The Death Knell

Swish, swish, swish...

Leo and Lily walked quickly with their heads down, the wind blowing under their feet, as if they were afraid of being caught by perverts.

But how can two legs compare to four wheels?

The limousine caught up from behind again and walked alongside them on the road. Howard stuck his head out from the passenger seat and shouted to them across the sidewalk.

"Don't leave! I haven't finished speaking yet. How about I treat you to dinner? You can choose any luxury hotel in New York."

The boys and girls were like walking in a race, speeding up.

Leonid was anxious. They wanted to call the police now, but for a character like Howard, the police couldn't control him.

Sure enough, this nymphomaniac has evil intentions. Who doesn’t know that luxury hotels are all about food and accommodation? If Howard's target is Lily, then wouldn't he be another mustache's target...

How disgusting!

Howard leaned half out of the car and kept waving.

"Hello? Did you hear what I said?"

This shouting made the passersby see him, and many of them knew him, and they started talking about him.

"Holy shit! You're Howard Stark!" A black aunt screamed in an aria-like tone and winked at Howard.

Howard smiled awkwardly: "It's me. Thank you for your support. Goodbye."

He secretly kicked Nathaniel with his foot to signal the car to drive faster. The aunt's eyes seemed to want to kill him.

As the car passed Auntie's position, Howard's voice suddenly became like a mosquito. He put his hand around his mouth to make sure that the sound waves only entered Leo's ears.

"Look here, look here, look here..."

Leo and Lily started running, they were crazy to watch.

Nathaniel, who was driving, sighed. He also saw the two people's actions through the glass, and when he thought about it, he knew that Howard was being treated as a sex maniac again.

No, it should be said that the true nature has been seen through again.

"Today is Black Friday, and everyone is going to the Wilson Enterprises store to buy something. Do you think the young couple will be happy to deal with you?"

Howard turned his head, his expression looking lifeless: "Damn it, it's Slade again, but it'll be easier if you know this."

He directly reached into his arms and took out a wad of banknotes. Even if he didn't count them, they were probably around seven or eight hundred dollars. He usually only had this much change on him.

He danced the banknotes wildly in the air, and the sound of the paper was extremely clear: "Leo, stop, let's chat for a few words, and then you can take my money and take your girl to the supermarket for crazy shopping. I won't Hurt you!"

At this time, the police station happened to be in front of him. Standing in front of the police station, Leo finally felt confident. He supported the panting Lily and turned around.

Howard's face showed a triumphant smile, and his mustache curled up.

"Go ahead, Mr. Stark, but let me remind you, this is a police station."

"All police stations in New York City are like my home. The last time I came here was after I confessed my love to a woman while drunk and naked while riding a horse in the park. Let me tell you..."

He also planned to talk about his glorious history, but Nathaniel pinched his calf: "I don't think this is something that should be told to children."

Howard sighed helplessly, feeling very helpless about his partner's character: "That's a white horse. So what if I just told the children a story about Prince Charming?"

"You will only disillusion them." Nathaniel pointed at the expressions of the two people outside the car. Leo's eyes had narrowed, while Lily kept peeking at the police officers in the police station with the corners of her eyes.

"Okay." Howard adjusted his tie and became a little more serious. He got out of the car again and talked to Leo: "We are your father's colleagues, and we are here to talk to you about his affairs this time."

"My father? He has died a long time ago." Leo showed an impatient look. Although he remembered what his father looked like, the last time he saw him was more than ten years ago.

Howard nodded and showed a regretful expression: "Yes, he can be regarded as my guide in physics. I have benefited a lot from many of Dr. Nikola Tesla's theories, such as wireless power supply, black hole theory, Weather weapons, death ray weapons, alien research, etc., there are too many. He was a real genius. Although he seems a little worse than me now, his death is also a great loss to the world."

Lily looked at Leonid in surprise, her little mouth opened wide: "Your father is Nikola Tesla? You have never told anyone."

Leonid touched his head. His golden hair was obviously different from Nicholas: "This... is a long story, but I have never seen my mother, and my father has nothing but debts." Nothing left to me, including his talent for physics, was passed down to me.”

"Oh, Leo..." Lily hugged his arm tightly.

"Ahem, that's why we're here." Howard cleared his throat to remind the two of them that he was still there. After Leo finished talking about his tragic experience, Lily looked sympathetic. What did the two of them plan to do as they got closer and closer?

"Oh, cough, Mr. Stark." Leo was interrupted and looked away embarrassedly.

"Your talent is not in this area, you know what I mean." Howard stroked his beard: "Now the unit where your father worked before his death is willing to let you inherit his position, and the salary is very good. You were in high school Are you planning to find a job after graduation?"

Leo's heart skipped a beat. He did know that he was different, but looking at the banknotes and then at the girl, he nodded.

His suspicion that he was a mutant was certainly not groundless.

"Indeed it is."

