"The same trick won't work on Uncle Tony a second time!"
Seeing the expression of helpless frustration on Luca's young face, Tony Stark felt even his original anxiety subside quite a bit.
Perhaps only by making another "genius" suffer a setback could he truly feel joy right now.
Finding it rather amusing, Tony even struck a few Wing Chun poses. Although he was sitting in his chair, making his movements less than standard, it was clear he had actually practiced.
However, once he let go, Haro, who had been held in his arms, was naturally liberated. This little guy had no concept of "admitting defeat if the first strike fails."
Seizing the opportunity, its red eyes flashed, and it leaped once more.
"Haro, Haro attack!"
Thud~
The little guy slammed directly into the stomach of Tony, who was still busy gesturing with his Wing Chun.
The little thing knew its limits; the force wasn't particularly large, but it still sent Tony staggering, his chair sliding back several inches.
Tony, who was in high spirits, rubbed his belly somewhat awkwardly. He scooped up the orange Haro, gave it a few retaliatory, vigorous rubs, and then turned back to Luca with a more serious expression.
"Do you have blueprints? Bring them out for a look. I'll help you with some modifications—a robot that can't fly simply won't do."
Tony had already vaguely guessed Luca's plan. He wasn't against it and naturally thought of providing some assistance. However, he paused for a moment and added:
"Of course, that's assuming you don't mind me seeing the blueprints and exposing your own technology."
Luca's eyes gleamed.
Choosing to manufacture this long-polished robot at Tony Stark's place meant he had anticipated this situation. In fact, this was exactly what he was hoping for!
As for the "exposure of technology" Tony mentioned, Luca wasn't worried at all. Trusting Tony Stark's character was one thing, but more importantly, Luca believed that as he synthesized more items, he would inevitably obtain more brand-new technological reserves.
Technically speaking, technologies from different worlds might be completely unrelated, with vastly different technology tree paths. Trying to analyze his future based on old technological paths was pure fantasy.
Therefore, getting pointers and help from Tony Stark and showing him some blueprints was no problem at all.
Thinking of this, Luca replied directly:
"Blueprints are no problem. Besides, with your abilities, you probably wouldn't even care for my little bit of tech!"
While opening the holographic projection on the test bench, Luca casually flattered Tony. As expected, a look of self-satisfaction immediately appeared on Tony's face. He had already acknowledged Luca as a young genius; praise from an equal naturally carried a different weight.
"Haro, connect to the holographic projection here. Upload and display the model for Beta 0.1."
"Hold on, I haven't given our Lord of Thunder access permissions yet—"
Tony said, preparing to give JARVIS an order. Unexpectedly, before he could speak, the holographic projection on the test bench began to flash violently.
"Intruding protocol, intruding protocol!"
Red light flashed in Haro's eyes.
Fortunately, while Tony watched with a stunned face, the flickering projection finally went dark. Haro, looking like a deflated ball, reported to Luca:
"Invasion failed, invasion failed!"
Tony, secretly wiping away a cold sweat, looked at Haro and then at Luca, thinking to himself:
I didn't expect this kid's level in AI to be... well, pretty good.
But that little thing's voice system definitely needs an upgrade.
In reality, defending against an invasion and completing a reverse invasion without a direct data link are levels of technical difficulty worlds apart. Luca had deliberately given an ambiguous command to test if Haro could outmatch an AI like JARVIS.
It appeared that Haro was, at most, roughly equal in strength to JARVIS at this stage.
"Sorry, I thought JARVIS would automatically grant permission after hearing our conversation."
Luca spread his hands, playing the "not my fault" card. Tony just rolled his eyes.
What a vengeful kid.
Then, JARVIS's voice rang out:
"Sir, should I grant partial access to this artificial intelligence?"
"Grant it, grant it." Tony waved his hand dismissively.
After the small interlude, the data for what Luca called "Robot Beta 0.1" finally appeared before Tony via the holographic projection. To show off his skills, Tony leaned in and inspected the blueprints with extreme care.
"Hmm~ decent basic skeleton design, quite creative~"
The main structure utilized Baymax's skeleton with only minor modifications. It earned a "decent" rating from Stark.
"This eye scanning device probably uses technology similar to your glasses? Though it's a different design path from mine, functionally, it looks acceptable."
The robot's scanner obviously couldn't be the same as the [Tracking Glasses]; Luca didn't even understand those himself. However, it did borrow some techniques, largely thanks to his teardown of the monocle developed for the "Arbiter" pistol.
In truth, the design of this robot was a patchwork.
"Powered by lithium-ion batteries? Looking at these parameters... did you upgrade the lithium-ion batteries yourself?"
"Impressive. This technology alone is enough to prop up a publicly traded company."
Actually, this was part of Luca's future plan. The battery in the "Arbiter" wasn't perfect due to size constraints, but the core technology was excellent. If he didn't push for extreme miniaturization, he could easily spin off a subsidiary specializing in batteries.
However, Aurantius Industries' capital was currently very tight. Luca didn't want to accept too much outside investment yet, so the plan had to be delayed.
In fact, it wasn't just an energy subsidiary. For Luca, who was destined to hold more and more technology, the future of Aurantius Industries would inevitably follow the Stark Industries model: a massive conglomerate with various subsidiaries managing different business sectors. Otherwise, civil equipment coming from an arms company might sound "cool," but it would eventually hurt the brand image.
As Luca pondered this, Tony didn't stop talking. He praised while scanning the blueprints:
"Not bad, not bad. Even I, at your age, was... well, only a little bit better."
For the incredibly proud Tony, saying this was the limit. However, the next moment:
"Wait? No?! Your data here must be labeled wrong, right??"
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