accept things handed to me by other people. What's happening? No, someone save me!

So, the thing more terrifying than obsessive-compulsive disorder was instinct. At that moment, Stark's instinct to eat the fruit had clearly defeated his obsessive-compulsive disorder...

Pepper seemed to notice that Stark was having a hard time. She hurried forward, took the fruit basket from his hands, and said to Chen Changsheng, "Sorry for the trouble. Stark has a few odd habits. Ah, what is this? Why does it smell so good?"

Holding the fruit basket, Pepper unconsciously swallowed as she spoke. Clearly, the allure of the fruit modified by Willow Tree had far exceeded Chen Changsheng's expectations.

"They're specialties from my hometown. I hope you'll like them. At the same time, I'd like Miss Pepper to introduce me to some sales channels. I want to sell this fruit and earn a little money for living expenses." As Chen Changsheng spoke to Pepper, Stark had already taken the basket, opened the packaging, and begun inspecting it.

Without even asking whether it had been washed, Tony Stark immediately took out an enticing fruit and bit into it.

The moment he bit down, juice ran everywhere. Tony Stark's eyebrows twitched involuntarily. Clearly, the fruit suited his taste perfectly.

Seeing Tony Stark begin eating, Little Pepper, as his personal assistant, also took out a fruit and had a small bite. The moment she bit down, Pepper's eyes curved into crescent moons. It seemed Pepper had been conquered by the fruit's flavor as well.

"There's no need to sell it outside. Send it all to Stark Industries. I'll buy the whole lot." Tony Stark finished the fruit in his hand in a few quick bites, then took out another one and began chewing as he spoke to Chen Changsheng.

Hearing Tony Stark's words, Chen Changsheng raised an eyebrow and said lightly, "An orchard covering three thousand acres, with every fruit worth at least one hundred dollars. Are you sure you can take all of it?"

"Three thousand acres..." Stark was briefly choked by Chen Changsheng's words. Although Tony Stark was wealthier than most countries, his money had not fallen from the sky. He had earned it bit by bit through painstaking effort. How could he waste it so casually? But then again, this fruit really was delicious...

Pepper was also somewhat surprised when she heard Chen Changsheng. She had not expected him to set the price of the fruit so high. Yet when she recalled how she had felt while eating it just now, she decided that it was worth every penny.

If she could buy a fruit like this for one hundred dollars, she thought she would gladly accept. But for the vast majority of ordinary people, that price was not exactly pleasant.

"What do you need us to do, Jack?" Pepper could tell that Chen Changsheng already had a plan, so she asked directly.

"My plan is simple, Miss Pepper. I'll prepare a batch of fruit baskets. I hope you can send them in the name of Stark Industries to your partners around the world, as well as those wealthy celebrities and socialites, so they can experience the taste of these mysterious fruits from the East.

"If you do that, I believe some of them will be willing to buy them again. Then I'll be able to earn a little money for living expenses." Chen Changsheng briefly explained his plan to Pepper.

"Hey, kid, that's not just a little money for living expenses. What do I get out of this? I'm not going to provide free services for you." Seeing Pepper chatting happily with Chen Changsheng, Stark immediately became displeased and cut in.

Little Pepper also looked helplessly at Chen Changsheng. Her boss had spoken, so there was nothing she could say. She could only give Chen Changsheng a reassuring look.

Seeing Tony Stark's expression, as if he were saying Come on, beg me, Chen Changsheng could only smile helplessly. "What do you get? How about I cover all the fruit for you, Tony Stark, from now on? How does that sound?"

Fortunately, Tony Stark was not petty. He had simply been inexplicably jealous a moment ago. Seeing that Chen Changsheng was so agreeable, he stopped making things difficult for him and said smugly, "The fruit is for both Pepper and me. For baskets like this, send us five a day from now on."

"Deal." Chen Changsheng agreed readily. He knew that this meant he now owed Stark a favor.

Tony Stark also understood very well how geniuses should deal with one another. As a genius himself, Stark knew the value of a genius better than anyone. Therefore, Tony Stark was willing to let Chen Changsheng use his influence to develop. After all, no matter how he looked at it, this investment could not lose money.

