Chapter 1135: Lively Vendor’s Booths and Chance Encounter
After two days, Selina treated these booths like a show.
A lot of people had come to Stark Expo from all over the world, including top experts, researchers, and technical specialists.
These were people who basically wouldn’t usually appear in this area, but there were plenty of related low- to mid-tier personnel who had pretty much the same idea as Luke and Selina as they strolled around to see if they could pick up any treasure.
Add in slightly more knowledgeable enthusiasts, and the area was crowded.
Compared with the aloof and arrogant air of top bigshots, the visitors here weren’t reserved at all.
A lot of people here were homebody techies. When it came to skills, they didn’t care about anything, and would just spout off.
Can’t take it anymore? Then pack up and go home; otherwise, fight it out if you’re a man.
Their thoughts were just this crude and simple.
Who cared about dignity or the situation? When it came to their interests, there was only one word to describe their thinking: argue.
As a result, there would be a lot of fighting from time to time among the independent booths.
Like some super fertilizer that could be converted into an astonis.h.i.+ng new energy source, or repackaged in new and exotic ways – someone in front of the booth might suddenly point out a problem with that.
In the end, both parties would talk until they got agitated and had to use physical means to make the other side see reason.
Luke and Selina weren’t in a hurry to stop them, either. Only after both parties had beaten each other until their faces were badly battered did they step forward with big grins to restrain them.
They took turns going forward to say, “Will you settle this privately and promise not to disturb public order at the expo again? Or do you want to cool down together in the police detention center for 24 hours?”
Naturally, most of the homebody techies were rendered speechless.
They had already fought and the anger had already pa.s.sed, but the proof was still on their faces. They couldn’t deny it.
Some of them were still stubborn, and could only… be sent to the detention center for real.
Luke and Selina were very familiar with this procedure.
During the Stark Expo in L.A., they had sent almost a hundred people to the police department in just a few days.
Breaking up this sort of scuffle only gave Luke three experience and credit points at most each time.
However, these fights happened often and quickly, and Luke was able to earn 100+ points in half a day.
The police had already prepared two big prison buses inside the venue. Those who refused to obey were handcuffed and loaded onto the bus. Once it was full, the vehicle would take them to the detention center.
Following what happened at the L.A. expo, Stark Industries had bought an old factory in Na.s.sau County a month ago, converted it into a detention center, and handed it over to the state government.
Inside this newly-constructed detention center were 5,000 stainless steel beds calmly waiting for expo troublemakers to check in.
If needed, temporary beds could also be added, and the detention center could house up to 8,000 people.
When you were rich, you could do whatever you wanted.
In any case, there was no need for a court trial or whatever to detain someone in the center. Troublemakers caught at the scene could be sent there to cool their heads for 24 hours; this was the power of the police.
If they still didn’t calm down after they were released, they could try being detained again a few more times before they were officially arrested.
NYPD also sent out some police personnel and support to maintain order.
They didn’t have to worry about the pay; Stark Industries had donated a huge sum to NYPD.
If NYPD didn’t do their best, then the commissioner and bureau chief could start counting down to when they would be kicked out of office.
There were a lot of minor problems at the venue, but they were all resolved very quickly, and even the most raucous independent vendor’s booths settled down.
But not all the inventions and products here were complete rubbish.
It had to be said that the products had to be at a certain level of technology in order to be able to pa.s.s the administrative department’s vetting process.
But these homebody techies running their mouths off to pull in investments was common.
For example, the way they bragged about some new energy technology, people would think that Tony Stark’s arc reactor was already outdated, but the truth was that they still had to promote their products at Tony’s expo.
Thus, when Luke and Selina went for a walk to digest the food after they had lunch, they would visit the independent booths.
Today, they ran into a familiar face.
A small figure was standing in front of a booth and drooling over a slightly heavy-looking solo jetpack.
Luke walked over and pressed down on the girl’s braids, rubbing her head before she realized what was going on. “Why are you alone? Where’s your father?”
She turned around and smiled when she saw Luke. “Ah, Luke, you’re here too…”
Then, she lunged forward happily and hugged the dog head next to Luke’s feet. “Ah, Dollar, you’re here too? Did you miss me?”
Gold Nugget was too lazy to deal with the little girl. It let Dollar, who liked kids, take control of its body, and the dog wagged its tail as it licked that small face.
Hmph, bootlicker! You’re destined to be nothing! The dog head snorted disdainfully at the fool whom it shared bodies with.
After the girl played with the dog for a while, Luke said, “Mindy, you didn’t come here alone, did you?”
Mindy was a better fighter than most men here, but it was indeed a little too careless of Damon to let her wander around on her own.
Mindy hugged the dog and pressed her face against its fur. “Dad’s over there.”
Luke looked in the direction she was pointing, and saw Damon sitting at a booth and talking to another man.
He found that odd. “Isn’t your father drawing now? Why is he selling products?”
Mindy said, “No, the booth owner is his friend. He’s just chatting there.”
“Then let’s go say hi,” said Luke as he walked over.
Mindy reluctantly let go of Dollar’s big dog head and followed.
Walking over to the booth and looking at the items on display, Luke smiled at the middle-aged booth owner and called out, “Damon, you’re not here to sell drawings, are you?”
Damon was amused. “I was just looking around, and just happened to run into my friend. Oh, let me introduce you. This is Luke, and this is Bent.”
Luke shook hands with Bent and read the descriptions on the table. He glanced at something that looked like a walkie-talkie on the table, before he asked with a strange expression, “How effective is this device?”
A little nervous, Bent stood up. “Very good, I guarantee it’s good.”
Luke couldn’t help but read the description again — Sick Stick, releases a powerful pulse and causes discomfort. There are multiple modes to choose from: Mode 1 stomach, Mode 2…
Pondering for a moment, Luke asked, “Can I try it out?”
Bent was stunned, but Damon subconsciously stopped Luke. “No!”
Seeing Luke’s gaze, he quickly said, “This thing is a little… strong. It’s best if you don’t use it here.”
Damon knew Luke’s ident.i.ty as a detective.
If this guy treated this Sick Stick like a regular taser and used it on some troublemaker, it would be a mess.