"I told you, you can go. Just send your bill to Stark Industries!" Happy glared at James, clearly irritated, and then turned his attention back to Reed Richards. "You two can go home for now. When the boss has time, he'll contact you. And Ben, you can help out as well—no need to intern at Stark Industries anymore."
"Really?!" Reed Richards and Ben Grimm were instantly excited. Just moments ago, they had been in despair, thinking all hope was lost. They never expected things to turn around so suddenly.
Not only had their enormous debt been resolved by the Avengers, but they might even have a chance to make a name for themselves within the Avengers! The drastic ups and downs of their situation were almost too much to handle, leaving them in disbelief, wondering if this was really happening or if they had somehow misunderstood.
"Of course it's true. Do you think I came all the way here just to mess with you? You think you're worth lying to?" Happy shot back, unimpressed by their skepticism.
Though Happy had become a brief laughingstock on the internet and was no longer able to stay by Tony Stark's side as a bodyguard, Tony had kept him in a significant position within Stark Industries out of loyalty. In fact, Happy's current stock holdings in Stark Industries likely made him wealthier than James, the man who had invested in Reed and Ben. Happy certainly had no need or interest in deceiving them.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark! Thank you, Mr. Happy!" Ben Grimm was the first to regain his composure, expressing his gratitude. He carefully avoided mentioning the Avengers, knowing that James was still standing nearby, eagerly hoping to have a more in-depth conversation with Happy.
"Alright, message delivered. But the boss will be busy for a while, so be prepared. Also, you should start researching the direction he discussed with you..." Happy waved them off, not wasting any more time. He gave Reed Richards and Ben Grimm one final piece of advice before turning and leaving, completely ignoring James, who hadn't left yet.
Happy was well aware of James' intentions. After all, during his time with Tony Stark, he had seen plenty of people like James trying to cozy up to them. But Happy had no interest in getting involved with people like James; he barely had enough time to enjoy life as it was. If it weren't for Tony's orders, he wouldn't have bothered to come in person at all.
"Mr. Happy..." James called out as Happy left without a backward glance, but Happy didn't even acknowledge him. James' voice trailed off, his confidence diminishing.
"Hmm? Oh, right!" But James quickly thought of something and turned to Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. He put on a friendly smile and said, "Ben, Reed, I didn't expect you'd connect with Stark Industries. If you had that connection and could have them pay off your debt, why didn't you just have Stark Industries invest in you from the start?"
"Because Mr. Stark didn't think our plan was worth investing in." Reed Richards responded instinctively, causing James' face to darken.
At that moment, James couldn't help but wonder if Tony Stark had seen through the flaws in their space project, which was why he didn't invest. Had James been the fool who ended up bearing the cost of the failed project?
However, since Stark Industries was now covering the costs, James knew he wasn't losing out. But this only deepened his confusion—if Tony Stark hadn't found the space project worthwhile, why was he so interested in Reed Richards, even going so far as to pay off their debt?
"Uh, Reed, we've known each other for a while now. When you were working on the space project, I trusted you completely and didn't interfere at all, right?" James said, his eyes gleaming as he smiled ingratiatingly at Reed Richards.
"That's true, but if someone had been overseeing the project and putting a little pressure on me, I might not have made such a careless mistake with such simple data. It's all my fault..." Reed Richards nodded, then admitted his guilt with some remorse.
Even though Stark Industries had resolved the debt, Reed Richards still felt deeply guilty. If they hadn't been so lucky, they might have either died on the spaceship or been saddled with an enormous debt for life, working for James indefinitely.
Reed, though not particularly good at socializing, could see through the nature of a capitalist. Despite James' current friendly demeanor, Reed knew that without Happy's intervention and Stark Industries' repayment of their debt, the situation would have been very different once they were taken by James.
It wasn't hard for Reed to imagine that even if Ben Grimm had managed to negotiate a way to pay off their debt through various projects, James would have found a way to keep them working for him forever.
Once Reed and Ben completed numerous projects, even if they had technically paid off their debt from the space project, James would never let them go.
"If the opportunity arises, perhaps we can work together again. Now that Mr. Stark is so interested in you, you're sure to have a bright future. Our previous cooperation was quite pleasant, wasn't it?" James said, seizing on Reed's guilt and speaking with a broad smile.
"Well, that depends on when we meet Mr. Stark again. After all, he's the famous Iron Man, and he's quite busy. We don't know when we'll be able to see him..." Ben Grimm quickly interrupted James, apologetically and helplessly. "We're in no position to negotiate with Mr. Stark."
"No problem! Just mentioning it is fine. If you can't talk to Mr. Stark directly, maybe you can talk to someone at Stark Industries!" James waved his hand, refusing to give up so easily. Now that he had a chance to connect with Stark Industries, he wasn't about to let it slip away.
