A Favor

Meng Zu carried two large boxes out of the room and loaded them into the car. The real estate agent had just notified him that the house over there had been cleaned up, so he planned to head over now.

Meng Zu had no intention of selling this house. After all, real estate still had plenty of room to appreciate. When he arrived at his new home, the real estate agent was already waiting for him in the front yard.

"Mr. Evan, here are the keys." The agent returned the spare keys to Meng Zu. "Also, there are guests waiting for you in your living room."

"Guests?" Meng Zu was puzzled. He had not told anyone about the location of his new house yet. "Who is it?"

"You'll know when you go inside." The agent smiled mysteriously, then got into his sedan and drove away.

Meng Zu glanced at the half-open front door, but instead of rushing inside to see who was in the living room, he parked his car in the garage first. Then he picked up the two large boxes and pushed the door open.

After entering, Meng Zu lightly kicked the door shut behind him. Carrying the two boxes into the living room, he saw two familiar faces. Tony Stark and his driver, Happy, were sitting on the sofa watching TV. Happy smiled and nodded at Meng Zu, while Tony merely glanced at him before continuing to watch the program with a grin.

Setting the boxes on the floor, Meng Zu said to Tony Stark, who was drinking soda and watching TV on the sofa, "The agent actually let outsiders into my house while the owner wasn't even here. I'm definitely filing a complaint against him."

Hearing that, Tony turned to Meng Zu and said dismissively, "He probably won't care, because kind Mr. Tony Stark gave him some money to cover his losses."

Heh. You think having money makes you—well, having money really was amazing. What an arrogant rich bastard. Meng Zu curled his lips.

"I was wondering who could have tracked me down before I even told anyone where my new home was. Seeing that it's you, I'm not surprised anymore." Meng Zu sat on another sofa, opened a bottle of soda from the table, and asked, "What did you come here for?"

"I came to thank you for saving Pepper that night." Tony set down his soda, took out a checkbook and pen, scribbled a string of numbers onto it, tore out the check, and placed it on the table. "This is your reward."

Meng Zu picked up the check and saw that it was for fifty million dollars. Smiling, he said, "As expected of Tony Stark. You're really generous. But unfortunately, I won't take this money."

After saying that, Meng Zu set the check down and pushed it back.

Tony looked at Meng Zu in surprise. "According to my investigation, you should like money a lot. What, is it too little?"

"I do like money, but I earn mine through work. That night, I only went there to settle a score with Obadiah. Saving Ms. Pepper was just something I did along the way. I may not be as rich as you, Tony Stark, but I'm not so pathetic that I need handouts from others." Meng Zu's eyes flickered.

"This isn't charity. It's gratitude." Tony frowned at him.

"They're the same thing."

Tony said seriously, "They're not the same. I don't like owing people favors."

Meng Zu smiled. "Mr. Stark, you don't owe me any favors."

Tony considered it for a moment. "Evan, I definitely have to repay you for saving Pepper. Since you don't like money, we can change the reward. After looking into you more thoroughly, I found that you've done quite a few illegal things in the past. There isn't any direct evidence for those things, but if they come to light, they'll still be very bad for you. I can make all of it disappear as your reward. What do you think?"

Damn it. Coulson used this against him yesterday, and Tony Stark was using it today. Had those two planned this together? Meng Zu was practically speechless inside.

If Tony had offered this before Coulson came yesterday, Meng Zu would definitely have accepted it. But now, it was no longer necessary. "No need. Someone will help me take care of it."

Seeing Tony frown deeply in thought, Meng Zu said, "Mr. Stark, do you really have to repay this favor you think you owe?"

Tony nodded. "Of course. As long as it isn't an excessive request, I can fulfill it."

"Fine, I understand. Wait here for a moment." Meng Zu got up, picked up one of the boxes, and went down to the basement. He took a Blood Orchid out of his storage space. The reason he had refused the check was for this very purpose. Tony Stark had plenty of flaws—arrogant, sharp-tongued, promiscuous, and so on—but he was a proud man who disliked owing anyone anything.

Meng Zu had no way of figuring out the Blood Orchid himself, but Tony Stark could. He was an expert in many fields. Meng Zu remembered that in Iron Man 3, Tony had written Maya Hansen a formula that allowed the Extremis Virus to be created. Pepper had also been injected with the Extremis Virus, yet Tony had cured her in the end. Handing the Blood Orchid to Tony Stark would definitely yield results.

A few minutes later, Tony saw Meng Zu return to the living room with a flower whose roots and stem were still covered in soil.

