Lynn's insane concept of "Super Villains" shattered the inherent perception of the "Hero Business" held by all the executives present.
They were accustomed to manufacturing polished, glamorous products.
They were used to calculating the return on investment.
They were used to reaping fame and fortune within the safety zone.
Yet Lynn wanted them to personally create a "Monster" capable of destroying it all.
"Aside from the villains..."
Lynn broke the silence, his voice returning to its usual calm.
The orator who had exuded a dangerous aura just moments ago seemed like nothing more than a collective hallucination.
"I also need an academy."
He scanned the crowd and continued: "An academy belonging solely to Vought. One specifically for those teenagers who have just awakened and feel lost about their future."
"Dr. Hannibal Lecter's personality restructuring program is efficient, but the cost is too high, and it only applies to a few gems in the rough. What we need is scalability and industrialization."
"We must start from a blank slate to paint the heroes this World wants. From values and codes of conduct to loyalty to Vought."
Every person present could understand this proposal.
Compared to the ethereal "Super Villain," this "Hero Academy" plan sounded much more like a guaranteed profitable venture.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and the atmosphere became lively once again.
The meeting concluded, and the executives filed out.
Everyone's face carried anticipation for the new plan.
Lynn returned to his office, sat down, and toyed with his pen while lost in thought.
The current technologies and networks were, after all, too backward.
Many grander ideas could not be realized due to the technological limitations of this era.
Even these so-called "villains" currently lacked any sense of menace.
Robbing convenience stores, brawling in crowds...
This level of trouble, let alone Vought's heroes, could be handled even by well-equipped Police.
The audience would get bored sooner or later.
However, Lynn was not in a hurry.
One must eat one bite at a time and take one step at a time.
This World had plenty of time for him to play slowly.
The phone on the desk rang. Motoko Kusanagi picked it up, spoke a few words, and then handed the receiver to Lynn.
"Boss, it's a call from Howard Stark."
"Lynn! My old friend! Are you free tonight? Come to my Villa for dinner! Maria made your favorite Beef Wellington!"
Howard Stark's unique voice came from the other end of the line.
"Of course, my pleasure."
Lynn smiled and agreed.
After hanging up, Lynn looked at Motoko Kusanagi, who was waiting for his instructions, and said, "We'll go together tonight."
"Very well, Boss."
At night, the StarkVilla was brightly lit.
Motoko Kusanagi drove a low-key black car and parked it smoothly at the entrance.
Howard Stark, wearing casual loungewear, gave Lynn a warm hug.
"Tony! Come here quickly and greet your godfather!"
Howard shouted towards the house.
A young man wearing a T-shirt with a band logo and messy hair walked over reluctantly.
He had a pair of brown eyes as intelligent as Howard's, but his gaze held a bit of the rebellion unique to geniuses.
"We're so familiar with each other, can't we skip this?"
After muttering this, Tony saw his father's look and ultimately compromised.
Tony, who saw Lynn several times a year, looked his godfather up and down.
If his memory served him right, his godfather's appearance hadn't changed since he could remember.
He even looked about the same age as him.
He turned his head to look at his dad, hmm, too old.
Lynn heard Tony's muttering, a smile appearing on his face, not caring at all about the kid's thoughts.
"Howard, I remember you telling me that this genius of yours, who entered MIT at fifteen, was also..."
He intentionally drew out the sound, successfully causing Tony's rebellious face to turn beet red.
"Stop it!"
Tony became like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shouting hurriedly, but his eyes drifted uncontrollably toward the woman behind Lynn, who was wearing a well-fitted suit and had neat, short purple hair.
Motoko Kusanagi.
From the first time he saw her at age ten, this woman became the only dream of Tony Stark's entire adolescence.
She was intelligent, powerful, and calm.
She possessed a sense of mystery that transcended her age.
No matter how tricky or bizarre the physics questions he posed, she could always provide the most precise answers.
For a young genius who regarded intelligence as the highest indicator of sexiness, this was simply a lethal poison.
Howard saw through his son's little thoughts clearly and smirked as he put his arm around Lynn's shoulder.
"Don't mind him; this kid has an excess of hormones lately."
"But you, Lynn, seriously, where did you find talent like Motoko? She is the smartest woman I've ever met, bar none."
Lynn picked up the champagne Maria handed him, recounting a trivial piece of the past with a natural expression.
"Hmm... that was 1943, in a small town in Europe; the war had burned everything to the ground. When I found her, she was dying, and she remembered nothing but her own name."
The smile on Howard's face faded slightly, showing some surprise.
"Amnesia? Then her body... was she injected with the serum too?"
After all, decades had passed, and Motoko Kusanagi's appearance hadn't changed in the slightest; that in itself was an unreasonable thing.
"Who knows."
Lynn shrugged, lightly brushing the topic aside.
"When I found her, she was already like this."
The atmosphere at the dinner party was lively.
Besides the Stark family of three, Lynn, and Motoko Kusanagi, Howard's other business partner and friend, Obadiah Stane, was also present.
He was bald, had a big beard, and looked very kind.
Amidst the clinking of glasses, after a few drinks, Tony's courage grew.
He carried his wine glass and walked over to Motoko Kusanagi, who had been eating quietly, his cheeks slightly flushed.
"Motoko... Miss, would you... be willing to... go on a date with me?"
His voice wasn't loud, but everyone present was sharp.
All eyes focused on them.
Motoko Kusanagi put down her knife and fork, wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, and then looked up, staring at Tony with her eyes devoid of any emotion.
Those eyes had already calculated his heart rate, blood pressure changes, and adrenaline secretion levels the moment Tony spoke.
"Sorry, Mr. Stark. My employment contract does not include this service."
Tony's face turned from slightly flushed to embarrassed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After the dinner ended, Obadiah Stane left first.
Lynn looked at his godson, who was dejected like a defeated rooster, and finally took pity on him.
He walked over to Tony and patted his shoulder.
"Tony, take Motoko to see your little inventions."
Lynn's words made Tony's eyes light up.
"Women won't fall for a boy who only knows how to make wisecracks, but no one can refuse a brain that creates the future with its own hands."
This sentence acted like a shot of adrenaline, healing Tony's shattered young heart.
That's right!
She rejected me only because she doesn't know me well enough!
As long as I let her see how sexy my brain is, she will definitely change her mind!
Tony instantly revived to full health; he straightened his clothes and, pretending to be calm, extended an invitation to Motoko Kusanagi.
"Ahem, Miss Motoko, are you interested in visiting my laboratory? There are some things inside, and I think it will give you a new understanding of this World."
Motoko Kusanagi looked at Lynn, and after receiving a nod, she nodded back.
"My pleasure, Mr. Stark."
Watching Tony lead the figure he dreamed of toward the door to his secret kingdom, Lynn smiled.
Letting the World's top prosthetic-enhanced cyborg visit the most cutting-edge mechanical and electronic laboratory of this era.
This was much more interesting than some Beef Wellington.
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