American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

**Chapter 145: Opening**

Buzz buzz buzz buzz...

As four helicopters, touted as the world's largest heavy-lift aircraft, hovered and ascended, a stone pillar five or six meters thick was forcefully pulled out of the mountainside.

"How much deeper?"

Frank looked at the Construction Site Manager, who quickly called over an Old Miner.

The Old Miner rubbed the extracted rock sample between his fingers, then had someone throw down an iron hammer tied to a rope. He stood above and listened to the sound of the hammer hitting the rock layer below.

He confidently said to Frank, "At most, another half a meter!"

"Send the men down!" Frank waved his hand. After offering a price of five thousand US dollars, four or five experienced miners were selected from a group of eager volunteers. They tied safety ropes around their waists and descended into the pit with electric mining machines!

"Why didn't we just use explosives to blast open this rock layer just now?"

Trevor Anderson looked at Frank, puzzled.

Frank stood at the pit edge, watching the miners working inside. "I was worried that the vibration from the blasting might affect the geological structure inside, which could impact our search for the Subterranean World!"

Just as Trevor Anderson was about to say something else, Frank suddenly looked up.

He followed Frank's gaze and saw a black dot high in the distance flying towards them.

A blue and white helicopter landed on the Helipad on the Mountainside. A Black-clothed Bodyguard stepped out of the aircraft, carrying a silver briefcase.

"Commander Square, Mr. Frank, this is something the Boss asked me to deliver to you!"

This Black-clothed Bodyguard clearly possessed the strict and rigid demeanor of a German.

This style of doing things immediately showed he was a subordinate of Kane.

Even with Frank right in front of him, the Black-clothed Bodyguard still took out an instrument and had the Red Queen software verify Frank's fingerprint and iris before handing over the silver briefcase.

Frank opened the silver briefcase using fingerprint unlock in front of the Black-clothed Bodyguard and took out a sandalwood box from inside.

After opening the wooden box, inside was an earthy yellow Jade Tablet. He looked at the patterns on it, which were similar to those on his Ejection Knife.

Frank infused the True Qi he had cultivated into the Jade Tablet, and the earthy yellow patterns on the Jade Tablet lit up one by one.

With a wave of Frank's hand, an earthy yellow light shot from the Jade Tablet towards the Ground. The rock layer in front of him seemed to flow like water, instantly surging outwards.

A Deep Pit over half a meter deep quickly appeared on the Ground! Frank looked at the Jade Tablet in his hand, then looked at the Miners working in the pit over there...

"We dug through, we dug through!"

Just then, a wave of cheers came from the distance.

......

The Opening Ceremony Reception of the Morocco Antique Car Competition.

Originally, according to the standards of previous antique car competitions, an opening ceremony reception like this wouldn't have been held at all.

Now, with Tony Stark as the wealthy and generous sponsor, an opening ceremony reception was naturally a must.

Not only did they choose a super luxurious five-star Hotel, but inside the Hotel, the organizer also specially installed many two-hundred-inch clear large screens. These screens were connected in real-time to cameras on various tracks at the competition scene.

This allowed the VIPs who came here to watch the competition footage in real-time.

"Hey, relax a little, Pepper Potts. This is Europe, we're here on vacation. Put all that work aside for now!"

A white convertible sports car stopped at the Shop Entrance. Looking at Pepper Potts, who was still constantly taking calls and busy with work, Tony Stark felt a bit speechless.

"Tony, I don't want to either. You know, although I handled these matters before,

you always made the decisions on important things. Now you've given me the decision-making power, and I'm really afraid I'll mess things up!"

Ms. Pepper Potts, the newly appointed President of Stark Industries, hung up the phone and expressed her feelings to Tony Stark.

She also couldn't understand why Tony had done so many inexplicable things after that Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

He sold off their collections of many years,

let go of Stark Industries, and then pushed her into the position of President of Stark Industries.

Okay, although Pepper Potts was very excited when she heard this information,

there was a joy of finally reaching the peak of her career after working hard for over a decade.

However, after taking over Stark Industries and managing this massive company as President, she truly understood the weight behind every seemingly casual decision Tony made.

"I understand, I understand. Relax, Pepper Potts. You've just taken over. You'll be fine once you get used to it. Now listen to me, put down your phone and let's enjoy our vacation properly!"

Pepper Potts listened to Tony Stark's comforting words and obediently put away her phone.

"This is Europe, not New York..."

Tony Stark walked into the Hotel Hall with Pepper Potts, just about to describe the vacation itinerary he had planned for the next few days after the car race!

"Hi, Ms. Pepper Potts, congratulations on becoming the President of Stark Industries!"

Before Tony Stark could finish speaking, a High-level Staff from an enterprise that had business dealings with Stark Industries walked towards Pepper Potts with a smiling face, greeting her warmly.

As for Tony Stark, the famous Iron Man, he was completely ignored.

"The world is truly cold and indifferent!"

