At the Stark Expo opening ceremony, there was a sea of people, with countless flashlight beams shining into the sky.
Tony made his flamboyant entrance in the Iron Man suit, and the atmosphere peaked as people shook their flashlights wildly!
"The opening dance wasn't bad."
Amidst the cheering and noise, Ye Li was not crowding at the bottom. Instead, he leisurely sat in the VIP section, watching the Iron Man girl troupe's high-knee dance.
As for Tony's boastful words on stage?
He didn't listen to a single word.
Instead, he opened the "Morning Sun News Channel" on his device and started watching.
Iron Man?
Boring. Better to watch the news for a bit.
After the opening ceremony, the big screen began playing footage of Tony's late father, Howard Stark, showing his smiling face and lively demeanor.
There was also a city model in the video.
Ye Li knew that the model contained a new element, but he wasn't concerned for now. Tony would find it himself eventually.
Not his problem.
"Hey, Li, how does it feel?"
At this moment, Tony walked over, putting something that looked like a pregnancy test stick into his pocket.
It was a device for detecting the palladium content in his body.
"I feel like you tricked me," Ye Li said with a deadpan expression, "It's boring."
Tony widened his eyes, "Don't you think my entrance was awesome?"
'Awesome?'
'You just want me to watch you show off, huh?'
Ye Li stood up and clapped his hands, "I'm leaving."
Tony extended his hand and lightly lifted his chin, signaling a direction, "Shall we go this way?"
Ye Li shot a sideways glance at the direction—
A security exit?
…..
Boom—!
"Tony!"
"Tony!!"
"Tony!"
As the security door opened.
A crowd surged forward.
Among them were Stark's fans, women trying to climb the social ladder, and company CEOs wanting to make deals, etc.
Soon, a blonde-haired woman spotted Ye Li, "Are you Mr. Ye Li?"
She approached and asked, "I didn't expect you to be friends with Mr. Stark. I was wondering if you had any plans for the next few days. I'd love to arrange something with you..."
"I'm sorry, I'm busy..." Ye Li declined.
But she still slipped her business card into his pocket, kissed his cheek, and winked, "Call me if you change your mind~"
"Is that Mr. Ye Li?"
"Mr. Ye!"
Soon, a few more people swarmed over...
Ye Li subtly weaved through the crowd.
If he were just walking down the street, most people wouldn't recognize him.
But the more high society women recognized him.
And here, there were plenty of them...
.....
"Tony, starting tonight."
After exiting the security exit.
Ye Li lightly patted his wrinkled clothes, then picked out a few business cards from his stuffed pockets, tossing the rest into the trash can.
"I finally realize how much of a scam artist you are."
Dragging him along on purpose... what a sneaky guy.
Tony shrugged innocently, "I thought you'd find someone interesting, isn't the few cards you kept proof of that?"
"Heh..."
Ye Li shuffled the business cards like playing cards, reading them aloud.
"Isabella, Parsons Academy..."
"Emily, Executive of the Art Trading Company..."
"Olivia, Handmade Pencil Studio..."
"Alright, alright, stop reading them."
Tony raised his hands in surrender, "I know you kept those cards for business."
"How about I give you that sports car as a way to make up for your bad mood?"
He pointed to the new car prepared by his bodyguard, Happy, "It's a brand-new model, I haven't even driven it yet."
Ye Li glanced at the car, "Oh, this isn't bad."
"Really? It's rare that you like something."
Tony said, "Looks like the car Happy picked out is really good."
"No."
Ye Li motioned for Tony to turn his head back, "I'm talking about her—Is that your old flame?"
"Huh?"
Tony turned back and finally noticed.
In this short time, a beautiful woman in a purple dress with stunning purple eyes had mysteriously appeared in front of his car.
She seemed to be of Irish descent.
"Oh, I don't know her."
"She is indeed very beautiful."
Tony didn't pay much attention to the woman, as he led Ye Li toward the car, "So, do you want the car?"
"I don't need it, Tony."
Ye Li whistled—
Boom!
With the heart-thumping sound of the engine, Veronica leaped down from a distant rooftop, her tires hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
Bang~
"It looks like no one's in the car!?"
"Is it out of control?"
The pedestrians on the road were startled by the car suddenly dropping from the sky and quickly stepped aside.
However, when Veronica drove up to Ye Li, the shocked pedestrians breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyone around Tony Stark could easily have a driverless motorcycle, so it wasn't that surprising.
"Oh~"
The woman standing in front of Tony's car exclaimed in surprise and complimented Veronica, "It's amazing!"
