This was Chen Yu’s first time in New York, and he didn’t know the normal price for a taxi, but the fare this taxi driver was asking for seemed utterly unreasonable.
For such a short distance, he was brazenly demanding 100 dollars.
Is your car made of gold or silver?
To demand such a high price, I’m afraid it’s not gasoline you’re burning, but gold, right?!
Or did he look young, or was it his Asian face? Or was he alone and easy to bully?
Looking at the taxi driver’s smug expression, Chen Yu decisively pulled out his wand and directly cast a Confundo to make him forget ever seeing him today.
It was a punishment for this exorbitantly priced taxi driver.
However, considering that the taxi driver still had some conscience and didn’t take him to Hell’s Kitchen or other remote places,
Chen Yu decided not to punish him further.
After getting out of the car, Chen Yu looked up at the Stark Tower and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Stark Industries is really f*cking rich!”
To build such a modern, high-tech skyscraper in New York, a place where every inch of land is precious, how much money must that have cost?
Chen Yu passed through the automatic sensor doors of the building and entered the lobby of the Stark Tower.
What greeted his eyes was a giant reactor.
This thing was actually the initial version of the miniature Arc Reactor, huge in size and lacking practicality, but it looked very high-tech.
Stark Industries used it as a decoration on the first floor, and it looked very impressive.
The front desk of Stark Industries was staffed by a woman of average build and appearance.
Although her looks were average, her professional demeanor seemed different from a small company’s receptionist.
She stood tall and composed, and as Chen Yu approached, facing the child-like Chen Yu, the front desk lady still asked with a professional smile, “Hello, this is Stark Industries. May I ask what brings you here, young sir?”
Chen Yu asked if she could help him contact Tony.
The front desk lady still smiled and replied, “Do you have an appointment or a private invitation from Mr. Tony Stark?”
Chen Yu, of course, didn’t have that.
“I’m very sorry, but without an appointment, we cannot contact Mr. Tony Stark. Please make an appointment and come back later.”
Chen Yu decided to bypass the front desk and go upstairs to find Tony himself.
As a result, the front desk lady clapped her hands lightly, and instantly, two security guards in suits popped out from around the corner, blocking Chen Yu’s path.
“I’m very sorry, but unauthorized external personnel are not allowed to visit the company’s interior. We ask for your understanding, young sir.”
The front desk lady still maintained an impeccable professional smile, leaving Chen Yu unsure of what to do.
Although he knew she was just doing her job, that professional smile looked faker the more he saw it.
He even suspected that this front desk was a robot played by jarvis, as the front desk’s professional smile hadn’t changed from the moment he entered until now.
Chen Yu now particularly wanted to go to the restroom, find a place without surveillance, and pull out his Serpent Spell to go invisible upstairs.
If it weren’t for the multiple surveillance cameras in the Stark lobby, Chen Yu would have pulled out his wand and used a Confundo directly to make the front desk and security guards let him in.
Just as Chen Yu was slightly in a dilemma, a group of people came down from the elevator in the lobby.
Leading them was a black-haired middle-aged man in a white lab coat who looked very familiar.
The people following closely behind him were all dressed in suits.
The middle-aged man at the front was arguing heatedly with the group of people, saying, “I’ve told you how many times, don’t come to me about closing the weapons division anymore! I can’t influence Tony Stark’s opinion at all! If you don’t want to close Stark Industries’ weapons division, then you should contact Mr. Tony Stark or Ms. Pepper Potts directly! Coming to me won’t have any effect!”
The others tried every means to persuade the man, pleading, “But… but… Chief Designer Mr. Ethan, you saved Mr. Stark’s life, how could you…”
“So you want me to use the favor of saving his life to threaten him and convince him not to close the weapons division?”
“You’re joking, we just hope you can mention it briefly at a party or banquet, just say a word, please, we don’t want to lose this job!”
Ethan stopped, staring at the face of the man who blocked his way, and said earnestly, “Mr. Tony Stark said he wouldn’t fire you, but would transfer you to the newly formed clean energy department. You won’t lose this job. Or do you think going to the new department is not as comfortable as staying in the original department, Director Servis Ed?”
