More Eye-Opening Than *Eyes Wide Shut*

The next day, Bruce Lee visited Lin Hao's estate again. The two drove to the Li Family's airport on the outskirts of San Francisco and took a private jet to Los Angeles.

The banquet was being held in an old castle by the sea, not far from San Pedro Bay, where Hollywood was located. It was clearly an ideal place for a party.

Since the organizers wanted to use this banquet to signal to the outside world that the Los Angeles financial consortiums and Stark Industries had formed a connection, they invited many reporters for official publicity.

As a result, before the banquet even began, it naturally turned into a runway show where everyone competed in glamour.

A large number of male and female Hollywood stars took the opportunity to fight for camera time on the red carpet before the castle gates. Their smiles looked sincere, but every word carried hidden barbs.

"Many of these people don't even have invitations. They just came to ride the hype." Sitting in the car, Bruce Lee smiled as he explained to Lin Hao. "As long as a banquet is open to the public, there will always be people like flies drawn to filth."

"So this is the world of fame and fortune!" Bruce wore the same expression as Boss Ma regretting founding Alibaba, his face full of emotion.

Lin Hao had attended many similar banquets over the past five years, both wholesome and otherwise. Of course, androids had attended in his place before. Now that he was personally attending, he naturally would not touch his former female companions.

The two arrived at the castle's side entrance in a low-key luxury car. This was the real entrance for guests.

Once the people showing off at the main gate had finished their performance, they would all be ushered away. Only a small number of willing and invited male and female stars could enter the second half of the event. The rest were not qualified, even if they wanted to force their way in.

However, today's guest of honor was an exception. Though Tony Stark knew the rules, he still chose to make a dazzling entrance beneath the spotlights.

He loved that sort of thing.

The organizers were left helpless and could only lead a crowd of guests to the main gate to welcome him.

Bruce Lee and Lin Hao were among the guests waiting to receive him.

Stark Industries held a pivotal position in the Marvel Universe, especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that began with Iron Man.

Unlike in reality, Stark Industries in the Marvel Universe had nearly monopolized the supply of high-end weapons to the American military. Thanks to the two genius weapons designers, Howard Stark and Tony Stark, Stark Industries' position in weapons manufacturing was practically unshakable.

That was why, when Tony announced the shutdown of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division, its stock price had plunged to rock bottom. It was like America's ten largest financial consortiums suddenly declaring bankruptcy.

To curry favor with Tony Stark, California's local financial consortiums could only plaster smiles on their faces and crowd around him. Bruce Lee wanted to do the same, but unfortunately, he was not even qualified to squeeze into the front row.

A family fortune worth tens of billions of dollars sounded like a lot, but that was the accumulation of several generations of the Li Family. The liquid funds Bruce Lee could command were not even as much as Lin Hao's.

Compared to the Bruce next door, this Bruce was indeed rather shabby.

Still, Bruce and Lin Hao, with their rare Eastern faces, caught Tony Stark's attention.

"Wow, it seems California is still pretty open-minded. The news from a few days ago nearly made me think dark-skinned people here didn't dare leave their homes." Tony deliberately stepped forward and extended a hand to Lin Hao.

This was their first meeting, and clearly not their last.

Tony Stark was a playboy at this point, but he did not discriminate against people of color. Compared with those arrogant figures from old-money consortiums, he was quite open-minded.

"Hello, I'm Lin Hao." Lin Hao shook his hand and introduced himself. "A Chinese Singaporean and a shipping merchant."

This was another identity Lin Hao had cultivated for a long time.

"For some reason, I think you look more like a scientist." Tony Stark glanced at Lin Hao's head.

Lin Hao remained unfazed and joked half-seriously, "That's right. I'm a scientist dedicated to researching life sciences."

All the men beside him who knew Lin Hao revealed mysterious smiles.

Tony, a fellow man of culture, instantly understood and became a little curious.

"Really? I can't wait to see the results of your research."

Tony continued greeting the others, while Lin Hao stared deeply at his retreating back.

"Someone cursed by knowledge... could he really sense his own kind?"

"Hey..." Bruce's sigh interrupted Lin Hao's thoughts. "Tony Stark actually took the initiative to greet you."

"What?" Lin Hao teased with a smile. "Are you jealous?"

"It's nothing. It's not like I'm the one running the family business anyway." Bruce was somewhat dejected.

Even a playboy wanted to prove himself!

With Tony Stark's arrival, the first half of the banquet officially began. Several local consortium leaders took the stage one after another to give brief speeches. Then, a famous Broadway orchestra came onstage to provide music as men and women danced across the floor.

At midnight, the organizers began politely clearing the venue. The reporters and celebrities who were not qualified to receive invitations could only leave reluctantly.

Once the idle onlookers were gone, the atmosphere in the venue abruptly changed.

The lights dimmed, everyone put on masks, and a group of youthful, attractive young men and women appeared onstage. As they danced passionately, threads of fabric gradually slipped away.

Wearing a mask as well, Lin Hao carried a bronze incense burner to the center of the venue and dropped in a One-Stick Wonder.

In an instant, a subtle fragrance drifted through the air.

The atmosphere immediately became feverish.

"Old Lin, I'm not keeping you company." Bruce's blood surged as he wrapped his arms around two young, beautiful women and headed into a room nearby.

"Wow, it looks like your research results are quite effective." Masked Tony Stark came to Lin Hao's side and smiled as he extended an invitation. "I'm holding a banquet in New York next week too. You have to come!"

"Sure!" Lin Hao agreed with a smile.

The effects of One-Stick Wonder began to take hold, and the venue became a complete mess—more eye-opening than Eyes Wide Shut.

Lin Hao did not hold back. With a blonde beauty who looked very much like Amber Heard in his left arm and baby-faced Emma Roberts in his right, he headed toward the bedroom.

He still had something to do tonight, so he needed to conserve his strength. Otherwise, he would have gathered five golden flowers no matter what.

With Lin Hao's current combat prowess, the two blonde beauties quickly surrendered and fell unconscious.

Still uneasy, Lin Hao sealed their sleep acupoints with an acupoint-striking technique.

Yes, the same kind Ouyang Feng had used to seal Little Dragon Girl's acupoints.

He had Little Devil open the mysterious space. A moment later, Lin Hao, having altered his appearance and build with the Life Return technique, left the castle dressed in black and using Geppo.

By then, the night was already deep.

Outside the castle, a military vehicle was parked with two Black men inside.

"Colonel Rhodey, are we really going to wait here until dawn?" Will Fortson, who had just been promoted to captain, looked thoroughly frustrated.

Listening to the decadent sounds coming from inside the castle while they could only stand outside in the cold wind—who could bear that?

"We don't have invitations, so we can't get in." James Rupert Rhodes, the future War Machine, who was usually called Rhodey, was equally frustrated.

"Then let's go back into the city. At least we can stay in a hotel." Will Fortson suggested.

"No. If we don't stop Tony here, who knows where he'll fly off to tomorrow morning?" Rhodey knew his good friend's habits well.

"But..."

"No buts. Don't forget that you're an Air Force soldier!"

Rhodey said sternly, "If you can't ask Tony to design a multi-purpose land, sea, and air weapon for you, General Ross will definitely find another excuse to transfer you away."

"A transfer would be fine..." The young Will Fortson had yet to experience the factional struggles within the American military.

"If you want to go hunt that green monster, I can help submit the application." Rhodey said faintly.

"Uh..." Recalling the footage he had watched yesterday, Will Fortson chickened out. "I was joking."

War Machine's real name was James Rupert Rhodes, an Air Force colonel commonly called Rhodey. He would be referred to as Rhodey from here on.