Originally, Luca was already feeling a bit drowsy, but he just found Tony a bit chatty, so he casually asked a question to change the subject.
However, when he heard the word 'HYDRA' come out of Tony's mouth, he suddenly jolted awake, and his previous drowsiness vanished instantly.
Fortunately, he was currently in a state where his upper body was sunk into the soft sofa, which prevented him from directly jumping up in fright.
To avoid appearing too abrupt, Luca could only force himself to remain calm at this moment, continuing to ask in a somewhat nonchalant tone,
"HYDRA? You mean the evil villain that Steve fought in World War II in the comics?"
Tony, who had just been speaking casually, looked at Luca on the sofa with a somewhat disdainful expression upon hearing this.
"You actually read the old popsicle's solo comics? No, it seems I'll have to find a company to publish a solo comic series for Iron Man too."
"Hmm, I think the company that draws Superman is pretty good. Why don't I just buy it?"
"What do you think of a storyline where Iron Man joins the Justice League and leads Superman and Batman?"
Seeing Tony's somewhat unreliable deviation of the topic to solo comics, Luca, who had been a bit nervous earlier, actually relaxed quite a bit.
'If Captain really had concrete evidence proving HYDRA still exists, Tony definitely wouldn't be acting like this.'
'That's right, if it were truly an emergency, Tony probably wouldn't be flying with me to New York; he'd probably just fly back in his suit.'
'Besides, most of HYDRA in the U.S. are inside S.H.I.E.L.D., and if there's a fight, it would definitely be at the Triskelion in Washington.'
After sorting out all these thoughts in his head, Luca's mind completely relaxed, and he adjusted his position on the sofa again to lie down more comfortably.
However, although he guessed that this matter shouldn't be serious, Luca still intended to sound Tony out and figure out what was going on with Captain America.
Thinking of this, Luca first glanced at Tony, who was still contemplating his solo comics, feigning a speechless expression, and followed his lead.
"Leading the Justice League? Mr. Wayne is also the World's Richest Man; if you join, that's character plagiarism!"
"I think you might as well just create an Avengers comic, then pull HYDRA out for a good thrashing, fighting HYDRA with Captain would be pretty good."
Hearing Luca's words, Tony immediately became a bit agitated and retorted directly,
"What do you mean character plagiarism? I am the real World's Richest Man. Bruce Wayne is a comic character, how is it me plagiarizing him?!"
Luca saw that the topic seemed to be going even more off-track and immediately complained in his mind,
'Is this the point?!'
He decisively pulled the conversation back.
"Alright, alright, you're the richest man, he's a comic character. So, HYDRA? What exactly does Captain need your help with this time?"
Seeing Luca admit that he was stronger than Batman, although still somewhat fixated on the comic issue, Tony still began to explain.
However, before he could even speak, his expression turned a bit strange again.
"It's all because of that Asphalt Kid you brought in last time."
"Huh? Asphalt Kid?"
Luca was startled at first, but immediately reacted.
"Uh, are you talking about Harry Osborn? How is he someone I brought in? Isn't he your fanboy? He actively wanted to become a hero."
Tony shrugged, adopting a posture that said, 'Given my status, having a fanboy is perfectly normal, isn't it?'
But he continued to speak.
"You know, the symbiote on that Osborn kid, it was brought over by the Spotted Man from a parallel World, right?"
"That symbiote itself has its own consciousness. According to the symbiote, it has actually been to more than one parallel dimension."
"Two days ago, when it saw Captain, it inexplicably asked Captain if HYDRA in this World had been annihilated. The old soldier naturally told the symbiote his glorious history from World War II."
"However, that symbiote said that in the several parallel dimensions it had visited, it had already heard similar stories, but the result was always that HYDRA still remained and had been active until modern times."
"The old popsicle hates HYDRA to the bone; how could he stand this? Naturally, he panicked, so he thought of coming to consult with Daddy Tony."
"Ah??"
Listening to Tony's explanation, Luca was utterly dumbfounded.
'So, it turns out HYDRA didn't expose itself and get discovered by Captain America at all, but rather, there was a damn spoiler dog?!'
Looking at Luca's dazed expression, Tony misunderstood and chuckled aloud.
"You feel speechless too, don't you?"
"I told you the old popsicle isn't reliable. Parallel Worlds aren't that simple. The development process of each World is different. That old stubborn man jumps to conclusions. I'm only going back to New York this time to help him brush up on his basic knowledge since he's old."
"Besides, that symbiote on the Asphalt Kid seems a bit off in the head; it talks in riddles, so it's hard to say how much of it can be believed."
"..."
His ears heard Tony rambling on, criticizing Captain America as an old stubborn man, but at this moment, Luca was completely out of sorts.
'No, I just became a HYDRA leader, and I haven't even utilized much of their resources yet, and now a spoiler dog, who isn't even a human, is going to overturn the table?'
Tony looked at Luca, who was still a bit stunned, thought for a moment, and added,
"This trip back, firstly, is to appease the old man, and secondly, didn't we capture many interdimensional invaders and imprison them in the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison before?"
"I plan to take Captain with me to interrogate those interdimensional invaders, to let him witness the diversity of parallel Worlds. I estimate that after that, he won't think about believing that HYDRA still exists."
Hearing Tony's words, Luca, who was still wondering whether to slightly cover for HYDRA to utilize them for a longer period or to quickly cut ties to avoid being implicated himself, suddenly had an idea. He asked Tony with a slight hesitation in his tone,
"So, this information received from the symbiote, did Captain only tell you? Or did he tell others as well?"
Tony looked puzzled upon hearing this, not knowing why Luca would ask this question, but he still said somewhat indifferently,
"You could say he only told me?"
Just as Luca was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Tony continued,
"However, when the Asphalt Kid was talking about interdimensional anecdotes, the other few people were all there. Otherwise, how do you think I would explain to Fury that I need to interrogate the interdimensional visitors?"
"..."
'It's over...'