Not long after Luke uploaded the photo, Coulson gave it a like.
"Can I ask what your working hours are? That way I'll know whether you're slacking off."
After sending Coulson that message, Luke used his three daily ad boosts without bothering to see what Coulson would reply.
Looking at his remaining energy, Luke bought Ninja Soldiers until he had 250. He could now enhance his physique again, but it would cost 5,000 Energy Crystals.
With his Energy Crystals now increasing by 35 per minute, plus the energy he had left, he would have to wait about two hours, so he decided to play some games.
He summoned a ninja to carry him and enjoyed the game.
Although he spent most of the time staring at a gray death screen, and even dragged the ninja down enough to lose two matches, Luke still had a great time. His kills per match were now consistently a full half-kill higher than before!
In a full half of his matches, he managed to slaughter one whole enemy!
Seeing that he had enough energy, Luke lay down on the bed. Once he had settled into his most comfortable position, he tapped upgrade.
The same sensation instantly drained all the strength from his body.
After a while, the enhancement finished. Luke sat up and looked at the things in his room.
He walked over to the coffee table and easily lifted its marble top with both hands.
"Power! So this is quadruple strength? I can feel the power surging!" Luke looked at the raised marble tabletop in delight, then his expression froze.
Because he couldn't put it down...
After summoning two ninjas to put the marble tabletop back, Luke headed out to find somewhere to test the Shadow Army.
Entering the elevator, Luke found it packed with muscular men in suits. A closer look revealed Tony surrounded in the middle.
Seeing Tony hemmed in by men on every side, with yet more men crowding in, Luke couldn't help asking, "Aren't you guys hot?"
Tony's face fell. After discussing tomorrow's matters with Pepper in his room, he had wanted to go out for some fun, but the bodyguards Obadiah had assigned insisted on following him.
He had finally squeezed into the elevator, only to run into that weirdo from before just one floor down. It hadn't been all that awkward at first, but the man's "Aren't you guys hot?" made Tony's expression change.
"Do I need to teach you not to block the door and get in people's way?" Tony said irritably.
The bodyguards exchanged looks but still didn't move.
"I never imagined we had employees like this at Stark Industries. If a certain camera-loving kid took a picture and spread it around, who knows how much money it would cost Stark Industries!"
Tony emphasized "Stark" to remind the security guards who their real boss was.
Only then did the bodyguards make way for Luke.
"Looks like life hasn't been very comfortable for our Mr. Tony Stark," Luke teased.
"My life is usually very comfortable, except when I run into a certain camera-loving kid," Tony shot back.
"Then I'm really lucky. Seeing me makes Mr. Tony Stark unhappy. If Mr. Hammer found out, he might hire me to hang around you every day." Luke shrugged. "Heading out for some fun?"
"What else would I be doing? Taking landscape photos?" Tony said sourly.
Luke looked at the camera hanging against his chest. Does this gentleman have an excessive prejudice against people with cameras?
The two traded barbs off and on, and soon the elevator reached the ground floor.
Luke walked out first, while Tony glared indignantly at the bodyguards around him.
They had just stopped him, insisting on letting Luke leave first. Looking at their name badges, Tony thought about firing them as soon as he got back.
After testing the Shadow Army's improvements somewhere deserted, Luke returned to the hotel, satisfied. More than half of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records on his abilities could now be thrown out.
He was a little disappointed not to run into Tony this time. Still, the award ceremony was tomorrow. Wondering whether he should first take a picture of Rhodey's one-sided rendezvous tomorrow, Luke returned to his room, watched his ads, and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Luke was woken by fireworks. He checked the time and found it was already ten.
He hadn't expected to get up so late today. Luke yawned and checked last night's mining haul: over three thousand points in total. This Dark Dimension had also been mined dry.
He switched to a fresh Dark Dimension with over thirty thousand energy and nodded in satisfaction. Fortunately, this wasn't an occupied dimension either.
Still, the locations Ancient One had given him were all tiny Dark Dimensions, which generally had no occupants. Their Dark Energy Crystal reserves ranged from roughly ten thousand to a hundred thousand. That was quite a lot for now, but later he might go through one Dark Dimension a day, or even several.