Mr. Servis Ed was the former director of Stark Industries’ military industrial sector. When Tony Stark decided to close the weapons division, this gentleman was the first to be affected.
After all, he had privately received many benefits from the military and promised to complete tasks, but Tony wanted to close the weapons division as soon as he returned. Although the huge compensation for violating orders wouldn’t fall on him, the privately received benefits still had to be returned. The problem was that most of the money had already been spent, and now he couldn’t spit it out even if he wanted to, which really troubled Mr. Servis Ed.
Chen Yu stared at Dr. Ethan’s forehead. Dr. Ethan, after changing his clothes and cutting his hair, was almost unrecognizable to him after a little grooming.
Now, Dr. Ethan no longer looked like he did when they first met; instead, he had a unique designer’s temperament.
However, after confirming it was Dr. Ethan, Chen Yu shouted at him, “Dr. Ethan, over here!”
Hearing the sound, Dr. Ethan turned around, saw Chen Yu waving to him, widened his eyes, and after confirming he wasn’t mistaken, immediately broke free from the people around him, strode quickly to Chen Yu, and hugged him tightly.
“Child, I’m so glad to see you again, it’s really great that you’re okay!” Dr. Ethan’s eyes were a little moist. “Tony sent people to search the city where you disappeared for two days, but they couldn’t find any trace of you. We were all very worried about you.”
After speaking, he took Chen Yu’s hand and walked upstairs, saying, “Come on, let’s go find Ms. Pepper Potts and have her tell Tony the news. Believe me, Tony will also be surprised to see you again.”
“Except for seeing him once at a pool party when he recently returned, Tony has been holed up in his villa, not going anywhere, saying he won’t see anyone until he designs a new suit of armor, and he’s turned off all his contacts to prevent outside interference. Now, besides Pepper, no one can reach him.”
“As for me? I’ve now been appointed Chief Designer of Stark Industries, and I have too many things to deal with every day, especially after Tony announced the closure of the weapons division. People keep coming to me, trying to see if I can change Tony’s mind, which is ridiculous.”
“Why come to me instead of Ms. Pepper? I’m just a lowly employee.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, Ms. Pepper is Tony’s personal assistant. All of Tony’s daily affairs are handled by her.”
With the new Chief Designer Ethan leading the way, the front desk lady didn’t dare to stop them.
Sitting in the elevator, Ethan couldn’t help but ask Chen Yu where the bald woman had taken him.
Chen Yu told the truth, informing Ethan that he had spent the past few days in a place called Kamar-Taj, learning new magic.
Upon reaching the secretary’s office, Chen Yu saw Ms. Pepper Potts, who was busy reviewing company documents.
Pepper Potts was Tony Stark’s personal assistant and the person he trusted most within the company.
Tony Stark was essentially a hands-off boss at Stark Industries; all company management affairs were handled by Ms. Pepper Potts.
Tony and Pepper were like fish and water.
She was an indispensable woman in Tony’s life.
Pepper was actually very infatuated with Tony Stark, otherwise she wouldn’t have constantly looked after Tony’s private life, cleaned up his messes, and kept his life organized.
Although Tony was a super genius, capable of inventing all sorts of items far beyond this era,
No one is perfect, and in his personal life, Tony was an idiot. Without Pepper’s help, he couldn’t even remember his own social security number.
If Pepper Potts wasn’t truly in love, why would she constantly help him manage everything and organize his chaotic life?
Ethan gently knocked on the office door. Hearing the knock, Pepper looked up and saw Ethan entering with Chen Yu.
“Please come in.”
She carefully looked at Chen Yu’s face, a small boy with black eyes and black hair, and remembered Tony talking about his experience in Afghanistan, mentioning a magical Asian boy with a shaved head who was taken by a woman in yellow clothes.
Seeing Dr. Ethan standing nearby, she immediately realized who Chen Yu was and said with great surprise, “I’ve heard Tony talk about you! You’re that magical magic kid!”
Hearing Pepper’s address for him, Chen Yu felt exceptionally awkward.
What “magical magic kid”? It would be better to call him a sorcerer or a magician.
So he retorted, “Hello, Ms. Pepper, my name is Chen Yu, and I am a wizard, definitely not some magical magic kid.”