As Gilson wheezed and struggled, James's eyes shifted to the ring on the man's finger — the very item Natasha had been searching for. He studied it carefully, but at first glance, it looked completely ordinary.
Still… he had a feeling it wasn't.
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James grabbed Gilson Marbury's right arm and restrained him with one hand so that the bodyguards would be cautious. Gilson Marbury's fat body knelt on the ground because of the pain in his right arm.
"What do you want?" Gilson Marbury asked helplessly.
"Let the woman out and then we'll talk. Don't think about playing any tricks. It's easy to just kill you." James took out his pistol and pointed it at his fat head. Ordinary people like him easily break when a gun is pointed and pressed to their heads. Gilson Marbury regretted his greed and had no choice but to instruct the bodyguards to take the girl out.
James had a clear view through the surveillance room. There was no ventilation system in the vault. Agent Natasha Romanoff had begun to have some difficulty breathing. Her hair was wet with sweat, and she did not put on her high heels and evening gown again. She leaned against the wall and breathed with difficulty.
The door was opened and fresh air rushed in. The airflow began to circulate. Natasha Romanoff gasped a few times, but the bodyguards who entered were not in the mood to admire her body. Two of them came forward and picked her up and took her out.
In the monitoring room, James looked at Natasha Romanoff with a teasing expression. She was in a very sorry state. Moreover, James was glad that he had let her take the lead. Otherwise, it would not be fun for him to be locked up as well. He might even expose his sub-space storage.
"About your money problems, Mr. Marbury? Have you thought about it? Do you want me to invest?" James did not talk about the ring first, but asked about the investment.
"S-sure, but you can only take 30% for 1.5 billion dollars."
"Oh? I'll get someone to check how much your total investment is. As for the share of investment, I know you want to develop it independently, but it will take a long time to recover the cost of the development of this kind of complex. In the meantime, if your capital chain has problems, I promise to help you instead of hitting you when you're down. I think you understand that I'm at least more sincere than any bank."
"O-okay, can you let go of me now?"
"Not yet, there is another problem. How do you take off this ring?"
"Why are you asking that and why do you know about my ring?" Gilson Marbury asked.
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm just doing someone a favor, and I'm also very afraid of your ring. Tony and I didn't intend to interfere in this matter, but we heard that your ring is very magical and it made us feel a little scared. This is a dangerous weapon for assassination, and it's too dangerous for anyone. What do you think?"
"I'm just using it to defend myself."
"But why did I hear that you want to sell it? Also, if some people know that you have such a weapon, then you can't keep it. If you hand it over now, you can save me a lot of trouble. Don't think that others don't know that you secretly sell firearms. They just can't be bothered with you. If things get really serious, you will be in jail or worse, dead."
"Alright, you can take it!"
As soon as Gilson Marbury finished speaking, the ring suddenly opened. The ring, which had three points on it, suddenly unfolded and the diameter of the band instantly became larger. James took it off his finger and let go of him.
"That's interesting. How did you remove it?" James asked curiously.
Gilson Marbury hurried back to a bodyguard. "After wearing it, it will prick you. Then the ring will close. As long as you want to take it off, it will automatically loosen and be easy to remove."
"Oh? So it seems to be connected to the nerves? I really didn't expect it, but how do you even use it?"
"You need to consciously rub the surface of the ring three times. Then a small hole will open. Then you just aim at a target. It will fire with a mental command."
Gilson Marbury now wanted to kill the three of them, but he gave up after thinking about it because the other party did not seem to care about him. James held the ring in one hand and the gun in the other and did not even look at him. Gilson Marbury had paid the price for his greed, and now he decided to be careful, so he didn't let the bodyguards do anything at all. He just stood there and watched.
James and Tony Stark, on the other hand, were very curious about the ring. A simple artifact that merely uses a mental command and gesture to work? James looked up at Gilson Marbury and gave him a strange smile, which startled him.
Satisfied, James said, "You're smarter than I thought. You didn't let the bodyguards make a move. I was so looking forward to it."
"Hehe, since I agreed to cooperate, I naturally have to be sincere." Gilson Marbury felt lucky for his decision. There must be something that he didn't know.
"I originally wanted to snatch this ring forcefully, but I heard that the ring is very powerful, so I was a little afraid. From the moment I got the ring, you became nothing in my eyes. As for whether you believe it or not, that's your business. I appreciate that you can remain rational now. The investment plan remains unchanged. My lawyers will contact you tomorrow. After the inspection is completed, I will transfer the money and hope to see you work hard. In addition, the arms business should stop. Your every move is being watched."
"I see. I put all my money into this project. I hope Mr. Gibson can help if something goes wrong."
"Of course, I said that I wouldn't hit you when you're down. I mean what I say. You can rest assured that if this cooperation is good, we can continue to work together. I think my company should be listed after this project. I have plenty of funds. You won't lose out by working with me."
Only then did Gilson Marbury realize that once this company went public, the value of the shares sold would be massive. It would be much higher than the bet made with the few people who played cards with him today.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Then we will take our leave."
With that, James walked out first, and Natasha Romanoff was finally fully awake at this time, but she was still weak and could barely walk. The three of them were driven out of the villa and left in the car. Agent Natasha Romanoff, the famous Black Widow, got into James's car. She was wearing only her black lace underwear. Her figure was curvy and her flat stomach was visible, but James didn't think much of it. This older beauty, modified and trained for full seduction by the Red Room, was really not his type. As she said herself, she was also a monster.
Tony Stark went straight back to Stark Tower. The two of them agreed to meet there tomorrow and study the ring together. They were both curious about this kind of thing and wanted to study it carefully, whether it was the neural connections or the materials of the ring itself. James did not think of handing it over just yet. He would study it first. This material could withstand the heat of laser weapons. It was important for him and Tony Stark. Their Umbra Sentinel needed an upgrade with this type of material.