Meanwhile, the price of Ninja Soldiers had risen from 10 points each to 35.
Luke bought 50 Ninja Soldiers outright, bringing his energy cap back down to around a thousand points.
Lamenting that he never had enough energy points, Luke got up, washed, and headed out with his camera to take pictures.
The award ceremony had yet to begin. The red carpet was already laid out, and some celebrities were taking advantage of it to get some exposure.
Luke casually picked a few attractive ones and took a couple of pictures, only for someone behind him to call, "Kid!"
Hearing the familiar tone, Luke turned and saw Tony, dressed to the nines.
"You're dressed so neatly today. Going to the award ceremony?"
"You knew I was receiving an award before I even said anything?"
"How did you know I got two golds in a ten-pull last night?"
"?" Tony looked puzzled at those words.
Oh, right. Those games haven't appeared in this world yet. Who knows whether they ever will.
"Forget it, I'm not talking to you about that. Listen, kid, I have a plan."
"You're sneaking off to have fun at those entertainment centers?" Luke asked, feigning curiosity.
"Oh, I'm seriously starting to suspect you're a worm in my gut. But I'll be sure to take plenty of insecticide," Tony said, looking amazed.
"Still, I'm in a good mood today. Want to make some money with the genius Tony Stark?"
"I'll pass. I don't have that much spare cash." Remembering that Tony bet three million dollars at a time, Luke felt his five million was hardly worth mentioning.
Tony pursed his lips regretfully. "All right. Come find me over there if you change your mind!"
Tony headed toward the entertainment center, apparently planning to go all out in there today.
Luke shrugged. Tony had a sharp tongue, but as long as you were sharper, he couldn't get under your skin. Luke had lost today, but he had won yesterday.
Luke entered the venue with his Universal Work Pass, but a security guard told him photography wasn't allowed inside, so he could only hand his camera to a ninja.
As long as a ninja kept holding it, the camera wouldn't be assimilated by Dark Energy.
Once inside, Luke wandered around without rushing to retrieve his camera from the ninja.
The venue was full of successful people in formal attire, so Luke's casual outfit naturally made him stand out.
Luke didn't care. A bunch of bit players weren't worth that much attention.
After grabbing some things inside, he tucked himself into a corner. Seeing no familiar faces, Luke simply took out his handheld console and started playing.
He had no idea how long he had played when a commotion arose. Luke looked up and saw that Obadiah had arrived, prompting many people to go over and greet him.
Luke took a few looks and actually spotted someone unexpected among them.
Kingpin!
Kingpin had strong connections in all sorts of places. The considerable quantity of weapons he had from Stark Industries and the military made it clear that he had ties to both the underworld and legitimate society.
But watching Kingpin appear openly in public and chat happily with others still gave Luke a sense of dissonance.
Still, seeing how familiarly he chatted with Obadiah made it clear where his Stark Industries weapons came from.
Sensing someone watching him, Kingpin turned and spotted Luke sitting in a corner playing on his handheld console.
Their eyes met. Kingpin's expression didn't change in the slightest, as though he were merely an ordinary person.
Still trying to pretend?
Luke made a gesture of greeting, took out his phone, and sent a smiley face.
Kingpin took out his phone. After reading the message without any change in expression, he said a few words to Obadiah and headed toward the balcony.
Just as he reached the balcony, Kingpin heard, "Cheese." Turning, he discovered Luke had taken a picture of him with a digital camera.
Watching Luke toss the camera toward the floor, where a hand reached from a suddenly appearing shadow to catch it and pull it inside, Kingpin's expression remained unchanged.
"Don't be nervous. I just thought it wouldn't be quite right if my blog ended up full of superhero pictures, so I'm adding some villain photos to balance things out. Maybe one day you'll even be proud to be on my blog."
Luke spoke with a smile.
"Perhaps. But why are you here? Didn't we agree we were square?"
Kingpin's grip on his cane tightened again and again.
"Isn't today the Pinnacle of the Year award ceremony? I just came to take a couple of pictures to update my blog."
Kingpin nodded and went back inside without asking anything else.
Luke enjoyed the breeze for a while, remarked on the coincidence, then slipped back inside and headed to a corner to play.
Before you continue