After listening to Tony and Dr. Banner's introduction, several people on the spacecraft fell into deep thought. After more than ten minutes, still no one responded on the spot.
This is a serious matter, and they all need to discuss with the staff behind them before making a decision, because if they choose to support Tony and others, this major project will definitely be overspent. The project has just started not long ago, and there is another problem. Testing the strength of the world barriers of multiple worlds will definitely take up a lot of time for these high-level qualified people. Everyone is very busy, and they need to consider whether the possible gains after the effort are worth it.
Tony was already very happy with the decision not to answer for the time being. In Jarvis's calculation model, as long as these people did not refuse on the spot, the probability of them accepting in the end would be much greater than the probability of refusing.
While others were still thinking, Kai found Tony first, and he came with a mission this time.
"Tony, I heard that you are running a cram school here? And the teachers in the cram school are all top scientists?" Kai asked Tony in a low voice.
"Cram schools?" Tony was stunned at first, then reacted after Jarvis reminded him, "You mean the student training program? Indeed, there is such a thing. The dozen people sent by Nie Lu are now studying with those teachers on Earth. According to the expected progress of the plan, they should be studying nuclear physics now. As for the top scientists, they are a bit worse than me. They are barely qualified to be considered top scientists. What's wrong?"
"It's like this, how many training places do you have?" Kai scratched the back of his head, "We also want to send a few people here for further study. Don't worry, price is not a problem, as long as the teacher's level is high enough and he is dedicated enough."
"Well... I need to go back and look at the training plan before I can decide on the specific situation. So, please send me a copy of the personal profile of the people who want to participate in the training, and I will contact you then." Tony paused and replied.
The trainees sent by Nie Lu are now studying in the research institute he founded, helping those big shots. According to Jarvis' report, the progress and evaluations of those people are not very good, and they seem to be disliked by the researchers.
He needs to consider opinions from many parties before deciding to increase or decrease the number of training personnel. Otherwise, it would be inappropriate to cause researchers to go on strike because of such a matter.
After everyone dispersed, the spacecraft entered intelligent stagnation mode and was handed over to Jarvis for maintenance, while Tony returned to Earth first.
"Are you back? How did the meeting go?" Pepper looked up and asked after Tony landed.
"It's still ideal. According to probability, the majority of people should agree." Tony took off his armor and sat in front of Pepper.
"That's good, but there's a problem you need to solve." Pepper said as she handed a document to Tony.
"What's the problem?" Tony looked at his butler so formally, took the document and began to look through it.
The document recorded the expenditure and income of Stark Group in recent times. Tony noticed the huge deficit in the balance column at the end of the document.
As a top technology company, Stark Industries' products have very high profit margins. However, the resources consumed in spacecraft manufacturing have recently been too high. After deducting the share borne by other forces, the remaining resources are still beyond the limit that Stark Industries can bear.
"We're out of money?" Tony muttered. Would his ability to make money not only become ineffective in the main god space, but also on Earth
"Yes, but the good news is that our stock price has been rising, so there is still a solution." Pepper said as she sat next to Tony. She had already drafted a stock sale agreement and now all she needed was Tony's signature.
Jarvis put all the relevant data in front of Tony at the right time. Tony and Pepper now hold a total of 51% of the shares through various means, and are undoubtedly the major shareholders. Pepper's plan is to sell about 5% of the shares in exchange for the entry of other forces, thereby obtaining new funds and greater support.
"No, the shares cannot be moved." Tony shook his head decisively. He didn't want to give others the opportunity to unite and drive him out of Stark Industries, although according to Jarvis and Pepper's calculations, the chances of such a thing happening might be less than one percent.
After all, the official investment group from China, the joint investment company of Kingpin and Osborn, and even the Umbrella Corporation all have considerable shares on the board of directors, and these people will most likely stand on Tony's side.
If he could convince all these people to betray Tony, it would be as difficult as creating another Stark Industries.
Pepper was a little helpless, she knew it would be like this. After being with Tony for so long, she found that Tony had a serious lack of security. But the current 51% shareholding between the two of them was indeed too high, and it felt like a waste of resources. In addition, no matter from which perspective, the best way at the moment was to sell part of the shares. Unfortunately, Tony disagreed.
Tony also knew that his decision was a bit unreasonable, which was completely embarrassing for Pepper. He gently took Pepper's hand and held her in his arms. "Don't worry, I will find a way to solve this problem in another way."
As he spoke, Tony's mind flashed back to Kai's image, a big dog owner.
"Well, I believe you." Pepper replied softly.
After the two of them were intimate for a while, Tony walked towards the research institute, which was a big spender of funds. This institute brought together more than 30% of the world's top scientists. It could be said that without them, it would be basically impossible to manufacture the spacecraft in outer orbit of the earth. It was the crystallization of the wisdom of thousands of people's efforts for a long time.
As soon as Tony entered the research institute, he could hear all kinds of quarrels. This kind of noise is always heard in this place. Top talents are always a little conceited. It is not incredible to have quarrels over cooperation matters. Tony can't control it, and he doesn't want to control it. In most cases, such quarrels are beneficial to the promotion of the project.
However, this time the argument Tony heard when he came in was not because of differences in concepts, but because of the people involved in the training program.
"Tony Stark?" Octavius seemed to be relieved when he saw Tony coming over. "Take these students away quickly. I can't stand it anymore. Where did you find such stupid people?"
