Tony Stark Never Looked at Whether His Friends Had Money

Lin Hao returned to the castle and caught up on sleep with two gorgeous blonde beauties in his arms.

The next day, the sun was already high in the sky.

Under the protection of Happy, "Producer Man," Tony Stark got into his personal car.

"Boss, here's the information you wanted." Happy turned from the front passenger seat and handed him a tablet.

"The person you wanted investigated is named Lin Hao, a Chinese Singaporean. His family mainly operates international shipping. They own five hundred-thousand-ton cargo ships, more than thirty ten-thousand-ton cargo ships, with a total tonnage..."

"Happy, you recite slower than I can read." Tony rolled his eyes at him.

After briefly skimming Lin Hao's file, Tony tossed the tablet aside.

He only needed to confirm that Lin Hao had a traceable past and had not appeared out of nowhere to deliberately get close to him.

As for how much money the other man had... Heh. Tony Stark never looked at whether his friends had money. After all, none of them had more than he did.

"Send Mr. Lin an invitation. Invite him to the party I'm holding next week." Tony had gotten a taste of the good stuff last night. Not only had his combat prowess been astonishing, but he also did not feel the usual weakness after waking up.

Tony Stark suddenly had quite a few friends.

Tony had just opened the car's built-in cooler and was about to pour himself a restorative drink when an emergency brake sent him sprawling.

"Hey!"

Happy rolled down the window, ready to berate whoever it was, only to see a familiar Black man.

Rhodey, who had waited bitterly outside the castle all night, walked straight to the rear of the luxury car and knocked on the window.

Tony climbed back into his seat, straightened his collar, and casually lowered the window. He fixed his friend outside with a murderous glare. "If you don't give me a very good explanation, I'll pour this bottle of brandy down your nostrils."

"You were having a good time in there last night, while I was curled up in a military vehicle, freezing in the cold wind all night." Rhodey pointed stiffly toward the military Humvee in the distance.

"Wow!" Tony exclaimed dramatically. "You could've called me. Maybe I would've been merciful enough to have the host add another invitation."

"Oh, my god!" Rhodey put on an equally exaggerated expression, then rolled his eyes furiously. "So Tony Stark actually owns a mobile phone?"

Without changing expression, Tony pulled out the phone in his pocket. After turning it on, he indeed found several missed calls—some from Pepper, some from Obadiah, and the most from his friend Rhodey.

"You have to believe me, this phone always turns itself off." Tony passed the buck at lightning speed. "Ask Happy if you don't believe me."

"Producer Man" nodded solemnly, taking the blame his boss had thrown at him.

Rhodey could not be bothered to argue. He waved at Will Fortson in the distance. "Come over here."

As he spoke, he opened the luxury car door himself.

Tony's car was large enough to fit several hot girls for a party.

After getting in, Rhodey instructed Tony's driver, "Follow the military vehicle ahead."

"Hey, man, I'm not on the clock yet." Tony complained, only to receive a resentful look from his friend.

Thinking of how Rhodey had spent the entire night shivering in a military vehicle while he himself had been surrounded by beauties and riding hard, Tony drew a finger across his lips to indicate that he would keep quiet.

The two cars headed one after the other toward the air force base on the Southern Coast, one of America's key Air Force bases on the West Coast.

Tony was familiar to the military and passed the checkpoint simply by showing his face.

The group arrived at the training grounds inside the base, and Rhodey ordered Will Fortson, "Transform. Let Tony see it with his own eyes and record your data."

Will had heard of this playboy and knew that he was a genius weapons designer. The chance to get him to design a weapon was not one he could afford to miss.

So Will took off his uniform and transformed into a Black Panther over three meters long.

"Very nice. I like this magic trick." Curious, Tony stepped forward and reached out to pat the Black Panther's muscles.

The "black-and-white battle" that had taken place on the streets of San Francisco had long since spread across America. Tony had seen the news and did not doubt it was real; he was merely running his mouth as usual.

"Switch to the 'beastman' form," Rhodey continued ordering.

Will instantly transformed into a beastman over two meters tall.

"As you can see, Will can freely switch between human, beast, and beastman forms. His beast form greatly increases his speed and agility, while his beastman form boosts his strength and defense..."

Rhodey had Will fully demonstrate his various physical abilities before Tony, while Tony instructed Happy to bring over his portable workbench. Tony might not have been known for achievements in biology, but that did not mean he knew nothing about it. Besides, curiosity about the unknown was a fundamental quality of any successful scientist.

"Most amazingly, his cells contain a powerful energy." Rhodey showed Tony another analysis report and had someone bring over a catalyzed Black Panther hair.

"This is so cool!" Tony stared at the dazzling hair in the test tube in amazement. "It's actually on fire."

After reading the test report on the hair, Tony understood. "No wonder you came to intercept me."

Tony Stark's fee was very high. If all the Black Panther had to offer was the physical capability he had just displayed, he was not worth the military spending that kind of money. But the new research report had greatly elevated the Black Panther's value.

"According to the data, if Will can fully awaken the energy in his body, his physical metrics will far surpass the records left by Captain America."

"If we can analyze the reason he gained this superpower and even develop a corresponding serum..."

"Sorry, I'm an arms dealer. Biology isn't my field." Tony shrugged.

"I know. We only hope that you can tailor a weapon for Will that can maximize his abilities." Speaking for the Air Force, Rhodey made the request. "Just like the shield your father once made for Captain America."

"You should've said so earlier. If you need a shield, I can give you one for free." Tony teased.

"We hope you can design an all-purpose weapon suitable for land, sea, air, and various complex terrains." Rhodey made the Air Force's demands with a straight face.

There was no helping it. Will Fortson belonged to the Air Force, but none of the Air Force's existing equipment required him to unleash his physical potential. They flew planes; they did not fight with bayonets.

General Ross, who had been overseeing the Super Soldier Program, immediately asked the Air Force for Will after discovering him.

But after seeing Will's potential value, the Air Force was reluctant to let him go. If they gave him up now, then once research results emerged, they would be sidelined and could only wait for their superiors to distribute the benefits.

To keep this prized asset, the Air Force had no choice but to pay up and have Rhodey ask Tony Stark to design a suitable weapon.

All the other demands were outrageous. The bottom line was that it had to be able to fly, so they could rightfully claim that Will was still part of the Air Force.

"Heh. Why don't I just stick two white wings on him so he can pretend to be an angel?" After hearing the Air Force's demands, Tony turned and walked away.

"Fine, we have a proposal of our own. Maybe it can give you some inspiration." Rhodey had no choice but to lower the bar again.

He had someone bring over a classified document, codenamed "Falcon."

"This design isn't mature yet, and it lacks protection and offensive capabilities. Could you add armor around his vital areas, and equip it with powerful weapons..."

"Armor?" Tony's interest was piqued, and a few ideas suddenly sprang into his mind.

The wings stirred by Lin Hao's butterfly had ultimately still affected the protagonist of this world.

At the same time, a transport plane maintaining "stealth" mode was speeding across the Pacific Ocean.