Pepper Potts knew that Tony Stark just had a loose, unfiltered mouth. Underneath all the bravado, he genuinely had a good heart. She didn't take his arrogant grumbling personally. Seeing that he was completely unharmed, she finally let out a breath of true relief.
Tony quickly reassured his assistant and his bodyguard, calming the situation down.
He glanced down at his silenced phone. Opening the screen, he was greeted by well over a hundred missed calls.
Undoubtedly, his reckless stunt on the racetrack was about to cause a massive uproar. Forget his friends and family—his corporate shareholders were never going to let him pull something like this again.
Ever since he cracked the code for clean energy via nuclear fusion, he had made an unimaginable amount of money, but he had entirely lost his freedom.
Back when he was just developing weapons, there were always other engineers who could substitute for him, at least to handle the tedious, foundational work.
Now, there was no one.
When it came to Arc Reactor technology, there was an insurmountable, generational gap between Tony and the rest of the scientific community.
This nuclear fusion tech was far too important. It wasn't just about money; it was the key to humanity eventually stepping out into the cosmos. The powers that be would never allow him to casually risk his life again.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., exactly how many calls did I miss?" Tony asked helplessly.
"You have one hundred and thirty-five missed calls, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice replied crisply through his earpiece.
"Thought so," Tony sighed. "By the way, J.A.R.V.I.S., update Superman's file."
"Right away, sir. What parameters are we updating?" J.A.R.V.I.S. inquired.
"Add a new offensive capability. His eyes can shoot concentrated lasers. I don't know the underlying principles yet, or what specific type of energy it is, but it's undeniably high-temperature thermal radiation. It melted through solid steel in a fraction of a second," Tony instructed.
Tony glanced back at the slagged remains of the chest piece on the ground. He was absolutely certain that the crimson beams from Lucas's eyes relied on extreme heat. High temperatures inherently possessed devastating destructive power.
Concentrating that much heat onto a single focal point was a terrifying weapon. In fact, Tony had previously considered designing a similar continuous-beam attack for his own suit, modifying the repulsor logic to achieve maximum thermal destruction.
"I just don't know if this eye-laser trick is something he picked up from his recent magic studies, or if it's a natural evolution of his existing biological powers," Tony muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as a headache began to form.
Lucas had gotten even stronger. The guy was an absolute freak of nature. His combat potential was downright terrifying.
That Russian brute was no joke either. Tony mentally calculated the threat level. Even inside his armor, those plasma whips would pose a massive problem and could very easily breach his plating.
"Oh, and he can exhale hurricane-force winds," Tony added. "That didn't look like a spell. It was pure, physical air pressure. He might literally be vibrating his throat and jaw muscles to generate a localized storm."
The more Tony spoke, the more absurd it sounded.
"Sir, are you joking?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked.
"Do I look like I'm joking? And don't bother trying to find the scientific principles behind it. When it comes to this guy, scientific principles don't mean shit!" Tony cursed in frustration.
Tony bent down and picked up the ruined Arc Reactor. As the world's foremost expert in the field, he recognized the absolute goldmine he was holding.
Even if his initial reaction to the ambush had been slow, his genius intellect was now firing on all cylinders. He was in deep trouble.
His current untouchable status, and his ability to essentially do whatever he wanted, was entirely built on the premise that he was irreplaceable.
Now, a substitute had appeared.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., launch a full investigation into this Russian's identity. I need to know exactly what kind of grudge he has against me," Tony commanded, his tone shifting into pure business. "Cross-reference any universities, researchers, or professional institutions that applied for nuclear fusion grants from Stark Industries over the years and were rejected."
"Sir, there are zero matches," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied instantly. "There are no such applications in my database. In fact, Stark Industries' foray into clean energy is a very recent development. Prior to this, we had absolutely no involvement in the sector. The last time the company touched energy research was during Howard Stark's tenure. There have been no related grant applications in the last twenty years."
"I have, however, identified the attacker. His file has been sent to your phone," J.A.R.V.I.S. stated.
"So, this has nothing to do with me?" Tony narrowed his eyes, staring at the destroyed reactor in his hands.
"No, it definitely does. This isn't just a coincidence where I invented a cold fusion reactor, and he miraculously happened to invent one too. The exterior is different and it's cruder than my design, but the core principles and engineering logic are identical. Two completely unrelated research paths wouldn't perfectly align like this. There is a direct connection."
Tony instantly realized the missing link. He hadn't built the Arc Reactor out of thin air. In truth, he had inherited the foundational, unfinished technology from his father, Howard Stark.
Back in the day, Howard had been severely limited by the technological and theoretical constraints of his era. He had conceptualized the Arc Reactor, but he never possessed the materials or manufacturing capabilities to complete it.
That was the fundamental reason Tony had been able to build the Mark I reactor so quickly in that cave.
Even a peerless genius couldn't design something so profoundly complex from absolute scratch in a matter of days. Tony had restored it based on that existing conceptual foundation, utilizing his own god-tier, hands-on engineering skills to finally bring his father's dream to life.
"So, if the leak didn't come from my end, and he doesn't have a personal vendetta against me... then it has to be connected to the old man," Tony concluded instantly.
Since the original Arc Reactor was Howard Stark's design, and Tony hadn't offended anyone in the energy sector, the sins of the past clearly belonged to his father.
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