Chen Changsheng finally left the large-scale public display of affection after being stuffed full of dog food. Now, whenever Chen Changsheng went to Gwen's house, he no longer needed to bring a fruit basket. This was also a sign that he was gradually becoming part of the family.
After the incident with Osborn Industries, Gwen had gone to Stark Industries for an internship. Given Chen Changsheng's relationship with Pepper, the work Gwen needed to do was quite simple.
At present, Chen Changsheng only had two assets: Magic Forest Fruit Company and Umbrella Corporation. Magic Forest Fruit Company was a cash cow that brought in piles of money every day and continuously accumulated funds for Chen Changsheng. Umbrella Corporation, on the other hand, was rather awkward. Although it had also earned quite a lot, it seemed that Chen Changsheng had invested even more into it...
Magic Forest Fruit Company did not have many employees, and they were scattered all over the world. Chen Changsheng rarely took part in managing them. After all, as long as they could make money, that was enough. Why should he bother managing so much?
The main reason was that Magic Forest Fruit Company had originally been created through cooperation with Stark Industries. With Pepper's help, its core team had been completed, so Chen Changsheng had never paid much attention to the company.
In any case, the supply was in his hands. Letting those people do whatever they wanted would not allow them to turn the world upside down. That was Chen Changsheng's most genuine thought.
Umbrella Corporation had also made considerable progress in Dr. Connors's research on the Gene Enhancement Serum, though it had not yet been tested on humans.
At least, that was how things appeared on the surface. As for whether the Lizard Gene Enhancement Serum borrowed by General Ross had been analyzed and researched or injected into someone, that had nothing to do with Umbrella Corporation.
Chen Changsheng no longer had any intention of helping Dr. Connors with his research. After all, a master could lead one through the door, but cultivation depended on the individual. Besides, Dr. Connors was a genuine expert.
Now, Chen Changsheng simply let Dr. Connors develop freely. Whether Dr. Connors was researching a restorative drug to repair his own severed limbs or researching something else, Chen Changsheng did not particularly care.
The money had already been invested. As for when he would see the returns, that was beyond Chen Changsheng's ability to predict.
Chen Changsheng had been constantly considering how to develop in the future. Although scattering large sums of money guaranteed considerable prospects, it had also caused problems with his cash flow.
All of Chen Changsheng's money was tied up in Stark Industries' stock, and he could not liquidate it yet. Moreover, because Tony Stark had publicly announced that Stark Industries would abandon its weapons manufacturing division, its stock had plummeted to rock bottom.
Chen Changsheng was still finding ways to keep buying more. In his eyes, this was all money falling from the heavens. Why not buy it when it was practically free?
After saying goodbye to Gwen, Chen Changsheng decided to visit Tony Stark, both to move the plot forward and to urge Tony Stark to hurry up and bring out the Arc Reactor, thereby driving up Stark Industries' stock price.
Being stuck with his money tied up all the time was making Chen Changsheng feel rather uncomfortable.
Although Tony Stark had returned to the familiar metropolis of New York, he had not been out indulging in pleasure lately. Tony Stark had found a new form of entertainment: building Iron Man Armor.
Rich people's hobbies were very simple: throw money at them. Whatever the hobby, they solved it by throwing money at it.
Building Iron Man Armor was no exception. After all, Tony Stark had been able to make Iron Man Armor by hand in a cave. Now that he had all the necessary tools, it was even less of a problem.
With the practical experience of the Mark I, Tony Stark had paid particular attention to improving the armor's shock absorption this time. The current Iron Man Armor already bore some resemblance to the later Mark series in appearance.
So, when the arms dealer promised to shut down the weapons manufacturing division, he meant it. He simply would not manufacture weapons for others anymore. He would still do whatever he wanted for himself.
Perhaps this could be called a high-tech prosthetic limb...
When Chen Changsheng arrived at Tony Stark's seaside villa, Tony was enthusiastically researching his Iron Man Armor. He had no interest in receiving Chen Changsheng at all. After having Jarvis grant Chen Changsheng access, he immediately immersed himself in his research again.
This was the hospitality of the genius inventor Tony Stark. Chen Changsheng did not take offense at all. He simply followed Jarvis's guidance to Tony Stark's underground laboratory.
Hearing the movement behind him, Tony Stark did not even raise his head. With his back to Chen Changsheng, he called out, "Do you need something to drink? Juice or something else?"
"Do you think I would like juice? Of course I want alcohol—the most expensive kind." As the owner of Magic Forest Fruit Company, how could Chen Changsheng possibly drink juice? The famous wines Tony had collected were much more appealing.
"Jarvis, prepare a glass of whiskey for Jack and bring me a glass of bourbon." Without stopping what he was doing, Tony issued an order to Jarvis, while a mechanical arm slowly moved toward Tony's liquor cabinet.
