When the sound of the police sirens grew from distant to near.
Ian was already humming a little tune and walking away.
He took another two gulps of the *tech drink*, passed the gym entrance, and, having achieved his goal, didn't plan to linger in this place full of "English atmosphere."
However.
The two otaku standing at the gym entrance caught Ian's attention. A tall man and a short, bespectacled man were pacing back and forth anxiously at the gym entrance.
"I can do this, I can definitely do this!" The short, bespectacled man, named Leonard, was pumping himself up, his fists tightly clenched. "As long as I build muscle, Penny will definitely like me!"
The skinny, tall, short-haired man next to him rolled his eyes.
"Leonard, according to the research data on page 327 of Evolutionary Psychology, women's preference for muscle when choosing a mate only ranks sixth."
He offered the reminder.
"Sheldon! Science isn't always right! To hell with evolutionary psychology!" Leonard, the short man, couldn't listen to his friend's advice at all.
"I can definitely become a muscle hunk! And then my love will follow." He clenched his fists, full of confidence. That mysterious self-assurance felt familiar to Ian.
"We are scientists, we should believe... Fine, if you insist, you'll have to figure out how to step through that door first." The tall man called Sheldon stepped back a few paces.
"Our friendship only allows me to accompany you this far. That place is a petri dish for bacteria and viruses. I refuse to enter a place that will cause me to die of syphilis or some other disease."
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone.
"What are you doing?"
The short man, Leonard, had a bad feeling.
"I need to purchase some alcohol. I will toss you into it and let you soak when you get home tonight. How about 80-proof alcohol? I respect my roommate's choices and preferences."
Sheldon maintained his politeness.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
Leonard was exasperated.
"Indeed, you make a valid point. I don't want to go to jail... so 75-proof should suffice." With that, Sheldon raised one hand and began rapidly ordering the service on his phone.
"..."
Leonard silently held his head.
Just then.
"Hey, gentlemen, good evening." Ian remembered why he felt this situation was familiar. He had once again encountered two characters who shouldn't exist in the DC Universe.
The two protagonists from The Big Bang Theory. It was a situational comedy Ian had watched. He only remembered that the characters were all exceptionally bright otaku scientists.
Other information wasn't important.
Knowing it or not made no difference. Even if he hadn't watched the show, Ian would only care about their identity as scientists. That was the only thing that interested Ian.
He had a laser gun.
He had the Marvel world.
So, naturally, he needed to get to know enough excellent scientists. Plagiarism was just the beginning, scientific plagiarism was the high road. Ian also harbored a desire to benefit himself and, incidentally, mankind through technology.
"Uh."
Leonard, seeing someone approach, immediately waved his hand reflexively. "I need to maintain a clear mind, so I don't need any fitness technology products!"
He clearly wasn't a first-timer to this place and was very familiar with the tactics outside the gym.
"I'm not a tech peddler." Ian hid his Coke bottle and defended his identity under the gaze of the two physicists, who knew a bit about chemistry.
Leonard frowned, unconvinced.
Sheldon, however, looked thoughtful.
"He's right, Leonard. He's so handsome, Penny would probably be willing to spend 500—no, 800 US dollars on him. He has entirely faster ways to make illegal money."
"If he had 80% of a normal person's intelligence, he would choose to approach wealthy older women, blackmail them, and get rich, and he could certainly join the ranks of billionaires." The scientist Sheldon said his reasonable analysis in a serious manner.
"!!!!"
Ian was stunned.
"Do you have Super Intelligence too?"
He rarely felt such genuine shock internally.
"I am a theoretical physicist and a future Nobel Prize winner, so of course I have Super Intelligence." Sheldon tilted his head, responding matter-of-factly.
*Slap*
Leonard silently slapped his forehead.
He felt the boy in front of him and his friend beside him were delivering a double blow.
"So, kid, what exactly do you want from us?" Leonard took a deep breath, calmed himself, and looked at Ian, whom he could instantly classify as a middle school student.
Ian immediately responded.
"I'm a student striving to become an excellent capitalist, and I need a group of scientists to be my oxen and horses to work for me." He tried to extend his olive branch to the two men.
Leonard just thought Ian was joking.
Sheldon, however, was intrigued.
"Comparing employees to oxen and horses, hmm, a very vivid metaphor, and very honest. I like talking to honest people, even if most honest people aren't very smart—don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that lying requires details, and creating details is a difficult behavior that requires super high intelligence to support."
It was unclear whether he was praising Ian, demeaning him, or just complimenting himself.
It didn't matter.
Ian was a magnanimous person.
"Sheldon! Shut up!" Leonard was more bothered by his roommate's rudeness. He turned apologetically to Ian. "Listen, kid, we are professors at Metropolis University of Technology."
"Our income is pretty good, and we don't need to switch jobs." Although he still felt Ian was playing a prank or joking, he gave Ian some polite respect and seriousness.
To this.
Ian blinked.
"I'm backed by the Wayne Enterprises."
He wasn't lying. He just wasn't telling the whole truth. As a contracted writer for a small publishing house under the umbrella of Wayne Enterprises, why wouldn't he be backed by Wayne Enterprises?
His big boss even thought highly of him!
"Ah?"
Both Leonard and Sheldon were visibly taken aback.
"Wayne Enterprises! Is it that Wayne Enterprises?" Sheldon was visibly excited. "Bruce Wayne ranks third among the 16 people I admire most!"
"A ranking second only to Batman!"
"Bruce Wayne is absolutely the most underestimated capitalist and inventor of this century!" It must be said that the man named Sheldon was quite focused on some level.
In contrast to Sheldon's immediate belief, Leonard wasn't so quick to trust.
"You have a connection with Wayne Enterprises? What kind of connection?" Leonard scrutinized Ian in disbelief. He thought Ian just looked like a normal child from an elite family.
"What kind of connection? Let's just say, Bruce Wayne owes my father his life." Ian answered seriously. What he said was the genuine truth.
"A life-or-death friendship, then!"
Leonard felt suddenly enlightened, or at least he thought he was enlightened. "Did your father start a company that then received support from Wayne Enterprises?"
Though amazed internally.
He still didn't think a child like Ian could start a business.
"I'm sorry."
Leonard, after careful consideration, still chose to refuse.
Just then.
Ian opened his schoolbag.
Preparing to appeal to the otaku's interests.
"Wow! The craftsmanship on this bull head figure is exquisite!" Sheldon was the first to notice the special item in Ian's schoolbag, but he didn't imagine it was anything supernatural.
Leonard was the same.
"It's even motorized!" He was greatly amazed and suddenly had a very bold idea. He really wanted to ask Ian where he bought the figure.
"I'm not just a reserve capitalist and a future best-selling author, I'm also a cartoonist." Ian pulled out a sketchbook. The cover was clearly the original art for The Boys.
It must be said.
He was very good at grasping the psychology of the two otaku scientists.
"A comic book, and the artwork is really good."
Leonard's attention was immediately drawn, and he temporarily tossed his bold idea to the back of his mind, instinctively taking the The Boys manuscript from Ian's hand.
Sheldon also leaned over.
A moment later.
"Oh! This comic is truly explosive!"
The two veteran comic enthusiasts couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
"Genius! He's a comic genius! Leonard! Leonard! We have to work for him! That way we can threaten him to draw us into the comic too!"
Sheldon was clearly fired up. Ian also planned to strike while the iron was hot and pull out the overbearing contract clauses he had learned from excellent people's entrepreneurs. However, just then.
Something completely unexpected happened without warning.
[Dormant Profession has met the conditions for revival]
The system's voice suddenly sounded.
Sufficient memorialization.
It was precisely that power that could surpass everything.