"You? What do you know?" Tony Stark asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at Nick Fury.
"I probably know what your father left behind for you," Fury said. "In fact, your father entrusted quite a lot to us. If there's any new element, it's likely hidden among those items."
Tony frowned. "Why would my father's belongings be with you? What exactly was the relationship between you and my father?"
Nick Fury replied calmly, "Let me put it this way—did you know you've been under the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D. all these years?
Otherwise, how do you think you've managed to act so recklessly, flaunting yourself in public, with barely any bodyguards, and still stay safe?
Do you really believe everyone in this world is a good person?"
Tony's first instinct was one of disgust. As a citizen of USA, he had been raised with certain values that made him naturally suspicious of this kind of surveillance. Even if it was labeled as "protection," to him, it sounded a lot like being watched.
But then, he couldn't deny that it actually made a lot of sense. He knew full well just how recklessly he'd behaved over the years.
After his parents died, it was like he'd been on a mission to rebel. Once he left boarding school, he went completely off the rails—partying, traveling without security, getting into all sorts of wild situations.
In a country like the USA, where tens of thousands of people are killed by gun violence every year, the fact that he'd made it this far unscathed was… a miracle.
"You know," Nick Fury continued, "we've foiled dozens of assassination attempts against you—quietly, without you ever knowing."
Tony blinked. "Why would you do that? That's not your job."
"True. On paper, we have no responsibility to do so. But it's all because of your father—Howard Stark."
Nick Fury's voice grew more serious. "He was one of the founding fathers of S.H.I.E.L.D. You probably never knew that.
This kind of protective service isn't exclusive to you—it's standard for the descendants of our senior agents and founders.
It's just that, in your case, it was much more obvious. You're too high-profile, too wild. The number of threats you've faced is far greater than most."
Tony was silent for a moment, feeling—perhaps for the first time—a little… embarrassed.
"My father helped found S.H.I.E.L.D.? Then why didn't I know any of this?" he muttered. It was starting to dawn on him that he'd known far less about Howard Stark than he thought.
The image of his father that he'd clung to all these years—a rigid, stubborn old man—was starting to blur.
Sure, maybe Howard wasn't as advanced in science as Tony himself was now, and maybe the limitations of his era had kept many of his ideas from becoming reality—but that didn't mean the man had been inferior.
Tony had always defined himself as a super-genius, a legendary inventor, and a wealthy playboy philanthropist… but now he had to admit that his father had some impressive titles of his own.
Including: super-agent.
Honestly? That was kind of cool.
"He was protecting you," Nick Fury said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. might differ from your average intelligence agency in scope and purpose, but at its core, we're still spies. And we can't ignore the safety of our founders' loved ones.
There are plenty of hostile forces out there in the world. Not telling you about this was part of that protection. Besides—would you even have listened back then?
All you wanted was to defy your father."
Tony thought about that—and had to admit, it was true. He had been a rebel. He still carried the habits of that rebellion with him, even now.
"I'll have someone deliver the items your father left behind," Nick Fury said. "I believe the new element you're looking for is among them."
"Good," Tony nodded.
Now he was beginning to understand why his past self had gone looking for a new element—something left by his father—as a replacement for the current arc reactor.
His early reactor used palladium, a powerful but dangerous element. It worked well, sure—but it was also toxic. Prolonged exposure could lead to palladium poisoning and, eventually, death.
It was the textbook definition of a life-or-death gamble.
In the current timeline, his arc reactor was outside his body, so he didn't need to worry about that risk. But back then, when it was implanted in his chest, palladium poisoning would have been fatal.
So finding a new, clean, sustainable energy source wasn't just a convenience—it was a necessity.
Even though Luo Chen hadn't explicitly said so in the diary, Tony could piece together the reasoning from the details provided.
[And next—it's time for his appearance.
The second of the Avengers' Big Three makes his entrance: the legendary God of Thunder.
For this son, even Odin himself went the extra mile and stayed in the mortal realm a few more years!]
Another bombshell of information.
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