A month had passed since Tony Stark revealed his identity as the superhero Iron Man to the world. During this month, Zed and his two companions had been quite well-behaved. After all, laundering twenty-five billion was exhausting!
Truly exhausting!
Before Tony's announcement, Zed had invested all the laundered money into Stark Industries stocks. The remaining unlaundered funds were entrusted to Dan Kuroto for gradual operation.
One could only say that as a former company president, he was exceptionally organized in management. From birth certificates, medical insurance records, to various bank credit histories, everything was meticulously prepared. A Japanese-American named Dan Kuroto was born.
Inheriting an inheritance from his Japanese grandfather, Dan Kuroto rented an office on the outskirts of New York City and opened up a new tech company called Gensou. He was preparing to make a name for himself in New York.
In New York, a large number of people came and went every day. Dan Kuroto's arrival didn't cause any waves.
After the last secret meeting with Zed, Woz left New York for a while, traveling the world with the booklet Zed had marked. He personally went to confirm the specific situations of those potential candidates for activating the Ride Watches, providing information for Zed's upcoming plans.
Zed also rarely returned to school and stayed put for a while, not causing any trouble. Now that Tony had revealed his Iron Man identity, the whole society was in a mess. Everywhere he went, he could hear all sorts of discussions about superheroes.
Not only was Zed affected in collecting Ride Watches, but Matt also had a hard time going out to fight crime every night. Many enthusiastic New Yorkers chased after Matt for photos. If Matt wasn't able to climb walls, he might really get buried in the sea of people in New York.
But everyone understood that once this initial hype subsided, the undercurrents lurking beneath the surface would surge again. Zed was preparing, Matt was preparing, and S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were already sharpening their knives, not for the pig, but for the Time King... no, for the Time King.
Everyone in the classroom was watching videos of Iron Man on their phones, even though the video of the battle with Iron Monger that night had already been blocked. But the flamboyant Tony had completely abandoned his luxury sports car, and the Iron Man suit had become his daily mode of transportation.
Every day, people were stationed around Stark Tower, the Stark Industries research and development center, and other places to capture footage of Iron Man. These few-second clips caused these teenagers to experience a wave of excitement.
"Zed! Come look! Iron Man is so cool! Oh! My God! I want an Iron Man suit too!" Ned stared at the video with a dazed expression.
"You probably wouldn't fit in it!"
Ned: (#Д)
Zed watched as these high school students had all purchased phones one after another, and thought about whether he should buy one too. The Faiz phone was too cool, he was afraid it would scare these guys.
"Ned, come with me to buy a phone after school today!" He said it and did it, having money was just that willful.
Ned stared at Zed as if he had discovered something incredible, getting closer and closer to examine Zed carefully, "Zed! I thought you were only interested in watches and weren't interested in anything else!"
As Ned and Zed were messing around, Peter, sporting a bruised face, walked into the classroom and sat down beside them.
"What happened, man?" Ned asked, concerned, looking at Peter.
"Ah! Nothing much, just got hit by Flash's basketball when I passed the court," Peter said, not wanting his friends to worry.
Although the three of them had fought with Flash and his friends when they were kids, that was a long time ago. Now, Flash was big and strong, and his friends were all tough guys from the basketball and football teams.
Peter himself was thin, and Zed was a little stronger, but still far weaker than those guys. Ned was so round he could practically be a ball himself. No matter how you looked at it, the three of them were no match for Flash and his crew.
Seeing that Peter didn't want to talk about it, Ned didn't know how to respond.
"Peter, don't be afraid of them. If you back down now, these 'court accidents' will keep happening. If you can't beat them, just call me. I've said before, I'm the man who's going to be the Maou, I'm good at nothing but fixing watches and fighting," Zed said, thumping his chest.
"Don't joke around, Zed! This isn't a kids' fight!"
Peter didn't believe it, and Zed couldn't do anything about it, but Peter being bullied again had already caught Zed's attention. It wouldn't be long before Spider-Man was born.
"Mr. Stark, can you explain why this Time King appeared on the battlefield between you and Stane? Why did he help you? What's your relationship with him?" Coulson routinely questioned Tony.
"I don't know, and I don't know him. He helped me probably because I'm Tony Stark!" Tony replied indifferently.
"Mr. Stark! Please cooperate!" Coulson was somewhat helpless, it seemed he was going to be at a disadvantage again.
