The Marvel Universe Su Zhou had transmigrated into had Batman and Superman comics.
When he worked as a security guard at S.H.I.E.L.D., he usually passed the time on the job reading comics. He knew them very well!
After all, an overflowing sense of justice hardly stopped him from slacking off at work!
"Tony, how's your marksmanship?"
"Well, I generally don't need to fire a gun."
"Close-quarters combat, undercover infiltration, disguise and reconnaissance... can you do any of those?"
"Well, uh, how about we talk about how I can help you instead?"
Tony knew when to bend. Since he couldn't be Batman himself, being Butler Man for the time being wasn't bad either.
But Su Zhou had a point. In what way was he inferior to Bruce Wayne?
They were both billionaire playboys, and JARVIS was far more capable than Butler Man!
Tony thought of the armor he had cobbled together in that cave. All he needed was to refine the design a little,
then switch out the materials, and it would be far better than Batman's gear!
"Get me some gear, including but not limited to guns, bulletproof vests, and vehicles.
Then give me information on those damned criminals. I'll take it from there."
Su Zhou didn't waste any words and laid out exactly what he wanted.
Although he no longer had his S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials, he still had his FBI and CIA credentials!
I don't know whether those criminals deserve to die, but nobody's stopping me from earning Justice Points!
"Vehicles are easy enough, but unfortunately, Stark Industries just shut down its weapons division.
Starting today, Stark Industries won't sell so much as a single bullet!"
Tony hadn't forgotten what he had said at today's press conference and firmly refused Su Zhou's request.
Su Zhou chose to respect Tony's decision and said he absolutely wouldn't buy any weapons or equipment.
"If I don't pay, it doesn't count as buying, right?!"
Tony: (눈‸눈)
I know every one of those words, but put them together and I can't understand the sentence!
Would you listen to yourself? Is that something a person would say?
Seeing Tony's speechless expression, Su Zhou knew he was asking a little too much.
After all, he had only known Tony for a few days. Even if they got along pretty well,
he still felt a little embarrassed about taking Tony's things for free. Luckily, he had some forward-thinking ideas.
He would use his knowledge from his previous life to broaden the present-day Tony's horizons!
"How about this, Tony? Now that Stark Industries is out of the weapons business,
I'll trade you a few money-making ideas for that gear. What do you think?"
"Such as?"
"How about getting into the internet industry? For example, there's this thing called Facebook."
Su Zhou then explained to Tony in detail what Facebook was, and along the way, he told him about short videos from his previous life,
comedy skits, and the female bodhisattvas who enjoyed showing themselves off-all of it.
At first, Tony listened with great interest, but he realized that everything Su Zhou described lacked a platform to carry it.
Browsing those websites on a computer alone just wouldn't feel right!
When Tony asked Su Zhou about this, even Su Zhou marveled at his business instincts.
"So the first thing you need to do is make a better phone, and you happen to have exactly the technology for it!
Just imagine: everyone will want to buy the Stark Company's most advanced phone
and visit websites run by the Stark Company. What an enormous user base that would be!
Once you have the largest user base in the world, that alone will be enough to make you the richest person on the planet!"
There was no denying that Su Zhou made a lot of sense!
Even though Tony was already famously wealthy in the United States, if he could become the richest man in the world,
he was still very interested!
"You really are a genius. Not only do you have an Eastern sense of humor,
you also have the foresight to turn the world upside down! So what should I do now?"
"Wait until Stark Industries' stock plummets tomorrow, then buy back every share on the market!
In the future, your Stark Industries shares will be the most valuable stock in the world!"
Seeing that he had won Tony over, Su Zhou brought up his request once again.
"So, can I have a set of gear of my own?"
"Are you kidding? You've already earned the friendship of the future richest man in the world, Tony Stark!
It's just a set of gear! JARVIS, tell the warehouse to send over the most expensive set of individual combat equipment!"
Tony glanced at the computer, which was still downloading S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, then slung an arm around Su Zhou's shoulders.
"Today isn't just the day Tony Stark was reborn. It's the day all of Stark Industries was reborn!
We have to have a drink! How about I just throw a party?!"
"In what way have you been reborn? Aren't you still a party-obsessed playboy?"
Su Zhou knocked Tony's hand away with some distaste and said clearly,
"Tony, I can tell you really like Pepper Potts. She truly is a beautiful, outstanding woman.
If you can't give up the playboy lifestyle, your assistant might end up marrying someone else!"
"Maybe you're right, but I'm not sure how Pepper feels.
Besides, if I pursue her now, it would feel like I was using my position to pressure her."
During his three months in captivity, Tony had dreamed about his assistant more than once.
He had also come to understand his own heart. He had already decided that this woman, who had always stayed by his side, was the one.
"JARVIS, did you record everything Su Zhou just said?
Put it into a proposal right away and send it to Pepper's personal terminal."
"Yes, Mr. Stark."
"If you don't want to go to a party, we can have a drink here at home. Surely you won't turn that down?"
Tony slung an arm around Su Zhou's shoulders again and pulled him toward the living room.
They ran straight into Pepper, who was bringing over two glasses of juice. Tony promptly threw away the juice in her hands,
pulled her over, opened a bottle of champagne that looked expensive at a glance, and, without any preamble, got her to down a glass with him!
Pepper couldn't make sense of what Tony was doing and simply looked at him worriedly.
"Tony, Stark Industries' stock is going to plunge tomorrow. Now isn't the time for champagne.
If you're under too much pressure, I can get you in touch with a therapist. Drinking heavily isn't the answer!"
"The further the stock drops, the better!"
"Tony?!"
"Take a look at this first."
Tony picked up a tablet from the bar and handed it to Pepper. A proposal was displayed prominently on its screen:
"Stark Industries' development plan for the next ten years"!
Looking at those wildly imaginative plans, Pepper's mouth fell open in astonishment!
She looked at Tony, who kept getting Su Zhou to clink glasses and drink with him, and asked in disbelief,
"My God, if we follow this plan, Stark Industries will become the most profitable company in the world!
Did you come up with all this yourself?"
"Of course not. These were all Su Zhou's ideas."
Tony pointed at Su Zhou beside him, his face full of excitement.
Setting down his glass, Su Zhou shook his head helplessly.
Su Zhou: (˘•ω•˘)
Why does it feel like this has gotten a little out of hand?
But all I wanted was a set of gear!