"Uh, we've been through a lot, and we can't really think about that right now, Mr. James. How about we go home, rest, and think things over?" Ben Grimm suggested, trying to find a way out of the conversation. He hadn't expected the once overbearing James to act this way. If Victor were here, he might have had a way to deal with James, but Ben and Reed just wanted to avoid him.
"Oh! You're right, I wasn't thinking. You just got out of the hospital, so you need to rest. How about this? I own a hotel—why don't you stay there for a while? I'll cover all the expenses. After all, you got into this situation because of our partnership. I can't just leave you hanging!" But instead of letting them off the hook, Ben's excuse only gave James a new reason to insist, and he immediately invited them to stay at his hotel.
If there was any difference between the current scene and the one before Happy's arrival, it was that now James and his bodyguards wore friendly smiles. If it weren't for the grim faces of Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, one might have thought they were willingly accepting James' invitation.
Meanwhile, at the Avengers' base, Tony Stark received a message from Happy that the task was complete, but he didn't pay it much attention. He was still focused on the issue of cloning the Hulk.
After considerable effort, Tony Stark and the others had made some progress, successfully creating several failed Hulk bodies. These bodies, which initially bore little resemblance to the Hulk, were now nearly identical in appearance to the real thing.
But a new problem had arisen: these Hulk bodies were still inferior to the actual Hulk, and more importantly, they couldn't match the Hulk's soul.
Yes, that was the key issue. If they had succeeded, Tony Stark would have long since created a new body and transferred the Hulk's soul into it, ending this long experiment.
In the lab, Robert unleashed a terrifying energy wave that destroyed yet another failed Hulk body. This was the only way Robert could contribute to the experiment—by ensuring that no failed bodies remained to cause potential mutations, which could pose a threat to the Avengers.
While Robert might not care about such low-level mutations, others in the Avengers, along with the vampires and werewolves, could be vulnerable to them.
Despite the bodies seeming soulless, some of the previous Hulk bodies had inexplicably started developing a form of consciousness, which only made Tony Stark and the others even more cautious. Now, they had to ensure that the Hulk's soul was transferred into a new body the moment it was created.
"Honestly, aside from the difference in power levels, there's not much to distinguish them. Can't we make this work? Or are you just too picky, Hulk, and want your original body?" Robert grumbled, glaring at the Hulk.
"Hulk no! Hulk wants own body! But Hulk feels weaker and weaker in these bodies!" The Hulk protested, his voice filled with frustration. It was clear he was unhappy about being accused of being too picky, but he didn't dare act out.
Perhaps because he had been out for a longer period, the Hulk's intelligence seemed to have improved significantly. In fact, the time he had spent in control of the body recently was longer than at any other point since his creation. It seemed that the Hulk could gradually become more intelligent over time.
"The energy in their bodies is still somewhat different. The number of mutated cells and their saturation levels vary, but these differences are almost random. Our experiments can't control the changes in every cell post-mutation..." Martian Manhunter shook his head slightly and spoke softly.
"It looks like we're trying to clone, but in reality, we're more like we're simulating the moment Bruce first mutated. We've tried so many times, and we still can't create a true Hulk. It shows just how unique the original mutation was."
"Hulk was always awesome!" The Hulk's soul excitedly shouted at Martian Manhunter's words.
"Alright, time to draw some blood for more materials!" Bruce Banner sighed and once again transformed into the Hulk, extending
his arm toward Martian Manhunter.
At the start of the experiment, they had collected a large amount of Bruce Banner's blood, cells, and other materials. However, the problem was that the longer the materials were stored, the higher the likelihood of mutations. So now, after each failure, Bruce had to provide fresh samples.
Luckily, Bruce could now transform into the Hulk and back again, so losing a little blood was no big deal. Otherwise, with the way S.H.I.E.L.D. had already drained him once, Bruce might have been left lifeless.
But over time, especially as he had gained complete control over his body, Bruce Banner's attitude toward the Hulk had shifted. As long as his life wasn't in danger, Bruce felt it was worth it to help the Hulk come back to life.
"By the way, what about that Skrull corpse? Could it be of any use?" Robert's eyes flashed as he asked, seeing Tony Stark gearing up for another round of experiments.
"There's not much left of that body, and it was just an ordinary Skrull with no extraordinary abilities. It likely won't be useful for the Hulk's body..." Martian Manhunter shook his head again and spoke softly.
"But the synergy between Spider-Man and Venom has improved significantly. Isn't that the Skrull's doing?" Robert raised an eyebrow, pointing at Peter Parker, who was helping nearby.
"Hmm?" Martian Manhunter and Tony Stark exchanged glances, then nodded quickly. "It's worth a try!"
As their words fell, Jarvis promptly arranged for the remains of the Skrull to be brought to the lab...
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