Compared to Tony Stark's earlier spirited desire to stand shoulder to shoulder with the moon, he was now quite dishevelled upon returning to the villa's basement.
Although the ice on his armour had been removed, Nero still hadn't let him go, simply carrying him back unceremoniously.
After getting up from the ground, amidst The Ancient One's complicated expression, Tony Stark took the initiative: "Uh... I ran a lap, and now I have no problem walking at all."
The Ancient One raised an eyebrow: "I believe you now have enough time to wait for j.a.r.v.i.s. to finish its calculations."
"I also have some new ideas, and this time is just right," Tony Stark said stubbornly as he stepped out of his armour.
Nero's attention was drawn to the row of luxury cars. She was quite appreciative of Tony Stark's taste, and she liked most of Tony Stark's collection.
"What's wrong, Your Majesty? Do you want to go for a drive?" Tony Stark teased when he saw Nero looking at each sports car in the row.
In a month, he had naturally come to understand Nero's personality. Compared to his initial apprehension, he now occasionally bantered with Nero.
"I am a little interested. The fastest mode of transport for ordinary people is this, isn't it?" Nero said, touching a vintage car with a flame emblem, eager to try it.
"Planes, trains, and my armour are all faster, but if you're talking about ordinary people's daily travel, then yes."
"If Your Majesty wishes to go for a drive, Tony Stark and I can both do the honours," The Ancient One quickly interjected.
"Hey, I have things to do next, the armour..."
Tony Stark was halfway through his sentence when The Ancient One interrupted him in a hushed voice: "Shut up, Tony Stark. Do you think Your Majesty has something like a driver's license?"
Tony Stark suddenly realised, looking at Nero, who had jumped into the driver's seat, and muttered to himself, "This is the accelerator... this is the brake... this is the steering wheel..."
"That Nero... my driving skills are quite good, how about we go for a spin together?" The smile vanished from Tony Stark's face.
He believed that even if Nero caused a hundred car accidents, she would be perfectly fine. He also believed that Nero truly could cause a hundred car accidents if she went out.
"No problem, I already understand!" Nero poked her head out of the car door: "Today, I will take you for a drive, get in!"
...x2
Well, they failed to dissuade her and got themselves roped in. Tony Stark deeply regretted his past indulgence and wasted time. Why didn't he get j.a.r.v.i.s. into the car?
"That Nero, you might not know, but driving a car in America requires a driver's license," Tony Stark tried to make one last effort.
"Hmm, I know that. When driving fast, remember to shake off those cops." Nero picked up a pair of sunglasses from the dashboard and put them on, smiling brightly: "Today, you'll be racing with the fastest race car driver!"
???
The fastest race car driver? The race car driver who just learned the accelerator and brake? Are you serious about wearing sunglasses at night?
And... that term 'cops'... why does it sound like a potential criminal?
Damn it, I knew kids shouldn't watch everything!
...Alright.
The two still didn't refuse, giving up the struggle and getting into the car, one in the passenger seat and one in the back. But after getting in, they both fastened their seatbelts without prior agreement.
"Hmm, let's go!" Nero stomped on the pedal, and the car wildly reversed. Even though she reacted in time, the car still inevitably crashed into the wall behind.
"Cough cough, a small mistake. Put your hearts back in your stomachs." Nero awkwardly coughed twice, her hands once again on the steering wheel.
The two's faces turned pale, but they didn't get out of the car.
In fact, they both currently had some self-destructive tendencies.
The Ancient One's family was gone, and Tony Stark had seen that the weapons he produced were not used for deterrence and protection as he had imagined. Since leaving the desert, the pressure had increased daily.
Especially now, he was suffering from palladium poisoning, and his second heart in his chest was slowly killing him.
Unless he could discover a new element, but even with his intelligence, it would be difficult to do. He was already preparing to talk to Nero about issues concerning Hell Lords.
"Then, let's go again!!"
Three seconds after Nero floored the accelerator, she had completely mastered the car.
The engine roared like a wild beast, but Nero quickly grew bored. The speed was too slow. Under The Ancient One and Tony Stark's shocked gazes, Nero rested one hand on the car door, propping up her head, and steered with one hand.
She didn't head towards the city but treated the car as an off-road vehicle on the rugged mountain roads. The bumps and jostles along the way were less significant to her than the small waves she had once encountered during sea voyages.
But Tony Stark and The Ancient One were different. The two quickly felt their stomachs churn, a dizzying sensation.
When Nero sped all the way to the beach, she lost interest in this toy, stopping with a drift brake.
"Boring, I'm going back. You can drive the car yourselves." Nero stood up, ready to fly back. It wasn't as fun as playing games in her bedroom.
"Wait!" Tony Stark didn't wait for his stomach to fully settle, seeing Nero about to leave, he quickly reached out to stop her.
"What's wrong?" Nero's little lion cotton slippers were on the car seat as she turned to look at Tony Stark.
"I want to go to Hell Lords," Tony Stark said, startling her.
Nero was also a bit stunned: "You don't want to live anymore?"
"I... I want to go too?" The Ancient One raised his hand and also spoke.
"Are you two crazy? Why are you suddenly having such suicidal thoughts?" Nero tilted her head. Did driving just now shake their brains loose?
"It's not that I want to die, but I want to see your territory, Nero," Tony Stark took two deep breaths, and his complexion improved considerably.
Nero then reacted, rubbing her chin in distress: "But I haven't been to Hell Lords either? Is it fun there?"
!!!
This stunned both of them. The Demon King hasn't been to Hell Lords?
"Wait, wait, aren't you the King of Hell Lords? And you just ascended. How could you not have been to Hell Lords?"
Tony Stark was no longer calm. A large part of why he dared to be so reckless was because he thought that if he died, he could directly have Nero bring him back from Hell Lords.
No, so you haven't even been to Hell Lords yourself?
Nero scratched her head, a little embarrassed, when she heard this: "The Ancient One said that Hell Lords is full of magma and sulfur everywhere, and the demons are all ugly and grotesque... so... hehehe..."
Tony Stark swallowed, asking a crucial question: "Do people go to Hell Lords after they die?"
The Ancient One looked sharply at Tony Stark, his face full of astonishment.
"There's a certain probability, I suppose," Nero thought for a moment and replied: "The end of life is generally overseen by the five great Creation Gods of Death, but Hell Lords also harvest the souls of the dead from Earth."
Creation God of Death, a new deity, entered the ears of the two.
The two exchanged glances, their preconceived notions being that souls belong to Heaven and Hell Lords.
So when Satan appeared, and in Nero's brief words, they subconsciously assumed that the things from myths and legends were all true.
But now it seems that this is not the case; there should be a significant difference between this and their understanding...
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