I'm in an American comic book world, and I'm starting out giving Aunt May special treatmen

Page 63

Meanwhile, Zhao Hailun, who was anxiously refreshing her Twitter private messages in the coffee shop, suddenly had her phone vibrate!

She almost held her breath as she clicked on the new message from "Hawk Lane".

When Zhao Hailun saw that Hawke not only accurately pointed out her "Cradle of Life" plan, but also highly praised the core technology in her resume, and directly proposed to meet with her in Hawke's office the next morning, her heart pounded with excitement.

"It's done! It's going to work!" she couldn't help but exclaim, drawing the attention of the guests next to her.

But she didn't care at all; a bright smile instantly bloomed on her face, and the gloom from before vanished.

She read Hawke's reply over and over again, especially the last sentence about the photos and "looking forward to meeting," which made her cheeks flush slightly and her heart start to flutter wildly.

"He noticed! He even complimented my photos! I can meet him in person tomorrow! OMG!" Zhao Hailun excitedly gripped her phone. "The King! The living King! This is a dream start!"

She had completely forgotten about the crisis of the lab's bankruptcy, and her mind was filled with how to appear in front of Hawke Lane in the best possible condition tomorrow.

"What should I wear? I need to project professionalism without looking too stiff... A lab coat with an inner layer? No, no, for an interview, a business suit is much safer. Hmm... My makeup should also be refined and natural..."

0 ······Requesting flowers···· ········

Zhao Hailun instantly entered "battle mode," her brain racing as she began planning the next day's "interview" and "idol meet-and-greet."

She not only wants to conquer the position at Ryan Biotech, but also to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a solid first step in her grand plan of "sleeping with her idol"!

"Hehe..." Zhao Hailun smiled knowingly, a hint of slyness in her eyes, as she looked at her phone screen. "Hawk Lane, just you wait, I, Zhao Hailun, am coming!"

New York, evening

Hawke had just come out of the bathroom, a towel casually wrapped around his waist, his wet hair still dripping with water, and the muscular lines of his strong upper body were clearly visible under the soft light.

..... .. 0

Cipher leaned lazily against the headboard, the strap of his silk robe slipping to one side, his eyes filled with a satiated haze as he admired the "beautiful scene" before him.

Obviously, this happened afterward.

“Hawk,” her voice was slightly husky and lazy, “I received some interesting ‘market intelligence’ this afternoon that I think you should know about.”

Hawke picked up Cipher's cigarette case from the bedside table, skillfully shook out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and watched the smoke rise.

He walked to the window, gazing at the dazzling Manhattan skyline, and casually asked, "Oh? What kind of intelligence is worth Miss Cipher personally whispering in your ear?"

"About you." Cipher sat up straighter, adjusting his robe, but his eyes still held a hook. "Someone has put a price on your wanted list at the Continental Hotel."

Hawke turned around without even raising an eyebrow, as if listening to something utterly mundane: "Really? How much? 50 billion? Or 100 billion?"

Cipher smiled slightly, shook her head, and parted her red lips: "Thirty million."

"Pfft—cough cough cough!" Hawke was suddenly choked by a puff of smoke and coughed violently, his face turning red.

He rushed to the bedside, staring at Cipher in disbelief: "How much?! Say it again?! Thirty thousand what?!"

“Thirty million US dollars, Your Majesty the King,” Cipher repeated clearly, suppressing a laugh.

115 Winston, Unyielding to the Death [Seeking Flowers and Subscriptions]

"Holy shit!" Hawke exploded on the spot, stubbing out his cigarette—which he'd only taken two puffs of—in Cipher's expensive crystal ashtray. "Thirty million?! Are you trying to fob me off?"

He paced barefoot on the expensive carpet, his bath towel nearly unfurling: "I am Hawke Lane! The eldest son of the Lane Group! Heir to a business empire worth hundreds of billions! Just a few days ago, I fucking declared to the world that I am the 'King'! The little island I casually bought is worth hundreds of millions! Which desperate, stupid organization did this?!"

"The bounty was posted by a mainland hotel, and the person offering the reward is anonymous, but..." Cipher paused deliberately, enjoying Hawke's furious reaction, "...the amount is indeed a bit...extremely insulting."

"Insult? That's downright personal attack!" Hawke was so angry that the veins on his forehead throbbed twice. "Find out which blind, penniless organization put up this bounty! Find out where their headquarters is! I'll personally go and blow their headquarters building to smithereens!"

