Modified Weapons

After circling the Hilton Hotel, the drone captured one arms deal, three drug deals, two shootings, and one murder-and-body-dumping incident.

The drone flew extremely fast, and the footage flashed by in an instant. Ordinary eyes simply could not make it out.

But Alice could analyze the footage frame by frame, detect the anomalies within it, and send them to Mark.

"Th-this... New York is actually this chaotic?"

Seeing the suspicious footage Alice had marked, Rosalie's eyes widened in shock.

Mark, however, felt that this was probably thanks to Alice.

Without Alice using the drone to investigate, they would have been like everyone else, seeing only New York's prosperous surface.

By the afternoon, the disassembly and welding tools Mark had purchased had arrived.

After having Rosalie bring them upstairs, he began modifying the two Electric Shock Guns.

Originally, both Electric Shock Guns had a voltage of fifty thousand volts and a current of only three milliamps.

Most ordinary people would convulse and collapse after being hit, but stronger people might only feel pain.

Naturally, Mark was deeply dissatisfied with the Electric Shock Guns' toy-like power.

He took apart the Electric Shock Guns' plastic casings, exposing the circuit boards inside.

Mark had previously studied books such as Circuit Diagrams, Tesla Coil, High-Frequency Electronic Circuits, and High-Voltage Technology.

To him, the densely packed circuit boards before his eyes were as clear as the lines on his palm.

After removing several components and replacing them with newly purchased electronic parts, Mark quickly finished modifying one of the Electric Shock Guns.

This modified Electric Shock Gun now had a voltage of two hundred thousand volts and a current of one hundred milliamps.

Anyone struck by this Electric Shock Gun would suffer cardiac arrest and die instantly.

After reassembling that Electric Shock Gun, Mark continued modifying the second one.

He raised the second Electric Shock Gun's voltage to one million volts and increased its current to five hundred milliamps.

As its power increased, however, the Electric Shock Gun's operating time also decreased.

The original Electric Shock Guns could discharge continuously for 180 seconds. The first modified one could only discharge for twenty seconds, while the second could only manage five.

Still, compared to the increase in power, it was all worth it.

"Hopefully, I won't need to use this second Electric Shock Gun..."

Mark let out a breath and thought to himself.

In truth, the first Electric Shock Gun was already enough to deal with ordinary people.

But Mark knew that this world also had mutants, aliens, and genetically enhanced humans. Weapons that could handle ordinary people might not necessarily threaten them.

"Filming officially starts tomorrow. Let's all go to a bar for a drink tonight. My treat!"

At eight that evening, Caleb gathered the entire crew and invited them out.

"Sure! Thanks, Director Caleb!"

"Tonight, I'm drinking my fill!"

"..."

The crew cheered one after another.

"Caleb, I-I still need to take care of Mark, so I won't be going. You all have fun!"

Rosalie hurriedly shook her head and declined.

Before this, she would not have minded going out with the rest of the crew.

With Mark's intelligence, he would have been fine staying alone at the hotel.

But after seeing the dark side of New York that Alice had uncovered, she no longer felt that way.

Now, Rosalie only wanted to stay safely in the hotel and leave immediately once filming was done.

"Uh... all right!"

Rosalie's reason was perfectly reasonable, so Caleb could not say much. He immediately left the hotel with the rest of the crew.

Stark Mansion.

Tony Stark had just styled his hair and sprayed on some cologne. He was preparing to go out on a date with a stunningly curvy model and spend a wonderful night.

"Sir, Mark independently created a game that is becoming increasingly popular online. Would you like to take a look?"

JARVIS's voice sounded at that moment.

As Stardew Valley exploded in popularity across major gaming forums, it had already caught the attention of several game review websites.

After reviewing it, those sites gave it scores of 9.5 or even perfect marks, drawing in a large number of new players.

Although Mark had hidden the identity of the game's creator, JARVIS easily uncovered it and informed Tony Stark.

"What kind of fun game could a five-year-old brat possibly make by himself? No, I'm not looking!"

Hearing news of Mark again, Tony Stark immediately became somewhat irritated and waved dismissively.

He also liked to play games to relieve stress from time to time.

But he did not believe a game Mark had made alone could possibly be that fun.

Yet just as Tony Stark had stepped one foot out of the house, he turned around and came back inside.

"Forget it! I'll take one look and see what kind of game this kid managed to make by himself!"

Tony Stark entered the study and turned on the computer.

After downloading and installing the game, he gave it a try.

He had truly only intended to play for a moment before leaving, since a beautiful woman was still waiting outside to go on a date with him.

But without realizing it, half an hour passed.

Tony Stark had completely forgotten about his planned date.

It was not until a pop-up prompted him to purchase the game that he came back to his senses.

"Hiss... this kid!"

He took a deep breath and asked JARVIS, "Did he really make this all by himself?"

"Yes, sir! Mark made this game by himself in three weeks."

After receiving JARVIS's confirmation, Tony Stark finally felt that there was someone whose intelligence could rival his own.

He moved the mouse and instructed JARVIS, "JARVIS, enter the registration code. I want to keep playing."

"Sir, I must remind you—illegally bypassing a game's payment system is against the law and highly unethical."

"Relax, relax! I'll have someone mail a money order to the address later. Is that good enough?"

Tony Stark waved his hand impatiently.

He had no intention of waiting several days for Mark to send the registration code before continuing.

The payment system Mark had set up was naturally no obstacle before JARVIS, and it cracked it almost instantly.

"Sir, according to the information I found, Rosalie and Mark have arrived in New York to film a movie. They are currently staying at the Hilton Hotel."

After finishing the crack, JARVIS gave Tony Stark another piece of information.

Tony Stark paused at that, then said in an unconcerned tone, "They can come if they want. What does that have to do with me?"

Yet his slightly trembling hands revealed that his heart was far from calm.

The next morning, Caleb led the crew onto a bus headed for the nearby Dreamland Children's Park, the filming location for this shoot.

"Bzzz!"

At the same time, a drone flew out from the hotel room and silently followed above the bus, drawing no one's attention.