Chapter 71
Samuel
Samuel looked at Tony, then at the large hole above his head, and after a long silence, asked:
Are you an alien?
Tony stood up, then slumped slightly before leaping to Samuel's side on the second floor. Before he could speak, Samuel rushed up with his tools, shouting:
"Alien, you must be an alien. Could you draw some blood—no, perhaps 'bodily fluids' would be a better word—so I can study you?"
Tony quickly reached out and pressed down on Samuel, then explained, "I don't have the habit of exchanging bodily fluids with men, and don't you recognize me?"
Samuel scratched his head, looked Tony closely, and then said seriously, "Um, I can't remember, have we met before, Mr. Alien?"
"I am Tony Stark!" This was the first time since Tony's transmigration that he hadn't received celebrity treatment, and there were still people who didn't recognize him.
"Tony, Tony Stark!" Samuel finally reacted and exclaimed excitedly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Stark, um, um, the way you appeared was so impressive, I thought you were an alien! Of course I know you, I heard you speak at a science rally in Washington, although I don't know much about computational organic arrays, your speech still impressed me."
After the praise ended, Samuel pressed on, "So, was your landing just now a new weapon, Stark's new airdrop method?" As he spoke, Samuel looked up at the large hole in the roof, trying to find a plane or something.
"No, it's just simple bio-enhancement. It's basically jumping off a plane," Tony said bluntly, then picked up the overturned lab table that had been smashed open by the floorboards.
"That's impossible. The human body can't be that strong. Not to mention the muscles, the bones couldn't withstand it," Samuel immediately retorted.
"Can't Mr. Green do that?" Tony suddenly said.
"Mr. Green, he may be able to, but he isn't." At this point, Samuel suddenly covered his mouth, realizing he had said too much.
"So stop playing dumb, Dr. Lan. You just saw me jump off the roof, so you should know that I used some enhancement technology."
Samuel dropped the pretense, but still emphasized, "I still don't think it's a simple enhancement. After all, your clothes are fine, which doesn't make sense, unless there's something wrong with the material of the clothes."
As he spoke, Samuel stared nakedly at Tony, or rather, at Tony's clothes, but Tony was clearly uncomfortable with it, after all, Samuel was a man.
"Ahem, let's get down to business." Tony had already sensed through his telekinesis that there was a large amount of Hulk's blood stored in the room behind him. To be precise, Samuel had used a cloning technique to separate, purify, and then cultivate the blood that Banner had mailed to him.
In Tony's telepathic perception, the bags of blood glowed like nuclear reactors, except the glow was green.
Tony pushed open the door to the room behind him, pointed at the blood, and said, "How's your research going? Have you figured out the principle behind it?"
Samuel hurriedly stepped forward to close the door, but it wouldn't budge. He could only force an explanation: "I still don't understand what you mean. Although I welcome your visit, I think a more formal procedure would be better. If you don't leave, I'll call security."
"Security? That commotion was quite loud. You can think about why the security guards haven't come yet." As he spoke, Tony looked out the window.
Samuel followed Tony's gaze and suddenly noticed several cars parked outside the window, all bearing the Stark Industries logo, and armed men in Stark security uniforms standing guard and driving away students attracted by the explosion.
"You entered a public university in New York with a weapon; that's illegal! That's against the law." Samuel hadn't expected that the wealthy could act so recklessly.
"Calm down. The law doesn't really mean much to me, but I'll still stick to the law. Jarvis, explain the situation to Dr. Samuel."
Jarvis's voice came from Samuel's computer.
"Just three hours ago, Stark Industries sponsored a sum of money for Greyburn College, and Mr. Stark became one of the college's directors as a result. He also used his directorship rights to fund and strengthen the college's security measures. Specifically, Stark Industries' security department officially took over the security services for Greyburn College."
"Of course, I also think it's a bit inappropriate for the security department to send so many people, but I think your research is worth it!" Tony said, walking forward and picking up a bag of cloned Hulk blood, wondering if he could just transfuse it directly, since that's what Abomination did in the original comics.
"You can't do this! This is my research! My Nobel Prize!" Samuel stepped forward to snatch the blood sample back from Tony's hand. Samuel now believed that Tony had somehow gotten wind of the research and was here to steal the results.
"Don't get so excited." Tony raised his hand, and Samuel floated into the air, flailing his arms and legs wildly, as if swimming in the air.
"What is this? Is it some kind of stance?" Samuel, who was originally excited, immediately shifted his attention when he saw the new and unknown technology. Clearly, he was a rather simple-minded and fanatical scientist with the potential to become a mad scientist.
"What is this? Maybe you can research it yourself later. Do you think I need to steal your research now? Nobel, I think I should establish a Stark Prize for scientific contributions," Tony said shamelessly.
"So what do you mean?" Samuel calmed down a bit. Indeed, although Banner's blood was very magical, it was not enough to make Stark personally come out to snatch it.
"No rush, we can talk slowly, Jarvis. How much time do we have?"
Jarvis immediately replied, "General Ross's plane has just entered U.S. airspace and is expected to arrive in two hours and fifteen minutes."
"That's enough. Samuel Stern graduated from the City University of New York, a pretty average school. However, he did his PhD in cell biology at Columbus University, but he had a conflict with his advisor, their relationship broke down, and he didn't get his degree. He has published quite a few papers since he started working, but because of his advisor's background, none of them can be published. He's even been described as a slightly clever academic fraudster with a head full of garbage fantasies."
Samuel's expression grew increasingly grim as Tony read his resume. Finally, he snapped, "Enough, Tony Stark! What are you trying to do? Humiliate me?"
"No, I'm here to give you a chance, a chance to make a name for yourself. The Nobel Prize? That's just a small beginning."
Samuel glanced at Hulk's blood sample and said dismissively, "I have this opportunity; I don't need your charity."
"These things? Do you know what kind of treatment you would receive if I hadn't come?" Seeing Samuel's clueless expression, Tony patiently explained:
"You'll be broken into by a bunch of American soldiers, locked in a torture chamber, and after a series of severe tortures, even if you manage to get out alive, you'll be blacklisted by the entire industry, since no one dares to hire a scientist who steals military secrets."