Iron Man Came Early (Third Bonus Update, Please Subscribe!!!)

Tony Stark had originally thought that the ones he had cloned back to life would be his parents.

But…

They weren’t.

They were two completely different people—people Tony dared swear he had never seen before.

Lake raised an eyebrow. "What did you use to clone them?"

Tony looked up at Lake. "Would I use something else to bring them back to life?"

Lake rubbed his chin.

That made no sense.

Lake asked, "Since the people you cloned back to life weren’t Howard and Maria, didn’t you notice during the cloning process?"

Tony shook his head. "I only just remembered that they weren’t."

Lake: "…"

Only just remembered?

What had you been doing before that? Immersing yourself in the greatness of your achievement in reversing life and death, basking in a state of mind like that of a creator.

Tony looked at Lake and said gravely, "They aren’t dead."

Lake came back to himself and looked at Tony speechlessly. "Stop messing around."

As for Howard’s matter, how many times had he intervened? He had started intervening in 2001, and now it was already 2006. It still wasn’t over. Was this ever going to end?

Was the main plot of my mission really just finding Howard?

MMP!

Tony was certain. "I’m telling the truth. I personally retrieved all the tissue samples from the coffins. Since they weren’t the ones inside, where are they?"

Lake asked suspiciously, "You opened the coffins?"

Tony nodded.

Lake could only exclaim inwardly. Was this about to turn from the Marvel superhero universe into the Marvel supernatural universe?

But…

Lake shook his head. "This only proves that the people in the coffins weren’t Howard Stark and Maria Stark. It doesn’t prove anything else."

This was the Federation.

Their purpose in digging up graves and stealing corpses might not have been to create biological partners, but they could do other perverse things—things Lake couldn’t even imagine how to describe.

But the next second, Lake overturned that idea.

The reason was simple.

The Stark family had its own private cemetery. Anyone or any group interested in stealing corpses definitely couldn’t get near the Stark cemetery.

Then…

Lake asked again, "What about the brains?"

Tony said gravely, "Not them."

Lake looked at Tony, whose face was filled with certainty. "I remember you said you took out their brains yourself."

Tony nodded. "I know what I said. Yes, I did. But they weren’t theirs."

"They were switched?"

"No one could switch them under Jarvis’s twenty-four-hour surveillance."

"When Jarvis came into existence, the brains had already been removed."

"They’ve been stored in the Stark family’s 3S-classified biological freezer ever since."

"…"

Lake opened his mouth. This wasn’t right, and that wasn’t right either. Could it be that Howard Stark and Maria Stark really weren’t dead? Then who the hell had died?

And if they weren’t dead, where were they?

What?

Brains couldn’t be preserved.

Lake had initially struggled with that question too. But he wasn’t a scientist, and this was the Marvel Universe, where Black Technology ran rampant. Since Tony Stark was certain he could preserve them, there had to be a way. Once Lake thought of that, he stopped dwelling on it.

Pepper, who had been listening nearby, said to Tony, "I’ve already had Jarvis invite experts from all over the world to help you deal with that thing in your chest…"

Tony lowered his head.

Seeing this, Lake also stood up and announced that he was leaving.

One problem had barely settled before another arose.

On his side, Wanda had suddenly appeared, seemingly having traveled back from the future and claiming to be his wife. Then Howard Stark and Maria Stark might suddenly have turned out not to be dead.

Could it be that the Marvel story in my version had never been a superhero story at all, but a mystery-solving one?

After leaving the estate, Lake got into his car and shook his head speechlessly.

Three days later.

Lake received the Warrens, who had returned from the Vatican with holy water, and brought them back to Tony Stark’s Stark Estate in Long Beach.

Pepper Potts was already waiting at the entrance.

After the Warrens got out of the car, Pepper Potts had never heard of their reputation, but since Lake said they could help the Blackened Tony recover, they clearly had real abilities.

Soon.

In the basement, where the sound of clanging rang out, the group saw Blackened Tony lifting weights.

Lake’s gaze fell on Tony Stark’s chest, and he raised an eyebrow.

A triangular energy source was glowing conspicuously.

Well, damn.

Could the appearance of the miniature arc reactor be an inevitability of the universe, with the process of its appearance being irrelevant? The arc reactor was Rome, and the process was simply that all roads led there?

Thinking this, Lake walked up to Blackened Tony and tapped it with his finger. It gave a crisp ring. "Nice. Did you turn yourself into a half-human, half-machine?"

Tony said, "It can suppress the fragments in my blood and stop them from attacking my heart."

Lake rubbed his chin. "This thing… give me one."

