Time to Make Money

Abomination's monitoring room.

Hong Fei and Frank stood side by side, staring intently at the screen.

On the crystal-clear full-color display, Abomination lay on his back. The bony armor protruding from his chest rose and fell, making the muscles all over his body twitch faintly.

"He should be waking up soon, right?" Hong Fei said uncertainly.

Frank said, "I'm guessing he wasn't anesthetized for three days."

"What makes you say that?"

Frank glanced at Hong Fei before saying, "I was thinking, could it be that you poisoned him from the start? These past few days, he's been constantly healing and repairing the internal injuries in his body. Otherwise, judging from his previous performance, if he'd really been anesthetized, it probably wouldn't have lasted three whole days."

Hong Fei's cheek twitched. Though he was reluctant to accept Frank's explanation, the hypothesis clearly held up.

In terms of physical constitution, Abomination, who shared the same origin as Hulk, obviously would not be weak. Otherwise, he could not have endured the direct blast of nine missiles.

It seemed he really had been poisoned into unconsciousness by Hong Fei.

Under their shared gaze, Abomination's breathing grew heavier and heavier. When the sound of it, like muffled thunder, echoed through the sealed room, Abomination's eyes suddenly snapped open on the screen.

The next second, he flipped upright. Just as he was about to take a step, his legs suddenly gave out, leaving him kneeling on one knee.

His heavy, rumbling breathing came through the speakers. Frank gave Hong Fei a meaningful look.

Hong Fei said irritably, "What are you looking at?"

Inside the room, Abomination panted as he surveyed his surroundings. After a moment, he sat down, his savage eyes fixed on the floor. "Ross, is this the cage you prepared for me?"

In the monitoring room, Frank nudged Hong Fei with his elbow. "He mistook you for someone else."

"Heh. He never realized I was following behind him, so naturally he thinks Ross captured him."

"So what do you want to do next?"

Hong Fei pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Do nothing for now. Don't respond to him either. Since he thinks Ross captured him, he should know General Ross's methods. In the short term, he'll temporarily show a cooperative side, so there's no need for us to expose our identities."

Frank nodded slightly.

"And if he tries to escape, don't hold back with the electricity or fire. Same as before: better to kill him than let him get out."

He said this to the other subordinates in the monitoring room.

After returning aboveground, he happened to see Helen Zhao's car parked at the entrance. The estate guards were helping her carry suitcase after suitcase out of the vehicle.

Helen Zhao had finished handling her personal affairs. With the laboratory about to begin construction, she readily accepted Hong Fei's invitation and officially moved in starting today. That would also make it easier for her to oversee the laboratory's construction and make adjustments whenever necessary.

"Mr. Hong, I may be troubling you often from now on, so please accept my apologies in advance." Helen Zhao smiled and bowed.

"You're too polite. It's no trouble at all. I'd be delighted."

The guards carried the cases upstairs while Helen Zhao took a document from her bag and handed it to Hong Fei.

"Mr. Hong, this is the list I've prepared. Please take a look, and if there are no issues, sign it for me."

Gonggong Laboratory had already been registered, and the five hundred million Hong Fei had promised had been transferred into the laboratory's account. However, as the sole investor, he still held the final authority over its finances.

Before even opening it, Hong Fei knew it would be an enormous expense.

He flipped it open and gave it a casual scan. His heart skipped a beat, though his expression remained calm.

Sure enough, most of the listed equipment and materials were things Hong Fei had never even heard of. The tongue-twisting words only became more bewildering when strung together. When he flipped directly to the last page, the long string of striking numbers made his pupils contract.

Helen Zhao said regretfully, "Some equipment is prohibited from being sold, and some exists only in the hands of companies that control the patents. When the time comes, we'll have to rent them or apply directly for usage rights. Fortunately, we don't need many of those, and I've already found some alternatives. With this equipment, our laboratory will be ninety percent complete."

Four hundred and thirty-seven million.

As an outsider, Hong Fei truly had no idea that laboratory equipment alone could cost this much.

He should have demanded more from Obadiah or Tony.

With two swift strokes, he signed his name flamboyantly. Hong Fei said casually, "Dr. Zhao, I'll leave the laboratory to you from now on. You can handle personnel matters yourself, or ask Number One for help. He has quite a bit of experience in that area."

Helen Zhao took the document and carefully put it away before replying, "All right, but what is Number One's name?"

Hong Fei blinked.

He did not know either.

"Haha, well, you can ask him yourself. But we all call him Number One, so it's fine if you call him that too. All right, go take a look at your room. If you need anything, just ask. I hope you'll be as comfortable here as you are at home."

Helen Zhao smiled warmly. "I'm sure I will."

Hong Fei returned to his room and sat on the spacious balcony, looking out over New York.

He was short of money again.

He still had seventy million of his personal funds untouched. The laboratory's five hundred million had become sixty-four million in the blink of an eye, and there was still over a ton of gold in the warehouse.

Altogether, it came to nearly two hundred million. At first glance, that was indeed a substantial sum.

But judging from the research plan Helen Zhao had mentioned earlier, this money might not even last a year.

Besides, he had other expenses to cover.

"I really should've asked for more ransom. If nothing else, buying some Stark Industries stock would've been nice."

The ransom amount back then had been set at a level that would not make things difficult for Obadiah, while also being easy to move and quickly launder.

As for why he had not bought stocks, first, he did not want Stark to trace that lead and suspect his identity. Second, the fewer complications, the better. At the time, Hong Fei had genuinely thought it was enough.

Now that he thought about it, Stark Industries definitely could have offered a considerable amount for Tony. Even if the laundering took longer, he could have taken his time. As for stocks, he could have found a way to split them across more accounts. Little by little, it would have added up.

In short, his poor man's mindset had gotten in the way. His vision had been too short-sighted.

In his previous life, he had never lacked food or drink, but his savings had never exceeded seven figures. Back then, he had only cared about training, sparring, and challenges. Why would he have had any interest in making money?

Frank was a man of many talents. Whether it was military competence or life experience, he far surpassed Hong Fei. But when it came to economics, Frank mostly relied on his previous knowledge and connections; he was not particularly professional himself.

Thinking of this, Hong Fei reflected briefly, then took out his phone and sent Frank a message: "Help me select a butler and a financial officer."

Needless to say, that was another expense about to go out the door.

Making money had now become Hong Fei's one and only top priority.

The next priority was naturally increasing his energy limit as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if he condensed a tank in the future, he would not be able to supply it with shells in time, much less replace fuel with energy to power the tank. That would probably be like digging himself a tomb of steel—truly ridiculous.