Stark, Brothers in Arms

Second, every security team had semi-invasive or invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces installed.

After the installations, Dr. Otto began researching newer Brain-Computer Interfaces.

They were called "interventional" Brain-Computer Interfaces.

This kind of interface only required vascular intervention technology. No craniotomy was needed—just a minimally invasive procedure.

To be honest, Li Wei was afraid Dr. Otto would get beaten up if he said that out loud...

After all, the veterans had all undergone surgery.

Fortunately, no accidents had occurred.

Of course, that was just a joke. In reality, the veterans were deeply grateful to them.

Especially to Li Wei, their boss. Not only had Li Wei taken them in, but he had also provided so much technology that allowed them to return to normal lives.

That alone was enough to make them willing to repay him with everything they had.

As expected, Stark Industries' stock had hit its daily limit down for several consecutive days before finally stabilizing recently.

Li Wei had Red Queen begin buying it up.

He would make a nice profit first. Once Tony Stark returned, the stock would soar, and he could sell it then.

Only loose shares could be handled that way. Shares already held in hand absolutely could not be traded like that; he could only watch them rise and fall.

Served him right for making money!

By the afternoon, Li Wei slipped away.

He was going on a date with May.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Li Wei had been living quite freely, riding trends every day before going on dates with May, Gwen, and the others.

His luck was not bad. He finally managed to have dinner with Gwen, but she hurried off right afterward.

New York was far too unsafe!

And the increase in Reputation Points had clearly slowed.

Because he was not the protagonist.

And others had started copying his methods and riding trends as well.

That made Li Wei rather angry.

Those trend-riding dogs!

Over the past month, the military had been criticized the most.

Looking back now, their promise to find Tony Stark within three days was undoubtedly a joke.

They had not found him in three days, and they had not found him in thirty days either.

Some people even believed Tony Stark was already dead.

This had deeply affected Stark Industries.

Obadiah Stane, in particular, had actively begun seeking power.

Under this pressure, the military had prepared to borrow outside help.

Mainly so they could shift the blame.

Hadn't someone claimed he could find him?

Then let him give it a try!

"Actors are ruining the country! Actors are ruining the country!"

Li Wei looked at the top trending news and said painfully.

That was how the internet worked. The heat of a news story was like a gust of wind—it passed in an instant.

Especially once other events emerged, previous news could easily be buried.

Not to mention Hollywood celebrity scandals, which attracted countless gossip-hungry onlookers.

Even Tony Stark, the "top star," had been pushed aside.

"These celebrities aren't even dead! Why are they more popular than Tony Stark?"

Li Wei defended Tony Stark indignantly.

Tony had been kidnapped! Was he not worth several months of headlines?

But clearly, Tony's popularity was already fading.

If there was no major news, only a small number of people would remember what had happened to him in the future.

People were forgetful!

Li Wei was deeply pained by this situation.

Over this period, he had done several more ten-pulls and gotten quite a few design blueprints for various prosthetics, giving the company more products to choose from.

The rest were some jewelry and small health-restoring items.

Those health-restoring items were actually absurdly powerful.

For example, the percentage-based healing ones.

One injection could directly bring a severely injured person back to full health.

It made people feel as though they were playing a game.

It was precisely because he had become addicted to ten-pulls that he had not saved up many Reputation Points.

He had even planned to take a trip to Los Angeles and start a rumor with a female celebrity.

How amazing would that kind of publicity be?

It definitely was not for his brothers!

"Master, Maria Hill is calling."

Just as Li Wei was fantasizing, Red Queen reminded him.

Li Wei came to his senses. Forget the female celebrities.

He had to avoid becoming part of someone's collection!

"Dear Hill, are you free tonight?"

Li Wei asked directly when he picked up.

"Ahem."

Maria Hill coughed twice, signaling for him to act normally.

Because Maria Hill was currently in Nick Fury's office.

Maria Hill said seriously, "Li, you said on social media before that you had technology capable of finding Tony Stark. Is that true?"

"Of course."

Li Wei narrowed his eyes.

He realized something.

Did they need him to act?

"We need your help. Although we're not sure whether Tony Stark is still alive, we can't give up."

Maria Hill spoke.

If it had been an ordinary person, they would have stopped caring long ago...

But Tony Stark was not an ordinary person. He was a billionaire.

No one could ignore whether he lived or died.

Li Wei said happily, "Of course, no problem, but..."

"But what?"

Maria Hill asked. What they feared most were those two words: "but."

Because they meant a turn was coming!

Li Wei then said righteously, "Tony Stark is my rival. I can put aside our past grievances and save him, but..."

"You'll have to pay more."

Maria Hill nodded upon hearing that, as though it was perfectly reasonable.

So she informed Nick Fury.

After Nick Fury nodded, she asked, "How much?"

Li Wei immediately introduced enthusiastically, "Our company has developed a new type of drone, more advanced than those currently used by the US Military. We can give you a demonstration. It doesn't cost much to manufacture—just over a hundred thousand dollars each."

"If you only need to deploy them, the cost is even lower. Five thousand dollars per drone per day."

Li Wei felt he was being quite conscientious, especially compared with ninety-thousand-dollar bags of screws.

For just over a hundred thousand dollars, they could buy a drone. That was a great deal, okay?

Besides, the US Military's current drones only had reconnaissance capabilities. They had not yet considered that drones could do other things, such as carry bombs...

The Griffin Combat Drone was different. It was technology from decades in the future, equipped with all sorts of functions.

In this era, it was unquestionably a crushing advantage.

S.H.I.E.L.D. only thought he wanted money, so they gritted their teeth and agreed.

"No problem. Deploy as many as possible."

Maria Hill said.

As long as they found him, spending some money was nothing.

They believed Tony Stark was not dead.

Otherwise, those organizations would have already come forward to spread the news.

It was precisely because things were so "quiet" that they judged Tony Stark was still alive.

"Okay, when do we leave?"

"You're going too?"

"Of course. Tony Stark is my brother in arms, my dearest friend. How could I not go personally?"

Li Wei asked righteously.

For a moment, Maria Hill did not know how to respond.

He had said all the good and bad things himself.

Just now, Tony Stark had been his rival. Now, they were good brothers.

Did Tony Stark even consider him a good brother?

She could only snort coldly, as though saying: Just wait. Next time, I'll make sure you can't get out of bed the next day!

Li Wei hung up and naturally hurried to do one thing.

Contact the reporters!