The press conference ended hastily.
A group of reporters and people from various fields who had been injured by the Green Goblin's bombing and then completely healed with a single injection by Stark's security team spontaneously took to the streets, recounting the wonders of the Regeneration Potion to the world through their personal experiences. Before long, however, they were forcibly taken away by ambulances Yuri had personally called in order to replenish their nutrition.
Although the finished Regeneration Potion came with a high-energy nutritional solution for recharging, the energy required to regenerate an entire leg—or even half a body—far exceeded that. Yuri did not want these people, temporarily blinded to their condition by adrenaline, to collapse in the street after barely walking a short distance and make it look as though the Regeneration Potion left behind severe aftereffects.
After saying goodbye to the Ambrosius couple, who claimed they needed to "go home early and make some preparations," Yuri encountered Police Captain George in the private elevator on the second floor. He was Gwen's father, and Yuri had encountered him once before when Dr. Lizard had attempted to activate the Canary Device atop the Osborn Building.
In fact, the dedicated police captain had been having a serious headache lately. Hell's Kitchen, which had already been chaotic, had recently seen frequent large-scale deaths. Although the victims were all gang members who deserved to die, George always felt as though he had to clean up someone else's mess. He could not catch anyone, and killing them was even more absurd. Aside from entering every morning to clear away the corpses, there was nothing he could do.
"Perhaps... Spider-Man could give it a try?"
On the night of the Canary Device incident, he had seen the little Spider's true identity—Peter Parker. The two of them later found time to have a serious talk, eventually reaching certain agreements that could never be brought into the light. Simply put, Peter would selectively obey George's orders, and in exchange, the NYPD would stop making things difficult for him.
Judging by the situation these past few days, the cooperation had achieved excellent results.
George froze for a moment when he saw Yuri, but quickly realized that he was probably Tony's friend or lawyer. His professional instincts made him want to question Yuri, but after meeting those brilliant golden eyes, that thought inexplicably faded away.
"Ding!"
"Welcome, esteemed Mr. Ambrosius and Captain George."
The moment the elevator doors opened, Jarvis's courteous greeting rang out. Yuri was used to it and smiled as he nodded at the camera, while George looked as though he was one step away from drawing his gun and taking aim. After all, a voice that was everywhere yet had no physical form was well beyond what people of this era could imagine.
Following the directions, they entered the reception room. Three people were already seated on the soft sofas: Tony, who had "returned victorious and teased Spider-Man, hence the grin on his face"; a certain military man, who was "holding a tube of Regeneration Potion and turning it over repeatedly while occasionally glancing at the Mark armor standing nearby"; and Motherfucker Man Nick Fury, who had "one eye covered by a black eyepatch nearly the same color as his skin and was constantly sizing up Yuri as he approached."
Only after Yuri drew closer did he notice another person sprawled on the floor—a Green Goblin whose face was covered in bulging veins and whose eyes were the only part of him that could move: Norman Osborn.
"Please, have a seat, Mr. Ambrosius."
Black Eggplant took the initiative in Tony's Stark Tower and invited Yuri to sit down. He folded his hands across his chest and scrutinized Yuri with one eye. "According to the intelligence we've gathered, Mr. Yuri has never received a systematic education in biology. I'd very much like to know why you were the one who developed the Regeneration Potion. Does it have anything to do with your eyes turning golden after your Summer intern stint in Iraq?"
"Hey!"
The smile vanished from Tony's face in an instant. He straightened up on the sofa, a rare air of authority emanating from him. "You cyclops, this is my territory. Yuri is my friend. You have no right to interrogate him here!"
Yuri chose the largest sofa and sat down. As he passed the Green Goblin, he even crouched to sense the state of his soul. Like the Green Giant Hulk, the Green Goblin was a deformed product of the secondary personality suppressing the primary one. After making a quick examination, Yuri felt that he could defeat Hulk without breaking a sweat. Just as The Ancient One had slapped Hulk's soul out of his body, Yuri could also help the primary personality, Banner, suppress the secondary personality, Hulk. The Green Giant's strength was limited to his physical body. In the realm of the soul, he was truly the weakest of the weak.
"All right."
The military man spoke up. "The purpose of our gathering here today is to discuss two matters. First, the Regeneration Potion. Second, Tony's armor."
"I don't think there's anything to discuss."
Tony crossed his legs and said frankly, "The Regeneration Potion has a fixed price and can be purchased worldwide. If the military wants to buy it in bulk, we can offer a discount. As for the armor, I don't have any armor. As everyone knows, I suffered severe injuries in a bandit den in Afghanistan. That thing over there is merely my mechanical prosthetic, which makes getting around easier and helps speed up my recovery. Armor? I already said I would never make weapons again."
"Facts will not change just because you argue."
Black Eggplant's single eye swept back and forth between Tony and the armor. "Believe me, Tony. This is technology you cannot control. If we cannot reach an agreement here, Congress may turn against you."
"Truth will not submit to your threats, either."
Tony glanced at Yuri, who was watching from the sidelines without saying a word, and decided to give his brother a hand by dragging him into the matter. He cleared his throat and said, "In fact, even if I gave the armor to you, you wouldn't be able to use it. First, there's the cost. The Mark armor uses many proprietary alloy formulas of mine, and each gram may cost tens of millions of dollars to produce. Then there are all kinds of operating systems, maintenance, and repairs... And most importantly, there's Jarvis, the ultra-high-computing artificial intelligence that coordinates the entire suit. Without him, the whole suit is just an iron can that can take a hit. And I absolutely will not give Jarvis to you."
Tony rambled on and listed a huge pile of things. The technical jargon made Nick Fury, the military man, and the captain frown, while Yuri did not listen at all. He was bluffing anyway. If Tony repeated it all again, he might even forget what he had just said.
"To sum it all up."
Tony took a sip of wine to soothe his slightly dry throat. "A mechanical prosthetic costs more than two hundred billion dollars a year to operate. So, gentlemen, still interested in getting one?"
That directly left Captain George out of the discussion.
Seeing Nick Fury and the military man fall silent, Tony gave Yuri a mischievous smile and continued, "But..."
Seeing all four of them look at him, he cleared his throat smugly. "When I was held hostage in that bandit den, I actually designed a relatively crude mechanical prosthetic to help me escape. Because I fled in such a hurry, the design blueprints eventually ended up in the hands of the Ambrosius in front of us. I have to admit, Yuri really is a great genius. After obtaining the blueprints, he relied on his unfinished knowledge of mechanics and his great spirit of exploring the mysterious realms to create an entirely new power source despite lacking a Micro-Reactor."
"You may have seen it in the surveillance footage from the Canary Night. Yes, that was the mechanical prosthetic that far surpassed mine in every aspect—the mighty, imposing, mysterious, and extraordinary conglomeration of scrap metal: the Steam Armor!"
Under everyone's gaze, Yuri stiffly swallowed the wine in his mouth and cursed Tony's ancestors to the eighteenth generation. Although they had agreed long ago to throw the Steam Armor out as a scapegoat, Tony could at least have warned him first!
Setting down his wineglass, Yuri watched the ripples spreading across the wine and said, "What Tony said is basically correct."
"The Steam Armor is priced at 99.99 million dollars per set. Would you like to try one?"
Before you continue