You Actually Look Down on Me?

After looking around and finding himself in the familiar surroundings—not heaven, not hell—and that the Stark bloodline had not been cut off, Tony let out a sigh of relief and looked at his sexy female secretary:

"Little Chili, pinch me."

"Huh?"

Pepper ‘Little Chili’ Potts froze. Boss, had he gone stupid?

"How about I do it?"

With the end of the year approaching, Happy felt he should make a good showing in front of his boss for the sake of his year-end bonus. He stepped forward proactively, raising a fist the size of a casserole pot, ready to carry out his boss’s order.

"You’re fired."

Tony snorted, then pinched himself.

Hiss, that hurt!

It was real!

Happy’s fist hung in midair, and he had no idea where to put it.

Boss, you weren’t serious, were you?

Pepper gave him a look, and Happy immediately understood.

The boss had said it in anger, but if he stayed to watch the joke, it might become true. Better get out of here quickly.

Tony reached out and touched his chest. Everything was fine, and he felt great—like he had become ten years younger. Other than a slight itch, nothing felt wrong.

"Does magic really exist in this world?" Tony muttered, feeling as though his worldview had been shaken.

"It’s chi, Tony," Pepper explained seriously.

"All right, chi. A mysterious power from the East."

Tony quickly recovered and laughed at himself.

Whether it was magic or chi, science could explain it. Wouldn’t much of today’s advanced technology have been considered magic in ancient times?

Telekinesis could be explained by invisible force fields. Rapid healing was probably related to cell regeneration. A sufficiently powerful physique should come from genetic optimization. Even if miraculous chi truly existed, it was surely some kind of controllable energy they simply did not yet understand.

Perhaps he should have a proper talk with Mr. Wang. Maybe this mysterious power called "chi" could be mass-produced through scientific methods.

For the benefit of all humanity.

Even if it could not be mass-produced, he could still learn from Mr. Wang.

Mark 2 was under development. Powerful armor also required a powerful body to support it.

Although he had always believed exoskeleton armor was more reliable than the Super Soldier Program, and that he could definitely crush Captain America while wearing Mark 2, high-tech equipment could malfunction too. Combining the two would be the best choice.

"Where is he?" Tony looked around.

"He left," Pepper answered.

Tony froze.

Why had he left in such a hurry? Shouldn’t he have done a post-op checkup, then used that as an excuse to ask for more money?

When Tony had offered ten million dollars for treatment earlier, Mr. Wang had not even tried to bargain.

Ten million was a lot, but it had saved his life. Even one hundred million would have been worth it. If it had been one of those medical institutions that only cared about money, they might have asked him to donate the best medical equipment—or simply donate an entire building, a laboratory worth several hundred million.

Mr. Wang was not greedy for money. He seemed like a decent guy, worth befriending.

Then Tony suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked, "Where’s my Arc Reactor?"

Pepper looked toward the coffee table.

The Arc Reactor was still there. That made Tony even more curious about Mr. Wang. He could not figure the man out, and a surge of pride and anger rose in the genius scientist’s heart.

Mr. Wang, you actually looked down on my Arc Reactor?

You looked down on me?

Did S.H.I.E.L.D. not send you here for the Arc Reactor?

Did S.H.I.E.L.D. look down on me too?

"He left a note." Happy pointed at the Arc Reactor.

The priceless reactor had been used as a paperweight, pinning down a folded A4 sheet beneath it.

It was as if that sheet of paper was more valuable than the reactor.

Tony quickly picked it up and unfolded it, then paused in surprise.

There were only a few lines written on it.

"Your father was a true genius. He developed a substitute for palladium long ago and hid it inside the model from the 1974 Stark Industries Expo."

"Stark Industries has always sold weapons abroad. Its customers include not only the United States government and military, but also terrorist organizations, such as those who attacked and kidnapped you."

"Watch out for Obadiah."

"This way, I’ve done the future Iron Man a favor. Nothing should go wrong on Obadiah’s end."

In Skye’s truck, Old Wang nodded to himself.

Tony was no fool.

After being kidnapped, he had already felt that no one could be trusted, aside from Pepper. That was why he had hidden in his City of Freedom villa to research Mark 2, leaving all the information encrypted by J.A.R.V.I.S. Only Pepper knew the general situation.

Furthermore, no matter how Obadiah deceived or pressured him, Tony had firmly refused to hand over the miniature Arc Reactor.

Later, after learning that Stark Industries weapons had been sold to terrorists, he had Pepper copy all the orders. No one else knew about it.

Now that Old Wang had given him a warning, Tony would definitely be on guard against Obadiah.

Tony was the true hacking expert. He could infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. and steal its most classified information in minutes, putting Skye to shame by countless levels.

The intelligent butler J.A.R.V.I.S. he had developed single-handedly was at least ten years ahead of the entire world.

As long as Tony was willing, gathering evidence would not be difficult, and bringing down Obadiah might not be that hard either.

As for the Arc Reactor…

Old Wang shook his head.

Although he could have taken the Arc Reactor just now and made S.H.I.E.L.D. take the blame, there was no need.

Taking something without asking made one a thief. Old Wang had not fallen that low.

Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D. was not stupid.

And it was not even that good a thing.

Tony had used high-precision equipment and a better radiation-resistant casing, increasing the amount of palladium metal. The new Arc Reactor looked exquisitely beautiful.

Palladium was not uranium or plutonium. It was not radioactive and was extremely stable. However, the Arc Reactor had a unique structure and functioned as a cold nuclear reactor. Under certain conditions, especially when embedded in Tony’s body, palladium would inevitably seep into his bloodstream. Only after enough time would palladium poisoning occur.

Now that the shrapnel in his body had been removed, Tony no longer needed to wear it. While radiation from the nuclear reaction still existed, the damage to his body had been reduced to a minimum. As long as Tony did not keep it on twenty-four hours a day, it would not be a major problem.

The problem was that after the terrorist attack, coupled with his ongoing research into Mark 2, Tony was very unlikely to give it up.

Replacing palladium with a new element was no longer as urgent as before, but it still needed to be done.

With his intelligence, he would soon find the model of the new element Howard Stark had hidden in the 1974 Stark Industries Expo model and then use advanced technology to create it.

That would be truly efficient clean energy, and also the main direction of Stark Industries’ future business.

When that happened, it would not take long for Stark Industries stock to soar, perhaps even far beyond its former heights.

The most profitable things in the world were never weapons, but the things ordinary people could not live without:

Such as daily necessities. Such as energy.

"I need to remind Skye to buy Stark Industries stock as soon as possible, before Tony starts making announcements."

Old Wang picked up his phone and dialed.

"Skye, how are things going?"