And now... the party was over. With Tony Stark leaving without a word and the wealthy guests all gone, there was naturally no point in her staying here anymore.
At that moment, as Killian looked at the potted plant in her hands, a thought rose in his mind.
To be honest, Extremis really was quite powerful. If it could be perfected later on, it would definitely become a major weapon.
Without exaggeration, its completed form should be able to rival the T-Virus. Although it could not endure high-energy impacts, judging from how Killian later managed to build an entire Extremis army by force, once it was fully developed, the manufacturing cost of this thing would be extremely attractive.
Because of that, Killian still decided to go over and try to win her over.
"Hello, Miss Maya Hansen. I didn't expect to run into you this early."
As he approached, Killian's voice sounded beside Maya.
As if she had never expected anyone to appear this early, Maya jumped in fright the moment she heard him.
When she saw clearly that it was the investor who had left such a deep impression on her last night, her dimmed heart seemed to come alive again.
"Hello, um... Mr. Killian, right? Good morning. Sorry, was I looking a little out of it?"
After seeing his smile, Maya recalled how she had just been spacing out and immediately asked awkwardly after greeting him.
"Of course not. Every moment of a lady is charming."
In response to her words, Killian only smiled faintly and said.
"If only every moment really were charming."
After hearing that, Maya could not help touching her face as she spoke in self-mockery. But after a moment, she came back to herself, looked at Killian in front of her, and continued,
"Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about you instead. If I remember correctly, you're the CEO of Advanced Idea Mechanics, right? Why are you up so early too?"
"Me? Just like you probably already know, I got stood up by a rich bastard all night."
"And now, having gained absolutely nothing, I'm preparing to head straight back."
Killian spread his hands and said helplessly.
"Tony Stark... he's a bastard."
Maya naturally knew exactly who Killian meant by "rich bastard." After all, she had experienced everything last night herself. Tony had been with her the whole time, so naturally he never had time to go meet Killian.
And at that moment, for some reason, looking at the man in front of her made Maya feel a subconscious sense of guilt. After all, if she had not kept dragging Tony around and trying to make him look at her research, then maybe he would not have broken his promise.
And when she thought about how he had woken up this morning, said nothing, and simply walked away, she could not help speaking out.
"Well, on that point, I think our views are at least highly aligned."
"By the way, I'll say the same thing again. Our company has been paying very close attention to your research ever since your sophomore year."
"So if you make up your mind, call the number on the business card I gave you yesterday. I'll be waiting for your good news."
After seeing a taxi approach, Killian finished his last sentence, got in directly, and then gradually disappeared into the distance as the cab drove away.
At that moment, watching the man leave, Maya slowly took out the business card from her backpack.
The name AIM CEO, Killian, was clearly printed on it.
"Maybe this is the choice God has given me."
Looking at the card, Maya murmured.
Before this, she had originally thought she could use her beauty to secure funding for the work she had poured her heart into for so long. But instead... everything had fallen apart. When she woke up this morning, she had even felt that the world was so vast, yet there was no place for her within it.
For a moment, she had even thought that maybe she should just give up. If she abandoned her current research, enjoyed life, found a man, fell in love, and lived an ordinary life going to work every day, that might actually be a pretty good choice too.
But now, after seeing Killian, she realized she had been wrong.
Terribly wrong.
As a scientist, no one was willing to accept mediocrity.
Every scientist devoted to research dreamed of spreading their invention to the world and hearing people sincerely praise what they had created.
At the very least... she had absolute confidence in her own research.
For a moment, after that brief period of despair, Maya seemed to come back to life completely. Her eyes shone brightly as she stared at the business card in her hand.
At that moment, she felt that she was not alone.
She clenched the card tightly in her hand. Her decision had already become obvious.
It was just that before that, she still needed to make a few preparations.
...
Meanwhile...
Miami, Florida.
After the plane landed, Killian got into the company car that had already been prepared for him and returned to his residence.
For the current Killian, the moment he stepped out of the car, it was also the first time he truly examined his home.
A standard two-story American villa.
Although it was nothing like the massive estates of several thousand square meters that people would casually own later on, Killian believed that for him, those things were only a matter of time.
After locking the car, Killian entered the house, made himself a simple cup of oatmeal, and began dealing with the plans he needed to carry out next.
Since all of Baymax's required materials needed to be specially ordered and custom-made, he immediately contacted the head of the company's procurement department and had the necessary materials for Baymax ordered overnight.
Because of this, he had to spend several hundred thousand dollars in additional rush fees.
But to him, all of it was a reasonable and necessary expense.
Then, after borrowing the laptop in the house and sorting out his thoughts one last time, Killian dropped straight onto the bed and fell fast asleep.
After an entire day, plus the exhaustion from the journey, Killian's body had already reached its limit.
In fact, if the last bit of his rationality had not still been intact, he would have wanted to exchange for Alice's exclusive T-Virus and inject himself with it on the spot.
...
The next day.
As the morning light shone down...
"Lisa, have all the materials I asked for been prepared?"
Inside a building in a startup park in Miami, Killian, who had just arrived at the office, asked his secretary standing outside his office door.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]