Howard noticed his look and directly put the few hundred dollars in his hand into Leo's hand: "So you have a job now, congratulations, you will start tomorrow."

"Uh... is it so easy to find a job?" Leo saw Howard returning to the car, as if he was planning to leave.

"Inheriting the father's business, personnel operations, Balabala, you know, what kind of company can't have some unspoken rules? Now take your girl to play."

"But what can I do?" Leo was actually a little panicked. Although he was different from ordinary people, he really had no scientific talent or any research ability. He was going there to be studied, right?

Draw blood, section, freeze, etc.

Howard took out a cigar, cut it a few times and stuffed it into his mouth: "It's not used as experimental material anyway. Uncle Howard won't lie to you. Go and have fun. Bye."

The car started and disappeared in a flash.

Leo looked at the money in his hand and fell into deep thought. Lily was on the side helping him with ideas.

But what ideas could two teenagers have?

In the end, the two of them could only go to dinner in a daze and decided to check it out tomorrow. If it didn't work, they would call the police. Wouldn't it be better if there was no problem with work?

So the two of them continued to prepare for the shopping trip heartlessly.

No one on both sides noticed that on the rooftop of a distant residential building, a slender figure wearing a white plush hat slowly shrank down after putting down the telescope...

.....................

At night, Leonid was walking home alone. His steps were like dancing, the kind of dance he did when he was drunk.

He would touch his lips from time to time and giggle alone, and he couldn't help it.

"Hey hey hey... hey hey..."

The wild cats and dogs on the roadside all shunned and hid behind snowdrifts or trash cans to watch him. Was this man sick?

"squeak!"

At this moment, the sound of tires screeching sounded beside him, the headlights dazzled him so hard that he couldn't keep his eyes open, and a car stopped in front of him with a drifting tail.

The front of the car was pointing straight at him, illuminating his whole body white. After he turned sideways to avoid it, he found that it was still the familiar car from the day.

Leo raised his hands to cover his eyes, constantly adjusting the position of his eyes. In the bright light, Howard, wearing a coat, stood in front of the car lights, with his hands in his trouser pockets, looking carefree.

"Little Leo, we're here to pick you up for work, get in the car."

"But it's nine o'clock in the evening?" Leo showed the new watch he bought today and tapped the dial dissatisfiedly.

Howard also raised his arm and looked at his handmade watch, "Yes, it should be just in time for work."

"But you never said it was night shift."

Leo said helplessly, his whole body wilting.

This is what it means to owe a favor. With the money Howard gave him, he not only bought a watch, but also clothes and shoes. He also had a great time dating Lily.

Howard came over and hooked his neck and led him to the car: "It's not a night shift, don't worry, it's very easy."

"Really? It won't be life-threatening?"

"How can your life be in danger? Haha, we will be there soon."

Howard slammed the car door shut, and then there was a burst of wind and lightning. The black car was like a ghost on the road at night. Howard's driving skills were very good, and he was a good racing driver.

An hour later, the car stopped. The three of them hardly talked about any meaningful topics on the road. It was all Howard's bragging. When he arrived at his destination, Howard was still bragging about his relationship with a female Hydra spy during World War II.

But these topics were too adult. Leo was blushing the whole time and didn't know how to answer the questions. And after getting out of the car in a daze, he realized where this place was.

On the tarmac, not far away was a twin-engine passenger plane with twinkling lights on its tail, illuminating the Stark Industries logo.

"This is the airport?"

"Well, JFK Airport was built in 1942 and just put into operation last year." Howard pulled Leo and walked inside, accompanied by a beautiful flight attendant all the way.

"Is my place of work an airport?" Leo didn't know why.

"Of course not, the plane is just a means of transportation." Howard smiled, led him and Nathaniel, and the three of them boarded the plane directly.

The interior of the plane is quite luxurious. It not only has leather sofas, several bedrooms, a bar and a dance floor, but also several beautiful flight attendants in extremely revealing clothes. It is estimated that Air Force One does not have such conditions.

"Sit wherever you want, just like it's your own home." Howard threw himself on the sofa and sunk deeply into it. The stewardess brought champagne and cigars. He flirted with them as if from instinct: "You guys can't wait for a while. A few of them fought with me twice."

The three flight attendants patted him shyly, with expressions on their faces saying, "You are good or bad, Mr. Stark."

Leo didn't know what kind of slang Howard was talking about. Do adults now call going to bed twice?

But what he was more concerned about at the moment was not this, but where exactly his group was going. But seeing Howard being surrounded by flight attendants and walking towards the bedroom at the back of the plane, he missed the opportunity to ask for a while.

It was Dr. Richards who saw the confusion on his face. He took a sip from the wine glass and picked up the newspaper at hand: "Our destination is Rome."

The plane took off, but they did not notice that almost at the same time, a cargo plane took off from another runway.

On the fuselage of the plane, there was a huge orange W logo that could be seen clearly even at night.