Tony Stark took a glass of champagne from a tray held by a Waiter and walked to the side to drink.

Although his words were negative, Tony Stark didn't show much disappointment on his face...

"Mr. Stark, according to Doctor Lewis's instructions, you should drink less alcohol!"

Ms. Natalie, dressed in professional attire that accentuated her beautiful figure, the newly appointed Private Secretary who had just replaced Pepper Potts, walked with a sway as she walked up to Tony Stark and snatched his wine glass.

Tony Stark pouted, "Doctor Lewis said I should drink less, not not drink at all. My body has recovered now, it's recovered very well!"

Seeing that Ms. Natalie had no intention of returning the wine glass to him, Tony Stark could only say helplessly:

"Alright, it seems Pepper Potts has trained you very well. I can practically see her influence on you!"

"That is my honor, Mr. Stark!"

Ms. Natalie casually placed the wine glass in her hand onto a passing Waiter's tray.

"Mr. Stark, you have an event tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. High-level Staff from Airbus Aviation want to discuss the issue of aircraft engine authorization with you!"

"I don't have time tomorrow, not before ten o'clock!"

"Then I'll inform them and change the event to eleven o'clock!"

Watching Ms. Natalie sway away, Tony Stark turned around, took another glass of champagne from a Waiter, and drank while watching Pepper Potts, who was surrounded by a crowd of people offering compliments. His emotions were very complex.

"How does it feel after stepping down as President?"

"Cough cough!" The voice that suddenly appeared behind him startled Tony Stark. After choking on a sip of champagne, he coughed repeatedly.

"Damn it, Tang, what are you doing here?"

Tony Stark finally recovered and looked at Tang Song and the three beautiful women with different styles beside him, his eyes widening.

"Of course, I'm here to watch this Morocco Antique Car Competition. A Billionaire's passionate contribution, the scene must be spectacular!"

Tang Song waved his hand, and a Waiter brought over several glasses of champagne.

Tang Song took one glass, Fox took two and handed them to Skye and Selene before taking one himself.

"It's just a car race. Why does it sound like you're describing a terrorist crisis?" Tony Stark frowned.

"Clink!"

Tang Song raised his wine glass and clinked it with Tony Stark's.

"When the information about you stepping down as President got out, Stark Industries' stock price immediately dropped several percentage points. I suffered quite a loss!"

Tony Stark shrugged, raised his wine glass, and took a sip of champagne. "If you've lost confidence in Stark Industries, you can sell all the stock you hold to me. I can buy them at the price before the stock price dropped!"

"No need for that. As I said before, I'm not investing in stock, nor in Stark Industries, but in your brilliant brain, Tony Stark!"

Tang Song said meaningfully, "Unless you pass away someday, I won't sell these stock!"

Hearing Tang Song's words, Tony Stark was stunned for a moment, his look somewhat complex.

It seemed Tang Song had touched a sore spot.

He put down his wine glass. "Tang, I have a competition later. I need to rush to the scene to prepare now. Please excuse me!"

......

"Let's go! We'll go to the competition scene too!" Tang Song watched Tony Stark's hurried figure leave.

He said to Skye and the other two women behind him.

On the other side, Pepper Potts finally managed to extricate herself from the greetings of the business people, but Tony Stark's figure was no longer visible in the Venue.

"Hi, Ms. Pepper Potts!"

Pepper Potts walked around the Venue but didn't see Tony Stark's figure. However, an uninvited guest approached.

"Congratulations, Ms. Pepper Potts, on becoming the helmsman of Stark Industries," Justin Hammer congratulated Pepper Potts with a smiling face,

as if he wasn't the one who had testified against Tony Stark at the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Ms. Pepper Potts, I'm Tony's old classmate. Can you reserve two positions for Hammer Industries at the Stark Industries Expo exhibition..."

"Oh, right, where's Tony?"

Pepper Potts casually brushed off Justin Hammer with a few sentences and looked around for Tony's whereabouts. Soon, her gaze fixed on the surveillance screen at the starting position of the antique car competition.

A familiar figure, even wearing a helmet!

...…

"Tony Stark!"

Ivan Vanko, who had infiltrated the race track by blending in with the race car mechanics, silently memorized Tony Stark's race car number!

In the spectator stands next to the race cars, Mia and Letty's gaze never left a blue race car.

Mia clasped her hands together, silently offering prayers for her brother.

As for Xincha next to them, he looked at the nineteen race cars other than Dominic Toretto's, secretly giving them the middle finger and cursing them to have tire blowouts on the way.

One should know that although he spoke casually, he had invested hundreds of thousands of US dollars for Dominic Toretto to participate in this competition, plus an old antique car that was not easy to find.

If Dominic Toretto lost, he would suffer a huge loss.

Many racers were making their final checks around their race cars. After they were all seated in their race cars, as the countdown ended, over a dozen race cars roared out onto the track.

(end of chapter)