"I understand. Bring her to the reception room first and have her wait. I'll be there right away."
At that moment, Killian was still swimming, but when he heard from the other end of the call that Maya Hansen had come in person, his heart immediately lit up with joy.
Just as he had said before, Maya Hansen was one of the top talents in the field of biological cells. In some ways, her ability was even stronger than Samuel, whom he had only just recruited.
So after giving a brief instruction, Killian hung up and drove toward the company as fast as he could.
He moved so quickly that even the radar equipment in a patrol car parked by the roadside began blaring warnings as it clocked his speed.
And when Killian saw the police car chasing after him from behind, he merely smiled faintly, took out his phone, and calmly made a call.
Before long, the police car that had been charging after him with sirens blazing silently turned off its lights, made a clean turn, and drove back the way it had come.
Seeing that, Killian only smiled to himself.
This really was the kind of world owned by capitalists, the kind he had hated most in his previous life.
Helpless, but real.
...
On the other side, Maya Hansen had packed up everything she had and arrived at Killian's company carrying all of her materials along with that one successfully tested specimen.
She did not know whether AIM, which had now become famous around the world, would still want her.
But she did know one thing.
This was her last chance.
A biotechnology that could invade living organisms and, at any moment, potentially turn them into bombs was something almost no investor could look at and immediately understand the value of.
Even Maya Hansen herself could not say for certain.
After all, this project had already consumed nearly ten years of her life, and aside from succeeding once on a single plant, she had never produced any other successful case.
All she knew was that if the research could continue, then it absolutely had enormous potential.
Unfortunately, the experimental costs were simply too great. Without investor funding, she could not continue developing it at all.
And so, carrying a nervous heart, Maya Hansen sat waiting in the reception room.
Until the door finally opened.
And then the Killian she had once met in Switzerland, the one who had carried a slightly bookish air, now seemed like a completely different person.
Tall, upright, strong, and radiating confidence, he walked in with a smile and greeted her.
"Miss Maya Hansen, I'm very glad we're meeting again."
After speaking, Killian politely extended his hand.
As the company kept expanding, he could now say without exaggeration that he was even more eager for talented people than anyone else.
"Hello, Mr. Killian. I really didn't expect that someone like you would still come to meet me in person."
When Maya Hansen saw Killian standing before her, she was genuinely surprised.
Back then, when he had no major project and came to recruit her, she could understand it.
But now, after creating a future technology as successful as Baymax, he was still willing to come see her personally.
Originally, her thought had simply been to rely on Killian's name to get herself in the door somehow.
If she was lucky, maybe she could get assigned into a small team, and with company funding, begin working on her own project again.
"Hahaha, we've only gone a few days without seeing each other, not a few years. I've only been lucky enough to get my hands on a good project. I'm not some unreachable person yet, Miss Maya Hansen. You're overthinking it."
Hearing Maya Hansen's words, Killian laughed and replied.
"Mr. Killian, you may not realize it, but after Baymax came out, your AIM has already become the place countless researchers dream of joining."
"I already have quite a few friends talking about your company."
Looking at the man before her, who felt like a completely different person from before and now even gave her a sense of being out of reach, Maya Hansen spoke nervously.
"Heh, really?"
"For me, that's certainly something worth being happy about."
"But Miss Maya Hansen, to be honest, compared to those people, your arrival is what makes me happier."
In response to her words, Killian only gave a light smile and a brief reply, then looked directly at her and spoke.
A truly good researcher would be no less valuable to him than Jarvis had been to Iron Man.
"?"
After hearing Killian's words, especially that final sentence, Maya Hansen completely lost her sense of direction.
"As you know, what I said before about paying attention to your research was never empty talk."
"Back in 1991, you discovered a blank zone in the deeper structural layers of the human brain within the field of biological cells, and you identified a special substance. After that, you applied at school for a research project, which became Ultimate Regeneration."
"From the very beginning, it started as theoretical research, and then moved into proving your hypothesis through plant-based experimentation."
"Your core idea was to use it on the human nervous system, allowing it to invade and then chemically perfect that structure, deeply activating the body's hidden potential."
"That way, it might one day prevent disease, or even make limb regeneration possible."
"I'm not wrong, am I?"
Looking at Maya Hansen, Killian smiled slightly and slowly laid out exactly how closely he had followed her work.
And after hearing everything he said, Maya Hansen finally understood that his attention toward her had never been just words.
Although it had only been a handful of sentences, those were exactly the kind of conclusions only someone who had read through all of her research reports and followed her path from the beginning until now could make.
At that moment, she truly regretted, more than anything, not choosing Killian sooner.
"..."
"Yes, but... this..."
"I really didn't expect that you would actually..."
Looking at Killian now, Maya Hansen felt as if her entire sense of logic and language had become tangled.
"You didn't expect I would really pay this much attention to you?"
"To be honest, from the very beginning until now, AIM has always been committed to developing and investing in highly influential scientific projects, all in order to benefit humanity and give back to society."
"And you, along with your Ultimate Regeneration project, have always been on our long-term observation list."
Seeing Maya Hansen so surprised that she did not know what to do, Killian only smiled and spoke to her seriously.
"I'm sorry. Before this, I even once thought you were..."
After finally recovering, Maya Hansen began awkwardly.
"That I was a liar? The kind after your money or your looks?"
"Believe me, all of that is in the past now. What matters is the present, isn't it?"
"You need funding, and I think very highly of both you and your project. That's enough."
Killian said firmly.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]