Tony stretched out his hand to push away the mechanical arm that was blocking his sight. The guy in front of him with several mechanical arms around his body was called Otto Gunther Octavius. He was undoubtedly an expert in nuclear physics and one of the best in the institute full of talented people.
"Don't be angry first, don't be angry. Did these people do anything bad? For example, they didn't study hard and didn't respect their teachers?" Tony smiled and comforted Octavius. At the same time, he winked at the people behind him who were being scolded and asked them to go out first.
"..." Octavius was silent for a moment. Thinking back, the people who followed him did not make the mistakes that Tony mentioned. On the contrary, their attitude towards learning surprised Octavius a little. They were really learning with their lives, but their IQ was indeed a flaw.
After watching Octavius's mechanical arm quiet down, Tony knew that the man in front of him was no longer so angry, so he quickly took out a list and handed it to him, "I'm here to give you some special materials and equipment. These are sponsored by the forces behind the students. If you don't need them, I can arrange for others."
Octavius took the list. Everything written on it was what he wanted very much, especially some neural thinking peripheral equipment, which were only available in this place in the world. They were unique to Scorpion Shit. However, accepting these things meant that he would have to be tortured by all kinds of mentally retarded problems of those students for another month.
Tony looked at Octavius's hesitation and pretended to take a step back, as if he was going to leave. There were indeed other nuclear physicists in the institute, but their levels were not as high as the one in front of him, and their tempers were not much better than this man. They also liked to fool around when teaching students, and they were all old foxes who came out of university.
"Wait." Octavius stopped Tony, "When can these things be delivered?"
"Part of it has been delivered to the warehouse. You can view and call it through the intranet. The rest will arrive within a week." Tony said.
"Okay, let them in." Octavius finally took the task. What Tony gave was so delicious and exactly what he needed.
"Ahem, Doctor, do you mind adding a few more students?" Tony said after a moment of hesitation.
This was the solution he had thought of to solve the funding problem. Kai's adventure group was a well-known big player in the main God Space. Although their income was not much, and the profit margins of their various services and products were not as good as those of the Pioneer Alliance and the Umbrella Corporation, their expenditures were very small. After so long, they should have accumulated a considerable fortune.
Therefore, as long as Pepper gets further support from Flame and Heritage, she will no longer have to worry about the deficit of Stark Industries in the short term.
Octavius didn't say anything either, just looked at Tony, with the mechanical arm behind him extended to its maximum, proving his extremely bad mood. If Tony hadn't given him some resources and equipment first, he would probably have lost his temper.
I've already forced myself to eat a pile of shit, and you want me to eat a second pile? Or eat it continuously?!
"Of course not now, but after this group of students has completed their training, are you still willing to teach students? Of course, there will be no shortage of sponsored equipment and resources." Tony explained.
Octavius thought about it. As the saying goes, once it happens for the first time, it will happen countless times. Since he has already led a batch, it is not unacceptable to lead another batch.
"Of course you can, but please find some smarter people here. These people are too stupid." Octavius said.
Tony was silent, and this silence made Octavius feel very uneasy.
"Worse than these people? Where did they come from? A primitive tribe?" Octavius said very dissatisfiedly. The basic knowledge of this group of students under him was actually fine, but their scientific literacy was too poor, and their logical thinking ability was not good. He felt that these people had not received systematic scientific education since childhood, and were just sent here after cramming some knowledge learned in college.
Tony touched his nose subconsciously. If you want to count the people on Kai's side, they can be said to be a primitive tribe, but not that primitive. Moreover, in terms of scientific literacy, they are obviously worse than the people in the ice world.
"I'll try to pick smarter people." Tony said perfunctorily. In his mind, if all else fails, he'll just have to pick the shortest of the short ones. He must strive for Kai's support.
"Why don't you teach them yourself? Your nuclear physics is not much worse than mine. It should be more than enough to teach them." Octavius looked down at Tony and said.
The answer to this question is actually self-evident. When it comes to teaching students, Tony is definitely more reluctant than Octavius. He is afraid that he will not be able to control his temper and will directly send the students back.
"Ahem, add 50 percent to the next batch of resources." Tony added a weight.
"Deal." Octavius took it decisively.
He has also thought it through. At worst, he can just go to his former school and find a few teaching assistants. Even if they don't fool around, those teaching assistants can at least help him solve half of the stupid questions from the students. By then, there will be fewer problems and more resources. This result is also very good.
After solving Octavius' problem, Tony also had to visit top experts in other fields. He didn't like coming to the institute very much because every time he came, he had to act like a grandson. These guys inside finally had a chance to damage Tony, who was considered an arrogant person in their eyes, so of course they would spare no effort.
Pepper even told Tony once that a mechanical engineering expert joined the institute just to damage him, because Tony had criticized the other's invention as worthless in the media, and the other party came to take revenge.
But later it was proved that the other party's participation greatly improved the design speed of the spacecraft, and Tony could only come to satisfy the other party every once in a while. The overall situation was more important.
After going around the institute, Tony discussed with various bigwigs about a total of thirty trainee places, and was subjected to thousands of ridicules. When he walked out of the institute's gate, he breathed a sigh of relief; the nightmare was finally over.
While going around in circles, he wanted to quarrel with those who mocked him many times. What kind of things did those people design? They were a mess. Tony dared to say that he could design something better than that in a few hours, but the problem was that he really couldn't squeeze out those few hours.