Tarasov Industries, Medical Division
"Dr. Helen, about the healing capsule..."
"Sorry, Maya, I'll have to discuss it with you tomorrow."
"Helen..."
The elevator doors gradually closed, leaving Maya Hansen to shrug helplessly.
Helen's face lit up with anticipation as the elevator climbed. Tony had requested her medical expertise for treating the Avengers, but that wasn't what truly excited her. He'd also mentioned that Thor would be present.
The news thrilled Helen, who had always harbored a particular fondness for the God of Thunder among all the Avengers.
"Dr. Helen."
The elevator doors opened, and Helen was about to eagerly step out when an Asian middle-aged man called out to her.
Helen looked over and said with delight, "Jack?"
Jack Lee smiled. "I thought you'd forgotten me."
"How could I?" Helen said joyfully. "You're my senior colleague."
The two exchanged pleasantries. Jack Lee's appearance here wasn't coincidental. He had business with Helen.
"The experimental center in Seoul has been completed," Jack Lee said. "You mentioned bringing the technology back to our country."
Bringing up this matter, Helen hesitated somewhat. "Tarasov Industries has funded my subsequent research, Jack."
"I know," Jack Lee said with some excitement, "but this is a chance for our country to lead the world."
"Have you forgotten, Helen?" Jack Lee pressed. "Our original intention when we entered the medical field."
"I haven't forgotten, Jack." Helen sighed, looking at her persistent senior colleague.
Jack Lee didn't have Helen's talent and had struggled in Korea for a long time. But he was a very patriotic person. Before Helen received investment from Tarasov Industries, Jack Lee had been busy helping her.
Finally having such an opportunity, Jack Lee didn't hesitate to come to New York personally.
"The Regeneration Cradle is a great invention that will change the course of this world," Jack Lee said with fiery eyes. "Once fully developed, our country will make a qualitative leap in medicine."
"I know you're in a difficult position, Helen," Jack Lee reasoned with emotion, "but your contract with Tarasov Industries doesn't restrict you from returning home. As long as you're still the one using the technology, it won't be illegal."
Even so, asking Helen to abandon the team she had built was somewhat difficult. After much hesitation, Helen agreed.
Hearing that she was willing to return home to develop the Regeneration Cradle, Jack Lee breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
This was an interlude. After seeing Jack Lee off, Helen cried out in alarm. She hurried toward Avengers Tower.
Silver Hand Genius Youth Academy
The huge school with only a few people was indeed quite empty.
Edward was trying hard to make himself into something scary. His body walked out another version of himself, which moved outside.
Smedley, carrying a bag of chips and walking back, saw Edward acting like a headless chicken and curiously approached.
"Edward, what's wrong with you?"
Edward didn't speak, just walked straight ahead. He got closer and closer to Smedley. She kept backing away, about to collide.
Edward's body swelled like a balloon, then exploded with a boom under Smedley's terrified expression. Her screams echoed throughout the school.
Edward was punished to stand by the dining table without food.
"I really was wrong. I didn't know you were there," Edward said with a bitter face.
Smedley turned her head away, refusing to look at him. Bertram looked gleeful, while Gerald, as the older brother, maintained a stern face, displaying his authority as administrator.
"Where's the Principal?" Edward, standing without dinner, asked boredly, noticing John wasn't there.
"Speaking of which, I've never seen the Principal eat," Edward said.
"Me neither."
This resonated with everyone. None of them had seen John eat. They turned their curious gazes to Martha.
Martha, who had first encountered John, was skillfully using chopsticks to pick up a piece of duck blood. Sensing their stares, she also fell into thought.
"Mr. Wick really hasn't eaten anything."
This piqued everyone's curiosity. Could John not need to eat?
"Do you think the Principal might be a robot?"
Like children who'd caught an adult's secret, Edward looked excited. He didn't notice that everyone turned their heads away after he spoke, pretending not to hear.
"I think we should look for screws or something."
"High-end robots don't have those things."
"Nonsense, how would you know?" Edward instinctively retorted.
Turning around, he saw John standing calmly behind him. His argumentative words instantly became a very natural bow of apology.
"I was wrong, Principal."
John glanced at the troublemaker Edward and casually knocked his forehead. Edward crouched down, covering his swollen forehead.
"I wasn't lying to you," John raised an eyebrow. "Robots aren't just those kinds. There are some where you can't find screws at all."
"And..." John picked up bread from the table, took a bite, and said flatly, "I eat when I want to."
The people discussing John smiled awkwardly.
John stuffed the bread into Edward's hands and said casually, "What you see isn't necessarily real."
After educating the children, John left. He returned to the manor.
The place was gradually regaining vitality. Weeds didn't have time to grow before being absorbed by nearby trees.
John went to where the two Skrull corpses had been buried. That area was now shaded by green trees, with lush vines and flowers covering all the ugliness.
His wand cleared the way, and surrounding trees moved aside. Two skeletal corpses lay there. John aimed his wand at their right hands.
"Diffindo!"
Starting from the elbows, both arms fell off. Taking the arms, John put them in his pocket.
The vines squeezed like lemons, and blood began flowing from the dried corpses. After collecting two bottles of blood in test tubes, John waved his hand, letting the vines drag the bodies away again.
He went alone to the laboratory. Lighting a cauldron, he threw in some herbs. He poured in spring water from a cold mountain stream. Then he poured in the blood, boiled it, and waited for it to cool.
Repeating this three times, on the final time, John stirred the cauldron.
"Lost souls return home; seeking blood guides the way."
The liquid cooled rapidly. He took out a brush and painted this substance on the severed arms. Repeating this process, continuously brushing it on.
Until the last layer in the cauldron dried, he hung the arms up to air-dry. After two hours of work, the two arms were dried like cured meat.
John nodded. In another month, these things should be ready.
This was an identity detection device. Whenever Skrulls appeared within range, these hands would burst into flames.
After learning there were quite a few of those creatures, John had to prepare defenses. No one knew when Skrulls might infiltrate their surroundings.
For this, he made two Skrull detection devices to deal with them. He hadn't forgotten that he still had a debt to settle with the Skrulls.
Tony was in a daze. He hadn't told anyone about his nightmare. But the nightmare's contents lingered in his mind.
He thought of John. "Arm the entire world with armor?"
He had once said this to John. But at that time, the person he was talking about was John. How had John responded?
Unknowingly, Tony had come to approve of John's approach. The appearance of Iron Soldiers had minimized casualties in the Battle of New York, and seeing those things had led Tony to begin researching the Iron Legion.
But the Iron Legion was controlled by JARVIS, whose computational power was limited. He couldn't fully control all the Iron Legion. There needed to be something that could control Iron Legions worldwide.
Ultron.
This plan had been uncontrollably sprouting in his heart since regaining the Mind Scepter.
"Dr. Helen is here, Tony."
Banner came looking for Tony. Tony came back to his senses, nodded without showing what he'd been thinking, and returned to his usual cynical image.
"Helen, I haven't seen her in a long time." He complained to Banner. "She actually went to work for Tarasov Industries."