"Haha, of course I'll go. It's Tony's wedding, after all!"
Heisenberg answered so quickly that even Billy was startled by how eager he looked.
After all, Billy had no idea just how wildly popular Iron Man had been in the original universe.
How should he put it?
If Spider-Man had been the face of Marvel twenty years ago, then after the turn of the millennium, especially over the last decade, Iron Man had become the absolute core of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
So the moment he heard that Tony was getting married eight years ahead of schedule, Heisenberg's eyes went wide on the spot.
After having his personality altered by me, did this guy really become that family-oriented?
It had only been a few days, and he was already getting married to Pepper...!
That was way too outrageous!
Meanwhile, Billy, who knew absolutely none of this, saw the look on Heisenberg's face, the kind of expression of someone feasting on explosive gossip, and cold sweat immediately began to run down his back.
All he knew was that the boss had beaten Iron Man up two days ago.
He had even heard that the fight reached all the way into Iron Man's bride-to-be's office!
And according to reliable information from inside Stark Group, the bride listed on that invitation had probably paid a tremendous price to save Iron Man.
After all, once the boss left that woman's office, she had cried until her makeup was ruined. Heaven knew what kind of price she had paid.
Not to mention that his own boss was the sort who killed without blinking. If it were not for that bride's great sacrifice, there was no reason at all for the boss to spare Iron Man!
Thinking of that, Billy became even less certain of Heisenberg's current mood.
The boss was not angry, was he?
Angry because that bride was getting married?
Cough cough.
In any case, he had not seen the boss this worked up in a very long time.
Could it be that after that incident, he had taken a liking to Iron Man's...
Cough cough.
Just what kind of woman would it take to captivate both the boss and Tony Stark at the same time? The boss looked this upset. Was she Medusa or something? Had she petrified him on the spot?
Cough cough.
The more Billy thought about it, the more ridiculous it became. His nonstop coughing quickly made Heisenberg suspicious.
Heisenberg pulled himself out of his excitement and casually said to Billy,
"You're coughing that badly? I'll give you two days off. Find somewhere to rest properly, and don't forget to wear a mask!"
With that, Heisenberg waved him off.
Among all his subordinates, Billy was the easiest to use. The kid was attentive and thoughtful.
For a subordinate like that, you had to show a little concern once in a while.
What Heisenberg never could have imagined, though, was that this bit of concern nearly made Billy want to swallow a gun and kill himself!
The very moment Heisenberg finished speaking, Billy wanted to slap himself twice.
And after explaining his temporary leave to Jessica, then going over service arrangements with the attendants who would be taking care of Heisenberg in his absence...
By the time he walked out of the theater, he felt like the whole world was huge, yet there was no place left for him in it.
He staggered home in a daze. The moment he saw himself in the mirror, Billy viciously smacked himself across the face.
The second I start imagining things, I start coughing. How the hell do I even have a problem like that?
I pissed the boss off!
He gave me time off. The boss actually gave me time off!
When Bullseye had half his ass blown off, the boss didn't even give him leave, but he gave me time off!
That piece of news must really have pissed the boss off bad...
...
As for the Heisenberg who, in Billy's imagination, had already been furious beyond belief, he was currently drinking wine and stroking his beard while thinking about Tony's wedding.
Hm?!!
Wait a second!
Heisenberg suddenly noticed something.
He had grown a beard!
No, to be precise, his beard had gotten this long!
He had not properly looked in a mirror for ages. Even when he showered, he did it at super-speed and called it a day.
After all, he needed to hurry up and sunbathe...
But because he had been living with that kind of rough routine, he had gone more than two full months without shaving.
"I need to find a razor."
As he thought that, Heisenberg...
"Fuck!"
...cursed aloud.
"There's probably nothing on Earth that can shave me, so how do Supermen even shave?"
Heisenberg had no choice but to face the problem before him.
A dignified Kryptonian had actually been stumped by a beard!
In the comics, Superman shaved himself with heat vision.
But that idea was obviously a joke.
In the movies, not even Doomsday's heat vision could burn off Superman's hair.
So why would his own heat vision, reflected off a mirror, be able to burn away his beard?
Still, it had to be tested!
So Heisenberg walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror.
"First, let's see whether a mirror can even reflect heat vision!"
At once, Heisenberg focused his gaze on the mirror. Red light bloomed in his pupils, and blazing heat vision burst out instantly.
The mirror melted on the spot like ordinary glass, while the heat vision tore straight through the bathroom and blasted onward.
Even though Heisenberg shut it off in time, that one experiment still caused him economic losses exceeding two million.
Because more than four hundred meters in front of him, everything along the path had been pierced and scorched with a hole the size of a bowl.
Two sculptures were destroyed, and an oil painting rumored to be worth over eight hundred thousand was also completely ruined.
The result left Heisenberg with a helpless expression.
As expected, that method was completely unreliable. Otherwise, if Superman used heat vision and happened to sweep it past a building with a huge mirror inside, would the beam suddenly bend?
And if someone wanted to counter Superman's heat vision, would they only need to carry a mirror around?
