Chapter 248 Cosmic Storm

  Ben Graham tugged at Reed's tie and fiddled with his wrinkled collar with his big, thick hands.

   After tossing and tossing for a while, Ben finally gave up the idea of ​​making the old suit look more stretched, and slapped Reed on the shoulder, causing the latter to stagger two steps.

The two finally took the elevator to the technology project department of the Howlett Group on the eighty-seventh floor. After a while, when the door of the meeting room opened, Reed Richards saw a familiar and Another very unexpected person.

   "Victor? Victor von Doom!" Reed exclaimed in surprise.

  The floor of the Science and Technology Department has a high ceiling. Victor Dum, wearing an elegant black hand-made slim suit, walked steadily down the spiral staircase, and raised his jaw lightly in front of the Reeds.

"Hahaha, my genius old classmate! You don't look like this suit is a bit old. I will introduce you to a top tailor. It is said that his teacher's family has served Mr. Howlett for generations. No. Hi Ben, nice haircut."

  Reed pressed the wrinkled hem of his suit uncomfortably, seeing his old classmate's tall and handsome appearance like a powerful plutocrat, his loose and bulky coat became more and more inappropriate.

   "Why are you here?"

  Ben hugged his strong arms and whispered, and didn't bother to pay attention to the other party's teasing.

  He and Doom didn't get along in college, biting his cheek and frowning, and even his shiny bald head wrinkled.

"Very surprised?"

  Victor Dum opened the wine cabinet familiarly, took out three gentlemanly crystal glasses, poured a little whiskey in each, sat on the dark golden conference table and continued leisurely:

   "Accidentally, I will be in the Howlett Group, or is it a coincidence that we met so coincidentally? Hehehe, try this wine, it is a good thing that you may not be able to buy outside."

  Dum waved his hand generously and invited the two of Reed to sit down, sipping the mellow yellow-brown liquid on his own, and grinning freely while leaning on the high-back chair.

   "Both, both have Victor. Ni's character was so impressive in school, but it never seemed like a character who could be inferior to others."

  Different from Ben who was next to him, he drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and poured more than half of the glass by himself.

   Reed Richards's narrow cheeks slightly retracted his chin, his slender ten fingers turned the cup a little bit, and spoke slowly.

  Seeing Reed shaking his head with a look of incomprehension and even disappointment, Doom smiled casually, showing a mouthful of perfect white teeth and said loudly:

"You're right, Reed, if it wasn't for the huge giant Howlett Group that was pressing on top of the super consortiums in the United States and even the world, with my temper and ability, of course! I would definitely rely on my own hands to forge A business empire! But—”

  Dum stood up, walked to Reed's side and sat on the table, put one hand on his shoulder and approached his face, his voice became a lot more serious.

"—There is an old saying in the East, 'He who knows the current affairs is a brilliant man', Reed, I suggest you learn Chinese, English translation is always less flavorful, and you can learn more about Eastern culture in the group, and you can walk better Shun"

"You may not know what the identity of the director of the science and technology project department of the Howlett Group means outside. Frankly speaking, no matter how confident I am, hehe. The veteran tycoon put on a face, well, let’s talk about your research project, it’s time to get down to business.”

   As soon as the voice fell, Doom seemed to have changed his face. He strode back to the front and sat upright. His eyes stared at Reed Richards shrewdly and cautiously, and the lively and funny look just now was swept away.

"Well, that's it, I gave it to you before, cough, of course I didn't know it would be you who received the experimental project 'cosmic storm', and there are also super-strong cosmic ray energy clusters with names such as solar wind, which are rare in hundreds of millions of years Approaching outer space not far from Earth!"

   Mentioned his own research project, Reed became eloquent again, and finally regained some of the demeanor of a super technological genius, and continued confidently:

".I know that many institutions and organizations are trying to seize this opportunity to conduct research on the 'cosmic storm', but only the special isolation cabin and energy analysis device I designed can enter the center of the storm group, analyze deeply and obtain the most intuitive research materials!"

