After Gina's parents passed away, Gina, who had only recently graduated from college, came to the United States to take over the mess they left behind.
That mess included the struggling company they started in America and her younger brother, Dragan, who had been a good-for-nothing since childhood.
Initially, when Dragan started acting out, Gina attempted to help him. She was strict with him and even gave him a job at the company.
But instead of changing, Dragan got into gambling and did even worse things. After several failed attempts to reason with him, he even began to conceal orders and secretly embezzled company funds.
After discovering this, Gina decisively fired him from the company and gave him some money, telling him he was on his own.
Later on, Luca always saw her uncle Dragan a few times, but only when he came begging for money or help.
However, in the past two years, Luca hasn't seen him at all. He doesn't know what his mom did, but somehow she managed to keep Dragan away.
Now it seemed that he wasn't just into gambling, Dragan had even gotten involved with drugs.
"Why are you here!?"
The one who spoke wasn't Luca but rather Samira, who stood nearby with a sharp, hostile gaze.
At the same time, Samira stepped forward and protectively placed herself between Luca and the man.
Clearly, Samira also knew what kind of person she was dealing with.
Of course, Dragan recognized Samira as well.
After noticing the blatant look of disgust on her face, a sudden surge of anger rushed through him, but he quickly suppressed it.
"Samira! Don't forget, I'm also part of the Orange family. In a situation like this, of course, I should be concerned about Luca."
As he spoke, Dragan cast a glance at Luca's empty sleeve and the gravestone behind him.
Samira noticed the disdain in Dragan's eyes and got even angrier. She had watched Luca grow up, and she didn't like anyone looking at him like that.
Luca, on the other hand, who had also noticed the look in his uncle's eyes, showed very little change in expression.
During the fierce Battle of New York earlier, Luca had gotten so carried away that he ended up kicking his own prosthetic arm like a ball.
That prosthetic arm had actually been a custom-built, high-tech device, specially commissioned by his late parents from a cutting-edge company, Transia, which collaborated with the Department of Defense.
Even though it wasn't as fast or smooth as a real arm, it was already a rather "sci-fi" level prosthetic.
Currently, Luca could use a regular prosthetic hand to make himself look more normal, but it doesn't offer much practical convenience in daily life.
So, Luca simply chose not to wear a new prosthetic for the time being and instead waited patiently for Transia to make him a new one.
Luca didn't really mind that he had a disability. He certainly wasn't the kind of person to get angry over others' judgments.
He gently reached out to restrain the impulsive Samira, then looked calmly at his cheap uncle with cold eyes and a detached tone.
"Uncle? I suppose I'll still call you that. Thank you for coming to my father's funeral. But as I recall..."
Luca said, "Mother already cut ties with you a long time ago. As for Aunt Samira, I believe she's far more trustworthy than some people."
Hearing this, Dragan straightened up again. He adjusted his collar and pretended to act like a caring uncle.
"Kid, the state of New York doesn't recognize any so-called 'cutting off family ties.' Besides, we're family. Since your mom's not doing well, it's only right that I, your uncle, step up to take care of you."
As he spoke, Dragan shot Samira a provoking look, nodding toward her with his chin.
"Gina's just gotten injured and unconscious, isn't she?"
"Is this a power grab?"
"This guy really thinks he's something, doesn't he?"
The guests around them started whispering again.
It was clear that most of them looked down on Dragan, and anyone could see he wasn't a decent person.
However, Dragan didn't notice at all. He just looked around proudly, like he thought everyone respected him.
Samira, standing nearby, seemed worried that Luca was still too young to fully understand what kind of person Dragan was. She was about to speak up and explain.
But before she could say anything, Luca's brows furrowed slightly.
'How does this guy even know about my mom's condition?!'
She had been injured and fallen into a coma during the recent battle in New York.
After the battle ended, they rushed her to the hospital. The doctors later diagnosed her with something called Neural Synaptic Cocoon Syndrome.
This condition was essentially caused by repeated exposure to high-frequency energy shocks, which led to the brain's cortical nerve endings being wrapped in abnormal proteins, severely reducing neural signal transmission and putting the brain into a semi-dormant state.
The syndrome was already considered extremely rare in the medical world, and cases similar to the past typically only showed symptoms such as slowed responses, drowsiness, and memory loss.
But after the recent battle in New York, more than a dozen injured individuals were suddenly diagnosed with the same condition.
Those with milder symptoms could barely manage to live independently. The more severe cases didn't even survive for more than a few days before being declared dead.
In fact, Gina's condition was neither critical nor stable and was the most difficult to treat. The hospital and even her medical team didn't really know how to help.
They could only keep her hanging on.
Over the past few days, Luca even asked Samira to reach out to someone special named Stephen Strange, the man who would one day become the Sorcerer Supreme in the future.
Right now, Strange is regarded as one of the top neurosurgeons in all of New York.
However, upon hearing the details of the condition, Strange didn't even ask about payment. He flat-out refused the request, claiming he was far too busy with work lately.
Now, Luca could only follow the doctors' advice, try to keep his mom stable, and wait, hoping that someday there would be a breakthrough.
However, the strange thing was... not many people knew about his mom's condition.
Then, how did Dragan, who had been gone for nearly two years, wasting his life on gambling and drugs, find out about any of this?
Sensing the situation was on the verge of spiraling out of control, Luca immediately gave a cold, firm order.
"Aunt Samira, escort him out. I won't have him causing trouble at my father's funeral."
Samira stepped forward right away, grabbed Dragan's shoulder, and started to drag him away.
However, Dragan didn't back down. Instead, he grew even more smug, shouting with pride:
"Hah! What's the matter, kid? You scared now? According to the law... if someone is incapacitated, like your mom, then the shareholders have to hold a vote to choose a new leader!"
Dragan's nose flared, his eyes looked wild with excitement, and his words started to get jumbled.
"Don't think… mm, that being the biggest shareholder means you're safe. You haven't inherited those shares yet. In the next shareholders' meeting, dead people and people in comas don't get to vote!"
"You bastard, what did you just say?!"
Samira's eyes flared with anger. She grabbed Dragan by the collar and, with surprising strength, lifted him off the ground.
"Gina in a coma?"
"I thought Ms. Orange was just in a temporary coma?"
The guests present were either business partners of Orange Industries or employees of the company.
After hearing this shocking claim, they turned to look at Luca with unease and suspicion.
However, Luca didn't care about their stares, and his focus was on something else entirely.
"A shareholders' meeting? What does that have to do with you? What makes you think you have any say in the board's decision?!"
...
150 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
250 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
450 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
2000 Power Stones = 3 Extra Chapters