Kei Yamanaka emerged first from the spatial gateway.
Mordo and Kaecilius stood on either side of him, while Wang followed closely behind.
Tony Stark had originally been somewhat wary upon seeing their formation—like some mafia gang escorting their young master out—since their presence and intensity far surpassed Happy's.
But once he faintly overheard Wang's words, Tony suddenly warmed up to them.
Celibacy? Training?
Hell no!
Isn't living all about chasing a little fun, man?
If even that last bit of joy was stripped away, how incredibly boring would life become?
Poor bastards, those wizards!
And this Supreme Sorcerer who was just as good-looking as him—no wonder he hadn't reacted at all when those pretty witches were throwing themselves at him earlier.
So he's celibate?
What a waste of excellent resources!
Just now, Tony had seen quite a few beautiful witch ladies—mysterious vibes, seductive bodies...
Snap out of it! Snap out of it! Snap out of it!
This wasn't the time to be thinking about such things!
Looking at Kei Yamanaka at the front of the group, Tony almost stepped forward to shake hands, then thought better of it.
Although they didn't seem hostile for now, what if they were?
"Sorcerer Supreme… Wait—Kei Yamanaka?"
"It's me. This is Mordo, Wang, and Kaecilius."
Kei Yamanaka raised an eyebrow, gave Tony a curt nod, introduced the three behind him, then turned his head toward the mansion's large floor-to-ceiling window, passing the conversation off to Mordo.
Outside the massive window stretched an endless stretch of ocean, glistening under the brilliant morning sun.
Just looking at such a view alone seemed enough to lift anyone's spirits.
It must be said—
some people are truly born into privilege!
"I know you, Iron Man. What you did earlier has already seriously violated our Wizardry Secrecy Principle…"
Mordo wore a stern expression, though a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Though he disliked the guy's ladies' man routine, he actually respected someone courageous enough to shut down his weapons manufacturing division, stop selling arms, and personally step forward to fight crime.
"Oh~ buddy! I already heard everything—how you guys plan to hit me up hard. Just so we're clear, don't ask too much or I'll say no."
Tony Stark wore that smartass grin again.
Upon seeing Mordo burst into laughter at his remark, Tony extended his hand.
"It's really great getting to see the hidden side of the world, wizard friend."
"Oh~ you're getting ahead of yourself."
Mordo also reached out, shaking hands firmly with Tony Stark.
He used the exact same technique on Stark that the Ancient One and Kei Yamanaka had used on him.
"A beach party needs some preparation time. Would you mind telling me about magic? You know, it really messed with my whole scientific understanding."
Tony Stark shrugged, his face wore a complex, indescribable expression.
"A scientific understanding? According to the Sorcerer Supreme's theory, magic is science. Kaecilius, hand over that recording from just now."
Mordo turned to look at Kaecilius, whose expression remained icy.
"Magic is a force meant to protect the realm. Misusing it will cause unimaginable damage to this world."
Kaecilius removed the memory card from the digital video camera.
Tony Stark tried to yank the memory card twice but couldn't pry it from Kaecilius's grip.
"Brother, believe me—I'm one of the good guys! Iron Man—same as me, I help keep the peace in this world!"
"You'd better be."
Kaecilius finally loosened his fingers.
"Don't worry, I'll set you up with the hottest girl later," Tony muttered as he inserted the memory card into the nearby smart control panel.
"No thanks!" Kaecilius's already sour expression soured further.
"Ohh, right, right—you're in training. Must be quite the test of willpower, especially for someone strong and fit..."
Tony shot back with his usual charm.
With Jarvis's help, the video lecture stored on the card quickly converted into documents Tony could understand. Skimming through the material rapidly, he flipped through multiple pages at once.
His voice trailed off as he came across each fundamental magical structure.
Science?
Yeah—science!
If mana was treated like electricity or another form of energy, then those "basic magical runes," as described by the Sorcerer Supreme, were like individual electronic components. The end result wasn't far from scientific magic!
"Jarvis, analyze the energy—mana. Guess my Mark 7 will have to wait."
Tony's fingers froze over the mana analysis section, a rare seriousness crossing his face.
People used to say science ends in theology—he scoffed at that nonsense before… but now…
Turns out those idiots were right for once!
"Sir, over ninety percent of processing power is already in use. High-load computational projects cannot be initiated."
Jarvis's voice rang out.
"Over ninety percent? Even hacking the Pentagon wouldn't use that much... Oh~ That's beautiful…"
Tony was about to ask his super AI what exactly it was doing to consume so much processing power when he lifted his head and saw Kei Yamanaka standing there, with numerous overlapping, planet-like magical patterns floating before her, forming a dazzling display.
These magical patterns were all 3D projections generated by Jarvis.
At a glance, Tony recognized many of the basic runes he had just studied.
Mordo, Wong, and Kaecilius stood on one side of this magical planet, fixated on every detail, desperately trying to memorize them all.
"Jarvis, what is this?"
Tony's tongue instinctively moved inside his mouth.
The basic magical knowledge he possessed was insufficient to determine the actual purpose of this object before him.
However, judging from the 3D projection where that tiny point of light continuously rotated within the spherical magical patterns, its fundamental operational principles at least appeared capable of smooth function!
"Sir, according to Mr. Yamanaka's explanation, this is the equation for transforming lower-tier to higher-tier energy."
As Jarvis spoke,
Kei Yamanaka rose from the sofa, allowing Mordo and the others to continue studying the energy conversion equation behind him.
This artificial intelligence, Jarvis, was proving to be far more useful than he'd imagined.
All he needed to do was convey his ideas and the basic framework of energy, and Jarvis could then perform continuous calculations and simulations based on his logic, adjusting minor deviations along the way to ultimately produce a flawless result.
This was infinitely more convenient than having to demonstrate every step manually to Mordo and the others!
Looking toward the living room, at the stunned Tony Stark, frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights, Kei couldn't help but smile slightly as he questioned Jarvis.
"Jarvis, how's the party preparations coming along?"
"Sir, the party decorators will arrive at the villa in exactly three minutes. Would you like me to send electronic invitations to the contact list for 'models,' 'actresses,' 'journalists,' and 'beautiful women from other industries?'"
"You really know how to play the field."
Kei turned his head to look at Tony Stark.
This guy, having experienced countless battles, hadn't come down with any strange illnesses—a testament to his genuinely good luck.
"Wisdom, looks, charm, status, wealth—there'll always be people who fall for me... the bane of every successful man... a happy bane."
"But they're never sincere."
"Sorcerer Supreme, you've got to be jealous, don't you? I get it—we're both men."
Tony shrugged with both hands, wearing a smug look that practically begged for a punch.
"How about a bet?"
Kei let out a soft chuckle, his smile laced with mischief.
In his previous life, he'd really liked the character of Iron Man.
A mere human daring to stand side by side with gods.
When watching Avengers: Endgame back then, that final line—"I am Iron Man"—left an indelible mark on him.
Granted, this version of Iron Man, Tony Stark, hadn't yet matured into the composed and steady figure of later years; his skill listings still prominently showed "ladies' man."
But there was no denying—he did have a certain charm!
"My gut says I shouldn't take this bet—but a real Success doesn't back down from a challenge."
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