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"Change houses?"
Lily looked up at Arthur: "Sure! Let's sell this house then. Hmm, let me think, although this house is quite old, if we sell it in a good location, the down payment should be enough."
Seeing this girl start calculating away, Arthur couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.
He took her hand and said, "There's no need to sell this house; let's keep it here. Don't you remember, I still have ten percent of Stark Industries' shares? Your boyfriend is actually a wealthy man."
"Ten percent of Stark Industries' shares?"
Lily blinked: "How much is that worth?"
"Every year, the profit is at least several billion dollars."
Arthur wasn't very sure, then scratched his head and said, "Additionally, I have a pharmaceutical company under my name, but it's currently being run by someone else. This company has a partnership with Stark Industries and also collaborates with the Osborn Group. I don't know how it's operating now, but I think it should be fine to go public in a couple of years."
"..."
Lily blinked: "So... you have a lot of money?"
"Well, I guess so...?"
Arthur thought for a moment and then said, "So, what you need to do is look for houses. I actually quite like Tony's villa, but I didn't dare to tell him. If he ends up giving it to me in a roundabout way, I would feel quite embarrassed."
Lily blinked and suddenly leaned closer to Arthur.
"What's up?"
Arthur rubbed his face.
Lily suddenly laughed: "Before, I always thought that if I were with you, I would have to worry a lot. I would have to find ways to solve your work problems, your identity issues, and save money because I wanted to travel the world with you... I planned a lot, and if I hadn't seen you on TV that day, you might have already fallen into my hands."
"…Fallen into your hands sounds quite disadvantageous for me." Arthur blinked and then asked, "So why didn't you say anything before?"
"A poor country bumpkin without an identity suddenly becomes a superhero. What do you want me to do?"
Lily sighed: "During that time, I was really worried. You had no worries at all, and just thinking about it made me grit my teeth."
Arthur chuckled awkwardly; it wasn't that he was unprepared for family life, but every day around him was filled with life-and-death matters. Even though his feelings for Lily were crystal clear, he didn't dare to speak freely, fearing it would disrupt everything.
In fact, if Lily hadn't taken the initiative to say those things to him, and if it weren't for the twists of fate that night, they might have remained awkwardly distant for a long time.
"And now, it's even scarier." Lily looked at Arthur: "A poor country bumpkin without an identity suddenly becomes a wealthy superhero. If I had known all this earlier, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to say those things to you."
Arthur was momentarily at a loss for words and could only take Lily's hand and gently squeeze it.
At that moment, the wristband suddenly blinked with light, and Arthur had to take out the communicator from the Disassemble space and put it on his ear.
"Where on earth did you get this damn thing?"
Tony's voice came into Arthur's ear: "This thing is enormous, at least ten stories high! A regular lab can't hold it. If we bring it back, we'll need your teleportation circle to transport it to the underground facility at Camp Lehigh!"
"Have you done the work on the concealment?"
Arthur glanced helplessly at Lily, who stuck her tongue out at him and then leaned against his chest, closing her eyes.
"Of course!"
Tony said: "Although I greatly underestimated the size of this big guy, I've handled that part. Doctor Selvig said that when we return, the departure point should be in London, and I need your help!"
"Alright."
Arthur said: "Tell me the specific time."
"Ten minutes from now."
"…You bastard!"
Arthur's face darkened.
"Ah?" Tony was a bit dazed; what was wrong with his "bastard"? Did these two have a fight? That didn't make sense; where did his "bastard" come from?
Just as he was about to elaborate, Arthur had already cut off the communication.
Lily opened her eyes and looked at Arthur: "Are you going out again?"
"Yeah, I brought back a small gift."
"For me?" Lily's face lit up with hope.
Arthur was about to deny it, but when he saw Lily's eager expression, he couldn't bring himself to say no. He nodded and said, "Yes, I'm going to get it for you."
"Yay! I'm super excited!"
Lily's head bobbed up and down like a chick pecking for grain.
Arthur smiled, suddenly cupping her face and gently kissing her forehead: "Wait for me."
With that, he got up and returned to the room, stepping into the teleportation circle, and reappeared in London.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Natasha.
"Hi..."
Arthur waved.
Natasha shot him a glare: "Prioritizing romance over friendship! Get in the car!"
Clearly, since Arthur didn't know where their departure point was, Natasha had been sent to pick him up.
Once in the car, she remained silent, driving with a frown.
Arthur awkwardly smiled, looking out the window. The world was still a mess; New York was somewhat okay, but here, it was a mix of strong winds and heavy rain. Occasionally, things would appear out of nowhere, like flocks of birds bursting from the ground or tree branches falling from the sky.
"This scene has scared a lot of people."
Natasha suddenly spoke up.
Arthur nodded: "Unexpected and unimaginable events are always hard for people to accept."
"Will everything return to normal after today?"
Natasha asked.
"The alignment of nine stars happens once every five thousand years. After today, we'll have to wait another five thousand years."
Arthur chuckled: "Actually, it should be passing soon."
Natasha seemed to relax a bit, then glanced at Arthur through the rearview mirror, suddenly huffing and falling silent again.
Arthur didn't know what to say, shrugged, and waited quietly.
It wasn't long, though ten minutes had clearly passed.
Their departure point was relatively open and hidden, chosen because the cargo was too large. If they picked a more noticeable location, it would be easy to attract attention, even if the item was completely concealed.
As soon as they arrived, the car had barely stopped when a gust of wind suddenly rose from the ground. Although it was invisible, it felt as if an intangible force was slowly descending from the air!
(End of this chapter)