Seeing him so excited, like a child whose candy had been snatched away, Cipher finally couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to grab his strong arm: "Calm down, Your Majesty. The other party is anonymous, obviously knowing this job is a hot potato, and the pay is low... maybe it's just to provoke you?"

“Provoke me? They succeeded!” Hawke gasped for breath, but Cipher pulled him into her arms, calming his rage slightly. He looked down at Cipher’s beautiful face so close to his own and asked through gritted teeth, “Which Continental Hotel? The one in New York? That old fox Winston definitely knows something! I’m going to have a ‘heart-to-heart’ with him right now!”

His eyes blazed with the golden flames of fury.

Cipher felt that Hawke wasn't thinking "What if someone wants to kill me?" but rather, "My net worth has plummeted to thirty million? This is intolerable!"

Hawke wasn't that brainless, of course. He was genuinely angry, but the main reason was that Hawke's influence had grown too great. If someone dared to put a bounty on him, they would dare to put a bounty on the people around him as well.

Although he didn't care about the lives of most people around him, he absolutely didn't want anyone to die because of him.

Hawke bid farewell to Cypher and flew home. Under Cheon Song-yi's gaze, he roughly put on the king's bodysuit, his golden cloak billowing behind him.

"boom--!"

The sonic boom shattered the tranquility of New York's evening as a midnight blue streak, like an angry meteor, ripped through the glittering Manhattan night sky and crashed straight into the roof of the Continental Hotel's New York branch.

Without any warning, the solemn gate of the Continental Hotel, which symbolized the order and sanctuary of the underworld, along with half of the luxurious lobby and the pillars of the reception desk, melted and collapsed under the sweep of two terrifyingly hot rays of heat!

The molten stone flowed like lava, alarms blared shrilly, and the air was thick with the smell of ozone and burning heat. The entire hall was instantly plunged into chaos and panic.

Hawke hovered in mid-air, radiating intense energy, like a vengeful god descended to earth. His red eyes coldly swept over the guests and staff below, who were swaying and disheveled from the shockwave.

His voice, like rolling thunder, boomed through the chaotic hall:

"Winston! Come out!"

A moment later, Winston pushed open one of the surviving doors and emerged from the smoke-filled mess.

His signature three-piece suit was covered in dust, his hair was a little messy, but his steps remained steady and his eyes maintained a startling calm.

He looked up at Hawke, who was suspended in mid-air and as dazzling as the sun, without flinching.

“Mr. Ryan,” Winston’s voice was eerily calm, “welcome to the Continental Hotel. However, it may not be in accordance with our customs to begin in this way.”

“Rules?” Hawke scoffed, slowly landing at the edge of the lava ruins. His heat vision flickered dangerously in his eyes, as if it could burst forth at any moment. “Tell me, Winston, which pathetic organization, reduced to nothing but their underwear, dares to offer a damn thirty million dollars bounty on me?!”

Winston straightened his tie, maintaining his composure even amidst the chaos: "'King,' the Continental Hotel's first golden rule is 'Never Deal With The Devils Due'—never disclose a client's information... This is the cornerstone of our existence."

“Foundation?” Hawke’s eyes blazed with heat, “Your foundation can’t block my heat vision! Tell me your name! Otherwise, I’ll wipe this lousy hotel off the map of New York!”

Winston met Hawke's destructive gaze and slowly but firmly shook his head: "Even if you turn me and this building to ashes, the answer will be the same, Mr. Ryan. The rules of the Continental Hotel are above life and death."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable resolve.

Charon and the other remaining security personnel behind him, though showing fear, also instinctively gripped their weapons under Winston's influence, making their stance clear.

Hawke's eyes were filled with intense heat energy, which seemed about to burst forth at any moment and burn through the stubborn guy in front of him and the fortress that symbolized the underground order!

Time seemed to freeze; the air distorted under the intense heat, making each second feel incredibly long.

However, a few seconds later, the destructive red light in Hawke's eyes slowly and reluctantly went out.

Looking at Winston's wrinkled yet resolute face, and at the 4.8 and those behind him who remained steadfast despite the overwhelming power disparity, the almost explosive anger in his chest strangely began to subside—not out of forgiveness, nor out of fear, but out of a more complex emotion.

He realized that it would be easy to destroy this place with pure violence, but what would happen after the destruction?

He gained nothing but a larger ruin and a stubborn secret.

What is there to say?

The stubborn fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear the reckless.