   "Through this energy storm, we can glimpse and discover more properties of high-energy particles, as well as various influences on human genes, we can-"

   "—Can crack the secret of human genetic inheritance! Further improve the research on the X gene, solve more genetic diseases that cannot be treated, and benefit all mankind?"

  Dum suddenly took over the conversation, interrupting the climax of Reid's passionate speech, and finished the conclusion with the statement he already knew.

   "Yeah, that's it."

  Reed and Ben looked at each other, and the two silently looked at Victor Doom with his face drooping, waiting somewhat anxiously for the "financial master" to speak.

  "All relevant research results and subsequent technology development, 80% of the ownership and benefits, and shall not disclose any technical information about the research project to third parties."

  Boom!

   "Damn it! Why don't you grab it!"

  The crystal cup fell heavily on the conference table. Ben Graham's bull's eyes almost popped out of his sockets, and his bulging chest seemed to be about to spit out a series of "beautiful" words.

  Dum raised his eyebrows and glanced at it. He waved the gold cufflinks on his wrist a few times indifferently, and his expression became calmer.

"Ben, if you still have this temper, I will consider whether to add you to the research team. Listen to Reed! You only have a design drawing of the research chamber and related technical ideas that have not been verified by experiments, and Cosmic Storm still has How soon? Ten months or eight months?"

   "Six months and sixteen days"

   Reid crossed his fingers and twisted unconsciously, speaking in a very soft voice.

"Hey! Half a year, Reed, you need to manufacture or transform a complete space station against cosmic storms within half a year, be able to send it to space smoothly and intact, capture and study storm energy, and continue to invest massive resources Breakthrough and development of follow-up scientific research difficulties."

  Dum tapped the table with his knuckles, like a signal to the croupier and the player when playing cards, and finally said beyond doubt:

"The resources needed for this plan are no longer measurable in money. Except for the strength of the Howlett Group, even the American government dare not make a decision to start such a project at will. The 20% profit share will be 100 million It is calculated in units of ten thousand dollars! With this money, you can open up to do the research you like in the future and get another 5%, this is my greatest authority, old classmate."

   After a while, Reed Richards stood up slowly, looked at Victor Doom who was approaching, and finally stretched out his right hand.

   "You should make a counter-offer. This kid Doom looked like he refused to accept it back then. Hmph, in the end he was still a wage earner for someone!"

   After coming out of the conference hall, Ben has been rambling non-stop, and it is more trash talking about Victor Doom.

   One of the two walked ahead without saying a word while bowing their heads, while the other danced and talked about the scandal about Doom when they were in college.

  No one noticed a sweet-looking blond beauty in a lady's suit who couldn't hide her bumpy figure, standing pretty by the corridor, staring at Reed without blinking her eyes.

   "Ben, Reed!"

  Finally, Susan Stone took the initiative to stop the two of them, crossed her arms and gave Reed a sneaky look.

   "Hey! Su, what are you doing, no, what are you doing here. Long time no see"

   Ben on the side couldn't help closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. After saying hello to Susan, he completely ignored this disappointing friend.

"I'm in charge of the project review and follow-up research of the Group's Science and Technology Department. I should go to the observation cabin in outer space with you to participate in the 'Cosmic Storm' project. By the way, my brother Johnny will also be responsible for part of the mission. "

  Susan, with her blond hair coiled up, said generously, without facing the embarrassment of her ex-boyfriend, she raised her hand sideways, signaling to send the two of them out of the building together.

   "You are. The Howlett Group has been preparing this plan for a long time? And you are, um, when did you come to work here."

"The group has been eyeing you since you were looking for investment everywhere. If it weren't for some hidden major projects recently, a large number of scientists, engineers and researchers in the group have been withdrawn. It is very likely that even Mr. McCoy will personally participate in this plan. .”

  Susan stopped abruptly, her deer-like nimble eyes revealed a bit of sharpness, and her speech was a bit stiff when she stared at Reed.

  “. I joined the Howlett Group less than a month after we separated from you. Thank you Mr. Richards for your concern!”

