Chapter 1738: New Director and Secretary-General

It would take Luke three to five years to reach level 28.

But if something big happened during this period, he might be able to level up half a level.

The tycoon was almost 40 years old, and didn’t have a system or superpowers, and had only started developing for two years!

Luke, who was only 22, had even less reason to be anxious about his development.

The second important gain was Dr. Maya Hansen.

Generally speaking, Luke wouldn’t use his ability to control neutral targets too much unless it was a special situation.

But as the person who created the super boss Killian, Dr. Hansen met all the conditions for Luke to use his ability.

Anyone with a little bit of ambition wouldn’t let go of Dr. Hansen’s virus technology.

On the other hand, Luke wouldn’t use the Extremis virus on his own people.

The fact that the soldiers could self-destruct and the boss, Killian, had spontaneously combusted and turned into “charcoal” suggested that there was definitely something wrong with this thing.

Luke’s gut feeling was that it was as if Killian had been “sucked dry” of everything in the end, which turned him into charcoal.

That was why he wasn’t at a disadvantage when he fought in a 1v2 for a short period of time.

But as the saying went, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

The Hulk had terrifying combat ability, but there were also all sorts of side effects that were hard to deal with.

The Extremis virus could make you breathe fire and fly, and you could even regenerate after being cut into pieces, but there was naturally a huge price to pay to obtain these superpowers.

However, for people who didn’t have superpowers or Life 1, using the virus to save themselves in a critical moment would be worth it.

With the help of a suppressant, the chance of self-destructing wasn’t high, and you would gain a superpower, which was much better than dying outright.

Another thing was that what this technology lacked in quality, it made up for in quantity.

The Bat Squad had an easy time dealing with the Extremis soldiers because they relied on money and technology to crush them – they were simply bullying the other party for not having money or equipment.

If Project Extremis had a dozen guys like Tony, however, and could produce ten or so people like Killian, this team would be no less intimidating than the Bat Squad.

So, after taking everything into consideration, Luke had to use Pheromone Control, Hypnosis and Illusion to ensure that Dr. Hansen didn’t work for anyone else and didn’t leak anything about the Extremis virus technology.

This was the best outcome.

At the very least, it would guarantee that the technology was secure, and Dr. Hansen would live a basically normal life.

If it were anyone else, they would be spending their entire lives under constant surveillance and complete isolation.

In fact, that was pretty much Killian’s attitude toward Dr. Hansen.

When she came out to look for Tony this time, she had subconsciously thought about switching bosses.

Killian’s men had been a little nervous this time, and had been looking forward to getting revenge and seizing power. Thus, they had carelessly eased up on surveillance, and Dr. Hansen, who had been focused on research all this time, found an opportunity to escape.

Thus, Dr. Hansen was a hot potato.

The technology she was researching was too sensitive, and so was her identity. She could only enjoy the privilege of setting up a solo research institute.

Luke wouldn’t let her contact the Bat Squad. He would just let her be a quiet, single mother who did research.

…

Two days later, Selina returned to New York with Gold Nugget.

Luke had already shown her his intact body in a video call, but she had still been worried when the team members talked about how Knight had been crippled. She couldn’t help but rush back.

After confirming with her own eyes that it wasn’t Luke who was missing arms or legs, she was relieved. She couldn’t help but complain, “Why didn’t you call me if there was an operation? Florida isn’t far from Texas.”

Luke was amused. “Killian can breathe fire. He can even instantly melt through armor. It would be dangerous if you went!”

Selina was unable to respond.

On the side, the dog head trembled and mumbled to itself, Sister, don’t take me with you if you want to court death. I am especially weak against very hot fires.

Luke immediately changed the subject. “How’s your little sister? Is she pretty?”

Selina frowned. “I think Leona is a little ugly. She looked a lot better when I came back, but she still doesn’t have the looks which the rest of my family has.”

Luke burst out laughing. “She’s a newborn. She’ll definitely look prettier in a month or two.”

Selina accepted this prediction. After all, at the beginning, little Cindy hadn’t been as cute as she was now.

After talking about her family for a while, Luke finally talked about her work arrangements.

Selina was stunned for a moment. “Wait, if I become the director of the PDD and the secretary-general of the Justice League, then… where will you be doing?”

Luke said solemnly, “I’m a scientist. What will you wear if I don’t make more equipment?”

Selina still felt that something wasn’t right. “What about our detective agency?”

Luke blinked. “Just open it like this. It’s not my fault if there’s no business.”

Selina said, “…You’re doing this on purpose, right? We were away for almost a year. Even if there were clients, they would have run away.”

Luke chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders. “I was afraid that you would tire yourself out!”

“Get lost!” No matter how stupid Selina was, she knew that Luke just didn’t want to do the everyday work, just like how he never wrote reports in the police department.

But after enjoying an outdoor barbecue and beer, which she hadn’t enjoyed in a long while, Director and Secretary-General Selina still started work the next day.

The truth was that the Justice League could be considered half-empty at the moment.

The half that was occupied was by the Bat Squad. With Frank around, she didn’t have to manage the Justice League for the time being.

On the other hand, there was a lot of temp work in the PDD.

What was temp work? It was paying for a service and, if anything happened, the temp staff would be responsible for handling it.

Luke had never planned to turn the PDD into a colossus like SHIELD. There were too many holes and too many things to worry about.

So, this “temp work” was made up of agencies which operated independently; Luke was just their patron.

He just needed to take stock of the important leaders of these agencies regularly to ensure that they didn’t betray him.

Besides, as the big boss who was supplying the money, he had the right to make these people get on a plane to come and give their reports in batches.

So, if his clone spent an hour or two every week inspecting some of these people, these temp agencies wouldn’t cause any problems.

What Selina really needed to manage were the individuals with superpowers.

For example, Deadpool Wade, the shadow man Richard, the supergirl trio, Skye, Emma and her son, Lorna and her husband Marcos, Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze, Carter Slade, Nikki and Monica, Jessica Jones and her godsister Trish, Blade Warrior, and so on.

In the basement of the research institute, the new director was looking at the long list. Even though she had been prepared for how Luke kept things close to his chest, she was still shocked. “You actually secretly gathered so many superhumans?”

Luke sighed helplessly and explained, “There are slight problems with most of them – I can only say that we have friendly ties with them. The level of trust can’t compare with what we have with our teammates.”

Looking at Deadpool Wade’s name at the top of the list and recalling his crazy behavior and words, Director Selina couldn’t help but nod.

After all, there was no cure for a brainless idiot.