Tony Wasn’t Short on Cash

"If you really can’t develop a stronger alloy,

"then start researching vibranium. There’s some on Blue Star too.

"With Jarvis’s capabilities, you should be able to track down a seller, then go buy some."

Seeing Tony deep in thought, Harvey spoke up.

"Vibranium?"

Tony searched through his memories upon hearing the name vibranium, only to find that he had no impression of it.

"Yeah, you’ll know once you look for it."

"I’m hanging up now. Figure it out yourself."

Harvey nodded at that, said a few words, and ended the call.

"Jarvis, help me look into everything related to vibranium."

After Harvey hung up, Tony immediately gave Jarvis an order.

"Understood."

Upon receiving the order, Jarvis immediately began searching for all information related to the term vibranium.

In just over ten minutes, Jarvis had searched every channel he could access.

"Sir, there is very little information available regarding vibranium."

"I found only one piece of information whose authenticity cannot be confirmed, as well as one unexpected detail."

"Your father, Mr. Howard, once made a vibranium shield for Captain America Steve Rogers."

Jarvis displayed all the intelligence.

"Well, damn. So that smug bastard got everything from other people?"

Tony clicked his tongue in amazement at the unexpected information.

Even if he failed to obtain any vibranium, hearing this news alone was enough to make Tony happy for quite a while.

If Steve ever dared to swagger around in front of him again, he would throw this in Steve’s face. And Steve still had the nerve to say others relied on outside help?

"The reason I cannot confirm whether vibranium is being sold on the Black Market is that the information is rather old."

"I can help you locate the place. Perhaps you should go there and take a look yourself."

Jarvis sounded faintly amused as he explained the situation regarding the vibranium lead.

"You won’t know unless you take a look."

Tony nodded and immediately decided to set out.

If he had not known there was also a metal as unimaginably hard as Uru metal,

and if there were no other metals to replace it, he would have chosen to tackle nanotechnology and improve the overall performance of his Iron Man armor.

After all, his current Iron Man armor was all made of titanium alloy. It had decent mobility, but its defense and hardness were worrying.

He had originally thought that was fine. As long as it was fast enough, that was good enough.

But after fighting the Destroyer, Tony realized that if he wanted to clash head-on with certain powerful enemies, he had to develop stronger armor.

Even if he could not use vibranium to develop a new alloy, making several sets of Vibranium armor as backups would still be a good idea.

Meanwhile, Harvey was leisurely eating.

If he did not want things to become completely chaotic, it was best for him not to interfere.

However, the matter of Ultron did not matter at all.

If Tony acquired a large amount of vibranium and had the idea, Ultron would definitely be created.

If Tony had no intention of creating Ultron, then Ultron would not appear no matter whether Harvey influenced those events or not.

And if Ultron did not appear, Vision would not appear either.

Whether Vision appeared or not did not matter to Harvey in the slightest.

As for that madwoman Wanda, Harvey had never intended to bring her into the Void.

Wanda’s strength and potential were undoubtedly formidable, but it was precisely because she was too powerful that her temperament was prone to going off the rails.

And once she lost control, she disregarded everything.

If someone like that were brought into the Void, Wanda might break the rules without hesitation at any time in order to grow stronger and achieve her goals.

Harvey watched over New York, hoping to find Hulk Banner’s whereabouts.

But perhaps it was still too early. It was only July 2011, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had yet to bring Dr. Banner back.

So Harvey was in no hurry. The show would begin soon enough anyway.

After lunch, Harvey drove out to look for beautiful women who needed help.

As long as S.H.I.E.L.D. did not bother him on Blue Star, life could not be more free.

Tony found a wrecked ship and spent a fortune buying a large amount of vibranium from a Black man.

He did not care whether he would use that much vibranium or not. To him, anything that could be solved with money was never a problem.

After transporting the large batch of vibranium back to his laboratory, Tony began a series of tests.

For example, vibranium’s resistance to freezing, its melting point, and what methods could damage it.

After all the tests, Tony knew that he definitely had to make Vibranium armor.

Compared with lightweight titanium alloy, vibranium was certainly heavier, but it also provided far tougher defense.

This meant its mass and density would be much higher, which would also bring the drawback of reduced mobility.

However, while that weakness could not be completely overcome, the most advanced thrusters Tony had developed could carry Vibranium armor.

Although it would be at least several times slower than his current titanium-alloy Iron Man armor,

it also would not be as easy to rapidly reassemble after being shattered.

Nor could it be equipped with large quantities of firearms. It would be more suited to cold weapons, and adding thrusters was already the limit.

Even with the help of thrusters, the wearer’s own strength had to be great enough to use it flexibly.

Otherwise, wearing such heavy Iron Man armor might make even movement inconvenient.

Although it had many flaws compared to titanium-alloy Iron Man armor, Tony could treat it as a major trump card.

When he encountered certain troublesome enemies that were not particularly mobile,

he could put on the Vibranium armor and enjoy the thrill of fist against fist with them.

However, if he tried to use Vibranium armor against a supersonic ability user like Renoli, he would only get beaten without any chance to fight back.

Thus, Tony began tinkering with Vibranium armor, temporarily putting Uru metal out of his mind.

Even if he did not put it aside, there was nothing he could do. He did not possess technology powerful enough to smelt Uru metal.

He would first finish the Vibranium armor, then continue researching to see whether he could develop a metal with titanium alloy’s lightness and half of vibranium’s hardness.

Why only half? Because Tony knew that combining titanium alloy’s lightness with vibranium’s hardness completely was impossible, at least for now.

Tony did not know how powerful that future enemy would be. He only needed to make every preparation he could.

And after fighting the Destroyer, although the charged Void Ray he released had failed to pierce the Destroyer’s armor,

it had also allowed Tony to discover the immense power contained within Void Power.

So Tony’s direction of evolution was to strengthen his body once, then strengthen his Void Power once, developing both in balance.

Although his physical condition was already not bad, he was still far from being able to compete with Renoli in speed or Kyle in strength.

So his body still had to be strengthened further.

He had personally seen Harvey cross the universe directly with his physical body. At the very least, his own body had to reach that level.

He intended to go into space someday. He did not want an unexpected situation to leave him floating in space and freezing to death.

The second update was here.