Natasha shook her head.
"I don't know anything about that project."
Hearing that, Smith replied:
"It's a S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative to form a team of superheroes. Both Tony and I will be part of it."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. will definitely assign their own agents to it. You and Hawkeye are some of the best they have, so you're probably already being evaluated. After all, with that bald, one-eyed guy's personality, there's no way he'd let an entire special division be made up of outsiders."
Before the Chitauri invasion, the so-called Avengers Initiative was little more than a name—it hadn't carried out any real missions or operations.
Natasha looked at Smith Dole and asked:
"So, is there anything I should do?"
Smith Dole smiled.
"No need to do anything special. Just keep doing your job as usual."
"As for those things you want to dig deeper into, that's up to you to discover."
Natasha nodded.
"I understand. It's just a shame I won't be able to come here as openly as before."
As Natasha left, Smith turned to Bulma and said:
"Bulma, thank you for developing the antidote. You've saved a lot of lives."
Bulma smiled brightly and responded:
"As long as I can help Smith-nii, I'm happy."
Looking at her, Smith said:
"Tomorrow is the product launch. Be sure to get some rest tonight."
Bulma blinked her big eyes and asked:
"Do you want me to go on stage and present it?"
Smith shook his head.
"I'll handle the product presentation. Mainly, I want to bring you over to get a change of scenery—and to have a bit of fun."
He mainly wanted to take her for a stroll around the area near the TCL Chinese Theatre, which was a nice sightseeing spot.
Realizing it was for fun and not work, Bulma beamed with joy, hugging Smith's arm and playfully saying:
"Smith-nii is the best!"
Smith patted her blue hair and said:
"Look forward to tomorrow's trip. I have some things to arrange for now."
At that moment, Bulma added:
"Smith-nii, I've made more improvements to the power level detector. It can now show one decimal place—like 4.2, for example."
"I noticed many people's power levels range between 4 and 6, or even lower. If we can show values under 1, people will more clearly see their progress."
Smith understood she was dividing a single point of energy into ten fractions. He then asked:
"Will that raise the cost?"
Bulma shook her head.
"No, the original power level detectors were already capable of that level of precision. We just didn't bother using it."
Smith nodded approvingly. This update would actually help sell the product better. After all, for ordinary soldiers or agents in the Marvel universe, even a 0.1 improvement was significant and noticeable.
"Great work, Bulma."
"That's a really smart improvement. I'm sure we'll get plenty of orders tomorrow."
"I still have some tasks to handle, so I'll go take care of them. Get some rest too."
As Smith left, Bulma happily said to herself:
"Tomorrow's another date with Smith-nii!"
"What a beautiful day!"
After leaving the lab, Smith called Fox to his office and brought out the Black Widow control platform and the unlock ring.
"These are the Black Widows trained by the Red Room, dispatched worldwide by Dreykov."
"This is the control platform. It can operate on all surviving Widows except Natasha's family. It includes their names and current locations."
"Bulma's already finished the antidote. I'm putting you in charge of these people and the platform."
"Conduct evaluations and administer the antidote. If any of them are suitable, bring them into our intelligence division."
Fox took the platform and said:
"Apart from a few ingrates and those who want to retire, I believe most of them will choose to join us."
"People in this line of work struggle to adapt to a life without missions or objectives."
"From what I've seen, some of them—unable to adjust—will eventually return to the path they once walked, often into even darker territory."
"Like those mercenaries."
Smith agreed with Fox's assessment and replied:
"Do as you see fit. I trust you can make good use of this group."
Fox nodded and left with the control platform and the ring.
…
The next day.
Los Angeles — TCL Chinese Theatre.
The venue had been booked out by Capsule Corporation for their product launch event.
Thanks to his status as a Stark Industries shareholder and as the superhero "God," countless media outlets and reporters showed up.
But many of them quickly realized a problem: without an invitation, they couldn't get in.
Only a select few invited media groups were allowed into the venue.
Naturally, the ones stuck outside didn't leave. After all, the event's guest list was no small matter. As soon as Tony arrived, the reporters outside went wild.
"I knew Iron Man would show up. No way he wouldn't support his buddy."
As soon as Tony stepped out of the car, a swarm of reporters surrounded him, shoving microphones in his face.
"Tony, what do you think about Capsule Corporation's new product launch?"
"Iron Man, we've heard Colonel Rhodes from the military is attending too. Is Capsule Corporation's product weapons-related?"
"Mr. Stark, can you give us a hint about the product's direction?"
Pepper Potts and Happy stepped in to shield Tony.
"Tony Stark isn't taking any questions right now."
Thanks to their efforts, Tony slipped out of the crowd and entered the venue, while the reporters were blocked outside by security.
Once inside, Tony noticed several prominent attendees: Colonel Rhodes from the Air Force's weapons development division, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury, General Ross from the military, heads of weapons procurement from the CIA and FBI—and even foreign agents involved in weapons procurement.
Tony even suspected that agents from the KGB, Mossad, and MI6 were present. Looking at the crowd, Tony couldn't help but wonder—was Smith Dole's product actually weapons-related?
Why else would this be the audience?
…
(End of Chapter)
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