Hawke was certainly not afraid of Winston, but Winston's reckless "integrity" became an invisible barrier in this extreme situation.

This "unyielding" attitude, though foolish, inexplicably... aroused a slight sense of admiration in him?

116 Interview with Zhao Hailun [Please subscribe and give flowers]

Comparing Winston to Murakami, and the "finger" of the Hand and the Guild crawling at his feet, Hawke felt the world was utterly absurd...

"Hmph!" Hawke let out a heavy snort, full of disdain, but he no longer had the impulse to destroy everything.

"Old stubborn!"

He didn't look at Winston again, pushed off with his feet, the ground cracked, and he soared into the sky once more, like a shooting star flying in reverse, speeding towards the Manhattan skyline and the hole in the Cipher Apartments, leaving behind a mess, choking dust, and the still-shaken people of the Continental Hotel.

Winston stood there, looking in the direction Hawke had disappeared, then looked down at the almost completely destroyed hall, let out a long, silent sigh, took out a dusty handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from his brow.

He looked at the ruins behind him and whispered, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to someone else: "Rules... are what keep this business alive. Your Majesty, our company, oh our company, you've ruined us..."

At that moment, Hawke, who was speeding through the sky, paused slightly, stopped in mid-air, turned his head to look down at Winston, who had his back to him, and his eyes flickered.

Indeed, Winston spoke very softly, seemingly only he could hear it, but Hawke was enhanced after all, and Winston's mutterings reached Hawke's ears with the sound of the wind.

She pursed her lips, glanced at Winston for a few seconds, and then slipped away.

"An interesting guy." Hawke's lips curled slightly; he thought Winston was alright, he could survive!

However, he then thought of his own organization, his eyes turning cold: "Our organization must be remnants from Busan... Let Cipher investigate the headquarters address!"

The next day, the news of the king destroying half of the continent's hotels caused a huge uproar in the underworld, but it did not make it into any newspapers.

Although the Continental Hotel was half destroyed, it was clear that the King had once again done a favor for Winston's reputation, just as it was once rumored that Cipher was powerful enough to command the Lane Group.

Now we're in the middle of a scenario where Winston, a mortal, is fighting against a god. The mortal is Winston, and the god is naturally King Hawkley.

This scene went viral in the underworld. Winston showed no fear in front of the King and refused to reveal his employer's name even when threatened with death. His reputation soared faster than the stock price of Lane Corporation!

But Hawke has never been interested in those rumors about the underworld, especially not today!

Because a beautiful Asian woman walked into his office.

Zhao Hailun has a gentle appearance, with beautiful features, red lips and white teeth. The gold-rimmed glasses she wears add to her intellectual and charming temperament.

She was dressed in an office lady outfit, and beneath the V-neck of her white shirt, heavy fruits trembled precariously. Her waist was so slender it seemed one could encircle it with one hand, and her delicate body was graceful; truly, a slender branch bearing abundant fruit.

She wore a black bodycon skirt, highlighting her full hips, and her long, shapely legs were encased in black stockings beneath the skirt.

Her overall attire was both capable and subtly alluring, making her extremely eye-catching.

Hawke stood up.

He wasn't wearing a formal jacket, just a high-quality dark gray shirt with the top two buttons of the collar casually undone.

As Zhao Hailun extended her hand in greeting, she was also carefully observing Hawke, feeling that he exuded a kind of... well, a kind of lazy yet highly present handsomeness, which was subtly different from the superhero image in the news who could easily stir up storms.

“Dr. Helen Zhao?” Hawke stood up, walked around the table, and extended his hand.

"Welcome, please have a seat." He gestured to the sofa in the reception area.

"Mr. Hawke, hello! Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity!" Zhao Hailun tried hard to suppress the fluttering in her heart and showed her professionalism as she quickly stepped forward to shake his hand.

The moment their fingertips touched, Zhao Hailun's cheeks felt slightly warm.

She was indeed dressed up carefully today; her office lady suit perfectly accentuated her figure, and her long legs encased in black stockings were alluring as she walked.

The two settled into a comfortable sofa, and an assistant served them fragrant coffee.

Hawke didn't immediately get to the point. Instead, he spoke casually, "Yesterday's Twitter DMs were incredibly efficient. I thought I'd have to wait several days to meet you in person. Six PhDs..." His tone was filled with undisguised amazement and admiration. "Dr. Zhao, how did you do that? A master of time management?"