I upgraded Sam's wing suit. First, I changed the simple alloy to Chitauri alloy to boost durability and added plasma thrusters to improve speed. I also included small drones equipped with simple artificial intelligence for cooperative operations, and since I was at it, I upgraded Vulture's equipment too. With Tinkerer and Android Mimmi assisting this time, future maintenance shouldn't be an issue.
Sam conducted a test flight in the training ground set up behind Avengers headquarters. Captain, Tinkerer, Mimmi, Vulture, and I watched together.
"Wow! This is great. The speed has increased tremendously, and the movements feel smoother too."
"Your wing suit technology was just too shoddy. It was almost like building it from scratch. And you'll need to practice coordinating with the drones gradually."
"Was it that bad? The research team said they packed it with cutting-edge tech... Anyway, I get it. Can I name the drone?"
"Sure."
"Great, let's call it Redwing."
After the test flight ended, I handed new suits to Captain and Sam. Both suits had basic features like bulletproofing, ventilation, and temperature control. By now, I'd made so many that I'd accumulated a lot of know-how, and production was faster.
"Thanks, Cassian."
"Work hard. We need to pay the employees' salaries, after all."
"Got it."
Just then, I got a call from Tony.
"Cassian! I recruited a beautiful doctor from that country. We won't have to worry about medical stuff anymore."
"Oh, that's good news."
It seemed he'd finally recruited Dr. Helen Cho, one of the world's top experts in biotissue engineering. I'd been eyeing her too, thinking that using enhanced biotissue technology could strengthen the body in a different way than Project Zenith.
A few days later, Dr. Helen Cho and her medical team arrived from that country. She was a black-haired beauty I hadn't seen in a while. Tony and I welcomed her warmly. I didn't hold back and provided all sorts of machines and equipment as support.
"Research whatever you want here."
"Wow, what is this... I know this machine is incredibly expensive, but we couldn't even use it properly because we had to share it with other researchers..."
"If you need anything, just say the word. I'll get more for you."
"Really???"
Helen was immediately hit with a financial windfall and couldn't snap out of it. While she was still dazed, Tony handed her a black box again.
"Even a doctor's team can't skip the initiation. It's our tradition. Not that old, but hehe."
Seeing his evil grin, it was clear Tony really enjoyed these initiations.
"We'll check at 6 PM. Do your best."
At 6 PM, everyone gathered in the dining hall. Tony stepped forward and introduced Helen.
"Our new recruit is from that country. Meet Dr. Helen Cho. She'll handle the Avengers' medical and research needs. Since she already knows Banner, Banner, take care of her."
At that, Banner waved and said he understood.
"As you all know, being a doctor's team doesn't exempt you from initiation. So, I had her draw a mission card right away. Now, we'll check the results."
Tony took Helen's mission card and read it.
"Uh... Hug Thor for one minute. Hmm... This might be hard to prove? We'll have to ask Thor directly?"
When attention turned to Thor, he spoke up.
"Yeah... she completed the mission properly. I'll vouch for it."
Hearing that, Helen blushed and looked embarrassed. Tony laughed and immediately started teasing her.
"What is this! This isn't an initiation, it's a reward! Dr. Helen, seems like you enjoyed it too much!"
Hahahaha!
People burst into laughter at Tony's words. Thor scratched his head awkwardly, while Helen covered her red face with both hands, not knowing what to do. The funny part was that Jane didn't look too pleased seeing this.
With Dr. Helen Cho recruited, Captain and Sam started coordinating with other members to take down criminal groups. Thanks to Tony's connections, cooperation with the military and police was good. Earth seemed to have no issues for now.
I traveled back to Xandar to look for Quill, but with no news, I went to Knowhere. There, I finally heard something. He had sold the stolen vibranium ingots on another planet and was living lavishly on Razzballa, a planet famous as a resort.
I immediately took a spaceship to Razzballa. From here, [Jack Sparrow's Compass] worked, so I took it out from my inventory and found Quill. He was enjoying a card game in a huge casino-like gambling facility.
'This guy... finally found him.'
I watched the gambling for a bit to learn the card rules. With the [Genius] ability and Nano's help, I picked it up quickly. Just as someone busted out and left angrily, I took their seat.
"Oh, a really handsome guy this time? Got enough funds?"
"Plenty. Deal the cards."
After an hour, only Quill and I were left; everyone else had dropped out. Quill had lost a lot of money and suggested raising the stakes, so I agreed, and the pot grew huge. People around watched with excitement.
"Seems like I might have a good hand this time?"
I started dealing the cards. Suddenly, Quill grabbed my hand.
