Are you sure you’re not my brother? (Fifth Bonus Chapter, 1,900 Monthly Tickets Added, Please Subscribe!!!)

The live broadcast on television was being shown from the Stark Industries Building.

What about it?

There was no fundamental difference from the original story. Tony Stark announced the immediate dissolution of Stark Industries’ weapons research and development division, along with the official appointment of Pepper Potts.

The media reporters at the scene erupted into an uproar.

Of course.

Compared with why Tony Stark had decided to dissolve the weapons research division, most of the reporters were more focused on Tony himself, who was hanging from an IV line and wolfing down a hamburger like a ravenous wolf.

They were all curious about what had happened to turn Tony Stark, who had still been dressed in a sharp suit yesterday, into such a refugee-like figure today.

At home, Skye was sorting through university replies when she asked, somewhat curiously, "Is Stark crazy?"

Lake, who had been working hard to explain Yale to Skye, asked, "Why would you say that?"

Skye shrugged. "Stark Industries built its fortune on arms dealing. If he shuts down its core weapons research division, won’t Stark Industries’ market value plummet?"

Lake smiled. "Maybe they’re planning to transform the company."

The nuclear reactor had already appeared, so they had core technology to support that transformation. Besides, Stark Industries wasn’t merely an arms manufacturer. It was a massive, diversified conglomerate that had grown from its roots in weapons manufacturing.

Stark Industries’ market value might continue to fall for some time, but once the public’s period of panic passed, that would be the end of it.

Stark was still Stark.

After finishing, Lake watched Tony Stark leave without accepting any follow-up questions. He withdrew his gaze from the television and looked at Skye. "Have you made up your mind? Yale is a very good school."

Skye looked up. "But I don’t want to go to Yale."

Lake said gloomily, "Why?"

For federal students, preparing for university actually had to begin when they entered ninth grade. Some even started earlier. After all, different universities had different requirements, and catering to their preferences increased one’s chances of admission.

Skye was already considered relatively late. Alexis downstairs had begun preparing six months ago.

But that couldn’t be helped.

Skye had previously been homeless and had attended school intermittently, leaving her transcript somewhat unattractive. After two years of a regular life and catching up, she had finally secured admission to several universities during her eleventh-grade year.

Skye tilted her head toward Lake. "Do you want the truth?"

Lake rolled his eyes. "Obviously."

Choosing Yale was practically a tradition. Ross had gone to West Point, so he didn’t count. Karen was a genuine outstanding Yale graduate, and Lake had chosen Yale for that reason as well. Betty had also initially attended Yale, but during her second year, she entered Georgetown University through an exchange program.

In the upper and middle levels of federal society, children generally gave priority to the universities their parents had attended. Parents were also more than happy to provide their alma maters with excellent students.

The alumni network was a form of connections, too.

Skye sighed. "Because Yale won’t offer me a scholarship."

Lake said, "I’m not short of that little bit of money."

Skye crossed her arms and looked at Lake. "If you were me, would you ask me to pay for you?"

Lake opened and closed his mouth.

Back then, that was precisely why he had chosen to join the military and earn the money himself.

Fine.

Lake shook his head and looked at Skye. "Then where do you want to go?"

Skye pulled a university brochure from her schoolbag and handed it to Lake. "This one. New York University."

Lake laughed. "Then you might as well spend two years at Quantico like I did, and then use the military’s free program to enter Yale University like me."

Skye extended her arm, which was thinner than a carrot, and looked at Lake. Seeing that he seemed to understand, she lowered it and said, "My university counselor told me that if I pass New York University’s preparatory examination next year and get the grades they expect, they’re willing to provide me with an A-level scholarship and approve my dual-degree plan."

Lake raised his eyebrows. "A dual degree?"

Skye nodded. "I plan to study electronic information and history at the same time."

Lake let out a surprised "wow." "I can understand electronic information, but history? You’re interested in history, too?"

Skye shrugged. "I wouldn’t say I’m interested in it. I’m interested in my own history. From a certain perspective, isn’t that history too?"

Lake nodded.

Seeing this, Skye said, "So you don’t object?"

Lake drained the bourbon in his glass. When he saw his phone ringing, he walked toward the balcony and said, "Karen once told me this when I was sixteen. I’ll pass it on to you now. This is your life. You should understand that you have to make your own choices. All I can do is comfort you when you regret them."

With that, Lake walked onto the balcony and answered the phone.

