New York City, in a rented boratory.

  The two founders of the still-developing Os Industries were faced with a special guest: a representative from the military.

  In the past, if a military representative had shown up, they would have been thrilled. But now, judging by their expressions, it was clear that things were not as simple.

  This military representative was not here to i. Instead, he was sent by a military research facility to recruit these two geo work for them.

  Norman and Otto, although they hadn't yet achieved success, had performed quite well in academid had made some impressive statements. With Howard retired and the young Tony still growing, the military wao seize this opportunity to reduce its dependen Stark Industries. They her geo join the military effort.

  Although Stark Industries paid signifit taxes, the military couldn't afford to rely on a single corporation for all its needs.

  However, Norman and Otto were displeased with the offer.

  They had their own ideals and goals. They didn't want to join the military to make ons. They wao be at the top, to be the bosses, not research employees w for the military.

  "We’re sorry, Major Rhodes, but we ot accept your proposal. We have our own research to focus on. Apologies." Otto was the first to dee the offer, and although Norman had something he wao say, he ultimately nodded in agreement.

  Otto was right. The work he wao do couldn’t be dohin the military. Only by starting his own pany and trolling his own resources could he freely duct his research.

  ‘I must cure Emily’s family geic disease. I ’t give up for the sake of immediate gain.’

  "Is that so? What a shame." the military representative, James Rhodes, said, not f the issue. He po leave immediately.

  Just then, Lex Luthor, pyed by Reid, swaggered into the room through the main door, his voice dripping with arrogance.

  "Oh? A shame? Lex Luthor just walked in. You should be celebrating.”

  "Who are you?" Norman immediately turned and asked, clearly nnizing the bald man and w what gave him the right to eheir b.

  "Lex Luthor?" Rhodes and Otto exged a gnce, both with a faint reition of the name.

  Uhe influence of the system, Luthor’s information had merged with this world. Being a genius himself, Otto had heard of Lex Luthor.

  As for Rhodes, he remembered the list of stists he had received while on mission, whicluded Lex Luthor’s name. Luthor was listed among the top stists and rime didate for recruitment.

  However, the information stated that Luthor had been residing in the chaoti City. Rhodes had po finish inviting the stists in New York first and theo Gotham to search for Luthor. He hadn’t expected Luthor to show up on his own.

  ‘And from the looks of it, it seems like Lex Luthor is here for these two.’ Rhodes realized.

  Uanding that, he chose to stay quiet, intending to observe what would happe.

  "Who am I? As a stist, you don’t know the name of Lex Luthor? That’s quite a failure on your part." Reid said, shaking his head. He the Norman and Otto’s research papers onto the floor with one swift motion.

  This a left even Otto, the normally calm one, fuming with anger.

  "You've gooo far! Luthor!" Otto snapped.

  "Too far? Am I really that over the top?" Reid replied, pointing to the scattered papers on the floor.

  "Biogeic traeology, brain-mae interface teology—sure, it sounds promising. But do you have the capability to actually make it happen? Without substahese ideas are nothing. They belong on the floor." Reid tinued, his voice sharp.

  "You..." Norman and Otto were both enraged by Reid's words. They were barded as geniuses in their field, and beiled like this was a new experience for them.

  "What’s wrong with that? I came here to show you what a true genius looks like."

  With that, Reid grabbed a whiteboard from the side and began writing his already prepared materials onto it.

  Rhodes tried to move closer to see, but Reid quickly shooed him away, saying he was being a hindrance.

  This frustrated Rhodes. He just wao watch the spectacle, but now he was being dismissed? He wasn’t even a stist!

  Meanwhile, Norman and Otto’s expressions began to ge.

  Otto, who mainly focused on physid eology, could tell that Luthor's so-called super-soldier pn wasn’t bad, but he didn’t feel any immediate e to it.

  Norman, however, was a biologist. He immediately uood the significe of the detailed information. There were only two possibilities: either Luthor was showing off with ent cepts just to grab attention, or he had already developed a w prototype, and what he was dispying now were just the results derived from it.

  As for Rhodes, at first, he hadn’t thought much of it, since he couldn’t uand the material. But after seeing Norman and Otto’s expressions, he realized... Maybe he wasn’t supposed to uand it after all.

  Still, not wanting to look out of pce, he put on a serious expression, staring at the whiteboard and pretending to uand the plex terms he couldn’t even reize.

  "Well, gentlemen, do I have your attention now?" Reid asked, a slight smirk pying on his lips as he revealed the full set of information.

  After that, he leaned against a nearby table, watg the surprised expressions of the others.

  ‘As expected, pying characters like Luthor and Tony Stark was easy, just be arrogant and over the top.’ Reid was secretly pleased as his role-pying progress tio climb.

  Otto g Norman, who slowly nodded in response.

  At first, they hadn’t uood what Luthor’s iions were in ing to them. But now, they did.

  "Presenting such teology to us... what do you want iurn?" Norman asked.

  Reid smiled faintly. He had known from the start that Otto might not see the value of the teolht now, Otto was just a stist focused on achieving his own goals.

  But Norman, the capitalist disguised as a stist, would certainly uand the worth of this research material.

  No need for the eborate approach he used with Tony Stark. With Norman, Reid got straight to the point.

  "I'm putting up this teology and five million dolrs to i in your pany. So, gentlemen, how much of a stake are you ?"

  Rhodes, standing off to the side, wao say something. After all, Luthor was also on his recruitment list. If he joihe pany, wouldn't that mean his invitation was dead ier?

  But just as he was about to speak, he realized—he had no standing to interfere in their deal.

  **

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