Life and Death at Breakneck Speed

"His condition was very bad. Aside from the risk of infection from all those messy wires he put inside his body, he was already old. His body recovered far more slowly than a young person’s. After an injury, there was a high risk of lasting complications. Even if he survived the infection and inflammation, his bodily functions had already suffered severe damage. I suggest you ask whether he has any final wishes…"

Stark slammed a fist against the table. The violent bang startled Strange. The notoriously sharp-tongued Doctor said, "You’d better make sure your consultation fee is worthy of that temper."

"I’m sure your courage is worthy of my fists," Schiller told Strange.

Stark looked at Obadiah lying on the operating table. His pupils had already begun to lose focus. An overwhelming emotion gripped Stark, and he could not understand why Obadiah had done this.

"I always wanted to prove to Howard that the biotechnology path I proposed was far from worthless. It could give people enough strength that even if their bodies had aged beyond recognition, they could still control powered armor perfectly through physical strength alone…"

"But you’re about to die!" Stark snapped. "What could possibly be more important than your life?!"

"Howard died before I did…"

Stark was speechless. Then he heard Obadiah say with something like a sigh, "Served him right for dying so early. What a shame he died so early…"

A complicated emotion rose in Stark’s heart. He knew that Obadiah and Howard’s relationship had never been the flawless partnership people imagined.

When you walked alongside an unparalleled genius, few people could avoid feeling jealous. Perhaps Obadiah had once wanted to prove that he could make it without Howard.

Unfortunately, once Howard was truly gone, Obadiah no longer knew who he was supposed to prove it to.

Obadiah was already old. Perhaps he knew that if he did not do this now, he would never get another chance.

At least one Stark had to understand that he had been right. If the old Stark would not do, then the younger Stark would.

"I have to find a way to save him!" Stark threw himself onto the other workbench and began frantically searching through the documents. He had no time to think about Obadiah stealing his armor core. For all these years, Obadiah had been almost his only family. Now Obadiah was about to die, and Stark could think of nothing else.

"A heart stent! We have to give him a heart stent!" Stark said.

Strange shook his head. "You really have no medical knowledge. His heart is about to fail. This isn’t something a stent can fix."

"Then put in a few more!"

"Unless you can build him a new heart with machinery, his current heart can no longer pump blood through his body. At most, he has three hours before heart failure kills him."

"Are you a Doctor who only knows how to talk coldly?!" Stark demanded furiously. Strange was even angrier. "One sentence from a rich bastard like you cost me an entire afternoon! I’m only telling the truth! He can’t be saved! Stop treating doctors like God. He punched seven or eight holes into his own heart. Even God couldn’t save him!"

Schiller patted Strange on the shoulder. "Can’t you see the situation here? This wealthy man is so broke he has nothing left but money. He’s willing to pay any price to save his uncle. As long as you can come up with a plan, name your price."

Strange rubbed his temples. "We’re both doctors. Do you think I don’t want to earn that money? If he could be saved through medical means, then nobody in this world would be beyond saving."

"What did you just say?" Stark suddenly turned and asked.

Strange froze. "What did I say?"

"Right… a mechanical heart! Build him a new heart!"

Schiller checked his watch. "You only have three hours."

Then he looked at Obadiah again.

"That’s still an optimistic estimate. I’m afraid that once two hours pass, even if he gets a new heart, his entire body will begin dying from lack of blood."

Stark said nothing. He suddenly calmed down, as if his temper had vanished in an instant. His mind, cursed by knowledge, began running every thread at a mad pace.

"This is absurd. You want to replace a living person’s heart with one made of machinery. What about rejection?" Strange asked.

Stark turned around and punched him. Schiller dragged him out of the laboratory. Strange rubbed his nose. "These damn rich people…"

"Stop complaining. Think about the seven- or eight-figure consultation fee he’ll pay you afterward. Feeling any better?"

"He’ll really pay that much?"

"That’s Stark. Look under your feet. One floor tile here might be worth your monthly salary."

For once, Strange said nothing. Apparently, even the coming windfall did not make him any happier.

After a while, Stark suddenly rushed out. "I’ve got an idea! Yes, I have a way! The Arc Reactor, that model…"

"I need an assistant. Hurry! Get in here!"

Strange remained seated. Schiller could only stand and say, "I’ll do it. Hopefully this isn’t another lightbulb-twisting job."

