Tony's Persistence

Fifty-one percent of the equity—this was absolute controlling interest, meaning the company would be entirely under Luo Xia's command. Luo Xia had never imagined such a windfall would fall into his own lap.

Although Luo Xia knew full well that Obadiah Stane was digging a pit for him, he did not refuse immediately. Just as he had thought before, Obadiah Stane did not have much time left to jump around; the bait he was dangling was so large that the great white shark he intended to hook might end up swallowing him whole.

However, Luo Xia was not familiar with business matters. After agreeing on a meeting time with Obadiah Stane, he called Matt. He hoped that this brilliant lawyer, who had graduated at the top of his class from Columbia Law School, would be able to help.

Matt had likely just returned home, and he agreed to Luo Xia's request quite readily.

After finishing all this, Luo Xia immediately ran home to take a refreshing shower and then buried himself in sleep; he was truly exhausted from the past few days.

He slept for nearly a day and a night, and in the end, he was woken up by a call from Dr. Connors. This mad scientist was complaining to Luo Xia: "If you want me to help you with research, you must provide the corresponding materials and financial support. Your robot smashed my freezer, and most of the reagents inside were ruined. Now I am lacking raw materials, and you must prepare them for me, otherwise, I cannot work."

"Dr. Connors, may I ask, how did you obtain your research materials before you met me?" Although Luo Xia was still a bit groggy from sleep, he wouldn't be fooled so easily.

"Most of them were things I brought with me when I left Osborn, but there isn't much left. Yesterday's incident caused all my remaining raw materials to be scrapped," Dr. Connors said helplessly.

This sounded like a reasonable enough excuse. Luo Xia had no intention of making Dr. Connors steal or rob for his experiments, so he told him to send over a list of the required materials, and he would find a way to resolve it.

Once Violet listed out Dr. Connors' material list, Luo Xia couldn't help but gasp. These items didn't look like much, but the total cost was not cheap; just preparing the materials on the list would require over a million dollars.

And these were consumables—he would have to buy more once they were used up.

"Sure enough, only with money can you do whatever you want; without money, you can't take a single step," Luo Xia said helplessly.

Temporarily casting this matter aside, Luo Xia ate something casual and drove his sand buggy to Osborn Tower. Luo Xia was always very methodical in his work; he had come to Osborn previously for that nano-surgical robot, but it had been delayed by the kidnapping incident.

Arriving at Osborn Tower once again, this time there were no blind security guards coming to stop him; instead, Norman Osborn personally invited him into the office on the top floor.

"Sorry, Norman, the equipment you gave me was destroyed. The situation was a bit intense at the time," Luo Xia said politely.

"Compared to the help you gave me, those things are not worth mentioning," Norman Osborn naturally wouldn't have any complaints.

He had made inquiries, and that underground garage in Hell's Kitchen looked as if it had been the site of a low-intensity skirmish. Having saved his son under such circumstances, Norman Osborn was already filled with gratitude; how could he care about the equipment he had gifted to Luo Xia?

"That's good, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford to compensate you," Luo Xia said with a smile.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he asked about Harry's condition. He discovered that the boy didn't seem to have suffered any trauma; on the contrary, he had suddenly developed a strong interest in ancient Chinese poetry, which left Norman Osborn completely baffled.

Previously, he had spent so much effort trying to get Harry to focus on his studies, but the boy had remained obsessed with World of Warcraft; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to attend an offline gaming event.

But since returning this time, he had started to love reading. Although it was only ancient Chinese poetry, it was still a positive change.

Hearing Norman Osborn's words, Luo Xia gave an awkward smile. Li Bai had unexpectedly gained a fan just like that; he really didn't know what to say.

After chatting for a while, Luo Xia finally stated his purpose for coming to Norman Osborn.

"That nano-surgical robot of yours? I can give you a brand new one. It was originally a product we intended to use to break into the medical device market, but we later shelved the plan. However, I must warn you, this machine has very high requirements for the surgeon; I'm afraid an average person wouldn't be able to use it," Norman Osborn readily agreed to Luo Xia's request.

"The lead surgeon is Dr. Strange; he is the best surgeon in New York," Luo Xia said.

"Oh, I've heard of this man's reputation. If it's him, it shouldn't be a problem," Norman Osborn was also aware of Dr. Strange's abilities; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he could bring the dead back to life.

Everything went smoothly. Luo Xia had Norman Osborn send the machine directly to the hospital where Dr. Strange worked; before the surgery, the famous doctor would need to familiarize himself with the machine's operation.

Next, Luo Xia headed straight to Stark Industries to drag Tony in for a physical examination to prepare for the surgery.

However, just as Luo Xia arrived at Tony's laboratory, he was forced out by a cloud of smoke. It was the fire-extinguishing spray from a dry ice extinguisher, which nearly suffocated Luo Xia.

Once the dry ice gas dissipated, Luo Xia ran into the laboratory and dragged Tony out.

"Tony, are you trying to burn this lab down?" Luo Xia looked at Tony, who hadn't closed his eyes for several days and was covered in stubble.

"No, it was just an accident. You know, experiments always have all sorts of accidents," Tony insisted on explaining.

Luo Xia saw that the red Iron Armor in the lab was already nearly complete; it should be approaching the stage of actual testing.

With such rapid progress, it had to be said that Luo Fei's help to Tony was significant. Just in terms of the mechanical joint structure, Luo Fei's presence had given Tony quite a lot of inspiration, saving a great deal of time on repetitive testing.

"Tony, put the experiment aside for a moment; I have something important to tell you. I've found a highly skilled surgeon who can help you remove the shrapnel from your chest," Luo Xia said to Tony.

"Shrapnel? No need, I'm doing just fine," Tony refused immediately.

"You call letting the toxins from the palladium enter your bloodstream 'doing just fine'?" Luo Xia ruthlessly exposed his lie.

Tony fell silent. How could he not care about his own life? The nonchalance on the surface was all a disguise.

"I've already made the arrangements this time; I guarantee your surgery has a ninety percent chance of success. You just need to get some good rest for a few days and wait for the surgery," Luo Xia continued to persuade Tony.

"Ninety percent, which means there is still a ten percent chance of failure?" Tony asked Luo Xia.

"The Tony I know isn't such a timid person. You wouldn't dare to take a gamble with a ninety percent chance?" Luo Xia asked curiously.

"It's not that I don't dare, but I have more important things to do right now. Before I finish this thing, I must stay alive; I cannot take any risks," Tony pointed to the unfinished Iron Armor.