Chapter 303

The man walked slowly toward Star, bringing a calm, unhurried aura that pressed over her.

"Before the Black Tower's mannequin was attacked, the last person who saw it……was her."

He leaned slightly forward, his face close to hers; Star could even see the faint light shifting in his pupils—it wasn't like an ordinary person's eyes, but more like some precision instrument, silently analyzing each of her reactions.

He gave a slight smile, rose, and walked to the side; Star stared at him, feeling he looked familiar yet couldn't quite place him: "You are…?"

Aisida cleared her throat and introduced to Star: "This is the company's academic representative, Mr. Laatio of the Erudite Society."

"After all, she just regained consciousness, her mind isn't clear yet, she needs……"

The man slowly turned, and a smooth plaster head appeared out of nowhere on his head, instantly replacing his handsome face with cold, hard material.

"Some hints."

——

Offering blessings to this beautiful world.

"Wah——! He's way too handsome!"

Huihui's red eyes sparkled; if she could fly with magic, she'd probably want to stick that expression straight onto the sky: "This abstinent aura, this perfect look! If he were willing to follow me and learn explosive magic……he'd be the most perfect man in the world!"

"You lot, each and every one of you……" Hezhen gave them a disgusted look, especially when seeing Akua's lovestruck expression, and jabbed her with his elbow: "Hey! Akua… you're a goddess too, could you hold back a little? Your drool's about to hit the table!"

"There's no way; among the isekai reincarnators I've handled, I've never seen anyone as handsome as Mr. Laatio." Akua shrugged, a regretful expression on her face.

"How do I hear this and feel it's familiar……you said the same thing when Dan Heng, Jepard, Jing Yuan, Blade, and Yin Zhi debuted, right?" Hezhen narrowed his eyes at her: "…Akua, just how many reincarnators have you handled?"

"I'm the business elite in charge of reincarnation work for your Japan region!" Akua snorted, "If you doubt me, Hezhen, you'd better sort yourself out first!"

"Tch." Though he was annoyed and couldn't find anything to rebut, Hezhen glanced at the professor on the skydome and muttered under his breath: "What's so good about this icy-cold man……"

"Hezhen, you don't get it…you have to have that look!" Daknesi again lost herself in her fantasy, blushing and beginning to fidget, a look of restless longing on her face: "That condescending, stern, contemptuous gaze……is perfect! If he could point his chalk at me and force me to obey……I'd be willing to do anything!"

"Oh? Really?" Hezhen chuckled, intrigued.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, rubbed her fingers together, and shyly said: "Um, um…of course."

"Then if he orders you, you must join the Erudite Society using your own wit, right?"

Daknesi: "?"

——

"You roughly know the background. A few system cycles ago, Black Tower Lady's mannequin suffered an unknown attack, its whereabouts unknown, and the signal could never be located." Aisida briefly explained.

"No surveillance?" Star wondered.

"Aisida lowered her eyes: "No. The attack happened at an off‑site base, outside surveillance range. Black Tower Lady didn't take it to heart and went out on patrol."

"Luosigu Mu added: "Before the incident, she had received an invitation from the company."

Laatio walked over slowly: "It's the Technical R&D Department. Ms. Abo Li is a capable person, but her subordinates are all amateurs, ambitious, full of enthusiasm, yet have nothing in their heads— their intellect can be compared with that of primitive humans."

"They want to develop a series of collaborations with the Black Tower, inviting me to join as a technical consultant. I gladly accepted, so I could closely observe how the members of the 【Brilliant Minds Club】 squander the company's assets."

"But… the timing is too perfect. Perhaps someone leaked the news, allowing the attackers to exploit it. And the Black Tower seems unfazed by such provocations, which also makes me very curious about what's going on."

"I've long heard that Mr. Laatio is a pillar of the Society; your willingness to assist is our honor."

"No need for flattery." Laatio glanced at the Luosi Gum behind Aisida, coldly smiling: "Our time is precious, and besides, discussing the excellence of mortals before a genius seems somewhat humorous to me."

—

Marvel Universe.

Tony Stark leaned against the bar, swirling a glass of amber whiskey. Seeing Laatio's edgy remarks, he immediately caught a whiff of gunpowder.

"We're both from the 【Knowledge】 faction, I thought the club and the Society of Erudition got along well." Tony took a sip, the corner of his mouth rising, "Looks like it's completely the opposite—Mr. Laatio has some strong opinions about the members of the Genius Club."

"Shouldn't knowledge be shared?" Strange furrowed his brow slightly, "They're both at the forefront of cosmic wisdom; wouldn't collaborating better spark new knowledge?"

Perhaps we overestimated the Society of Erudition and underestimated the Genius Club. The difference between them is probably more than just a matter of one or two levels.

Tony laughed, shook his head, and set down his glass, "To those geniuses honored by the Society of Erudition—like the Luosi Gum and the Black Tower—the members of the Society of Erudition seem no different from wild monkeys—just as you wouldn't ask a monkey how to solve calculus, so there's no need for discussion between the two factions."

He pointed at the plaster head on the canopy, "People like Laatio—smart, but far from adequate for the Genius Club. Setting aside academic matters, this bunch should also be easy to get along with. Compared to lofty yet reclusive geniuses, the Society of Erudition is likely the main driver of technology in the universe—otherwise the company wouldn't have sought out Laatio first."

"Hearing your words, Tony… you don't approve of the Genius Club's methods?"

"No, how could that be?" Tony shrugged, "I understand—true geniuses are forever lonely, because they move too fast; when they look back, they find no one can keep up with their shadow."

Strange fell silent for a moment: "If knowledge were confined to the hands of only a few…"

"Then let it stay that way." Tony interrupted him, "By the time mortals catch up, perhaps the Black Tower, the Luosi Gum, Ruan Mei, and the others will have already unraveled the secrets of the star gods, waiting for them in the next universe."