Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Tony’s eyes lit up. “So, you’ll be coming back?”
Luke said, “Who knows?”
After a rare chat via typed messages, Tony stared blankly at the conversation for a long time before he scratched his chin and mumbled, “The return of Batman?”
As soon as he said that, he immediately shook his head. “That’s impossible. Those people will then say that we were lying to the public! Could it be…”
Thinking of another possibility, the tycoon nodded uncertainly. “That should be the case.”
Then, he suddenly thought of something. “Wait, if that’s the case, those three Bat darts will be priceless!”
After hesitating for a long while, he finally sighed and said, “Jarvis, add the Bat darts to the charity auction list and set them as the first item.”
Jarvis said, “Yes, sir.
“Bat darts 001 to 003 have been added to the auction list.” A moment later, Jarvis spoke again. “But are you really going to sell them, sir? You said you would keep them as collector’s items for the rest of your life.”
Tony shook his head. “He set up the foundation in the first place to help victims. If we can get those rich young masters to buy them now, we won’t waste his efforts.”
Jarvis was still a little confused. “Sir, I don’t think the final price will be more than 20 million dollars, which is already the highest possible markup. You… don’t seem to be short of money?”
Tony smiled. “Because the day I bought them, someone sent me a message.”
Jarvis asked, “What?”
Tony said, “Sell them again when there’s hype.”
Jarvis: …
It felt that there was a little problem with its program logic. Neither its master nor Alfred’s master seemed to be short of money; why were they so obsessed with the price of the Bat darts?
This was like two billionaires trying to scam the boss of a noodle shop every day. It didn’t make sense at all.
Tony didn’t continue explaining it to Jarvis. After all, the A.I. wasn’t as cunning as humans.
From the very beginning, Batman’s “souvenirs” were sold to the rich.
Even if these people forked out millions, it wouldn’t affect their lives. It was purely voluntary.
The money would become a charity fund for the victims.
As for whether the money belonged to Tony’s foundation or Batman’s rescue foundation, there was no real difference. Neither of them cared who paid more, as long as it was the common people who benefited.
Tony had bought the darts at the beginning just to prevent other magnates from benefiting from this appreciation in value.
Everybody knew that the price of the first set of “autographed” darts from Batman could only increase, not fall — because Tony Stark wasn’t short of money.
At that moment, Tony couldn’t help but admire Batman.
Not because the other party was selfless, but because it seemed like he had been waiting for this moment.
Even with Stark Industries’ financial resources, it was impossible for them to cover all the costs of the aftermath of the Battle of New York.
But this was a matter for the whole of America, and Stark Industries didn’t have to bear it alone.
In the end, more money meant being able to take care of more people at the bottom, which was good for both the people and superheroes.
Money couldn’t solve all problems, but it could solve most of them.
Money couldn’t save lives, but it could make lives a little better.
Thinking that, he had Jarvis call Pepper. “Has the disaster control department been set up?”
Pepper was very busy. She clearly said a few words to the person next to her before she replied, “Not that soon. However, the main infrastructure will be done in a month at most. I can’t do much else.”
Tony frowned. “Whatever the Chitauri left behind can’t be left lying around for a month.”
Pepper said, “New York authorities will cover the cleanup and transport for now. The disaster control department will take over once it’s set up.”
Tony nodded. “Okay. Hm, are you coming back tonight?”
Pepper was silent for a moment before she said, “I’ll try my best. Don’t wait for me. Get some rest if you’re tired.”
Tony said, “I can’t sleep without you.”
Pepper chuckled. “Really? What time did I get home yesterday? Jarvis, don’t remind him.”
Tony glanced at the screen that had just appeared next to him and said airily, “You… uh, just got home this morning?”
Pepper said, “Yes, which is why you only saw me make breakfast when you woke up.”
Tony coughed awkwardly. Pepper didn’t bother to rub it in, and simply hung up.
The tycoon shook his head helplessly. “Jarvis, couldn’t you have let me know a little faster?”
Jarvis said, “Sir, you were too quick to speak.”
What could Tony say? He had spoken at the same time that Jarvis had projected the answer.
Otherwise, he would’ve known right away that it had been a trick question.
…
While Tony was busy, Luke wasn’t idle either.
Two days later, he finally took the time to allocate stat points to his basic stats.
In the system, the host’s level was 22.
Strength: 30 (Star of Justice +10)
Dexterity: 29 (Star of Justice +10)
Mental Strength: 30 (Star of Justice +10)
Extra stat points: 20
Experience: 3,145,000 / 5,000,000
Credit: 6,142,000
Looking at the numbers on the panel, Luke’s heart was heavy.
The small fry who wreaked havoc in New York weren’t worth any experience or credit points.
They had been controlled remotely by the Chitauri army, which was why they had suddenly shut down after the space portal closed.
Thus, most of the experience and credit points Luke obtained this time came from “rescues.”
He had only obtained several hundred thousand points from destroying the second mothership, crippling the first mothership and destroying some of the real Chitauri.
He estimated that these dead Chitauri had killed at least 20,000 New Yorkers.
Of course, it wasn’t just 20,000 people who had died in New York.
Thus, the remaining Chitauri were either safe and sound in the first mothership or had survived the destruction of the second.
It was a pity that Luke didn’t get his hands on the Predators’ tablet-like nuclear weapon back then, or there wouldn’t still be so many Chitauri left.
Most of the experience and credit points were for saving the people of New York.
Some of them were the results of his own efforts, and some were shared by his 3-star teammate, Selina.
He estimated that the total experience and credit points for this New York rescue mission should be around 18 million.
Some reports claimed that it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the disaster could have caused millions of casualties.
In the end, his own gains plus the contributions from his teammates made up 37% of the entire mission. In reality, he obtained 6.7 million experience and credit points.
Such a huge amount of points directly topped up the several hundred thousand points needed for him to reach level 20, the one million needed to reach level 21, and the three million needed to reach level 22.
Luke had leveled up three times in a row.
His level had jumped from 19 to 22.
As for the extra stat points, he obtained six points for leveling up from level 19 to 20. As for levels 21 and 22, he obtained seven points for each level, which gave him a total of 20 points.
In fact, Luke had already reached level 20 before the end of the Battle of New York.
It wasn’t until two days later that he was ready to use the remaining stat points.
