My Heart Is Stirred

Screech!

The violent sound of brakes rang out. Noah looked at the bridge railing lying across the road in front of him with lingering fear, then immediately shot Tony an irritated glare.

Tony was equally shaken, but his face had turned red, making it obvious that indignation outweighed his fear.

Honestly, Tony was extremely dissatisfied. He had thought Noah would offer some constructive advice.

Instead, this was the suggestion he got. Tony felt deeply disappointed. It was not as though he had never considered removing the Ark reactor.

But he had consulted many experts, and none of their conclusions had satisfied him.

Apparently, the success rate of that operation was very low, which was why he had never made up his mind to undergo more thorough treatment.

Perhaps when he truly could not hold on anymore, he would take that gamble. But it was still far from that point.

"What kind of suggestion is that?"

Tony calmed himself, then adjusted the direction of his car amid the incessant honking from the vehicles behind them before continuing onward.

Tony had been so enraged just now that he had nearly caused an accident. Of course, Tony was certain that if there had been a crash, he would have been the unlucky one. The two people in the back seat definitely would have been fine.

"Damn it, that’s your driving? I seriously doubt you’re any better than an eighty-year-old grandmother!" Noah was no pushover either. Once he recovered, he immediately cursed Tony out.

"Who told you to give a suggestion that was as good as saying nothing?" Tony ignored Noah’s tone and kept driving.

"I said it was a suggestion. Besides, once the hidden danger in your body is dealt with, the reactor can naturally be removed. Of course, you could also try developing a new element."

"You actually know science? I never thought you wizards even knew about new elements."

"Don’t forget, there’s Elemental Magic in the magical world. It’s not that other elements can’t be developed into magic; it’s just that the value of doing so isn’t particularly high, so we don’t bother."

"Fine. Are you saying you can remove the danger inside my body?"

Tony did not care about Noah’s claim that other elements could be developed into magic. He did not understand wizard matters.

He only wanted to know whether Noah could really clear out the hidden danger inside his body. He truly did not care much about anything else.

"Of course." Noah nodded. "More accurately, if we sent you to a hospital in the magical world, your condition could probably be treated there as well. After all, this isn’t particularly troublesome. We just need to extract the unusual substances that are harmful to your body."

There really were quite a few harmful things inside Tony’s body. Not to mention the palladium that had already thoroughly infiltrated his blood, the missile fragments constantly flowing through his bloodstream toward his heart were terrifying enough.

It could be said that while the reactor in his chest was harming him, it was also drawing in those missile fragments and keeping them from flooding into his heart, thus sustaining his life.

"That’s great!" Tony was naturally overjoyed upon hearing this.

He had been tormented by this issue to the point where he had already begun preparing his will. First, he had naturally handed over the position of Stark Industries’ CEO.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would later half-willingly hand his armor over to his good friend Rhodey. In short, he had felt that he was doomed.

But things were different now. Noah’s sudden appearance had given him enough confidence.

Although magic was still shattering the worldview and values he had spent decades building, that did not affect a drowning man’s desire to survive.

"However, there’s something I need to mention, Tony." Noah was not particularly happy. Instead, he stared at Tony in the rearview mirror with a grim expression. "After you lost our last bet, where are the Stark Industries shares you promised me?"

"????" Tony froze for quite a while before suddenly remembering that something like that had indeed happened. He looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, after we sign the contract this time, I’ll give you three percent in shares. How does that sound?"

"My life, plus the fact that you already lost to me once, is only worth three percent?" Noah was immediately dissatisfied. Was that not way too cheap?

"Come on, man. Even three percent would earn you hundreds of millions of dollars every year!"

"I might have believed that a few years ago, but after you shut down Stark’s weapons division, I’m not so sure."

Noah’s words left Tony thoroughly choked up, yet Tony truly had no way to refute them.

Although Tony had now established an entirely new energy division, and Stark Industries had never been limited to its weapons business, Stark Industries’ performance was indeed not very good at the moment.

But there was nothing he could do about that. The new energy Tony used had actually been inspired by the reactor in his chest.

This thing was absolutely not clean, pollution-free energy. Because of the palladium element, this energy source could not be supplied on a large scale. Put simply, it was useful, but its output could not be too high.

Tony was a man with principles. He himself had already suffered terribly from it, so how could he possibly harm others with it?