   Reed pursed his lips, followed Susan down to the lobby on the first floor, and stood there stupidly, not knowing what to say. Finally, Susan sighed and said softly with a hint of reminder:

"I know that the conditions for negotiating with Dum must be very harsh. It is not without reason that he has climbed so fast in the group in just a few years, but if he is a scientist within the group, the treatment and terms will be much better. Personal research The result is also very well guaranteed, you can try to add—”

"No, even if the Howlett Group unconditionally invites me to join, I will definitely not agree! Su, you should see more than me working here. Remember when the professors mentioned the recent The leap forward of the social structure of the century, is it vague about the surname Howlett?"

  Reed poked his neck, and he came out of nowhere with an air of righteous indignation, and finally said in a solemn voice:

   ".They, be afraid!"

  Miss Susan Stone looked sideways at Ben, then at Reed, and brushed her hair around her ears, just smiling.

   "Well, you are still the same. Gather here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, and I will take you to the experimental base to start work. Gentlemen, there are only six months, and our time is very tight."

  Watching Susan slenderly walk back to the building with the folder in her arms, Ben Graham slapped Reed on the shoulder again, which made Reed grin his teeth uncontrollably.

   "Hmph, what did I say wrong? Who knows that Mr. Howlett, who is said to have lived for hundreds of years, is doing dark things behind the scenes every day"

   "Okay! He'll chop off all the disobedient heads, drink blood, howl at the full moon, and drink tea with the devil! Howlett lives like this every day, you are satisfied!"

  Reed, who was trained to pout his mouth and face aggrieved, bent his neck and hurriedly followed behind the burly and strong himself, walking through the bustling crowd on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and soon disappeared.

  The young Reed Richards actually didn’t know what kind of person the legendary Mr. Howlett was. At this moment, he was only thinking about how to get Ben to drive to pick him up in the morning.

  At this moment, in the Edmond region of Canada, thousands of miles away, in the old castle of the Howlett family.

  James Howlett raised his arms and rolled up his cuffs in a serious manner, raised his eyebrows and taught Eric a lesson:

   "How could Wanda and Pietro be disobedient? Do you, a father, know how to communicate with children!"

  James walked upstairs with his hands behind his back, his face full of displeasure, followed by Lord "Magneto" who opened his mouth several times and swallowed back his defense.

  Whether you are admired and feared by thousands of people in the outside world, or let the heads of state of various countries sit with you carefully, as long as you return to this house, the Howlett family will have nothing bigger than the family's disputes.

  A gust of wind blew across, blowing James' half-length black hair.

  He grinned, feeling the strange wind blowing between the building and the corridor from time to time, and the silver-blue trails that only he could vaguely capture.

  A handful of oxtail flowers popped out of nowhere in Eric’s hand. He hurriedly checked whether there was something missing or too much on his body, and shouted at James as if complaining:

   "Look, dad! This kid dares to tease his dad at such a young age. What if he can run farther in the future! I can feel the headache that Raven had when he took little Kurt back then."

   "What are you shouting about, didn't you see that Pietro picked a bunch of flowers for you, just wait!"

  James stood loosely at the entrance of the third floor, with his eyes slightly closed and his hands hanging on his sides. After a long while, he suddenly reached out and grabbed his side without warning!

  With the strange strong wind blowing the ends of his hair, he lifted a little guy with silver hair out of thin air in his hand.

  He was wearing a sky-blue sweater with bulging cheeks, his feet and hands swung into a blurred shadow, and he was staring intently at the front, as if he was still running.

   "Huh, huh? Hey hey, grandpa~"

  Pietro Lanciel was held in the air by the back of the neck, finally came to his senses, tilted his head, and slowly slowed down, hanging down a pair of short hands and short legs, with flushed cheeks, making a cute appearance.

  Brought the little guy close to his eyes, James looked into Pietro's big blue-gray eyes like a kitten, and scratched his crunchy nest with his hand, causing a series of giggles like little hens.

   "Hehe, I'm running faster and faster, tell me, where did you hide my sister?"

  (end of this chapter)