Come to think of it, if the appliances at home were connected to this, wouldn’t they need electricity for at least a whole year?

Pepper reminded him from behind, "Lake."

Lake came back to himself and said, "Oh," before introducing the Warrens to Tony. "These two are the Warrens, Vatican-certified and the only genuine exorcists."

After seeing Tony, who was black all over, the Warrens said with certainty, "He suffered a demon’s attack. He was on the verge of death, but the demon suddenly abandoned him."

Pepper took out her necklace. "Is it because of this?"

The Warrens took the necklace from Pepper and nodded. "Possibly. The holy aura on this necklace came from the Vatican, though it’s very weak now. It was indeed triggered before."

After saying that.

The Warrens looked at Tony Stark. "I need a wooden tub that can hold holy water. It’s almost noon, and if we want to expel the demonic energy left in your body, we must do it as soon as possible."

Lake looked at Pepper. "What about the wooden tub?"

Pepper said, "It was delivered yesterday. It’s in the backyard."

At noon.

In the estate’s backyard, with the sun high overhead, Tony Stark climbed into a wooden tub and expressionlessly removed his underwear.

In the estate’s living room.

Pepper stood nervously by the window, watching the activity in the backyard.

Lake sipped bourbon. "Relax. When it comes to dealing with demons, the Warrens are professionals."

Pepper, who had her back to Lake, hummed in response. Then she looked at Lake, somewhat puzzled. "Are Howard and Maria really not dead?"

Lake shrugged. "We can’t say for certain yet."

Howard Stark and Maria Stark’s remains had been dug up yesterday afternoon and transported to Washington aboard a Stark private jet. In Washington, Dr. Tempra Brenna, a human anthropologist, would help determine whether the bones corresponded to Howard Stark and Maria Stark.

Pepper couldn’t help saying, "But that recording…"

Lake was just about to speak.

Suddenly.

A howl of pain and a muffled groan came from the backyard. Pepper turned around nervously, only to see Mr. Warren reciting the Bible while Mrs. Warren poured spoonful after spoonful of holy water over Tony Stark. Thick black smoke was peeling away from Tony Stark’s body.

Amid the billowing black smoke came a sinister laugh that sounded as though it belonged to a demon from hell.

Mr. Warren’s recitation grew faster and faster.

Mrs. Warren hurriedly ordered Tony Stark to submerge his entire body in the holy water.

Tony’s face was filled with pain, but he still retained the last trace of consciousness and did as he was told.

With a splash.

The instant Tony Stark submerged himself in the holy water, it was as if red-hot iron had met cold water. An indescribable sound rang out, and the holy water in the tub nearly began to boil.

As white smoke bubbled up, black smoke was continuously forced out by it.

"Whoa!"

Lake had somehow come to Pepper’s side. Watching the scene in the backyard, he clicked his tongue twice. "He looks like he’s about to be boiled alive."

Pepper couldn’t help laughing once, then said helplessly to Lake, "Tony’s already in this state. Could you put your sarcasm away for a while?"

Lake shook his head. "No. I warned him. I told him he wouldn’t get what he wanted, but he wouldn’t listen."

Pepper defended Tony. "Tony is only doing what he can."

Lake smiled. "Obviously, he can’t."

Pepper didn’t say anything else. She merely thanked Lake on Tony’s behalf, then turned her gaze back to the backyard, where Tony Stark was struggling amid the white and black smoke.

The end of science was God.

Theology could work backward to explain science, but science couldn’t so easily ascend into theology. Any attempt to explain theology through science would always end up completely beside the point.

Lake wasn’t helping Tony Stark for no reason.

Of course.

Lake wanted to freeload that piece of land from Tony Stark, but that wasn’t the most important reason. More importantly, for some reason, Lake’s powerful Sixth Sense told him that perhaps he could use what was happening to Tony Stark to resolve the matter happening to himself.

Lake had always believed firmly in his Sixth Sense.

Especially after obtaining the Law of the Small Universe and fusing it into his Force Seed, Lake’s Sixth Sense might have been vague, but it absolutely wouldn’t provide him with incorrect information.

Of course.

That didn’t include the lottery draws from his cheat.

The exorcism process was very quick.

But to Tony Stark, it was painful and agonizingly long.

By the time Tony Stark, white again, emerged from the wooden tub, his face was pale and his entire body was trembling.

Happy, who was standing nearby, hurriedly handed Tony Stark a towel, then helped the man, who was too weak to climb out of the tub, away from the holy water, which had turned completely black.

P.S.: The Warrens are from the cinematic universe of The Conjuring series!