Once the artist was exhausted and fell asleep in his arms, Luke finally got out of bed.
Covering her with the blanket, he sat down on the couch and took out the two sketches for a closer look.
Although he had already seen it a few times today, he was still very serious when he looked at them again.
The first drawing depicted a huge office. Many personnel were still at their positions, but dozens of people were confronting each other with guns.
The most prominent figure wasn’t holding a gun, but was an employee who had several guns trained on him.
The second drawing was of a huge Helicarrier.
It was flying in the sky, and there were explosions all along the hull. Clearly, it was enduring a fierce attack.
But the cannons on the ship were firing countless missiles wildly.
Clearly, it was doing its best to counterattack.
After a long silence, Luke put the two drawings away in his inventory and looked out the window at the rainy night.
In the meantime, his Level 2 clone finished gathering the information and sent Tony a message with the coordinates for a small dock.
On the top floor of Stark Tower, the tycoon, who was sleeping soundly with Pepper in his arms, was suddenly poked in the butt.
He instantly woke up.
It had to be said that the Chi Refining Technique or whatever which a certain person had given to him was mystic mambo-jumbo, but it turned out to be pretty effective once he started cultivating it.
Lately, he only needed six hours of sleep to be full of energy and alert.
His initial signs of insomnia had disappeared.
However, it was rare to be poked in the butt in the middle of the night.
He turned around and was stunned. He asked in a low voice, “Dummy?”
A cute robotic arm whined and pointed in another direction.
Tony looked over and saw a virtual screen that had appeared at the doorway. It was a message from Luke.
He instantly understood. He quietly got up and left the bedroom.
A moment later, a transparent figure ran wildly through the sewers, and didn’t forget to complain, “Bruce definitely doesn’t have a girlfriend he sleeps with. Does he have to be so mysterious, making me crawl around the sewers in the middle of the night?”
Despite his words, he obediently followed the “top secret route” east through Manhattan and reached a particular dock.
He sent the signal that he had arrived, and the boat sped over.
Tony didn’t deactivate his stealth mode as he stepped directly through the open door.
The cabin door closed, and the yacht turned and sailed toward the ocean.
In the cabin, Tony’s lips twitched when saw the other party’s handsome face, but he was satisfied when he saw the man’s home clothes.
The tycoon himself had rushed over in a T-shirt and pants – he didn’t want to hang around with a pretentious prick in a suit.
The yacht wasn’t Tony’s territory, and there was no place to store his armor.
He simply flipped up his mask and sat down next to Luke. “Why did you have to wake me up in the middle of the night?”
Luke poured him a glass of wine. “Have a drink first – you might not be in the mood later.”
Tony’s expression turned solemn. He took a sip and put down the glass. “Tell me.”
Luke asked, “Is SHIELD still building the Helicarriers?”
Tony nodded. “Yes, but ever since you said that Hydra is in SHIELD, Nick Fury’s attention has been elsewhere.”
Luke asked, “How’s construction coming along? How much longer until they can take off?”
Tony thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I only just started to help modify parts of the flight system, but I bluffed my way through it a few times after that. I really don’t know the progress.”
Luke stared at the tycoon silently.
A few seconds later, Tony couldn’t take the “heartless disdain” and raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, they’re keeping everything a secret from me, yet they want me to modify the Helicarriers with a lot of new technology. I’m not letting them.”
Satisfied, only then did Luke shift his gaze. That was more in line with the tycoon’s temperament.
The proud and arrogant Tony was a first-class magnate and a top-notch scientist.
Using him while excluding him at the same time was something that the tycoon would never accept.
For example, when Luke had given Tony Bat Squad credit points, he had rejected them at first.
That was because the Battle of New York had also involved Tony, so there was no need to get a reward from Batman.
The second time, Tony had helped Batman with a personal task in Grand Rapids. This time, he happily accepted the credit points.
His contribution had been taken seriously.
Also, since the tycoon could use Bat Squad credit points, whatever intelligence the Bat Squad had wasn’t kept from him.
In any case, Luke had given the tycoon so many benefits, but didn’t ask for much in return. It wasn’t good for Tony to haggle.
Tony was very generous with his friends.
Thinking that, he was frank in giving Luke the details. “But based on my estimates, the main Helicarrier should be complete by now, and is ready for a test flight at any time. Speaking of which, it’s at least two generations more advanced than the one from the Battle of New York. The government obtained a lot of things from the Chitauri — for example, the flight system, which uses the core of the Chitauri’s big worm battleship.”
Luke narrowed his eyes. “How good is it?”
Tony said, “Once it’s in the air, this third-generation main carrier can be sent into orbit. Unless it’s a special situation, theoretically speaking, it doesn’t need to come down anymore.”
Luke was lost for words. Wouldn’t this make it a super air battleship?
After a brief silence, he said, “Then the problem this time might be bigger than I thought.”
Tony: “Huh?”
He immediately understood, and his expression turned ugly. “Something’s wrong with the thing?”
Luke nodded. “Hydra might be interested in destroying or seizing it. What do you think will happen if it falls into Hydra’s hands?”
Tony’s expression was awful. “It’s an air fortress. Even if it only has a once-off use, the weapons on it can cover half of America. If it’s shot down…”
If such a gigantic thing fell from the sky, the countless weapons and energy sources on it would turn it into a massive lethal weapon.
It would be fine if it didn’t explode, but if it did, it could bury an entire city.
Furthermore, it had to be positioned above D.C. – if it fell there…
Naturally, Luke didn’t have to explain how serious this matter was. The tycoon knew better than he did how dangerous the Helicarrier could be.
Luke simply said, “This is information I obtained through certain channels, and it’s very likely to be accurate. It’s possible that Fury’s operation triggered Hydra’s vigilance. They probably can’t wait any longer, and have started to move.”
Tony was silent as his mind raced.
He knew that the clown had been dealing with the Hydra in SHIELD recently.
Batman had said that the clown was a passer-by.
A “passer-by” who was beaten into throwing up blood by the Dark Knight? That was pretty interesting.
After a brief silence, he asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Luke said, “I’m letting you know in advance, so if you’re too late to the party when the time comes, you can’t blame anyone else.”
Don’t think I don’t know who you’re referring to! Tony snorted in his heart “…That Helicarrier is at SHIELD’s D.C. headquarters.”
Luke said, “I know. It’s in the lake at HQ.”
Tony fell silent once more.