Chapter 37: The Intruder (Three)

"Union Construction? A shell company?" Luca repeated the keywords Shamira had spoken.

"Yes. This company, called Union Construction, just recently reached an agreement with the city government to be responsible for the post-disaster reconstruction of the Hell's Kitchen area."

"However... according to the private investigator's findings, this company was actually established less than a year ago. It has never even handled any real estate business before."

"So he suspects that someone is merely using the name of this shell company to obtain construction permits through bribery."

Luca, sitting in the back seat, furrowed his brows and remained silent.

If the name "Union Construction" only sounded vaguely familiar, adding "Hell's Kitchen" to the mix made it hard not to think of a certain well-known, hardworking villain who is said to be 90% muscle.

The Kingpin of New York's underworld.

Well, in truth, the Kingpin might not be that legendary yet. Putting aside the criminal underworld, at least among the prominent social philanthropists, there was no sign of a "kind" giant named Wilson Fisk.

Going by the MCU timeline, the Kingpin should not have started his "whitewashing" process yet, and his criminal empire had not yet reached its peak. As for whether he successfully laundered his image using the real estate opportunities following the Battle of New York, Luca had no way of knowing.

'But why would that guy, the Kingpin, suddenly set his sights on me?'

The thought had barely crossed his mind before Luca shook his head with a wry smile.

His current situation was undoubtedly that of a child walking through a busy market clutching gold—innocent, yet guilty for possessing a treasure. He had a massive company and various assets, but his father was dead, his mother was in a coma, he hadn't truly inherited the estate, and he had no usable resources at his disposal.

Anyone with a hint of malice could easily act upon it; how much more so for a villain like the Kingpin, who had no bottom line? Luca owed a debt of gratitude to the two other minority shareholders who died in the Battle of New York for slowing down the board of directors, who otherwise would have already moved against him.

'Hmm, I shouldn't lock onto a target just yet. Based on the current information, it’s not necessarily the Kingpin behind the scenes. I still need to find my deadbeat uncle before making any decisions.'

After all, with the current information, everything was still just speculation. If he misidentified the target and provoked a troublesome character like the Kingpin for no reason, it would be a net loss for Luca. Even if he used his "ultimate move" to call in Tony Stark, without concrete evidence, Stark wouldn't just fly over in a Mark armor to take out the Kingpin, nor could he stay by his side to protect him around the clock.

In the end, he could only rely on himself.

"Aunt Shamira, this private investigator seems quite capable to have gathered so much information in such a short time. Tell him to find out exactly where Dragan is as soon as possible—offer him more money if needed!"

"Understood."

The rest of the journey was silent. Not long after, Luca and Shamira returned home.

After a simple dinner, Luca hurried into his underground laboratory.

The 3D-printed armor for Baymax was now complete. Luca carefully inspected it, polished the rougher spots, and then, satisfied, called Baymax over to test the armor piece by piece.

"Hmm, looks pretty good, right? Maybe I'll paint it gold and red later to play Iron Man."

Baymax, clad in the armor, stood there blankly, his camera-eyes blinking. He didn't look remotely intimidating.

"This does not seem to aid in medical care work." (●—●)

"Remember what I told you?"

"The best medical care is preventing all possible dangers before the patient is even injured?" (●—●)

"Exactly. Now, you’re even better at preventing danger."

As he spoke, Luca patted Baymax’s sturdy new armor.

'It's a pity the material for the arms hasn't arrived yet. Otherwise, I could have synthesized it all at once. Once the tactical team Shamira mentioned arrives tomorrow, I can go look for new core components.'

Whether it was finding the mastermind or tracking Dragan, Luca couldn't get involved personally; he could only leave it to his subordinates. All he could do was wait passively while expanding his arsenal.

'If I had the tracking glasses when I saw Dragan at the funeral, I wouldn't have to worry so much now.'

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door to the staircase leading to the lab.

"Young Master Luca! Are you in there?"

Hearing Shamira’s slightly anxious shout, Luca felt a flicker of doubt, but he pressed the button beside his computer desk, opening the laboratory door.

"Come in."

Shamira pushed the door open and entered immediately. Luca noticed that she was already holding a pistol.

"Young Master, there seem to be intruders on the villa grounds!"

Just moments ago, Shamira had been on the third floor talking to the Orange family's foundation, trying to schedule a time to discuss Luca’s plan to allocate funds for the development of targeted drugs. However, through the open window, she noticed two suspicious vans driving rapidly toward the villa.

The Orange family’s seaside villa in Connecticut was in a fairly remote location, intended for vacations. Most of the time it was left vacant, managed by a professional villa maintenance company, and the surrounding villas were in a similar state. As far as Shamira knew, none of the nearby neighbors had been in residence lately.

The appearance of those two vans, with their clear intent, immediately caught her attention.

When Shamira saw the vans stop in a distant clearing and over a dozen people swarm out, even though it was night and they were far away, she couldn't see if they were armed, but she made her judgment in an instant.

They were coming for Young Master Luca. The reason they hadn't stopped closer was merely to prevent the sound of their vehicles from alerting those inside the house.

Facing this situation, Shamira had immediately grabbed her gun and rushed downstairs to find Luca.

However, upon hearing that there were intruders, Luca became surprisingly calm. He reached out and clicked a few times on his desk.

A wall that had appeared empty suddenly slid aside, revealing an entire weapons rack filled with various models of firearms.

Luca shrugged slightly and gestured with his hand.

"Try not to use the ones on the right; those aren't licensed."