A few hours later
The private jet flew steadily at an altitude of 10,000 meters, leaving the hustle and bustle and chaos of Monaco far behind.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was far less peaceful than the flight itself.
Tony Stark changed out of his racing suit and put on comfortable casual clothes.
He was sitting with his legs crossed on the table, a glass of whiskey in his hand, and a look on his face that said, "I just saved the world, now I need a small reward."
Pepper sat opposite him, holding a tablet in her hands, her face gloomy.
She had been staring at Tony in this position for a full fifteen minutes.
"Okay, okay, I surrender."
In the end, Tony couldn't stand this silent torture anymore. He put down his glass, raised his hands, and made a gesture of surrender.
"I admit I was wrong. I shouldn't have been so impulsive. I shouldn't have gone down to fight him without my armor on. I shouldn't have made you and Happy worry about me. I promise, next time I'll put on my armor and have a good conversation with him."
"Okay, WTF! There's going to be a next time?!" Pepper rolled her eyes. At this moment, she just wanted to complain.
"It's just a metaphor, a hypothesis, a verbal promise." Tony immediately changed his words and put on a smile.
"Honestly, Pepper, could you please stop looking at me like that? It makes me seriously doubt whether I've unknowingly lost all of our company's orders for the next quarter. You know, those old-timers on the board love to jump out at times like this and mentally attack me with their outdated business theories."
Pepper took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
She knew that reasoning with this man was more difficult than work itself.
Fortunately, Henry was not here now, otherwise, she couldn't imagine how devastating it would be for the two of them to be together.
"Tony,"
She rubbed her aching temple and spoke in a tired tone.
"I'm not kidding you. Do you know how much trouble your actions today will bring us? The military, Congress, those guys who have been keeping an eye on your armor, now they have a perfect excuse, an excuse to define you as an uncontrollable weapon of mass destruction!"
"Then let them come." Tony shrugged nonchalantly, leaned back on the sofa, and picked up the wine glass.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what new tricks they come up with to deal with me. Will they use those turtle-slow missiles? Or send a bunch of guys in cheap suits and sunglasses to deliver breakfast to me 24 hours a day? Honestly, their ideas might not even be as imaginative as that idiot Hammer's weapon design."
As he spoke, he glanced out the window and saw the endless night sky outside.
For some reason, his eyes suddenly became distant.
"Honestly," he muttered, his voice low.
"Has that bastard Henry woken up yet? It's been three weeks! If he doesn't come back, people will only remember Iron Man instead of Superman."
When Pepper saw him like that, the nameless anger in her heart dissipated unconsciously.
She knew that, although this man was always harsh in his words and always wrapped himself in arrogance and conceit.
But in his heart, he is actually lonelier than anyone else.
She sighed, took the wine glass from him, replaced it with a glass of warm water, and handed it to him.
Especially when Henry is away.
"Drink some water, don't drink alcohol all the time." She said, her voice softening.
"Henry, he'll be back. Didn't he promise you?"
"Who cares whether he comes back or not?" Tony curled his lips, but still took the glass of water obediently.
"It's better if he never comes back, so I don't have to worry about correcting his primitive aesthetic thinking every day. Do you know? Last time he wanted to paint my lab green! Oh my God, green! Does he think that's Hulk's bedroom?!"
Having said that, he still couldn't help but whisper something to the air.
"Jarvis, help me see if that bastard is awake."
"Sir," Jarvis' gentle voice sounded in the cabin.
"Mr. Henry is still in low-Earth orbit. His vital signs are stable, and the energy reserves of his body cells have reached a new peak." Henry's figure appeared on the holographic screen.
He still had his eyes closed, floating comfortably in the dark universe, like a baby having a sweet dream.
"Oh? Really?" Tony curled his lips.
"That's amazing." He picked up the water glass, took a sip, and then forced himself to change the subject.
"Forget about that idiot who thinks he's a solar panel. Let's get down to business. Has that idiot Hammer been up to anything new lately?"
Pepper answered immediately, swiping the tablet in her hand.
"Hammer Industries has just announced that they will be hosting an unprecedented Hammer Industries Future Technology Expo next month. They say they will be showcasing a range of new, world-changing high-tech weapons at the expo."
"Puff..." Tony almost spit out the water he had just drunk.
"Change the world? Just him?" He sneered, his face full of contempt.
"What can he change? Change the packaging of his knock-off products? Or make his face, which looks like it was pinched by a door, more symmetrical? Honestly, asking Justin Hammer to work with high-tech is like asking a monkey to play the piano. It won't produce anything except a lot of noise."
"But, Tony," Pepper's expression was a little serious.
"This time, the situation may be a little different. According to the intelligence we have received, Hammer seems to have collaborated with the military to come up with a design similar to your first-generation Armor."
The smile on Tony's face slowly faded.
"What did you say?" His voice was cold.
Pepper's heart tightened at the sudden coldness in his eyes, and she quickly explained, "Don't get excited, this is just unconfirmed information. Besides, you know, the technology of the first-generation Armor is too insignificant for you now..."
"Of course I know." Tony interrupted her. He put down the water glass, leaned on the sofa, tapping his fingers on the armrest, but there was a dangerous light in his eyes.
"I'm just amazed that those old fogies in the Pentagon were stupid enough to pin their hopes on an idiot like Hammer, who couldn't even understand a circuit diagram. Do they think giving a gorilla a wrench will make it build a spaceship?"
His tone still sounded relaxed, but Pepper could sense a cold anger brewing beneath his calmness.
"So, they finally couldn't help but attack me." Tony sneered disdainfully.
"I thought they would come up with something new. But it turned out to be this kind of shabby trick."
"Boss, what should we do now?" Happy asked nervously.
"What should we do?" Tony glanced at him, as if to say that your question is an insult to my intelligence.
"You don't have to do anything. Just go home, sleep, and wait and see what happens."
"Want to watch the show?" Pepper and Happy looked at each other.
"Of course," Tony said as a matter of course.
"Do you think that my things, Tony Stark's, are so easy to imitate?"
As he spoke, a cunning curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Let Hammer build it. I'm really looking forward to seeing his so-called future technology expo transformed into a grand fireworks show. To be honest, I'm even a little tempted to sponsor him with some high explosives with better ignition effects."
Seeing Tony's eagerness to create chaos, Pepper felt her temples throbbing again.
She sighed helplessly and gave up the idea of arguing with him any further.
She knew that once this man made a decision, even ten oxen could not pull him back.
The plane flew steadily in the night, rapidly heading towards Los Angeles.
×××××××××××××××
2 chapters will be uploaded on daily basis i.e. 14 Chapters will be uploaded every week apart from the bonus chapters.
1 Bonus Chapter will be uploaded for every 50 Power Stones or 1000 Collections.
All interested readers can read advanced chapters on:
[email protected]/Heroicverse