In the living room.

Skye watched Lake speaking on the phone over there and cautiously moved the corners of her mouth. "Thank you, Papa!"

The next day.

In the afternoon.

Lake drove to the Stark estate in Long Beach.

Upon entering.

Lake looked at Tony, who was stuffing hamburgers into his mouth on the sofa. "You’ve been starving for so long. Binge-eating isn’t good for you."

Tony put down the hamburger with one bite left, picked up a tissue beside him, wiped his mouth, and looked at Lake. "Obadiah got the key formula for cloning and resurrection from me."

Lake grunted. "I know, but he disappeared."

Obadiah Stane could still be anywhere in the federal territory, or even anywhere outside the Federation. As long as he didn’t show himself, there was no way to find him.

Lake still had several Tracking Cards.

But…

Wasting them on Obadiah Stane didn’t seem worth it.

Remembering the real reason he had come, Lake took the name and residential address of the medium living in Phoenix City from his pocket and handed it to Tony. "Find some time to go see her."

Tony took it. "What is this?"

Lake said, "A medium."

Tony looked up at Lake.

Lake said, "Certified, honest, and reliable. Do me a favor and ask her whether Howard Stark and Maria Stark’s souls are in Hell."

Tony looked at Lake with a strange expression. "Are you sure you’re not some kind of brother of mine? Why do I feel like you care more about this than I do?"

Lake chuckled. "It isn’t even dark yet. Stop dreaming."

I’ll spray you with a nosebleed.

The only relatives Lake acknowledged here were Karen, Ross, and Betty. To put it simply, if his biological parents from this life really found him one day, Lake guaranteed that he would chop those two up with a single stroke. He absolutely wouldn’t act out some melodramatic reunion.

As he had said before, Lake’s powerful Sixth Sense told him that if he wanted to find Wanda, resolving the matter involving Howard Stark and Maria Stark might lead him to the answer he wanted.

Tony stood up. "I also think it’s impossible. If you really were my brother, you could have turned Stark Industries into your own company when I disappeared."

Lake smiled. "I’m not interested."

Tony suddenly said to Lake, "Thank you."

Lake asked curiously, "For what?"

"For everything."

Tony said this as he coughed, then waved the slip of paper in his hand and said to Lake, "I’ll go as soon as possible. But right now, I have something more important to do."

Something more important?

Take on the Ten Rings?

Lake tilted his head and glanced at Tony. Then he nodded and turned toward the door. "Remember to tell me the moment you hear anything."

If Tony wanted to become Iron Man, then so be it.

Lake had no interest in getting involved. The facts had already proven that the emergence of steel was inevitable. Look—the timeline had advanced and the story had changed, yet the result hadn’t changed at all.

Soon.

Lake drove away from Long Beach.

"Sir!"

"Has he left?"

"Yes."

Hearing Jarvis’s voice, Tony nodded, stood up, and walked to his basement.

On the workbench, a Satellite Phone that Jarvis was trying to operate and decrypt, and which had been dismantled into pieces, was extremely conspicuous.

Before Tony had left that cave, his friend Yinsen had helped him obtain it from Laza at the cost of his own life.

Obadiah Stane had deceived him.

Tony was furious. Especially after he had told Obadiah the key formula for cloning and resurrection, the image of Obadiah Stane mercilessly shooting Pepper kept surfacing in his mind. Tony’s anger churned almost like boiling water.

The feeling was nearly identical to when he had learned that his parents had been killed by the Winter Soldier. In fact, subconsciously, he was even angrier this time.

But…

This time was different from the last.

The last time, Tony had possessed no ability to take revenge—not in terms of individual power.

But this time.

"Jarvis!"

"Yes, sir."

Tony walked to the control console and stared at the Mark I model displayed on the screen. "I want to create a new project file. Mark it as Mark II!"

Jarvis asked, "Should I store the file in the Stark Industries central database?"

Tony said directly, "No. Store it in a separate database. Confirm that no one but me is permitted to view it."

"What about Ms. Pepper Potts?"

"…She can."

Tony thought for a moment before saying, "If I can’t even completely trust Pepper, then I don’t know whom I should trust. Authorize me to confirm whenever Pepper accesses it."

Jarvis responded, "Understood, sir. Are you preparing to begin another secret research project?"

Tony looked at the projection of the first Mark I unit displayed on the control console and said expressionlessly, "Perhaps, in my hands, it can do some good."