"I'm very busy! So many things waiting for me to do! I won't stay with you!" Tony said and left gracefully.
Coulson shook his head and called Nick Fury: "Confirmed that Tony Stark is in contact with the Time King, but Stark is not cooperating."
"Then keep him occupied, don't give him a chance to move freely, especially to New York!" Nick Fury, the one-eyed man, ordered Coulson.
"Yes, sir!"
Nick Fury was on the phone with Coulson, while Pierce sat across from him on the sofa, sipping red wine without any reservations. When Nick Fury finished the call, Pierce spoke, "I'm really glad I handed the director's position over to you early on; otherwise, I'd be swamped handling all this! I just can't understand the world these days!"
"But you still have to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D. and help me with things; even if you retire, you probably can't avoid it!" Nick Fury, who still didn't suspect his superior who had promoted him, rarely took the initiative to joke.
"You're not even going to let me go after I retire? Hahaha Okay! Okay! Let's get down to business! What's the situation with the watch face?" Pierce could definitely win an Oscar for Best Actor if he went to Hollywood.
"The activation rules for the watch face are tentatively determined to require manual activation by someone with special abilities. This special definition is still very vague. Hawkeye, Matt Murdock, and Jessica Jones all qualify. Even Tony Stark may have already activated a watch face."
Nick Fury didn't intend to hide this information written in the Level Ten file from Pierce. He just avoided the part about teaming up with Matt; even his old superior couldn't know this information.
But Pierce, who had been able to hide in S.H.I.E.L.D. for many years and even served as director, was not someone to be trifled with.
After school in the afternoon, Peter went out to work odd jobs again, as was his custom. Ned and Zed, who had better living conditions, could only go shopping at the mall together.
"Zed, what kind of phone do you want? I'll help you take a look," Ned, who was a double expert in mechanics and the internet, naturally knew his stuff.
Zed only bought a phone to blend in with the other students, to avoid standing out too much. He didn't really have any requirements for the phone. Could these phones on the market even shoot lasers?
"Just a regular one, the kind everyone else uses."
"You have no personality! Zed, I always thought you were a cool guy!" Ned stared at Zed, disappointed.
I can't be cool! If I'm cool, I won't have any friends. Zed thought to himself, but couldn't say that out loud. "I spend most of my time fixing and making watches. I don't have much time to play with my phone."
"Alright then! Let's look for a phone with a good price-performance ratio."
"Ned, how long until your research group goes on that field trip?"
"About a month! You want to go too?"
"Nah! Just asking!"
After parting ways with Ned, Zed changed course and went to the small warehouse. Tonight was the day the three of them would finish their respective tasks and meet up.
When Zed arrived, only Woz was already there. They waited a long time before Dan Kuroto finally showed up. Looking at Dan Kuroto's messy hair and the dark circles under his eyes, neither of them felt comfortable saying anything. After all, Dan Kuroto's work was the most demanding.
"Ahem, Woz, let's get the report out first!" Zed opened the conversation.
"Yes! Waga Maou! I've checked all the lists you've compiled, and only a quarter meet your expectations." Woz said, handing Zed the report.
Zed took it and quickly glanced through it. His head started to ache. He had only written a little bit, but the diligent and responsible Woz had filled the report booklet with dense notes. Pretending to close it, he handed it to Dan Kuroto, "Dan Kuroto, you can start monitoring the people on this list. Prioritize those marked in red."
Then Zed asked Woz, "Which of them are closest to us?"
"The Defenders members you marked."
"They haven't even teamed up yet! Besides them?"
"Skye's RV is almost in New York."
"Excellent high-tech talent and a dial-activation candidate! Zed, are you still short on staff?"
Dan Kuroto, a bit dazed, perked up at the mention of Skye's name. "If this Skye is as capable as you say, she could help me work, but the chances of her discovering our secrets are even greater!"
Zed didn't shy away from the issue: "I know, but her potential is really high. Since we've decided to start a company, we can't avoid bringing in outsiders. I'll figure out a way to make these people genuinely join us."
"Then I have no problem with it. Stark's equipment has also been checked and is ready to use. The company is also on the right track, and I personally handle the confidential content. The employees below handle the odds and ends, so there's no risk of leaks."
Putting aside his occasional bouts of madness, Dan Kuroto was really reassuring when he worked seriously as the company president.
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(End of Chapter)