Chen Changsheng watched this scene without daring to say anything. He merely looked at the mechanical arm with some confusion. At the same time, he wondered whether Jarvis had already developed this far.
Before Chen Changsheng's confusion had faded, he heard the crisp sound of something shattering. Following the sound, he saw that a mechanical arm controlled by Jarvis had knocked over a bottle of expensive red wine. Tony, however, seemed accustomed to this and merely muttered, "Why are you still such an idiot, Jarvis?"
Although Chen Changsheng felt a little pained by the loss of that bottle of wine, he did not take it too seriously. It was not his wine, after all. If Tony Stark did not care, why should he? At the same time, he asked Tony Stark, "Tony, how far has your artificial intelligence, Jarvis, developed?"
Hearing Chen Changsheng's question, Tony slowly walked out from behind the workbench holding a mechanical arm and said to Chen Changsheng, "I'm not entirely sure myself. He has been learning recently, but he's still a little stupid. What do you think? Do you need me to develop an artificial intelligence service management system for your company? I'll give you a twenty percent discount."
Good grief. The world-famous tycoon Tony Stark was actually peddling his own artificial intelligence system. Chen Changsheng was dumbfounded, though he did give it some serious thought.
Basically, all the major companies in the world had their own office management systems.
Osborn had its own artificial intelligence system, and Stark Industries had one as well. Even Dr. Otto had researched an artificial intelligence-assisted mechanical arm.
As a rising technology company, Umbrella Corporation would look rather unprofessional without its own artificial intelligence. However, whether it should use Tony's Jarvis remained open to discussion.
Once one used another person's system, it meant that all one's secrets would be exposed to that person. Any mature company had to carefully consider the consequences of exposing its secrets.
Chen Changsheng shrugged noncommittally and gave Tony an evasive reply. "My company has professional talent as well, and we also plan to research an artificial intelligence system. I'm sure we'll have results soon."
Hearing Chen Changsheng's less-than-professional answer, Tony's expression clearly froze. Research an artificial intelligence system? He certainly had some nerve saying that. Tony did not even know how much effort he had poured into Jarvis before it had taken shape. Yet Chen Changsheng claimed that once he had a plan, results would soon follow. That was truly laughable.
Considering that Chen Changsheng was not an expert in artificial intelligence, Tony abandoned the idea of mocking him. After all, not everyone in the world was as much of a genius as Tony Stark. He had to leave ordinary people some dignity, especially since Chen Changsheng was his friend.
As the two chatted, Tony finished installing the glove of his Iron Man Armor. He tried putting it on his hand, then raised it and glanced around in every direction, seemingly unsure what he wanted to do.
Looking at the Iron Man Armor glove on Tony's hand, Chen Changsheng felt a little tempted as well. After all, he was also very interested in Iron Man Armor. He simply did not know how powerful the glove was or whether it could threaten him.
Chen Changsheng was overthinking it. The Iron Man Armor glove was equipped only with a laser cannon. Its most important function was actually the rockets used for assisted flight. With Chen Changsheng's black exoskeletal bio-armor, even a rocket launcher would not be able to break through it in a short while.
"Tony, what is this? It looks really cool. Can you give me one?" Although Chen Changsheng felt that Tony probably would not give him one, he still pretended to be very interested and asked.
"Of course it's cool, but I can't give it to you. This one arm alone is worth a million!" After saying that, Tony Stark seemed to have found his target. He fired at the liquor cabinet that Jarvis had just knocked askew.
With a bang, a palm cannon blasted into the liquor cabinet, smashing both the cabinet and all the expensive wines stored on it into pieces.
Chen Changsheng looked at the Iron Man Armor glove on Tony's hand, then at the liquor cabinet in the distance that had been reduced to rubble. He quietly downed the whiskey in his hand, silently cursing Tony's wastefulness while also growing envious of the Iron Man Armor.
Chen Changsheng secretly swore that he had to get himself a suit of Iron Man Armor. Only then would his trip to the Marvel Universe not be in vain.
Without noticing Chen Changsheng's expression, Tony let out a soft exclamation and mentally gave his palm cannon's power a thumbs-up. At the same time, he asked Chen Changsheng, "How's the power?"
"It's all right, I guess. Nothing special." Although Chen Changsheng felt that Tony's Iron Man Armor looked incredibly cool, it was only cool. In terms of power, it really was not enough. The only feature worthy of praise was probably its ability to fly. That was the most practical function. And then there was the Arc Reactor in Tony's chest.
Hearing this layman Chen Changsheng dare to say that the weapon he had researched was merely "all right," Tony instantly felt indignant. Who did this amateur think he was to say that?
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