After Tony finished speaking, Yinsen and the others also said a few simple words.
Soon afterward, everyone began eating.
Since it was the Spring Festival, the entire table was filled with traditional Chinese dishes.
The meal was lively and warm.
Halfway through the dinner, Karl briefly stepped outside.
He went to the place where Speed was stationed.
Because of Speed's enormous size — and the fact that it was a Cybertronian Autobot — it simply couldn't enter the manor.
Nor could it eat human food.
So Karl could only leave it outside studying the Energy Cube.
Karl raised a glass.
The two of them exchanged a symbolic toast.
After that, Karl returned inside.
When everyone finished eating, they moved to the viewing area of the manor to prepare for the fireworks display.
Meanwhile, Tony quietly pulled Pepper toward his sports car.
He opened the trunk and took out a stack of red envelopes.
Then the two of them began stuffing them with cash.
They prepared twenty envelopes in total.
Each one was thick and bulging.
Each likely contained at least ten thousand dollars.
When they returned to the stands, the others also gradually came back.
Everyone exchanged knowing looks.
Everyone except Wanda, Pietro, and Peter, who had absolutely no idea what was happening.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Karl lifted his hand slightly.
Using telekinesis, he ignited the fireworks.
The fireworks shot into the night sky and exploded into brilliant colors.
Red.
Gold.
Blue.
Green.
The entire New York skyline seemed to light up.
Technically, fireworks were not allowed in Manhattan.
But Karl was Karl.
The bank would handle any fines.
Besides—
The New York Police Commissioner was sitting right there watching the fireworks.
Everyone sat quietly watching the sky.
Tony had his arm around Pepper.
George and Helen sat together, enjoying the show.
Karl sat between May, Raven, and Gwen, his arms loosely around them.
At one point he even casually took Helen Cho's hand.
She glared at him.
But she didn't pull her hand away.
No one spoke.
Everyone simply watched the fireworks until the final explosion faded into the night sky.
Then Tony suddenly stood up.
"Alright! Alright!"
"I hereby announce that it's time to distribute New Year's money!"
Tony burst into laughter.
He reached into his coat and began pulling out thick red envelopes.
"This one is for you, Wanda!"
"And you too, Pietro! Get over here, you little troublemaker!"
"Wow! There's New Year's money?!"
Pietro instantly appeared next to Tony like a flash.
"This is great! Thank you, Tony Shit!"
Yinsen burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Tony Shit!"
The others couldn't hold back their laughter either.
Anyone who understood even a little Chinese knew exactly what Pietro had just said.
No one expected him to tease Tony like that.
"Hey! You little brat!"
"It's Tony Stark!"
Tony shouted helplessly as Pietro ran off with the red envelope.
But Tony was smiling.
He clearly wasn't angry.
Everyone was happy tonight.
That was what mattered.
Natasha quietly watched the scene.
When Tony began handing out red envelopes, she leaned toward Yelena.
She knew almost nothing about Spring Festival customs.
But she assumed Yelena must have prepared something.
If everyone else had gifts prepared except them, that would be awkward.
Yelena simply gave her a reassuring look.
After Christmas, she had deliberately researched Spring Festival traditions.
She had come prepared.
Tony continued distributing envelopes.
Even Natasha received one.
Tony handed out envelopes to almost everyone present.
Everyone except himself.
Even Karl received one.
Then Yinsen and Samuel also took out their own red envelopes.
Their envelopes were not as thick as Tony's.
But they still contained several thousand dollars.
The money itself wasn't important.
The blessing behind it was what mattered.
This was their way of expressing gratitude.
Even Helen Cho joined in.
She took a red envelope from her handbag and handed out blessings as well.
Soon everyone had received something.
Only Karl remained.
Then Juggernaut stood up.
He held a massive red bundle.
Inside were stacks of cash — hundreds of thousands of dollars wrapped in red cloth.
One bundle for each person.
George and Helen were completely stunned.
Was this really how people gave New Year's blessings?
Juggernaut had learned about the red envelope tradition when May brought him clothes earlier.
He didn't bother searching for small envelopes.
In his mind:
Red envelope = red wrapping + money.
So he asked May for a large piece of red cloth.
Then he went back home and began wrapping stacks of dollars.
When May saw the result, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But she still told the others it was Juggernaut's sincere gift.
However, Juggernaut had done something unexpected.
He had included Speed in his calculations.
He even prepared a large red bundle for Speed.
That instantly embarrassed Tony and the others.
None of them had thought of Speed.
Not even May or Raven.
Yet Juggernaut, the roughest person among them, had remembered.
Just as everyone was about to prepare a gift for Speed—
Suddenly—
Ice-like crystal cards began appearing in the air around them.
They slowly rotated in midair.
Then red envelopes appeared.
And dragon bones floated out one after another.
Each person received a set:
A red envelope.
An ice card.
And a piece of dragon bone.
Then suddenly a massive chunk of vibranium appeared in the air.
It flew straight toward Speed's warehouse.
Karl honestly didn't know what gift to give Speed.
So he gave it vibranium.
At the moment, that was the only thing suitable for a Cybertronian body.
Karl then explained.
"These ice cards contain about half of my freezing power."
"If you ever encounter danger, break the side engraved with the magic circle."
"The power sealed inside will instantly freeze your enemy."
He then pointed toward the white bone fragments.
"And this white material is dragon bone."
"It comes from an ancient Eastern dragon."
"Absorbing it can extend your lifespan."
"I'll help you absorb it."
As he spoke, the dragon bones floated up from everyone's hands.
They dissolved into white energy.
Then entered their bodies.
Everyone immediately felt subtle changes in their bodies.
It was difficult to describe.
But something had clearly improved.
The first time someone absorbed dragon bone, their physical strength would increase slightly.
For those already enhanced with superhuman genes, however, the effect was minimal.
Natasha watched everything with shock.
When the white energy entered her body, she immediately felt her physical condition improve slightly.
The improvement was small.
But it was undeniably real.
Combined with the lifespan extension, it was astonishing.
Natasha couldn't help looking toward Karl again.
She hadn't expected him to be this generous.
He had even given such a gift to her.
...
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