Chapter 148: Business Rival Zhao Hailun

After the chaos on the phone had continued for nearly five minutes, a breathless female voice finally came from the other end.

"Huff... who is this?"

"Did you win or lose?"

Hearing Akali’s voice, Orion Cross picked up the phone and asked.

"Of course I won!"

Akali’s voice carried a hint of pride. She then asked, "Who was that person? Her skills weren’t bad. She could probably rank fairly high within the Kinkou Order."

"Psylocke, a ninja from another world. She’s also a mutant. Her main ability is using telekinesis to create weapons."

Orion Cross explained Psylocke’s background to Akali.

"That’s a very convenient ability. If I had something like that, I wouldn’t need to carry so many kunai and shuriken around."

There was a hint of envy in Akali’s voice from the other end of the phone.

"Wait. Are you saying that you run a convenience store while carrying all those weapons around?"

Orion Cross’s expression became somewhat strange.

He could not imagine what kind of expression a child would have if they walked into Akali’s convenience store to buy a bottle of Coke, only for a weapon to suddenly fall out of her clothes while she was ringing them up.

"Didn’t that shapeshifter say this country was dangerous? I’m only carrying them as a precaution."

Akali sounded slightly aggrieved.

Shapeshifter? She must be referring to Mystique, Raven.

Orion Cross looked up at Raven.

"Was I wrong?"

Raven spread her hands and looked at Orion Cross innocently.

After Raven put it that way, Orion Cross felt she had a point.

In a city where shootings could happen at any moment and countless villains gathered, Akali carrying a few kunai and shuriken around might actually not be enough.

"Then be careful. If you see someone pull out a gun, just kill them immediately. There’s no need to take prisoners."

Orion Cross gave the warning before hanging up.

"You’re not going to tell her about the repair costs?"

Raven asked.

"No need. Have someone calculate it and add it directly to her debt."

Orion Cross calmly slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"I have a feeling that one day that little ninja is going to have to sell herself to pay off her debts."

Raven rolled her eyes after hearing Orion Cross.

"It’s fine. We can just have her debut as an idol. Then she can become the brand ambassador for our company."

Orion Cross snapped his fingers, looking as though he had already planned everything.

"An idol? How did you even come up with that?"

Raven looked at him in astonishment.

To ordinary people, celebrities and idols might seem glamorous and untouchable.

But to people like them, liking a celebrity idol was simply a hobby.

Take Tony Stark, for example. Female celebrities from the entertainment industry used to be regular visitors to his bedroom.

"We have to find her some easy side jobs eventually. We could just form a girl group."

"One ninja, one demon, one fox, and one Void creature."

Orion Cross counted them off on his fingers.

"We’ll train them according to the South Korean model. Then they can function as a superhero team that punishes criminals, while also working as an idol girl group and exclusive ambassadors for our company’s products. When they have free time, they can work shifts at the convenience store."

"One group, three sources of income. We’ll make a fortune."

Raven stared speechlessly at Orion Cross as he happily imagined their future.

Then her phone rang twice.

"It’s from Susan."

Raven informed Orion Cross before looking at the message.

A minute later, after reading everything Susan had sent her, Raven’s expression became serious. She handed the phone to Orion Cross.

"Leaving aside where you plan to find the Void demon, the fox, and that little ninja to form a South Korean-style girl group, our company has actually run into a problem. And it comes from South Korea."

"Hm? What threat could come from there?"

Orion Cross took the phone from her in surprise.

South Korea, to put it bluntly, was merely a territory under the influence of the country Orion Cross was currently standing in.

Its military and technological development could only progress within the limits allowed to it.

"It’s not someone from there. It’s a Korean-American scientist. Everything before this is basically filler. Turn to the fifth page and you’ll see all the relevant information."

Raven reached over and flipped through several pages for him.

"Zhao Hailun?"

Seeing the somewhat familiar name in the file, Orion Cross frowned slightly.

This person seemed to be the creator of Vision’s body.

"You know her?"

"I don’t."

Raven rolled her eyes again.

Judging by Orion Cross’s expression, she had assumed he knew the woman.

"Since you don’t know her, I’ll introduce her to you."

Raven continued swiping through the pictures, practically using the phone as a slideshow presentation.

"Zhao Hailun is dedicated to applying nanotechnology to medicine. Supposedly, she’ll soon be capable of regenerating severed limbs. Once that technology reaches the market, it will inevitably clash with our prosthetics business."

Raven’s expression was serious.

For ordinary people, no matter how convenient mechanical prosthetics were, they could never be as useful as having their original limbs.

If limb regeneration really became widely available, Orion Cross’s newly established company would inevitably take a hit.

After all, the company was currently being left largely to its own devices. Orion Cross had never seriously considered adding new products or technologies himself.

"Nanotechnology capable of regenerating severed limbs. Looks like Zhao Hailun is going to win a Nobel Prize in Medicine."

Orion Cross chuckled and looked up at Raven.

"By the way, how did you find all this out? Don’t tell me you simply infiltrated the place."

"Isn’t that exactly why you put Susan and me in charge of the company?"

Raven shrugged helplessly and asked in return.

Mystique and Invisible Woman. One could transform, while the other could turn invisible.

For the two of them, did the concept of commercial secrets even exist?

"How far has her technology progressed?"

Orion Cross’s expression became serious again.

"She can already mass-produce ordinary medical devices for treating external injuries. The only problem is that the materials make them too expensive to manufacture, so she has only produced two."

"She’s currently developing a large-scale device capable of regenerating severed limbs. She calls it the ’Regeneration Cradle Project.’ We don’t know exactly how long it will take her to complete it."

Raven explained everything seriously.

"You know this much? How did you manage that? I remember Zhao Hailun is like Tony, right? An independent scientist?"

Orion Cross was somewhat surprised.

Like Tony Stark, Zhao Hailun possessed enough exclusive technology, personal ability, and equipment that she did not need to depend on a company or a formal research team.

That meant that, aside from perhaps one or two assistants, almost nobody should have access to her secrets.

Even if she had assistants, Zhao Hailun should not have told them about future plans like this.

"Because I made a sacrifice."

Raven sighed softly.

"Hm?"

A question mark practically appeared above Orion Cross’s head.

"You also made a sacrifice."

Raven looked at Orion Cross’s face and sighed again.

Orion Cross stared at her in confusion.

"?" What did this have to do with him?