Invaders

"United Construction? A shell company?" Luca repeated the keywords Shamira had just mentioned.

"Yes. This company, United Construction, recently reached an agreement with the city government to handle post-disaster reconstruction in the Hell's Kitchen area."

"However... according to the private investigator's findings, the company was actually established less than a year ago. They have never even handled any real estate business before this."

"So, he suspects that someone is simply using this shell company's name to obtain construction permits through bribery."

Luca, sitting in the backseat, furrowed his brows and remained silent upon hearing this.

If the name "United Construction" only sounded vaguely familiar, adding "Hell's Kitchen" to the mix made it impossible not to think of a certain notorious, hardworking villain who was rumored to be 90 percent muscle.

The underground emperor of New York, Kingpin.

Well, in truth, Kingpin might not be that legendary just yet.

Setting aside the criminal underworld, at least among the prominent social philanthropists, there was no "kindly" giant named Wilson Fisk appearing in the public eye for the time being.

According to the MCU timeline, the current Kingpin likely hadn't started his transition to legitimacy, and his criminal empire hadn't reached its peak.

As for whether he successfully laundered his reputation using real estate deals following the Battle of New York, Luca had no way of knowing.

But why would a guy like Kingpin suddenly set his sights on me?

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Luca shook his head helplessly.

His current situation was undoubtedly that of a "child carrying gold through a crowded market." He was innocent, but his wealth was his crime.

He possessed a massive company and various assets, yet his father was dead, his mother was in a coma, he hadn't truly inherited the estate, and he had no usable resources at his disposal.

Anyone with a hint of malice might actually take action, let alone a villain without a moral bottom line like Kingpin.

Luca had to thank the two other minor shareholders who died in the Battle of New York for slowing down the board of directors; otherwise, they would have already moved against him.

Hmm, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Based on the current information, it might not necessarily be Kingpin pulling the strings. I need to find my deadbeat uncle before making any decisions.

After all, based on the current intel, everything was still just Luca's speculation.

If he misidentified the target and provoked a troublesome figure like Kingpin for no reason, it would be a net loss for him.

Even if he used his "ultimate move" to call Tony Stark for a heroic rescue, Tony wouldn't just fly over in his Mark Armor to take out Kingpin or stay by his side to protect him 24/7 without any concrete evidence.

In the end, he could only rely on himself.

"Aunt Shamira, this private investigator seems quite capable to have gathered so much information in such a short time. Tell him to find out where Dragan is as soon as possible—we can pay him extra!"

"Understood."

The rest of the journey was silent.

Not long after, Luca and Shamira returned home.

After a simple dinner, Luca hurried into his underground laboratory.

The 3D-printed armor for Baymax was now complete. Luca carefully inspected it, polished the rougher edges, and then, satisfied, called Baymax over to test the armor piece by piece.

"Hmm, looks pretty good. Maybe I'll paint it gold and red later so you can pose as Iron Man~"

Baymax stood there blankly in his armor, his camera eyes blinking; he didn't look imposing in the slightest.

"Does this seem to be of any help to medical care?" (●-●)

"Remember what I told you?"

"The best medicine is to prevent all possible dangers before the patient is even injured?" (●-●)

"Exactly. Now your ability to prevent danger is even greater~"

As he spoke, Luca patted Baymax's sturdy new armor.

"It's a pity the material for the arms hasn't arrived yet. Otherwise, I could have synthesized them together. Once the tactical team Shamira mentioned arrives tomorrow, we can go look for the new Core Component."

Whether it was finding the mastermind or tracking down Dragan, Luca couldn't intervene personally and had to leave it to his subordinates.

All he could do was expand his arsenal while passively waiting.

If I had the Tracking Glasses when I saw Dragan at the funeral, I wouldn't have to worry about all this now.

Just as Luca was thinking this, a series of urgent knocks echoed from the door at the top of the basement stairs.

"Young Master Luca! Are you in there?"

Hearing Shamira's slightly anxious call, Luca felt a flicker of doubt, but he pressed the button on his desk to open the lab door.

"Come in."

Shamira pushed the door open immediately, and Luca noticed that she was already holding a pistol.

"Young Master, there appear to be intruders on the villa grounds!"

Just moments ago, Shamira had been on the third floor talking to the Orange Family's trust fund, trying to schedule a time to discuss Luca allocating some funds to hire people for targeted drug development.

However, she had noticed from the open window that two suspicious vans were speeding toward the villa.

As far as Shamira knew, this seaside villa in Connecticut was in a fairly remote location, intended primarily for vacations.

Most of the time, it was left vacant and cleaned periodically by a professional property management company, and most of the surrounding villas were in the same situation.

To her knowledge, none of the neighbors in the immediate vicinity had any residents staying there recently.

The moment those two vans with their clear objective appeared, they immediately caught her attention.

When Shamira saw the vans pull over in a vacant lot far away and a dozen people spill out at once, she made her judgment in an instant, even though it was already night and the distance was too great for her to see if they were armed.

The other party was coming for Young Master Luca; the only reason they hadn't stopped closer was to prevent the sound of their engines from alerting the house.

Faced with this situation, Shamira naturally grabbed her gun and rushed downstairs to find Luca first.

However, upon hearing Shamira say there were intruders, Luca didn't seem nervous at all; he simply reached out and tapped the tabletop several times in quick succession.

The wall beside them, which had appeared empty, immediately slid aside to reveal an entire Weapon Armory covered in various models of firearms.

Luca gave a slight shrug and gestured with his hand.

"Try not to use the ones on the right; those don't have permits."