Who knew when some unlucky person might suffer an accident that allowed this energy to enter their body? That would be an absolute disaster.

Stark Industries had many enemies. There was no doubt about that. After all, the former Stark Industries had stood at the top of the pyramid.

Stark Industries could not be said to have fallen into decline now; it still stood among the world’s best. But many things had changed.

"Then how much do you want?" Tony sighed helplessly. He truly had no way to bargain with this guy.

"How about five percent?" Noah thought for a moment, then suddenly got an idea. "Five percent of Stark Industries in exchange for five percent of Ark Company. What do you think?"

"Ark Company? What kind of thing is that? Your shell company?" Tony rolled his eyes. "And aren’t you an atheist? Why would you pick a name like that?"

"I am an atheist, but that doesn’t mean I can’t borrow the name, does it?" Noah spread his hands. "As for Ark Company, you can think of it as a company jointly created by wizards, exorcists, and Mutants."

Honestly, Noah had not considered this before, but now he felt that it might be worth trying.

A portion of Ark’s remaining shares had been left untouched, but Noah now felt that he could use them to exchange for something.

For example, bringing Tony in!

Tony was not a wizard, and he could not even be considered part of the mysterious side, but there was one thing Noah had to take into account.

Tony’s learning ability had reached the level of being cursed by knowledge.

Moreover, Noah remembered that in one comic universe, this guy had been the Sorcerer Supreme, and a Sorcerer Supreme who combined technology and magic!

Noah did not expect this world’s Tony to possess any magical talent, but this man’s creativity was frighteningly terrifying.

Many things in the magical world were actually very backward. Even though Noah had introduced computers, the internet, and mobile phones, he still could not change many things.

For example, the things created by the winner of the American magical world’s Kamar-Taj Magic Award. Although they had begun to spread, they could probably only truly be applied to certain basic infrastructure for now.

That left Noah deeply dissatisfied. Although Noah now lived in the Sanctum, where the environment and facilities were no different from the Muggle world.

Noah knew perfectly well what a mess the British magical world was. Since he had long regarded the British magical world as his base, how could he tolerate such things?

And setting that aside, if Tony were brought in to conduct proper research, perhaps many convenient things could be created.

Not only would Noah himself be more comfortable, but the magical world would benefit as well, and his classmates who had entered the Ministry of Magic could also gain more "achievements."

For Noah, that would be a win on multiple fronts, which was why he had begun considering it.

Besides, exorcists were not like wizards. They relied more on magical equipment. Wouldn’t it be even better if those exorcists could obtain better magical weapons?

After carefully listening to Noah’s introduction of Ark Company, Tony finally understood what the company did. "You’re bringing me in to make up the numbers? So you can complete the ordinary human side?"

Noah did not know whether to laugh or cry. "If that’s how you want to see it, perhaps. We already have exorcists, Mutants, and me, a wizard. The only intelligent life forms we’re probably missing are magical creatures and ordinary humans."

"So you plan to recruit magical creatures?" Tony tilted his head and asked curiously.

"I don’t know. Besides, that’s not what I’m talking to you about right now." Noah rolled his eyes. "Just answer me. Do you agree or not?"

"Of course I agree!" This time, Tony did not hesitate in the slightest and nodded directly. "I don’t know exactly what you’re planning to do, but it sounds pretty good. Still, I want to ask what I’ll need to do after joining, and what I can get from it."

That really was a question. If Noah were merely taking some shares from Tony, Tony naturally would not care.

He had already lost the bet back then, and now he needed Noah to save his life, so he would not care about that little bit of money.

But things were different now. Joining a new organization—or investing in a new company—meant Tony needed to think carefully.

What could he gain after joining, and what would he need to contribute afterward?

"First, we’ll cure your body. I don’t want our shareholder to drop dead after only a few days." Noah revealed a faint smile. "And haven’t you always been interested in enchanting techniques?"

"Enchanting?" Tony froze. "Didn’t you say that stuff needs magic power to activate? I’m just an ordinary person."

"But we have magic cores. If you can properly study magic cores, then you’ll be able to activate your enchantments. Of course, you’ll also need to research how to connect certain household products or weapons products with the cores. That’s what you’ll be doing."

"Damn it, I have to say, you’ve got me interested."