"Beep!" Veronica happily honked.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Ye Li politely said thank you, not engaging with the woman, and bid farewell to Tony, "Tony, next time, remember not to trick me."
"Alright, alright."
Tony sat in the driver's seat of the car, "Mr. Ye Li, I wish you a good night. I'll head out first."
"Mr. Stark."
The woman with the stunning purple eyes chuckled lightly and stopped him, "I think you can't leave just yet~"
"Oh?"
Tony thought she was another woman trying to flirt with him, so he asked, "Who are you? Do you want to make an appointment with me?"
"Officer, Kate Mara."
The woman with the stunning purple eyes handed over some documents with a smile, "You're scheduled for 9 AM tomorrow, to attend the Senate Military Committee. Here's your subpoena~"
She kept smiling.
Tony's expression immediately dropped, and he asked, "Can I see your badge?"
Happy, who was sitting in the passenger seat, chimed in, "He likes looking at badges."
Kate Mara readily agreed and showed Tony her badge, "Do you still want to see it, Mr. Stark?"
At this point, Tony lost any hope of escaping and furrowed his brow...
…..
Kate Mara didn't pay any more attention to Tony and elegantly walked over to where Ye Li was watching.
"Hello~ Are you Mr. Ye Li?"
"Huh?"
Ye Li raised an eyebrow.
"Beautiful lady, are you going to give me a subpoena too?"
"If I remember correctly, I haven't committed any crime, especially one that would require a military tribunal."
"Mr. Ye."
Kate Mara, with her graceful figure, swiftly sat in Ye Li's lap, hugging him, "You stole something~"
Ye Li tilted his head slightly, not denying it, "Your heart?"
"Hehe~ Let me tell you something first, Mr."
Kate Mara leaned in close, her beautiful face near his ear, softly speaking.
"Not long ago, Oscorp disbanded."
"Someone is secretly acquiring part of Oscorp's research labs through the Ghost Spider Club's subsidiaries..."
"They're reportedly working on a serum... that's very similar to the Super Soldier Serum, or perhaps—"
"That's the Super Soldier Serum...!"
As she said that.
Kate Mara, with her body close to Ye Li's, whispered in an alluring tone, "You wouldn't want S.H.I.E.L.D. to know about this, right?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"So?"
Ye Li casually squeezed her, his expression calm, "Threatening me?"
"Mm-hmm~"
Kate Mara's face flushed, biting her lip, seductively saying, "I just want to cooperate with you~"
"Who?"
"General Ross."
Boom—!
Ye Li released her, twisting the throttle on Veronica, "Let him wait, I'll see how I feel."
"Wait, there's one more thing, Mr.~"
Kate Mara wasn't directly under General Ross, but seeing that Ye Li was considering, she didn't press the matter further.
She turned to him with a seductive gaze... exhaling softly, asking—
"Do you have plans tonight?"
"Hold on."
Ye Li calmly pulled her into his arms, then called out to Tony, "Tony, don't be mad, I'm going to help you teach her a lesson!"
After saying that.
Without waiting for Tony to respond, he wrapped his arms around Kate Mara and rode off on Veronica, a two-person ride.
"Hah?"
Tony had already been puzzled when he saw the officer turning to whisper intimately with Ye Li.
But now, hearing Ye Li's words.
Realizing what was going on, he immediately shouted, "Hey! Li! You're ditching your friend for a woman..."
Tony's words trailed off as he could now only see the tail lights of Veronica's bike.
"Happy, how far are we from Washington, D.C.?"
"Washington?"
Happy calculated, "250 miles."
…..
Washington, D.C. (Peanut Grove District)
"Korea (Chao Xian)"
"Iran (Yiran)"
"Is that Justin Hammer?"
At the military tribunal.
Tony used his high-tech resources to easily expose the military and Justin Hammer's attempts to acquire the Iron Man suit technology.
"Iron Man is very useful, and we are very safe."
Tony Stark slammed his fist on the table, "You want my product? Don't even think about it!"
He stood up from the witness stand, turned around to face all the cameras, spread his arms, and said— "I've successfully privatized world peace!"
"I've successfully privatized world peace? Heh~"
Ye Li mocked Tony after mimicking his line from the live broadcast, "This guy Tony really knows how to boast."
"Li~"
Gwen, with a small peeled fruit sticking to her fingertip, fed it to Ye Li, "Did you have fun at the expo with Mr. Stark yesterday?"
"Extremely boring."
Ye Li swallowed the fruit and casually tasted the slender green onion, "He thought it was cool to fly down with that metal chunk, but he got hit on the head by fireworks."
