The Nine-Headed Hydra in Action

"Um, please don't misunderstand. Although your daughter is very beautiful, I value our friendship even more!" Tony said earnestly.

After all, Tony wasn't controlled by Little Head. Sleeping with Betty wouldn't be a big deal, but getting involved with a cheap father-in-law like Ross would be a huge loss. If they got too close, how would Tony continue to swindle money from Ross in the future?

Ross didn't have much faith in Tony's words. After all, Tony's scandals could support a gossip magazine, so he had to be careful. However, he also knew he shouldn't bring up this topic anymore.

"What are you planning to do? Buy a seat on Culver University's board of directors as well?"

Tony shook his head and said, "No need for that. It's your turn, General. After all, there's not much hatred between a father and daughter. Talk to your daughter and sponsor the project. Doing scientific research isn't easy these days."

"I'll consider it," Ross said hesitantly. Putting everything else aside, talking to his daughter had touched Ross's heart.

"If that doesn't work, I can go too. I'll just say that you introduced me, General. Anyway, Stark Industries has a budget for research funding every year, so it doesn't matter who gets the money."

"You can go now. I'll handle Betty's matter!" It was clear that it was safer for Tony to handle it himself than to let him have contact with his daughter.

"Alright, take your time to think it over." Seeing that Ross was really angry, Tony quickly took his leave, afraid of upsetting the old man.

After leaving Ross's office, Tony wandered around the base. Eric and the others were still on their mission and were stationed at the base, with nothing to do but train every day.

However, there was one exception among the team members: Bronsky would come over whenever he had free time. Due to their shared experiences and years of military service, Bronsky got along very well with the team members.

Eric and Bronsky, in particular, have a very good relationship and often get together alone to chat.

Upon seeing Tony approach, Eric quickly stood up to greet him and introduced Bronsky.

"Boss, this is Bronsky, a British Royal Marine special forces soldier, now under General Ross."

"Hello, Bronsky." Tony greeted Bronsky after hearing the introduction.

Bronsky had his own agenda in cultivating relationships with Eric and others, and now that he had met the person in charge, he didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.

"Mr. Stark, I heard from Eric that your company has advanced human enhancement technology."

Eric's expression didn't change much when he heard Bronsky's words, which meant he knew Bronsky's purpose and that the two had even discussed it before.

Eric estimated that he told Bronsky that Tony didn't like beating around the bush and that sometimes being direct was more effective.

Tony answered directly, "Yes, Eric and his team are using this technology, and I believe it will see even greater breakthroughs in the future."

"Can I use it? Can I join Umbrella Corporation?" Bronsky bluntly stated his position.

Tony hesitated for a moment. Recruiting another general would indeed be a good idea, and he wouldn't have to worry about Bronsky being like Lu Bu, since he had been injected with his enhancements and there was no possibility of him betraying him.

But right now, Ross and I are in the honeymoon phase. It doesn’t seem appropriate for me to poach his soldiers instead of his daughter. Besides, Ross will eventually promote my T-virus enhancement, and then his soldiers will become my soldiers. So there’s no need to rush.

After weighing the pros and cons, Tony began to explain.

"Although I would love to recruit you to Umbrella, I am currently cooperating with General Ross."

Tony phrased it more tactfully, not saying everything, but Bronsky understood what Tony meant and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

These days, training with Eric and others, Bronsky has become increasingly aware of the gap between the two sides and has come to a profound understanding that there are limits to being human, and that only by transcending human limitations can one unleash limitless potential.

However, Tony's next words gave Bronsky hope.

"Don't be sad. I think General Ross has his plans. The cargo that just arrived should have what you want, and Eric and his team's enhancement potions will soon be sold to General Ross."

Upon hearing Tony's words, Bronsky immediately stopped being depressed, though he did so in a somewhat subtle way.

"That's a real shame. I still admire Umbrella Corporation."

Although he said that, what Bronsky really thought was, it would be best not to be a dog of capitalists. It would be great to be able to strengthen himself and serve his country. No, wait, I think I'm Russian. I served in Britain and now I'm being transferred to the US military. Oh well, whatever. Being a soldier and fighting is what I should be doing.

"I need to go to the medical room to check on my teammates, so I'll be leaving now." Knowing that something had arrived, Bronsky was already impatient and made up an excuse to leave.

After Bronsky left, Tony began assigning tasks to Eric:

"Next, your people will split into three groups. One group will go to Greenburn College, and the other group will go to Culver University. This group should take the T0 experimental subjects with them; I expect there will definitely be fighting at the university."

"Okay, is there one more group?" Eric asked.

"The last group returned to the company. Wesker said that someone is targeting the company again recently, so we sent some people back to strengthen security, at least to ensure that the No. 3 experimental building is built. After the experimental building is on track, we also need to train another batch of professional security personnel. These people need to be kept separate from Ross's people. Ross cannot know about this research."

"Okay, I understand." Eric nodded to indicate that he understood the task.

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"Coulson, are you guys ready over there?"

"We're ready, but are we sure we want to do this? We could explain what happened last time, but if we do it this time, we might not be able to reconcile with Tony Stark."

"This is the council's decision, Coulson, and the director has also authorized it."

"Okay, I'm ready to start anytime."

"OK, we've landed. You can begin." Rumlow hung up the communication and glanced at his comrades around him before giving them instructions.

"If there's any commotion at the entrance, the security personnel will gather there, and we'll rush out of our stealth fighters. Our target is the experimental building. We'll blast open the security checkpoint, then head straight down. Our objective is to find the central server room where the experimental data is stored and copy the research data. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," came the unified reply.

Rumlow smiled with satisfaction; it's always better to have your own people.

Although the previous attempt was unsuccessful, it wasn't a complete failure. Black Widow successfully brought back the lab's layout and some photos of the lab.

That's right. After removing the invisibility cloak, the leather suit underneath also had a problem; it could also take pictures. When Natasha was finally carried away, she tried to look at the surrounding scene, which was actually being photographed.

After the photos were developed, Nick Fury filed them as usual without saying anything. However, under the manipulation of certain individuals, they ended up in the hands of the Security Council. At a regular meeting convened by Pierce, this document directly ignited the meeting.

"This is illegal biological experimentation and must be shut down! The data must be in the hands of the Security Council."