"As long as you produce research results from this, the favor you think you owe will be settled." Meng Zu placed the Blood Orchid on the table and spoke to Tony.

Tony picked up the Blood Orchid and examined it carefully. He realized that he had never seen anything like it before, so he asked Meng Zu, "What kind of flower is this?"

"This is a Blood Orchid."

"A Blood Orchid? A Blood Orchid!" Tony was confused at first, but quickly recalled the relevant records. He said in surprise, "I thought it was just a rumor. I never expected this thing to really exist."

"So you know what this flower does as well?"

"Of course, but that was only Houghton's research record from 1892. No other research records have ever existed. It's more likely to be fake." Tony immediately poured cold water on the idea.

Meng Zu smiled and shook his head. "It isn't fake. I've seen Mutant Anacondas that ate Blood Orchids. The Blood Orchids extended their lifespans. They were at least fifteen meters long, and there wasn't just one. More than a dozen anacondas were that large."

Hearing that, Tony thought it over. "More than a dozen? Then the effects of this thing should be real."

Meanwhile, Happy, the bystander enjoying the show, had no idea what the two of them were talking about. What exactly did this Blood Orchid do?

As a businessman, Tony immediately spotted the business opportunity. He said to Meng Zu, "Where did you get this thing? Borneo? Of course, I can give you half of the future profits from any products developed through the research."

Meng Zu shrugged. "I did find it in the virgin rainforest of Borneo, but I can only say sorry. The Blood Orchid's growing area, along with those Mutant Anacondas, was destroyed. A landslide and mudslide triggered by an explosion completely wiped it out. That was the Blood Orchid's only growing area."

Tony stared blankly at Meng Zu, guessing that Meng Zu had blown up the place to deal with those Mutant Anacondas. Finally, he said irritably, "What a waste."

But Tony was not someone who gave up so easily. Since Meng Zu had one Blood Orchid, perhaps he had extras. "One Blood Orchid can only be used for research. You can't achieve results with it."

Watching Tony stare at him so intently, how could Meng Zu not understand what he was thinking? However, Meng Zu did not intend to hand over the remaining Blood Orchids so directly. He planned to tease him first.

"Can't you cultivate it first, then study it slowly once there are more?"

Tony said irritably, "The Blood Orchid only blooms for half a year, and its dormant period lasts a full seven years. Cultivating it will require experiments. If there's only one and it dies, then all the work will have been for nothing."

Meng Zu said in an exaggerated tone, "But you're Tony Stark. Can something this small really stump you?"

"Heh heh!"

Tony gave Meng Zu a cold laugh and stopped speaking. He had already figured out that Meng Zu definitely had more.

Seeing Tony like that, Meng Zu stopped teasing him and said with a chuckle, "Fine. Naturally, I picked some extra Blood Orchids and brought them back."

I knew it. Trying to play games with me? Without my flowers, they're useless. Tony sneered inwardly. "How many do you have?"

Meng Zu counted in his head. "Hmm? Twenty-seven more."

Tony said in surprise, "Twenty-seven? Are they all like this one? All completely intact?"

"That's enough. With so many Blood Orchids, there's enough not only for cultivation, but also for research." Tony was a man of action. He immediately wanted to call someone to bring equipment over to pack up the Blood Orchids, but Meng Zu stopped him just as he was about to make the call.

Tony: [・ヘ・?]

Meng Zu explained, "I forgot to tell you. Everyone believes the Blood Orchids were completely destroyed. Right now, the only people in the world who know Blood Orchids still exist are the three of us here."

"I understand." Tony gave Meng Zu a deep look. "Happy, pretend you never saw this. Don't tell anyone."

Happy nodded solemnly at Tony. "Understood, Mr. Stark. I'll forget this ever happened."

Tony asked Meng Zu, "Where did you put the other flowers?"

Meng Zu answered, "In the box I just took away."

Tony said speechlessly, "Unbelievable. Something so precious was just thrown into a box."

An hour later, people from Stark Industries arrived at Meng Zu's house. They left behind a large glass case and departed, while Meng Zu went down to the basement and retrieved the remaining Blood Orchids from his storage space before bringing them into the living room.

After Tony placed all the Blood Orchids into the glass case, he pressed a few buttons on it. The transparent glass turned into opaque black glass. Before Happy carried the case away, Tony said again, "Like I said before, I'll give you half the profits from any products developed from this."

Meng Zu had no objection to half the profits. After all, he did not understand this field. "Then I wish you success with your research, Mr. Stark."