No face was given to Tony.
"Mm..."
Felicia's cute nose buried into Ye Li's neck as she sniffed lightly. Her snow-white cat ears twitched suddenly, "Master... smells like another woman..."
Jessica, who was playing with Felicia's tail, curiously asked, "Who is it? Cindy or Sky?"
"Not Cindy... nor Sky..."
Felicia's tail swayed as her nose brushed against Ye Li's skin, sniffing carefully, "It's an unfamiliar scent..."
"Hm?"
Jessica narrowed her eyes, catching Ye Li, "Tell me! Brother, who is it? Be honest."
"Ah, well..."
Ye Li thought for a second before quickly blaming Tony, "Of course, it's because of Iron Man's female fans. They're just too enthusiastic."
"Really?"
"Then why did you make us wait so long last night?"
Jessica, in a detective-like manner, pondered and suspiciously asked, "Brother, do you have a mistress?"
"Cough!"
Ye Li nearly choked on his saliva, "Jessica, don't you think the word 'mistress' is a bit inappropriate coming from you?"
"Why is it inappropriate?"
"You bully me every day~"
Jessica, having caught Ye Li, wouldn't let it go so easily. She said in a teasing tone, "Trying to get away with it? Just because I'm your little sister doesn't mean you can get away with it!"
"What's wrong with her?"
Ye Li turned his head to look at Gwen, "Has Jessica been watching some soap operas about neglected wives recently?"
"Heh~ Well, it's because she's always being lectured by my dad and hasn't been out as Lady Knight for a while..."
Gwen remembered something and found it amusing.
She lifted her slender white leg from Ye Li's body, crossing over him to tease Jessica, lightly stepping on her thigh with her delicate foot~
"Jessica can't sit still~"
.....
"She even opened a private detective agency, hmm... helped a client uncover a few cases of infidelity~"
"Gwen! Stop poking me with your feet."
Jessica's secret was revealed, and her face flushed slightly. Annoyed, she grabbed Gwen's fair ankle and moved it away, "So sticky! No wonder you can stand on the wall."
"Private detective agency?"
Ye Li also found it amusing how energetic his sister was.
But later in the evening... how did she become average, just like Gwen and the others?
Could it be because she hasn't developed yet?
"Jessica, where's your detective agency?" Ye Li casually asked.
"Hmph~"
Jessica teased Gwen by scratching the soles of her feet, then proudly said, "It's just outside the Clinton District."
"Cough!!"
Ye Li almost choked again...
Clinton District, also known as "Hell's Kitchen."
You're really something.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Jessica said, "The detective agency is just a cover, I'm actually gathering some intel!"
"Why are you gathering information?"
"Since Kingpin locked himself in prison, Hell's Kitchen has been really chaotic."
"Something about 'Negative Film Man' leading the Demon Gang..."
"'Hammerhead' and the... Maggia gang..."
"'Gravestone' that Gwen couldn't find before..."
Jessica ticked off her fingers, "Recently, there's even been a new one... 'The Hand.' Using your words, all kinds of strange people are coming out."
"Wait... did you say the Hand?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's probably some kind of gang organization, right? I managed to catch a ninja from their group and got some info."
"'Little'... their lives are doing quite well. Some local 'Nihon' people..."
Ye Li's eyes flickered.
Forget the others, but these Hand people are daring to move under his nose...
"Hm?"
Gwen pulled her foot away from Jessica's hands, "Li, what do you mean by 'doing well'?"
"Nothing."
Ye Li glanced at the clock and got up from the sofa, "It's getting late, you should get dressed and head to school. I need to go out for a while too."
"Wait a minute."
Jessica raised her leg, hooking the top of her foot around Ye Li's knee, in a coy manner~
"Hehe, brother, do me a favor~"
…..
"Number 37, this is the place."
Ye Li held the address Jessica gave him and arrived at her detective agency.
Anyway.
He was coming to Hell's Kitchen anyway.
So, he decided to check it out for her.
…..
He used the key to open the door and walked into the detective agency.
Ye Li took a quick look around.
Compared to the Ghost Spider Club, this was a small place. It was just a shopfront temporarily rented by Jessica.
It was very quiet, looking like it could close at any time.
Nothing special.
Ye Li sat down in the well-designed office chair Jessica had, waiting.
Someone, who claimed to be a lawyer, had made a reservation to visit the detective agency today. It seemed like they had some kind of case.
But Jessica had to go to school and was too busy. She had initially wanted to ask Sky to check it out.
But in the end, she handed it over to the very free Ye Li.