256: Zhao Xiaomeng: Don't offend a capable woman; women hold grudges much more than men.

It took some time to fool them... oh no, to explain things, before everyone's curiosity was finally satisfied.

Everyone was actually very curious about what Xu Lu had been doing during his month-long absence.

One must remember that an entire film crew was waiting for him, so the daily expenses were huge.

Of course, for Da Xu Culture, which has a massive enterprise, this small expense was still affordable.

"Xu Lu, you didn't specifically go into seclusion for a month just to grow this beard, did you? Don't you know that beards can actually be solved with makeup?"

The others were easy to fool; whatever Xu Lu said, they believed.

Even if they didn't believe him, they didn't dare to ask further.

But Reba didn't care about all that, and she chased after him, asking another question quietly.

Xu Lu glanced at the overly curious girl and said irritably:

"Adult business is none of a child's concern. Have you memorized the script? Have you learned all your lines?"

"I memorized all that ages ago! It's been a month; I've read the script over and over again.

Also, *you're* the child!"

Reba only realized what she had said after retorting twice, and she spoke petulantly.

However, this finally dispelled the girl's intention of asking for deeper details.

Because judging by Xu Lu's current demeanor, she likely wouldn't get any more information by pressing him.

Having spent so much time together, Reba understood this much.

With the addition of our Director Xu, the 'Iron-Man Film Crew' finally officially started.

After a brief and simple commencement ceremony, almost everyone quickly entered the filming state.

Perhaps this month of delay wasn't completely wasted.

At least regarding the script, all members must be more than familiar with it by now.

And with this, the outside world's doubts about whether Da Xu Culture would still make a science fiction film were dispelled.

"I really didn't expect this. A month has passed, and I was mentally prepared to hear that Da Xu Culture had given up on making a science fiction film. I didn't expect it to start suddenly!"

"Yeah, restarting the filming of a science fiction film at this critical juncture shows that Da Xu Culture has some guts."

"Actually, I don't think this is a good decision. They should have just stopped while the controversy was still hot."

"That's right. Everyone has already doubted them once. Now, if they start again and the box office tanks, they'll have wasted effort for no reward and become a huge laughingstock."

...While industry insiders were surprised, most people were not optimistic about it.

Of course, some scheming individuals were overjoyed when they heard the news.

For example, Zhao Fan, who hadn't had anything to do for another month recently.

After waiting for over a month, he had already despaired about whether Great Xu would film the science fiction movie, and he didn't know how many times he had cursed them in private.

But suddenly hearing the news that the 'Iron-Man Film Crew' had started, Zhao Fan thought he was hallucinating.

When he came back to his senses, he instantly felt energized:

"This is great, absolutely wonderful! Xu Lu, I thought you had finally gotten smart.

But who knew that after delaying for over a month, you would go back down the same old path? This surprise is too big!

Hurry up and film it! Once this 'iron man' movie is released, that will be the moment for me, Zhao Fan, to make my comeback!"

Director Wu was also full of anticipation.

Although the hype around 'magic city fortress' had died down, he still had no desire to film anything.

His situation was slightly different from Zhao Fan's.

Zhao Fan wanted to film but had no one to film for him, while Wu Leilei had people asking him to film, but he didn't want to.

However, both of their 'bottlenecks' were the same: they wanted to see the science fiction film from Da Xu Culture start shooting.

Hearing this good news, Wu Leilei nearly 'leapt up in surprise,' and vitality gradually returned to his body:

"Film it, hurry up and film it! Once your science fiction film is released, the audience will know that I, Wu Leilei, am not a bad director.

I'm someone who has directed several blockbusters that were both critically acclaimed and box office hits! Why do these viewers only remember that I directed 'magic city fortress' now?"

Actually, there was one other person who had always paid close 'attention' to Da Xu Culture: Zhao Xiaomeng, the woman whom Xu Lu had rebuked on a live broadcast program.

She had long been secretly competing against Da Xu Culture in her heart.

She was single-mindedly focused on importing a few good science fiction films from abroad, and then rubbing the science fiction film made by Da Xu Culture into the ground.

When she heard that Da Xu Culture's project had stalled some time ago, Zhao Xiaomeng felt like she had lost her goal.

Now that she heard 'iron man' was moving forward again, she felt motivated once more:

"Don't think that just because you're the director who made kung fu, plunging headfirst into the quagmire of science fiction films will surely leave you covered in dirt and disgrace.

Moreover, I want you to know one thing: never offend an capable woman; women hold grudges much longer than men!"

Xu Lu probably never expected that activating the 'Iron-Man Film Crew' would draw so much attention.

For the next period of time, he acted as both director and lead actor during the day, and returned home to conduct research at night.

His research mainly focused on the iron man armor and the arc reactor.

Here, one must commend the power of the Artificial Intelligence, 'jervis'.

Because the underground construction of the villa he had just purchased was nearly completed in less than ten days.

During this time, efficiency was utilized to the extreme; several construction teams were operating simultaneously, yet none of them had ever met the real boss.

They simply carried out their work step-by-step according to the blueprints... "President Xu, welcome home!"

As the familiar mechanical sound rang out, the metal gate slowly slid open to both sides, revealing the interior of the villa.

In fact, the above-ground portion of the villa was indistinguishable from a real villa.

After 'jervis' purchased it, no modifications were made, except for a few gates.

The true scientific research base was located beneath the villa.

Today was also the first time Xu Lu had visited this property of his. Since no cleaning, gardening, or other service staff had been hired, so the villa seemed deserted.

However, this suited Xu Lu's needs perfectly; he didn't want too many people around this place.

Perhaps he could build a few robots to serve as cleaners and gardeners when the opportunity arose, but that would definitely be after he finished the 'iron man armor'.

Right now, he didn't have the leisure to deal with such frivolous matters.

Thinking of this, Xu Lu spoke:

"jervis, take me straight to the underground research base. How much longer until our arc reactor is expected to be successfully manufactured?"

The moment he finished speaking, a descending staircase suddenly appeared in the floor not far ahead.

jervis's voice followed:

"Understood, President Xu. Based on the current progress, the arc reactor in its extreme state under current conditions can be manufactured before 2:00 AM tonight.

At that time, you can begin the test flight of the mark iii armor, and the mark i battle armor you requested has also been completed..."