Although Gina Aurantius was of mixed Sokovian and American heritage, she had grown up in Sokovia.
In fact, the Aurantius family was once an old and powerful faction in Sokovia, with a long history.
The family held a hereditary barony, and tracing back further, they even had royal blood.
However, the Tsarist monarchy style was long gone in Sokovia. Its official international name was now the Republic of Sokovia.
Moreover, Sokovia had been in a state of constant internal strife among warlords.
With various factions intervening and stirring the pot, this small Eastern European country had rarely seen a day of peace.
The leader on the surface was just a bigger warlord than the rest.
The family's centuries of accumulation gave them high status and resources within the country.
But compared to the foreign hawks and wolves circling the nation, they were insignificant.
During the time of Gina's father—Luca's grandfather—after suffering exclusion and suppression from various factions within Sokovia, he decided to move the family's operations to the United States.
While transferring large sums of capital overseas, he established what is now Aurantius Industries in America.
Gina even spent her college years in the States.
Gina and Hermann met and fell in love while attending MIT.
However, breaking into a foreign market wasn't as easy as they had imagined.
After an initial phase of burning cash to expand, Aurantius Industries' commercial development stagnated, and even regressed.
But by then, retreating to Sokovia to manage the ancestral estate wasn't an option; there was no place left for them back home.
It wasn't until Luca's grandparents died in an accident...
Gina, recently married to Hermann, decisively took over the company. She made a bold gamble, completely abandoning everything the family had built in Sokovia for centuries and diving headfirst into the capitalist quagmire of America.
Fortunately, with Gina's excellent management skills and Hermann's outstanding research capabilities, Aurantius Industries finally gained a foothold and began to thrive.
Especially a few years ago, thanks to a patent for an analysis chip developed by Hermann, they successfully secured a contract to manufacture weapon components for Stark Industries. The company entered a period of rapid growth.
The whole family moved with the company headquarters to New York.
Of course, what happened later—when a certain playboy had an epiphany and shut down his weapons division—is another story. Not only did it cause mass unemployment for Stark Industries, but it also devastated the entire downstream supply chain. Aurantius Industries, which had already started transitioning and had replaced 70% of its factory equipment with custom machinery for Stark orders, nearly went bankrupt.
In fact, after the Stark Industries orders were canceled four years ago, Gina pulled strings to secure a partnership with Hammer Industries, which was rising rapidly by picking up the slack.
Well, everyone knows how Hammer Industries ended up.
Two years ago, at the Stark Expo, their "self-developed" combat drones went rogue, landing founder Justin Hammer in prison.
Most of his assets were carved up by the military and competitors, leaving only a shell company struggling to survive.
Small fry like Aurantius Industries were naturally hit by the shockwaves again.
In short, after learning more about the company through Shamila over the past few days, Luca could only say one thing:
The fact that the company hadn't gone under yet proved that his mom, Gina, was truly a boss!
But back to the main point.
Although the family had focused entirely on America in recent years and had almost no influence left in Sokovia...
Centuries of accumulation couldn't be erased that easily.
Moreover, Gina, who grew up in Sokovia, had served in the Sokovian military before taking over the company after graduation.
Whether it was former comrades or loyalists secretly cultivated by the family...
Having a few die-hard subordinates who could be absolutely trusted wasn't surprising.
Shamila, for instance, not only came from a family that had served the Aurantiuss for generations but was also Gina's comrade in the army.
Aside from the information his parents left behind, Luca had learned most of these things thanks to Auntie Shamila.
Of course, this squad might just be the one Shamila knew about.
Luca suspected there might be other, deeper contingency plans that were currently inaccessible due to Gina's coma.
Since these people were confirmed trustworthy, he didn't hesitate.
Luca always believed that trust, once established on a solid foundation, could be consolidated over time through shared interests.
So he asked Shamila directly.
"How long will it take for these people to arrive? Do we need to prepare identities and equipment for them?"
After all, Shamila mentioned they operated mostly overseas.
If they couldn't get back quickly, he couldn't leave his security detail empty just waiting for them.
But this time, Shamila answered quickly.
"Two days at the latest. They've been operating near the Mexican border recently. They can all be here in one or two days."
"Actually, they've been following the news in New York. After failing to reach the Madam, they contacted me proactively."
"However, since the Madam's condition... was uncertain, I advised them to stand by."
Seeming afraid Luca might misunderstand, Shamila added:
"I don't have direct command authority over them. They only contacted me because I occasionally act as a liaison for the Madam and join them on missions."
Luca nodded.
He understood that Shamila likely couldn't confirm his mother's condition earlier and wanted to postpone non-critical matters until Gina woke up.
That was why she hadn't mentioned it to him directly.
However, hearing Shamila mention "joining them on missions," the corner of Luca's mouth twitched again.
"First, arrange for someone to investigate the background of the group protecting my uncle."
"I'll try to go out as little as possible for the next few days. Remember to assign two people to protect Mother as well."
"Also, postpone the meetings with the trust fund and lawyers who reached out earlier. Tell them to contact me after this matter is resolved."
As Luca systematically arranged the next steps, he took out his phone to check his messages.
However, the next moment.
The smoothly moving car slammed on the brakes.
The screech of tires pierced his ears.
Simultaneously, he heard Shamila's urgent shout.
"Master, look out!"
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