The reason Tony had brought only his driver to "check out the place" was, plainly put, that he was very interested in Oaks.
Setting aside his various lifestyle and personality issues, he was a genuine genius.
And when a genius discovered another genius, he always did something.
Especially when that genius was much younger than him, yet unbelievably low-key—the complete opposite of himself.
And that person's achievements had just happened to slap him in the face.
In fact, Tony was not incapable of accepting being slapped in the face—
He would only get fired up, develop new technology, and slap back even harder.
But this time was a little different...
Because this had crossed into another field.
"So, Dr. Lin, because of certain rather unpleasant matters, I am very interested in you."
This was Oaks's first time experiencing Tony Stark's personality firsthand. Sure enough, just as the rumors said, he inspired an irresistible urge to sew his mouth shut.
"Oh, that's truly regrettable."
All he could do was shrug and tell himself to stay calm.
"Just call me Oaks. And I'm not interested in men."
"In fact, your public records indicate that you don't seem interested in women, either."
Tony Stark took another sip of coffee, trying hard to tear his gaze away from Goose. He cleared his throat.
"While I know that talents in certain specialized fields can have some... peculiar preferences, that is precisely a reflection of the unusual way their minds work."
"Take me, for example. To maintain this sharp, efficient, free-ranging mode of thought, I usually need to seek fresh inspiration from many different beautiful women."
"If you're troubled by a lack of inspiration, I strongly recommend this method."
"This is the first time I've seen someone describe being a playboy in such a refined and refreshing manner."
Oaks leaned back tactically, expressing his profound admiration.
"But I have to admit, it makes some sense. I know a famous physicist who likes to use shoes as metaphors and runs naked while carrying lab equipment whenever he gets excited."
"Wow, then he must have accomplished great things."
"You'll meet him in a couple of years."
After exchanging a whole lot of meaningless nonsense, Tony Stark realized that he could not completely overwhelm the other man with his presence.
Right, this was the other man's home turf.
It definitely was not because the great Tony Stark's aura had shrunk.
So he extended his right hand.
"Tony Stark. Call me Tony."
"Oaks Lin."
Their hands clasped, and Oaks knew that only now did Tony truly regard him as an equal.
"Can you tell me why you're here now?"
"Hmm, I read your papers, Oaks.
Your achievements in biology are indeed astonishing, especially in environmental protection.
Microbial treatment of water pollution, plant-based treatment of air pollution, animal and plant balance models, micro-ecosystem theory, and so on...
Would you be interested in becoming the head of environmental protection at my company?"
"Not interested."
"Happy, how long has it been since someone rejected me so bluntly?"
"Two hours, sir. Miss Pepper rejected your dinner invitation two hours ago."
"..."
Tony somewhat regretted bringing his driver. He should have driven himself.
"All right, Oaks, that was a joke."
He held up three fingers.
"Three million dollars a year. In my capacity as president of Stark Industries, I sincerely invite Dr. Oaks Lin to become an environmental consultant—the kind who doesn't need to clock in."
"Can I ask what exactly caught your eye about me?"
Oaks was beginning to take an interest in Tony. Though he had not yet undergone his awakening, he was not merely an annoying narcissist.
He had the right to be narcissistic. Beyond his technological ability, he possessed extraordinary vision and the decisiveness to make bold decisions.
"These special green plants you've cultivated would allow me to complete purification systems for both new and old factories at one-tenth the cost, while saving your annual salary every year."
Tony did not shy away from the matter of having his face slapped. On the contrary, a great scientist had to be good at learning from every advanced thing.
"Biology is not my specialty, but that does not mean I don't understand its value or potential."
"I have my own plans, Tony."
Oaks smiled and shook his head.
"And although you're the president and chairman, Stark Industries is not solely yours to command.
A recruitment offer of this scale does show your sincerity, but sorry, if I agreed, I doubt the trouble would be minor."
Seeing Tony raise an eyebrow and hold up five fingers, Oaks hurriedly stopped him.
"Wait, it isn't about the money. You know that if I made this technology public, money would be no issue for me at all."
"...All right, that's true."
Tony leaned back against the sofa. It was precisely because he understood that so well that he intended to get Oaks in hand immediately.
Whether as head of environmental protection or an environmental consultant, with such a connection in place, Stark Industries would gain unimaginable benefits in the future.
As well as social prestige.
Especially now that quite a few media outlets liked associating him with murderers. Though he did not care much, and even rather appreciated the female reporters who came to interview him.
But with Tony's intelligence, even if he spent half his energy on women, he was still one of the world's greatest geniuses.
How could he possibly fail to see the incredible value of the environmental industry?
Although Stark Industries was currently a military contractor, and he himself was America's largest arms dealer, that did not prevent him from seeing the direction of global trends.
The energy core of Stark Tower, the Arc Reactor, was one of the great future environmental directions he had once devoted enormous effort to researching—clean energy.
However, he had still failed to break through the technical bottleneck left by his father, Howard Stark. The Arc Reactor's level in Stark Tower was already its limit.
Its economic benefits were practically negative. That massive thing had been built purely to shut up the reporters, and even the board had concluded that it was a dead-end technology.
And with the New York government releasing the PlaNYC2007 plan—the New York ecological environment improvement plan—the emergence of Oaks and his miraculous green plants was simply a gold mine of extraordinary purity!
He was not foolish enough to try buying the other man's technology outright. That would have been meaningless. What he wanted was Oaks himself!
However, the other man was clearly not a traditional scientist who possessed only technical expertise.
"All right, then how about becoming a partner supplier for Stark Industries?"
Tony felt that this was the first time he had encountered such a difficult opponent in negotiations he personally handled. Usually, his money power was invincible.
But the other man had even brought up his influence on the board, clearly remaining extremely rational throughout.
"If the delivery schedule isn't urgent, that could work."
After a moment of silence, Oaks slowly nodded.
"These special green plants are still in the experimental stage. I need some time. Mass production won't be possible for at least a year."
"A year? No problem."
Tony snapped his fingers, and a smile finally appeared on his face—
Even if it was merely a business relationship, he was confident that once the other man tasted the benefits, he would be unable to resist deeper cooperation.
"Then the second matter... I heard you can also formulate medicines?"
Tony rubbed his hands together and looked at Oaks with great seriousness, making Oaks pause in surprise.
"Yes. Are you injured?"
"No, I want to get some skincare products for my assistant."
"..."
Before you continue