When he entered the laboratory, Stark had turned it into a complete mess. Schiller stepped over documents and papers scattered across the floor. Stark began working at a bench packed with complicated instruments as he said, "That model isn’t just useful for its energy reaction. Its structure is extremely suited to the human body. As for rejection…"

Stark’s hands suddenly stopped. He braced both palms on the table and lowered his head. In a quiet voice, he said, "I almost died from rejection too. Maybe this is karma."

"Don’t start with your fatalism." Schiller glanced at Obadiah.

Obadiah seemed to still be conscious, but the severe loss of blood had left him unable to speak. He was not looking at Stark. He only stared at the workbench.

Perhaps the young Obadiah had once stood by a bench just like this, watching Howard bustle around it with boundless enthusiasm. Back then, they could run experiments all night, then eat breakfast while talking excitedly about how their inventions would change the world.

Howard had been passionate and ambitious then, an incomparable genius. Obadiah had been more like the genius’s Shade. Howard had been born to change the world, while Obadiah only wanted to use his abilities to live a better life.

Obadiah felt his entire body begin to heat up. A warm current flowed from his heart into his limbs. Through the haze, he saw countless scenes playing out before his eyes.

Howard had died too early, but Obadiah was grateful Howard had died so early. It left him with a friendship beautiful enough to remember before his own death. Those had been the most passionate and glorious years of his life.

A colossal empire had risen in his hands, until it ruled the world.

He was grateful Howard had died too early. Their friendship had never been worn down and withered away by the mundane uncertainties of life. It remained forever bright and polished, looking regretless even at the edge of death.

"You need to hurry." Schiller looked at Obadiah. "We miscalculated. You have an hour and a half at most. He’s already lost his mind."

Stark spun around in panic. "No!! Don’t! Wait, wait… don’t do this. How could he…"

"Just like before with you, the will to live is important. Once it is gone, the body begins to deteriorate faster than you can imagine."

Stark clenched the component in his hand tightly. He said nothing and turned back to continue the experiment.

Schiller asked the Symbiote in his mind, "Can’t you rebuild a heart for him?"

"No. His heart is missing something. He needs a Symbiote to sustain it. Without me, he will die."

Schiller thought back and recalled that it had indeed been like that in the comics. The elderly Eddie relied entirely on Venom transforming cells into part of his body. Without Venom, he would die too.

"There are components. They can be combined," the Symbiote added.

Schiller told Stark, "You can try manufacturing the components. I can use reconstruction to combine them with flesh and blood, without needing sutures or fixation."

Stark took a pen and blueprint, pointing things out to Schiller. "The Arc Reactor’s structure can be fully applied to the heart. Look here. We replace the entire left ventricle, reinforce the myocardium here, then install an artificial cardiac pump here…"

Schiller called Strange back in. Strange looked at the blueprint and said, "Theoretically, it might be possible, but I advise against it. Combining the human body with metal carries enormous risks. It’s a problem medicine has never been able to overcome, and you aren’t even a Doctor. Even if you save him temporarily, there will still be maintenance issues for the components and metal fatigue…"

Schiller said, "Obadiah seems to have been researching biomechanics all along. He must have useful materials. Jarvis, can you find where Obadiah conducted his research?"

A series of beeps came from Jarvis, followed by, "Calculating… locating… location confirmed. Former Stark Industries site, also formerly the Stark Automotive Industrial Group."

"Storage device detected… The files were not uploaded. Please wait. Initiating physical decryption…"

A few minutes later, a suit of armor flew in carrying a heavy computer in its arms. Stark pulled out a USB drive and plugged it into the computer. Soon, Jarvis said, "Data encrypted… decrypting… decryption complete… all files uploaded."

Stark hurried over to his main terminal. The instant he opened the monitor, he froze.

It was filled with densely packed files and blueprints. Schiller could not understand any of it. After a moment, Stark took two steps back and said, "Maybe he was right. Maybe he was right…"

"He found another path, one completely different from mechanical armor…"

"You’re running out of time," Schiller said.

"No, now I only need half an hour. No, no, twenty minutes. These files are ready-made. Jarvis, start calculating immediately. We’ll begin by constructing this model…"

An hour later, Stark, Schiller, and Strange emerged from the laboratory with exhausted faces. Strange’s hands were covered in blood. "How can something like this exist in the world? You really made a heart out of a pile of scrap metal, then actually made it beat. God…"

Schiller was not much better off. Replacing someone’s heart was hard physical work, and blood had soaked through the front of his clothes.

Stark leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to sit. "Am I really just like my father? Blindly arrogant and stubborn…"

"No…"

Stark looked up at Schiller, who had spoken.

"You’re worse than your father."