Tony's mood improved considerably after returning from Komira. Although he played a chase with the military halfway, Tony knew he had finally done the right thing.
He was currently in the basement disassembling his armor, but the design needed improvement in that area. The robotic arms were a bit painful when disassembling, causing Tony to yelp.
So he didn't notice someone quietly approaching from behind him.
"What's going on?" Pepper observed Tony's armor.
Upon seeing Pepper, Tony's expression stiffened for a moment. Knowing he couldn't bluff his way out, he resignedly said, "Admit it, this isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing."
Pepper ignored Tony's evasion and, looking at the marks on the armor, asked, "Are these bullet holes?"
Ethan scurried aside, trying his best to minimize his presence.
The atmosphere was a bit tense. Tony frowned and didn't answer, and Pepper didn't really need him to.
Her hand caressed the marks on the armor. She knew Tony was doing dangerous things, but she also knew no one could stop Tony Stark, and she couldn't either, now.
The basement was quiet; even j.a.r.v.i.s. stopped talking to Tony, silently disassembling the armor with its robotic arms.
Red sparks appeared in the air, forming a circle. Boxes, large and small, tumbled out of the portal and onto the ground, followed by Nero.
Sitting on a box, Nero was completely oblivious to the atmosphere in the basement.
"Hmm, you guys come help me sort these materials," Nero jumped off the box. "This is Uru, this is vibranium, this is adamantium..."
Tony couldn't process these materials himself. She had spent some time with The Ancient One learning about the properties and processing methods of metals.
"Now I can forge my armor. Tony, tell me the principles of the armor..."
Nero turned and saw the armor, half-disassembled. "Hmm... never mind. Take it all apart. I'll learn it myself and handle it."
"Actually, I can do it for you," Tony was also drawn to the pile of materials. The only material he recognized was vibranium.
But in terms of rarity, vibranium seemed to be the most inconspicuous material there, with several boxes of it casually pressed at the bottom.
It is well known that forging armor inevitably consumes some unimportant scraps. Tony felt that after he finished forging the armor, Nero certainly wouldn't mind some small losses.
"You? Never mind, you can't handle it." Nero picked up a piece of Uru metal.
"Just this stuff alone needs to be heated to the temperature of a star to melt and shape it. To process it perfectly, human technology is still a bit lacking."
Tony's heart itched even more upon hearing this. "I can research this problem. Actually, it's not that difficult. I can handle it in three days."
"I don't want to wait three days for you, and these metals all have different properties." Rolling her eyes, Nero threw the Uru metal back into the box.
"Then how are you going to process it? Magic?" Tony shrugged, still not giving up.
"Stellar energy can melt Uru, but it can't melt me. I can just process it directly."
"Don't tell me you're going to hammer it out by hand."
..."You say it like that." Nero frowned. It could be done by hand, but the steps would be too cumbersome.
"How about this: you handle the materials, and I'll assemble it. I still have a way to process vibranium. You plan to use this for the main shell, right?"
Tony suggested. There were also several magical materials, which he estimated he couldn't handle in a short time. However, he might be able to find similar materials later, and getting to know them with Nero would be a good option.
"Then it's settled. First, let me see how your armor is made."
"j.a.r.v.i.s., open the armor's manufacturing process." Tony made an OK gesture and instructed j.a.r.v.i.s.
"Hmm, then I'll go out tomorrow to process the materials. It'll take about a day. I'll have everything ready before tomorrow morning, and you can assemble it."
Nero sat in front of the computer, began reading the armor's manufacturing method, and finally made the decision.
Pepper, meanwhile, had quietly left at some point, not participating in their conversation.
She was just Tony's secretary, with no proper title. All she could offer was advice, and Tony never listened to anyone's advice... A night passed, and Nero had already mastered the armor's manufacturing method. She left early in the morning, carrying the materials.
Tony, on the other hand, was in the basement repairing his armor, and at the same time, he was thinking about some things.
Obadiah's words that day had already made him suspicious.
Before he was kidnapped in Afghanistan, Obadiah had called him to confirm his itinerary, coupled with the smuggled weapons.
This made him vaguely feel that his uncle was not on the same side as him.
Tony wasn't sure. If Obadiah was involved in this matter, how much was he involved?
If his guess was correct, what would he do with him? Send him to prison? But no matter what, it was certain that Tony would not let the mastermind off the hook... In the afternoon, Pepper came to the basement.
Tony was adjusting the armor. When he saw Pepper, he stopped what he was doing.
"Can you do something for me? I need you to go to Obadiah's office." Tony opened a small box, pulled out something that looked like a USB drive, and handed it to Pepper. "Hack into the main computer and get all the recent shipping manifests. This locking chip will let you hack in."
"It's probably in the execution documents, or on the ghost drive. In that case, you'll have to look for the smallest digital title."
Although Tony's words were phrased as a question, his actions showed no sign of discussion.
Pepper looked at the locking chip in her hand and asked, "If I get the information back, what are you going to do?"
"The same as always. They're operating in the dark, and I'm going to stop them, find my weapons, and then destroy them," Tony said while adjusting the armor.
"Tony, you know I'll do anything for you." Pepper gave an awkward laugh, her expression becoming serious. "But if you're going to be so reckless, I can't help you."
"Nothing else!" Tony didn't look back. "No art gallery openings or charity galas, or signing anything."
His voice rose, and the atmosphere became tense. "Only the next mission!"
The subtext of this was to say, 'I am the boss, you are just a secretary, you only need to execute tasks.'
After returning from Komira and calming down, Tony's guilt once again took over. Weapons were still being transported, and people were still being killed by Stark Industries' weapons.
As the heir to the Stark family, he knew all of this was his responsibility.
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