With the help of Stark Industries' global trade and shipping routes, every well-known wealthy person in the world received a fruit basket sent by Tony Stark within a single day.

The fruit baskets became a global sensation in just one day. The wealthy and privileged classes began asking everywhere where the fruit came from.

For a time, a fruit-trading company called Magic Forest became famous throughout the world. The company was a joint venture established by Umbrella Corporation and Stark Industries.

Pepper had come up with the name. Tony Stark and Chen Changsheng had wanted to complain about it, but since Pepper insisted, they could only accept it.

Stark Industries held only a small number of shares in the company. That had been Pepper's request. Pepper and Tony wanted to help Chen Changsheng, but they did not want his company to bear too much of Stark Industries' influence. Thus, they used this method to provide Chen Changsheng with some protection.

A fruit basket worth one thousand dollars was expensive, but to the wealthy, it was little more than pocket change. Now that Chen Changsheng had a steady stream of cash coming in, he could naturally make more plans.

Chen Changsheng mortgaged Magic Forest Fruit Trading Company and borrowed ten billion dollars from a bank. The banks in New York were more than happy to lend Chen Changsheng such a sum. After all, a company capable of selling thousands of one-thousand-dollar fruit baskets every day was an exceptionally high-quality client.

With those ten billion dollars, Chen Changsheng purchased a large amount of equipment and hired a huge number of experts in biochemistry, essentially building the framework of Umbrella Corporation.

Umbrella Corporation, after all, had to research some bioweapons to fit the company's image. Tyrants, Hunters, Lickers—he wanted to make them all. That was Chen Changsheng's goal. These things were very simple for him. Although Chen Changsheng did not have the relevant genetic information, it was easy enough to imitate what he remembered and create similar creatures.

After renting a skyscraper in New York City and placing a huge red-and-white umbrella logo on its roof, Chen Changsheng finally smiled in satisfaction. This was what Umbrella Corporation was supposed to look like. As for Raccoon City, it would come eventually. There was no need to rush.

After taking care of everything, Chen Changsheng returned to Midtown High and began enjoying his happy high school life. In this new world, he had to experience life all over again.

"Hey, Peter. How are you today?" After returning to campus, the first person Chen Changsheng saw was Peter Parker. Peter was still wearing his thick glasses and carrying a camera as he searched the school for material for the student newspaper.

"Hey, Jack. I can't stay away from school all day like you do. If I were like you, I think my teachers would kill me." Peter greeted Chen Changsheng cheerfully. The two of them clearly got along quite well.

As a genius with a reputation to match, Chen Changsheng naturally enjoyed quite a few privileges at the school. In the Prototype World, he had absorbed the memories of countless scientists. A few simple tests at an American high school were naturally no challenge for him. After taking a full-subject exam in front of the principal and all the teachers and scoring perfectly, Midtown High directly approved his privilege to leave campus whenever he wished.

Peter Parker was also a genius. Peter was busy with all kinds of things every day, yet his grades were always near the top of his class.

Being a genius still depended on talent. Someone like Chen Changsheng, a counterfeit genius, could perform as well as Peter in certain areas, but he was still far behind when it came to innate talent. In terms of talent, Chen Changsheng could not really be considered a genius.

At this point, Peter was still a shy boy without any extraordinary abilities, so naturally he did not have so many thoughts. As the saying went, ignorance was bliss. In Chen Changsheng's eyes, Peter was living in bliss right now. At the very least, he was still happy, wasn't he?

Chen Changsheng had only recently arrived here and was busy building good relationships with all kinds of people. Naturally, Peter was no exception. As a genuinely kind person, Peter could not reject Chen Changsheng's enthusiasm. Before long, he and Chen Changsheng were calling each other brothers—though for now, they were only friends on the surface.

But all friendly relationships had to begin one step at a time. Chen Changsheng believed he had some charm...

All right, perhaps he really had no charm at all. What kind of charm could a viral aggregate possibly have?