Besides, heat vision was not just light. Along with extreme heat, it also carried an appropriate amount of concussive force.
If it was too weak to break a mirror, then it definitely would not have enough power to singe his beard.
And if it was even a little stronger, the mirror would never hold.
Sure enough, comics were comics.
This was the damn movie universe!
He could not use the comics as a complete reference for everything.
So how did Superman shave in the movies?
This...
Heisenberg had watched plenty of movies before transmigrating, but Justice League had never shown Superman shaving.
Still, there was another movie where Hancock had put on a live shaving demonstration for everyone.
And the way he shaved...
Before any of his men could rush into the bathroom, Heisenberg gestured at the shattered mirror on the wall.
Then he stretched out his right hand and dragged his much longer fingernails hard across his own face!
"Hissss...!"
He sucked in a breath from the pain, but at least he had managed to remove a small clump of beard.
Looks like this method works!
So then...
"System, trim my beard and nails. While you're at it, give me a haircut too. Use Keanu Reeves from The Matrix era as the reference for the hairstyle!"
"This is very simple. It only requires 0.25 cubic units of Origin Matter."
"Fuck!"
Heisenberg paid up through clenched teeth.
Do not bother telling him how important Origin Matter was.
Rather than endure the agony of ripping out every last hair from his beard one by one, Heisenberg would much rather go change the fates of another two hundred and fifty people!
Besides, his Origin Matter had been skyrocketing lately. He still had over six hundred thousand on hand.
Who was he to care about a mere 0.25?
In the blink of an eye, Heisenberg's whole image changed completely. He nodded in satisfaction.
When the system stepped in, it always got the job done beautifully!
"The usual. Erase all matter I've left behind," Heisenberg ordered again.
As usual, the system charged him a small amount of Origin Matter. With that, he no longer needed to worry about someone picking up the clump of beard he had torn off earlier.
And only then did the bathroom door finally get kicked open by Jessica.
The white girl rushed straight toward Heisenberg.
"Who's the enemy?!" she shouted while running, her eyes constantly scanning the bathroom.
But when she saw the melted hole in the mirror and then looked at Heisenberg's now clean-shaven face, she seemed to understand what had happened.
So she leaped straight at him and wrapped herself around him like a koala.
"You shaved?
You look insanely handsome!
But I still liked you better with the beard. It made you look more imposing!"
"Uh, my authority comes from my power, not my beard," Heisenberg explained.
But Jessica was not listening at all. She pressed her cheek against his and rubbed against him hard.
"So you really can shave like in the comics, using heat vision!"
"Emm, that's right."
"Got it. Cut the crap, Boss. Take me!"
"Damn it, other people will come rushing in!"
"Then use my voice and tell them to get lost!"
"You woman, honestly...!"
"Do you like it?"
(￣ェ￣;)(￣ェ￣;)
"I do!"
...
...
...
In the blink of an eye, two days passed, and Friday arrived.
Heisenberg climbed up from his lounge chair, and beside him, Billy had already returned to work with four maids in tow, all of them carrying washing supplies prepared for Heisenberg.
Looking at the four maids, Heisenberg was a little surprised. He could not help asking Billy,
"This wasn't here before. You hired them for me?"
"That's right, Boss. Your status absolutely deserves this."
"Haha, alright, alright. You've got heart!"
Degenerate Heisenberg immediately began enjoying the girls' service.
First, they used hot towels to clean his feet, then they took his hands and led him into the bathroom.
Only after Heisenberg disappeared behind the bathroom door did Billy finally let out a long breath.
These two days off had left him unable to sleep at night. After agonizing over it for ages, he had finally thought of borrowing the treatment those so-called European nobles enjoyed in hopes of winning the boss's forgiveness.
But seeing the boss's completely wordless reaction, Billy felt especially glad about his choice.
Sure enough, when it came to men, even if they did not actively seek this kind of treatment, that did not mean they disliked being treated this way.
From that day on, Billy seemed to awaken some rather special attributes.
...
After being bathed and attended to by the maids, Heisenberg let them help him into his robe.
That was right, the New York mayor's invitation was for a charity dinner, and of course that meant it would be held at night.
As for right now, what Heisenberg needed to do was still sunbathe.
He stayed out in the sun until evening, then finally got up, changed his clothes, and got into a car driven personally by Jessica as they headed for Ehrenburg Restaurant.
This restaurant was located on the west side of Manhattan, less than 1.3 kilometers from Stark Tower. It was prime real estate among prime real estate.
And anyone who could appear here was an elite among New York's elite, rich among the rich!
In the past, Heisenberg had never even seen the mayor of his own city.
Let alone been invited to some kind of banquet.
But now?
Sorry.
From the moment Heisenberg stepped into Ehrenburg, he had already become the brightest star in the entire room.
There was no longer a single gaze left that could remain on anyone else.
Heisenberg swept his eyes around twice, roughly taking in the whole crowd.
Wherever his gaze passed, most people lowered their heads carefully.
Because in today's New York, who would not be afraid of Heisenberg?
Especially the rich.
The richer they were, the more they feared anything, or anyone, that could cost them their lives.
/-\
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