Marvel Cybernetic Girl

— The next morning, Malibu, California.

"Good morning, it's 8 AM."

"The temperature in Malibu is 23°C, cloudy."

"The waves are at waist to shoulder height, perfect for surfing."

"The peak of the waves will occur at 10:27 AM."

As the soft sunlight streamed into the room, accompanied by Jarvis's "thoughtful alarm clock service," Kagura Hitomi slowly opened her eyes.

"Yawn~"

The girl stretched lazily, letting out a big yawn.

"Jarvis, next time, set the alarm for 10 AM on my day off, okay?"

"Instruction confirmed. The update has been made, Miss Kagura."

Today was a day off, and she could finally relax and enjoy a lazy morning.

She rubbed her eyes, then ran her hands through her messy hair.

"Jarvis, did my PS3 arrive?"

"Miss Kagura, standard delivery usually takes up to 7 business days."

"Oh, okay..."

Kagura Hitomi sighed, "After all, it is 2008..."

Another day had begun.

For Kagura Hitomi, today marked the beginning of a new era.

The "Iron Overlord" incident had come to an end.

From now on, Iron Man would be a superhero active in this world.

Of course, Tony Stark's story was far from over, and her own adventures were only just beginning.

Her first task? To wait for her virtual identity "Bruce Wayne" to establish a financial background and build up connections, then use that persona to consolidate Obadiah's Stark Industries and build her own company.

But there was still one issue that needed her attention—the person who had attacked Tony Stark's home and stolen the arc reactor.

Kagura Hitomi flipped over on her bed, nudged herself to the edge, and reached for the phone on her nightstand.

She opened the video that had recorded the theft.

The man on the video had dark hair, a silvery metal arm, and strength and agility far beyond the average human.

This was undeniably the "Winter Soldier" Bucky Barnes.

But why?

The Bucky she knew, although brainwashed into being a mercenary, was supposed to be aligned with Hydra.

Did Obadiah have ties with Hydra?

Wasn't his business partner the Ten Rings?

Kagura Hitomi furrowed her brow, thinking hard.

She remembered what Obadiah had said when he took the arc reactor, "With enough money, even the impossible can be done."

Which meant that it was possible Obadiah had used some channel to contact Hydra and hired Bucky.

Sighing, she muttered, "Winter Soldier... this guy showed up a bit too early, didn't he?"

"Is it because the world has me in it now that things are changing?"

Well, this was something she had expected.

Her presence in the Marvel Universe would inevitably cause changes.

So now, she had to figure out how to handle Bucky.

With Obadiah dead, Hydra likely wouldn't act against her immediately.

Whether or not Bucky would appear near her again was still uncertain.

And Kagura Hitomi didn't have enough clues to track him down.

It seemed like a dead end for now.

But it wouldn't hurt to prepare for what was to come.

The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, had once fought alongside Captain America in the 1940s.

But after falling off a cliff during a battle, he was captured by Hydra, brainwashed, and given a cybernetic arm. He was turned into the lethal assassin known as the Winter Soldier.

Kagura Hitomi didn't plan to kill Bucky.

He wasn't truly a villain. The things he did were not of his own volition.

Though he carried the weight of his sins, he could still be redeemed.

At least, when Bucky was in his right mind, he was a decent person.

Kagura Hitomi believed that if she could break his mental conditioning, he could return to the side of justice.

With that in mind, she focused and opened her holographic UI.

She had completed three tasks recently:

Attending the ball (5 QP).

Gaining Obadiah's trust and leading him to his downfall (10 QP).

Witnessing the rise of a superhero (10 QP).

This gave Kagura Hitomi a total of 25 QP points to use.

There were several things she wanted to get, and she had plenty of resources at hand.

She had three skills that involved gaining information:

Covert Electromagnetic Mind Interference

Business Management Expertise

Resilience

There was also something she was eyeing in the shop: AI-Assisted Management System.

After a quick calculation, it seemed like she could use her 25 QP wisely.

Emmmmm... should she try her luck with a card pull?

Nah, forget it!

Kagura Hitomi shook her head.

Spending a 5 QP gamble with almost a 50% chance of losing wasn't her style!

After considering her options, she decided to use 10 QP to purchase the [AI-Assisted Management System] blueprint and spent another 15 QP to unlock the three skills: [Covert Electromagnetic Mind Interference, Business Management Expertise, and Resilience]

Once that was done, she looked at the UI again, glancing at a bar she hadn't really paid attention to before:

[Automaton Core Level: Lv.1]

[Core Upgrade Progress: 50/100]

This core level hadn't changed since Kagura Hitomi arrived in this world. But after completing the task to witness the rise of a superhero, the UI suddenly notified her that the core upgrade progress had increased.

What exactly was this Automaton Core used for?

[Automaton Core Level: Increases core energy efficiency]

[Each core level upgrade grants extra core energy reserves]

Core upgrade progress automatically increases with non-optional task completions

Current non-optional task completion count: 2

[Next upgrade requires 3 tasks completed.]

Ah, so that's what it was for.

Kagura Hitomi stretched and settled into a more comfortable position on her bed.

Then, she noticed new items in the shop:

[AI Command Expertise Module / 10 QP]

[AI Logistics Expertise Module / 10 QP]

[AI Research Expertise Module / 10 QP]

She wasn't surprised anymore.

Well, at least now she had her own version of "Jarvis."

But for now, she didn't have enough resources to develop it.

It seemed like building and integrating her own company was becoming a more pressing task.