Party

Duncan scanned the collaborative projects briefly, a look of surprise crossing his face as he said, "These projects... the startup time and the rate of capital recovery are quite slow, aren't they? They might rely on other projects to funnel funds just to stay afloat. Won't the cash flow be a bit tight by then?"

It wasn't that he was worried about money; Umbrella Corporation and Stark Industries were both incredibly wealthy. However, more than half of the proposals were money pits that wouldn't see a return on investment for a long time. Starting them all at once would inevitably tie up most of the two companies' liquid assets, weakening their ability to withstand risks. If an accident occurred, the initial investment would certainly go down the drain.

Furthermore, there were too many high-tech projects. They didn't have enough talent to fill the research positions unless Tony was willing to let him clone some personnel.

"Of course not!"

Tony spoke very earnestly, pointing out three headings on the holographic screen: clean energy, artificial intelligence, and pharmaceuticals.

"We can start with these three ideas. Stark possesses cold fusion reactor technology, and Umbrella Corporation has a vast amount of pharmaceutical data. We only need to exchange technologies, and there won't be any trouble with the initial funding. I can develop an industrial robot to completely replace manual labor, and for subsequent projects, we can use robots instead of human workers. This way, these projects can proceed simultaneously. As for the tasks that truly require people, we can slowly recruit them once the facilities are built. Also..."

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, almost wanting to run out and command the construction team to start working.

Duncan hadn't been running the company for long, and as he heard more technical jargon, his head began to spin.

Fortunately, Pepper noticed Duncan's distress and explained things in layman's terms from the side, barely helping Duncan understand what Tony meant.

This conversation lasted over two hours, and Duncan finally understood what Tony was trying to achieve by formulating so many plans.

To lead Stark Industries to become the light of Marvel!

Very good, very ambitious!

"I think I get it. Copy the data for me later, and I'll take it back to coordinate. I didn't come here to talk business today; it's too tiring. I'm going to take Alice out for a stroll, and I don't mind if you pick up the tab!"

Duncan pulled the drowsy Alice up from beside him, ready to leave, and even asked Tony for spending money without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Tony also stood up and waved his hand to retract the holographic screen. Now it was his turn to envy Duncan. "Great. I'll come to your place for a vacation one of these days. I shouldn't have anyone asking me for autographs there!"

Finally, Duncan managed to escape the headache-inducing work, strolled around New York with Alice, and had dinner together that evening.

Alice, now fully convinced that interdimensional travel was real, agreed to the job transfer and temporarily joined the Avengers to learn how to become a super soldier.

That night, Duncan left through the elevator at Stark Industries and returned to the Resident Evil world, while Alice remained at Stark Industries, temporarily under Pepper's care.

After Alice joined the Avengers, the cooperation between Stark Industries and Umbrella Corporation began to advance rapidly.

Steve and Natasha, having returned to the Avengers, began to strike at Hydra strongholds. Alice took the place of the uncontrollable Hulk on missions and gradually began to get along with the Captain and the others.

Duncan was still quite concerned about Alice's situation, occasionally maintaining contact through primitive letters. What Alice wrote in her letters was basically descriptions of her missions.

She also had quite a few doubts, such as: The Avengers had no official organization backing them, so why could they run around the world with dangerous weapons? Why did they always rush into Hydra bases with just a few people instead of waiting for the military to arrive?

Although they were all very capable and such methods resulted in few casualties, it was still a bit too exhausting.

At first, Alice wasn't used to the Avengers' fighting style and often complained about getting injured while attacking Hydra outposts. Later, as her T-virus abilities gradually awakened in the face of danger, she barely learned the skill of dodging bullets and became the second super soldier.

Duncan also shed his overly heavy workload. The secretarial team he recruited handled matters in an orderly fashion, and the clone employees mixed in among them could supervise them to ensure they completed their work diligently. In this way, his workload was greatly reduced.

That afternoon, after finishing the company's chores, Duncan returned to his renovated villa after work, changed his suit into casual sportswear, and took a car to a hotel near the Raccoon City Police Department.

There was a party at the hotel tonight. This party was spontaneously organized by the Raccoon City police officers. Duncan had only provided a "little bit" of funding so that the officers who had contributed during the Raccoon City crisis could eat, drink, and have a good time.

At this moment, in the hotel banquet hall, soft lights illuminated the figures of men and women dressed in formal attire. Most of them were men, with only a very small number of women.

In the corner of the banquet hall, there were drinks and various snacks. The people in the room only sipped their drinks and didn't touch the snacks on the long table because an important person for the party hadn't arrived yet.

"Henry, do you know why that person invited us to this party?"

In a corner of the long table where fruit wine was placed, a few men and women gathered to chat.

The one named Henry was a young man who belonged to the S.T.A.R.S. established within the Raccoon City Police Department. Aside from his hardcore skills, he was also a well-informed person.

Due to the nature of his work, he had developed a gossipy personality. If there was something others didn't know, asking him would always yield an answer.

But this time, even Henry hadn't been able to find out why the current head of Umbrella Corporation would invite small-time police officers like them to a party. "I don't know. I asked the Chief when I came in, and he didn't know either. He even warned us to respect that person as if we were seeing God. He looked truly pathetic, just like someone licking the sweat off an old man's shirt!"

"Ugh!" "Ew!"

"Hey, I'm going to eat dessert later, don't say such disgusting things!"

Regarding Henry's rant, the others nodded in agreement. Unable to figure out why Duncan had invited them to the party, they shifted the topic to criticizing and complaining about their frustrating work.

The amount of joy they could get from complaining about their superiors together was about the same as drinking an ice-cold beverage in the summer.

The conversation about how many times the Chief had gone to a certain apartment behind his wife and children's back was forced to a halt because the party's host had arrived.

Duncan pushed the door open and walked into the banquet hall with a smile on his face. His gaze quickly scanned the room, and he finally found his target: a female officer with short, black, ear-length hair.

She was wearing a sky-blue sleeveless dress. The dress wasn't long, exposing a pair of toned, slender legs.

Her spirited eyes were fixed on him. She held a glass of fruit wine in her hands, her straight legs shifting slightly. The muscles on her thighs and calves moved subtly, the lines of muscle—combining softness and toughness—restoring a beautiful, three-dimensional sense of primitive beauty.

She stood in the room like a proud leopard on the savanna; even amidst the yellow grass, she would fascinate anyone who spotted her.

His eyes only swept over her briefly. Although he was a bit tempted, Duncan wasn't a shallow person, and he quickly adjusted his mindset. The purpose of the party wasn't for her, after all.

He stepped into the hall with a smile, exchanging pleasantries and engaging in corporate flattery with the Chief of the Raccoon City Police Department who had come to greet him.