"Stop right there! Are you cheating from the bottom?"
"What!"
"You took my card from the bottom! I saw it all! Do I look like an idiot to you?"
"Got any proof?"
"Proof? I've got proof!"
Quill flipped his cards over and said.
"You were supposed to give me a pair of Lambda!"
Sure enough, Quill's hand was a pair of Lambda.
"And you must have a pair of Mu!"
"You're writing a script, you lunatic!"
Then, a casino employee tried to flip my cards. I grabbed the employee's hand and warned them.
"Don't touch the cards! Fine! I bet all my wealth that this hand isn't a pair of Mu. If you're scared, drop dead."
Quill seemed taken aback and scoffed.
"This bastard! Where do you get off! Fine! I bet all my wealth and my spaceship that this hand is a pair of Mu."
"Hey, everyone heard that, right?"
I looked around, and the people nearby nodded.
"It's not too late to back out."
"Who are you to say that!"
I let go of the employee's hand. The employee slowly started revealing my cards. My hand was a Delta and a Mu—a bad hand.
"Gasp!!! This is impossible!!! I definitely saw you cheating..."
Quill kept staring at my cards in disbelief, while I calmly scooped up all the units on the table.
"Hey, staring won't change the cards. Hand over the spaceship!"
"Damn it!!!"
Then, Quill suddenly tried to run. I wasn't about to let that slide. I flung a nearby drink cup and hit the back of his head hard, knocking him out.
Thwack!!
Thud!
Whoa! Clap clap clap!
"Impressive, that guy."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"He's too handsome."
The onlookers cheered and applauded. Honestly, with [Naked Eye] letting me see the opponent's cards, I couldn't lose. Plus, I'd played a little trick to provoke Quill's mistake.
"Had fun playing."
I stood up and told the employee.
"Hey, buy everyone a round."
Whoa!
At that, people cheered again. I handed some units to the employee and left. That was enough for everyone there to have a drink. Then, I dragged the unconscious Quill to his spaceship, the Milano, tied him up tightly inside. Of course, it was another hogtie.
I searched the Milano, took all the remaining units, and was about to head to Xandar. But then, a call came from Yondu on the communication device on the table. After thinking about what to do, I saw that Quill was in no state to answer, so in a hurry, I used the [Transformation] ability to turn into Quill and took the call.
"Quill!!"
"Hey, Yondu."
"What about the bounty I caught, and you're stealing vibranium to complicate things!?"
"That bounty thing..."
"The Orb! The Orb! Are you drunk? Snap out of it! Anyway, I'm heading to Morag after this job, so go there first and get the Orb ready! Got it!?"
"Y-yeah."
"Get your act together, kid!!"
Then, the communication cut off. As a Marvel fan, seeing Yondu made me feel good. I undid the transformation and thought about what to do next. From Yondu's words, the timing seemed about right. Guardians of the Galaxy 1 is about to start.
To follow the original, the first condition is for Quill to take the Orb and piss off Yondu, putting a bounty on Quill, and the second is for Rocket, Groot, and Gamora to gather on Xandar, drawn by the Orb and the bounty. They'll bicker, end up in jail, meet Drax, and form the initial Guardians of the Galaxy. If all these conditions are met, I might not have to worry too much.
For that, the first step is for Quill to get the Orb on Morag and screw over Yondu, so I decided to talk to Quill.
Slap slap!
I slapped Quill's cheeks to wake him up.
"Hey, snap out of it!"
"Ugh? Gasp! Where is this... my spaceship... but what's with this perverted binding! Untie me now!!"
Quill struggled in the hogtie. As expected, a man squirming in a hogtie was quite disgusting to see.
"Shut up and listen! Yondu called. He said to go to Morag and get the Orb ready."
"Ah... I forgot about that because of the gambling..."
"So, how about we get the Orb and sell it, splitting the profit fifty-fifty?"
Quill thought for a moment, then said.
"Why should I do that?"
"Seems like you forgot something. You know this spaceship is mine now, right?"
Quill got angry and argued with me.
"That's because you cheated!!"
"When did I? Got any proof?"
"..."
Quill couldn't say anything.
"Anyway, choose. Do you want to be space driftwood tied up like this, or team up with me to sell the Orb and split it? If we succeed, I might even give back the spaceship."
Quill pondered again and eventually agreed. Given his situation, he had no choice.
"Damn it! Fine. I was planning to break away from Yondu's crew anyway."
"Good!"
"But when are you going to untie me?"
As Quill squirmed and spoke, I looked at him and asked back.
"Would you untie me if you were in my place?"
"No."
"Smart. Hang in there till Morag!"
"Dammit!"