Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman

Chapter 707: Chapter 707: Buying Property

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Henry had always believed that taking advantage of market opportunities wasn’t easy.

Timing the market perfectly—buying low, selling high, and snapping up bargains everyone else had overlooked—was much harder than it sounded.

But he had to admit...

When you actually pulled it off, it felt incredible.

With over ten million dollars sitting in his bank accounts, his relationship managers seemed to show up every few days recommending new investment products. Although more than ten million dollars was already tied up in the stock market, where computers handled high-frequency trading on his behalf, the rest of his money was still sitting idle.

People always said that developing technology and conducting research burned through money.

But that wasn’t entirely true.

If you bought most of your components from other companies, then you weren’t really manufacturing anything yourself—you were merely a systems integrator.

Naturally, everyone else’s profit margins became part of your costs.

In that situation, of course research became expensive.

But if you started with scrap metal and fabricated everything yourself from raw materials...

It actually cost very little.

The United States was rich in natural resources, and scrapyards were everywhere. High-quality alloys were sold by the pound, and many steel mills couldn’t even be bothered to recycle and remelt certain materials.

Ever since he had begun hand-building advanced technology and manufacturing his own collection of black-tech equipment, Henry had been making money much faster than he could spend it.

With ample funds available—and the timing being perfect—Henry had originally intended to buy only two or three apartments.

Instead...

He ended up purchasing an entire building.

And he negotiated each purchase separately.

Initially, he had only been interested in one or two units.

One had been listed through a real estate agency for quite some time.

The other belonged to a European owner who had fled back to Europe during the terrorist attacks.

Since that owner was desperate to liquidate the property and use the cash to buy real estate back home, Henry acquired it at an exceptionally low price.

There was no drawn-out bargaining.

The deal closed quickly and cleanly.

After successfully completing that purchase, the real estate agents used it as leverage to negotiate with the owner of the long-listed apartment, convincing them to lower the asking price as well.

That deal went through too.

Then word began spreading throughout the building.

The other owners quietly approached Henry one after another to gauge his interest in purchasing additional units.

After all, someone who casually bought two apartments at once clearly wasn’t looking for a place to live.

He looked more like a wealthy fool eager to spend money.

Everyone shared the same concern.

If another airplane hit one of the neighboring skyscrapers... would anyone still want to live here?

Henry deliberately claimed that his available funds were limited.

He didn’t want people viewing him as an easy target and inflating their prices accordingly.

Ironically, that made the sellers even more anxious.

After all...

How often did a willing buyer like this come along?

Because every negotiation took place separately—even though the same real estate agency handled them all—the agents couldn’t accurately judge the depth of Henry’s wallet.

As a result, the sellers’ anxiety steadily grew.

By the time everything was finalized...

Everyone realized that Henry had somehow purchased the entire building.

The whole process had taken less than two weeks.

To be fair, Henry hadn’t paid for all of it himself.

Kingo had also contributed money, purchasing an apartment each for his two fellow Eternals.

He even prepaid several years’ worth of property taxes.

Although Thena and Gilgamesh described the arrangement as merely "temporary"...

For Eternals, "temporary" generally meant at least ten years.

Staying for a century by accident wasn’t exactly unusual.

After learning about their plans from Henry—and taking advantage of what was, admittedly, a favorable opportunity born from America’s tragedy—Kingo had immediately decided that buying property in New York was worthwhile.

Even after acquiring the building, Henry didn’t move out of Katharine Hepburn’s home.

He continued living there as her personal assistant, carefully looking after the elderly actress’s daily needs.

Kingo also made a trip to New York to help his fellow Eternals settle into modern life.

After all, Thena and Gilgamesh had been isolated from human civilization for far too long.

The world was nothing like it had been four or five centuries ago.

Although they had spent several years traveling, that didn’t necessarily mean they knew how to handle all the practical details of settling down.

So Kingo stepped in to help.

Having suddenly acquired so many apartments, Henry naturally had plenty of renovation work ahead of him.

Old furniture had to be discarded.

Some units required complete remodeling.

After all, this neighborhood would eventually become one of New York’s most desirable addresses for the city’s new elite.

Henry certainly wasn’t planning to occupy one apartment while leaving the rest empty.

Renting them out would generate steady income.

More importantly...

It would provide excellent cover for some of his more clandestine activities.

Naturally, he first set aside the units intended for his own residence and secret facilities.

Furniture left behind by previous owners—particularly well-preserved antique pieces—was gathered into apartments whose décor already matched their style.

By mixing and matching furnishings this way, Henry managed to assemble three or four fully furnished apartments that required very little additional work before they could be rented out.

However, New York’s real estate market was still suffering from the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Demand remained weak.

Even offering lower rents didn’t necessarily attract tenants—especially since the building wasn’t far from the Financial District, where skyscrapers dominated the skyline.

Because of that, Henry wasn’t in any hurry to finish renovating everything.

Before Thena and Gilgamesh moved in, he simply upgraded the building’s plumbing and electrical systems while completely refurbishing the aging elevators.

As for how much black technology had been quietly integrated into those renovations...

Best not to ask.

At any rate, the building couldn’t transform into a giant robot and start fighting monsters alongside Ultraman.

Americans also had a tradition of celebrating a move into a new home.

Unlike in many Eastern cultures, however, there was no concern about feng shui, auspicious dates, or lucky hours.

It was simply a way of telling everyone,

"I’ve moved."

Friends came over, got familiar with the new place, and enjoyed a party together.

Naturally, only close friends received invitations.

Anyone who considered someone an enemy would rather disappear completely than reveal where they lived.

The Eternals had long grown accustomed to adapting to local customs.

Naturally, they decided to host a housewarming party.

It was held on the building’s rooftop as a barbecue.

As both their only friend in New York and the building’s owner, Henry naturally attended.

With the Eternals’ approval, he also brought along Katharine Hepburn, Skye, and Katie the tiger as guests.

Skye, meanwhile, invited Gwen, another girl around her age, to keep her company.

Henry had also wanted to invite George Stacy so he could meet the two Eternals in person.

Putting faces to names now would make things much easier in the future.

Unfortunately, the police commissioner was far too busy.

Instead, he asked his daughter to attend in his place.

There was, however, one very special guest whom Henry had never expected to see.

Ajak.

The fourth Eternal Henry had met.

She had traveled all the way from her ranch in South Dakota to attend the gathering in New York.

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