Chapter 1859 - Peaceful Days, and the Siblings' Daily Life

Luke ignored him. He knew Tony would definitely do that.

Tony knew that Luke knew he would do that.

That was an indispensable ‘greeting’ whenever they met.

Ever since Tony saw ‘Bruce’s’ real face, he had gone from comparing looks to comparing technology.

Luke didn’t care.

After Tony left, Luke would refresh the tycoon’s abilities to see what this ‘tech development machine’s’ recent research progress was like, which would give him a rough idea of what trick the tycoon had pulled.

Tony was a professional cheat, but Luke was a natural.

Letting Phil and Tony visit the base was just part of one of his objectives.

This was actually for the sake of setting up the bigshot’s production base as a ‘target’ in a suitable location.

In the future, Luke would ‘accidentally’ reveal the existence of this base through other means. At that time, anyone who had an eye on the bigshot’s resources would look for this base.

The bigshot was just one person and seemed to have a space ability. He came and went as he pleased, and the chances of successfully robbing him were low.

On the other hand, this base couldn’t run away… Hm, more precisely, it couldn’t run fast.

Without this base, everybody could only think about targeting the bigshot.

If it wasn’t for the bigshot’s erratic movements and the fact that he always had the upper hand, he would’ve run into more than just a few attacks in the last few years.

Luke’s second objective was to sort out where the three nanomite warheads should go.

Luke wasn’t interested in keeping them.

He wasn’t Cobra, and wasn’t interested in causing chaos.

He would master the technology sooner or later, and would be able to look at other research directions.

What was slightly more interesting was control of the nanomites.

With this, some of the admin personnel of interim PDD agencies could be covertly injected with nanomites.

Although these nanomites currently only had a GPS function and an ‘immobilizer’ function, Luke could look forward to audio + video surveillance for when the Cobra researchers worked with the Doctor and Ophelia in Space 2.

The metal-faced soldiers also weren’t bad. They could be killed and wouldn’t betray him. They only had physiological needs and no psychological needs.

The external commissions which the bigshot often received could be left to them.

In any case, the metal-faced soldiers were bright red; it wouldn’t be a shame if they died.

As for the nanomites spent on them, they were nothing.

Luke had a billion in dirty money in his inventory, and several times as many hidden fixed assets and shares; it was enough for him to rebuild MARS Industries if he wanted to.

If he spent all the dirty money he had, it would be enough to make nanomites for at least 2,000 people.

And that was just for the current nanomite technology.

When Luke skimmed through the manufacturing process, he had discovered a lot of room for improvement.

It could only be said that the Doctor was an excellent researcher, but not a qualified businessman.

Of course, Luke wasn’t like that.

He had always left the troublesome research to the professionals. What he needed to think about was the logistics.

Such a big company couldn’t be wasted; he had to consider the production costs of the ‘monkey version’ of the gear that the bigshot would sell.

He could his money to help those at the bottom who were worth helping; he didn’t need to use it to help rich capitalists.

…

The three of them didn’t wrangle much, and they decided to leave the three nanomite warheads to Tony to deal with.

The Avengers had Hawkeye and Natasha, and these two well-known agents were prime candidates to act as the “generals” who would wrest back the nanomite warheads.

It might sound like nonsense, but 50% of it was true.

As the leader of the Avengers, Tony also needed to preserve a good standing with the American government.

Stark Industries’ allies in the government could also use this matter to reap huge benefits.

On the other hand, Phil’s New SHIELD currently wasn’t recognized by the government, and was the stereotypical ‘shady organization.’

New SHIELD had been born out of the old SHIELD, and there was indeed some unclear relationship between Cobra and Hydra.

People might suspect that New SHIELD and Cobra were just two sides of the same coin, and that New SHIELD was just putting on a show.

After discussing this, Phil and Tony stayed for dinner and then left at night.

Looking at the base, Luke heaved a sigh. “Okay, time to finally get started on the modifications.”

…

Luke reclined lazily on the porch of his Grandpa Drax’s house with a cup of hot green tea in his hand. In front of him was a wide dark green meadow.

Under the warm autumn sun and with the gentle breeze, it was a peaceful scene.

“Brother, Brother, that b*stard Claire is bullying me again.” A cute voice rang out, and a small figure dashed out from behind the house and jumped on Luke.

Luke’s entire body jolted and his head jerked like a bobblehead.

He could only helplessly reach out with both hands to hug the plump little kid in his arms. “Alright, Cindy, take your time and tell me what happened. As long as you have a good reason, I’ll smack Claire on the butt.”

4

In Luke’s arms, Cindy’s grayish-blue eyes darted back and forth, and she suddenly sensed danger.

Generally speaking, if Luke talked reason, someone would definitely get in trouble.

If it wasn’t Claire, it was her.

But if she and Claire quarreled in front of Luke, the truth would be revealed.

In the end, they could only go halves — each of them would receive 50% of their big brother’s ‘love lesson.’

Thinking that, the little girl immediately stopped and hugged Luke’s face. “Brother, I’m hungry. What are we eating today?”

Luke sniffed her head and said, “You’re sweating again. Let Claire take you for a bath. You can have dinner after that.”

Cindy gave an “oh” and said, “Then, I want to drink water.”

Luke raised his hand and poured some tea into her mouth.

Cindy immediately scowled. “Ah, Luke, you’re the worst. You gave me something bitter to drink again.”

Luke chuckled. “I’m an adult. I always drink this.”

Cindy punched her brother in the chest. “Liar. Mom and Dad like sweet things. Only Grandpa, you and Joseph like bitter water.”

Looking at her angry, round face, Luke couldn’t help but rub it. “If you want something sweet, go find Claire.”

Claire had already been standing on the side for a while as she silently watched the siblings, who were twenty years apart, cuddle.

She had been jealous before, but had quickly given up.

That was because when she complained that Luke didn’t love her, he had looked at her in surprise. “Didn’t I treat you well when you were little?”

When Claire thought about it, she was unable to respond.

The way Luke treated Cindy now was how he had treated Claire when she was little.

At most, Claire had gotten a little less money, but Luke had been a poor kid back then.

Luke even took another jab at her. “Also, do you still have time to act spoiled with me now that you have a girlfriend?”

Claire was lost for words.

Seeing how the hyperactive Cindy was suppressed by Luke with just a few words, Claire recalled her dread of the same sort of oppression she had experienced when she was young.

This was treatment both she and Joseph had ‘enjoyed’ as kids.

It was already October 2010. Cindy, who had just turned five, was now qualified to enjoy this treatment.