Even during the off-season, the daily profit of the casino in the Golden Coin Hotel could easily reach tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
During peak tourist season, or when high-rollers visited, this figure could climb even higher, potentially reaching several billion dollars per day.
Just over a hundred million, and the losers weren't even the casino.
According to standard work procedures, this small matter was far below the threshold of 'reporting directly to Stark himself.'
This was purely the casino manager personal initiative.
His intention was obvious—he simply wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make an impression on Stark, deepening the big boss awareness of him.
The ideal was beautiful, but reality was harsh.
Given Stark temperament, how could he possibly remember him?
Especially since the manager had only made a phone call to report and hadn't appeared in front of Stark personally.
In the end, compared to the manager with ulterior motives, Stark was clearly more interested in the fact that 'Bayonetta had won money.'
"Bayonetta, I heard you won quite a sum this afternoon?"
Around nine or ten at night, Kanna, who had watched the circus performance, couldn't fight off sleepiness and returned to her room early with 2B accompanying her.
She was now lying on the soft princess bed, making adorable little snoring sounds.
Everyone else, however, followed Stark to the restaurant to enjoy a late-night supper specially prepared by the chef.
While everyone was eating happily, Stark, as the big boss, ignored the chef efforts to please and turned his attention to Bayonetta.
"Boss, you should have seen it. This afternoon, Bayonetta was absolutely incredible."
Once the topic came up, Happy couldn't contain his excitement.
Not only did he interrupt before Bayonetta could answer, but he also spoke with a mouthful of food he hadn't yet swallowed.
Fortunately, Stark had been around this guy for so long that he was completely used to him.
If it had been someone else, Stark would definitely have shown an expression of utter disgust and shooed them away like a fly.
"What happened? Tell me about it."
Forking a piece of steak into his mouth, Stark raised his eyebrows.
"So here's what happened. This afternoon, Rhodes asked me to go to the casino with him..."
Happy gestured enthusiastically as he began his story.
Though he lacked the natural eloquence of storytellers, Happy was still quite skilled at narrating a tale.
Combined with the various exaggerated expressions he made in his excitement, and with Rhodes adding details from the side, the whole incident was recounted in an interesting and complete manner.
"...Boss, you should have seen Justin Hammer face after he lost that round. Hehe, it was so sour, like his house had just burned down."
"Honestly, it was the funniest thing I've seen all year."
Rhodes added with a laugh.
"That's definitely Hammer style."
"Let me guess, he saw Bayonetta, wanted to show off his wealth to hit on her, and then invited her to join the game, right?"
Stark laughed as well.
"Exactly, that's how it went."
"At that moment, Rock had just gone to the bathroom. Hehe, you can't imagine the expression on his face when he saw Rock return."
Rhodes gave a thumbs up.
"What other expression could it be?"
As Stark spoke, he vividly mimicked an expression based on his impression of Justin Hammer—a mixture of contempt and disgust, yet with eyes red with jealousy.
"That's right, that's exactly it, hahaha!"
Using their chance encounter with Justin Hammer as a source of amusement, they laughed and joked enthusiastically.
No one, including Stark as the owner, considered why Justin Hammer would appear in this hotel, or why he would so coincidentally run into Happy and the others.
Thinking carefully, Justin Hammer definitely didn't come here just for fun.
It's worth noting that even before Tony Stark transformed into Iron Man, Hammer had always viewed him as a rival.
He had repeatedly stated at Hammer Industries press conferences things like 'Tony and I are the same kind of people, we're both cool'
Whether or not this implied 'Tony and I are kindred spirits and long-distance friends' is beside the point—his words clearly demonstrated his attitude of placing himself on equal footing with Stark.
Perhaps he was being cautious, putting on a brave face to maintain appearances; or perhaps he truly lacked self-awareness and genuinely thought that way.
Regardless, after Stark became Iron Man, such claims became completely untenable.
How could he regain the upper hand?
The most direct and effective method was to collaborate with Stark Industries.
Indeed, at this moment, the timeline had not yet progressed to "Iron Man 2."
While the two companies were competitors, their relationship hadn't deteriorated to the point of completely severing ties.
As a pure businessman, Justin Hammer naturally believed that if he offered sufficient terms, Stark would not refuse cooperation.
Therefore, to increase the likelihood of successful negotiations, he specifically tracked Tony movements and flew to Las Vegas immediately after he checked into the hotel.
As for why he didn't directly contact Stark after arriving, but went to the casino first.
Thinking that Stark was a fun-loving person who would definitely visit the casino when on his own turf, and believing that a "chance encounter at the casino" would seem more natural—plus, taking advantage of Stark good mood while gambling might increase the chances of making a deal—Justin Hammer had cleverly (or so he thought) arranged this approach.
What he hadn't anticipated was that Stark hadn't gone to the casino at all, but instead had shut himself in his room, spending his energy and time on an "endurance match" with Pepper.
Unable to find Stark in the casino, Hammer became irritated.
With his temper flaring, his judgment was also affected.
It was at this moment that Hammer spotted Shi Xiaolei and his group.
Recognizing Happy and Rhodes as people close to Stark, he immediately thought of using them to contact Stark.
Adding to this, Bayonetta beauty was truly irresistible, and Hammer himself was already agitated and far less composed than usual.
In short, he acted impulsively and approached them.
And then... well, everyone knows the result.
Let's shift our focus to another hotel.
That's right—because subconsciously he didn't want to appear inferior to Stark, Justin Hammer hadn't directly checked into the Golden Coin but had booked a room at another hotel of equal caliber.
"Fxxk! Fxxk!"
Growing increasingly angry as he thought about it, Justin Hammer had a fit of rage and grabbed a vase, smashing it violently on the floor.
The sound of breaking porcelain alarmed the bodyguards stationed outside.
Concerned for their employer safety, one of them pushed open the door and entered.
"Boss, are you alright?"
"Get out! Who told you to come in? OUT!"
While shouting, Hammer grabbed another object and threw it at the bodyguard with full force.
It was just an apple, nothing serious when it hit.
Not wanting to lose this lucrative job, the bodyguard stood motionless and obediently took the hit.
Only then did he bow his head and retreat to the doorway.
"Yes, I'll leave right away."
"Come back!"
For some reason, Hammer suddenly called out again.
"Boss?"
"Go find out what those two people situation is. Shit, they dared to win a hundred million from me. I want to see what they're relying on."
The bodyguard wanted to say 'Isn't their backing Tony Stark?' but considering the current situation, he wisely swallowed his words.
"Yes, boss."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)