Compared to his own seaside villa, Tony's house had a larger footprint and a more luxurious style. The fully automated monitoring System, controlled by Jarvis, made Victor incredibly envious.
He had always admired Tony.
But it wasn't his Iron Man Suit he envied; it was his good Father and the black technologies he was exposed to.
Of course, Father Chen was not bad either.
Through subtle influence, he taught Victor the Dao of being human, making his mind and vision superior to ordinary people.
One can only say.
Things that others cannot obtain always stir up insatiable desires in people.
Led by Pepper, Victor arrived in the hall unimpeded. Tony, that proud fellow, was actually sitting on the sofa facing the main door. Seeing Victor, he raised his glass in a slight gesture, then downed it.
But that was all; Tony standing up to greet him was out of the question—even so, it surprised Pepper, who knew Tony well.
Victor was equally surprised, and a little wary.
Such a polite Tony surely meant there was a trick involved.
He had to be careful!
Without Tony's invitation, he sat down on the sofa opposite Tony.
His Mutant Ability of psychokinesis had already been exposed, so there was no need to hide it.
Using psychokinesis, he grabbed the whiskey bottle in front of Tony and, at the same time, grabbed a square glass from a side bar. He poured about a third, held it in his hand, took a light sip, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"A 1926 Peerless Grade Macallan whiskey. While not the most expensive, its taste is top-tier. I've only had it two or three times. I didn't expect you to have a collection of it here."
He subtly showed off a bit.
"Do con artists nowadays even study this stuff?" Tony's face was very tense: "Tell me, which of my ex-girlfriends is your Mom?"
This venomous tongue instantly shattered Victor's cool.
Pepper, who had been surprised by the bottle floating in mid-air, heard this and immediately stared at Tony, incredulously saying, "Tony, why don't I know you have an illegitimate child?!"
Victor: "..."
His head hurt.
This coincidence would probably be something Tony would laugh about for a lifetime.
However.
He who exposes others' shortcomings will have his own exposed.
Tony, take this!
"Heh heh, I'm very curious, since you said you were going to shut down the weapons department, why are you still producing even more powerful weapons?" Victor countered.
"More powerful weapons? Are you talking about the razor I used this morning?" Tony's expression was unperturbed, and he looked at Pepper seriously, saying, "Believe me, Pepper, I'm also a victim."
Before Pepper could speak, Victor continued to drop bombshells.
"The evening before last, that is, the day after you crashed, the Ten Rings Gang who kidnapped you in Afghanistan were attacked by advanced weaponry in Iron Man Suit. I guess the military must be very interested in who the pilot inside was."
"A person whose identity had no real online records whatsoever before May 12th. The government must also be very interested," Tony retorted, unwilling to be outdone.
"Oh, I forgot. The day before yesterday, an America fighter jet also crashed. The government's excuse was a military exercise error? If they knew this was just a cover-up, many people would surely be in trouble," Victor shot back.
"Compared to government news, isn't the news that a Mutant controls the military supplier Oscorp Industries Group even more explosive?" Tony spoke rapidly.
"Those reporters must also be very curious to know how Tony Stark, once America's richest man, who is now almost dead, feels about palladium poisoning?" Victor unleashed his ultimate move.
But his attack wasn't aimed at Tony himself.
Originally.
Victor and Tony, upon meeting, would immediately engage in such fiery verbal sparring, creating an image of being at loggerheads.
This made Pepper somewhat flustered. She temporarily put aside the "illegitimate child" question, thinking about how to ease the atmosphere, but couldn't get a word in.
Hearing suddenly that Tony was "not long for this world," she immediately panicked.
She shrieked, "What?! Tony, you're dying? I didn't even know!!!"
"Hey! How could you know that?!" Tony finally showed surprise, then quickly turned to comfort Pepper: "Hey, this is just a small matter, believe me, I can solve it."
"Then why are you still sitting here! Go solve it quickly!" Pepper urged anxiously.
Tony still wanted to continue comforting her, but Victor's words shot him down: "It's impossible. Tony can't solve this problem, at least not the current him."
Tony truly exploded this time.
He stood up from the sofa, looking directly at Victor, and said exasperatedly, "Who am I? I can't solve it? If I can't solve it, then no one in this world can!"
"Oh? An electromagnet, or a top cardiac surgeon, can't solve your problem?" Victor's expression was playful.
Tony opened his mouth to retort but found that the logic was sound.
The source of palladium poisoning was indeed the arc reactor in his chest, used to attract the shrapnel near the heart's blood vessels, preventing it from flowing into the heart.
If the arc reactor were replaced with an electromagnet, or if the shrapnel were surgically removed, both could solve the problem of palladium poisoning.
But... "Can an electromagnet really solve it?" Pepper looked at Victor nervously: "How big does it need to be? Can an electric scooter's work?"
"NO!" Tony's sore spot was hit: "I will never hold that thing and wait to die!"
"Why not?!" Pepper looked at Tony with red eyes, her voice trembling: "If you just leave like this, then I... then I'll have to find another job."
Anyone with eyes could see that Pepper had forcefully changed the latter half of her sentence.
Tony, however, couldn't bring himself to answer Pepper's question.
He couldn't say it, so Victor said it for him: "Because he'd rather die in that iron coffin than on an operating table, right?"
Tony: [ヽ(?_?)ノ]
Are you a mind-reading Mutant? Or... thinking of a certain possibility, Tony took a step back, extremely wary: "Do you also have a Mutant Ability like telepathy?"
Before Victor could answer, Pepper cried out loudly, "I quit! I'm not doing this job anymore! I quit! I've had enough of your capriciousness, I quit!"
Tony: [Σ(゜ロ゜;)]
This proud fellow finally got nervous and flatly refused: "I don't agree!"
Pepper's attitude was equally firm: "I'm quitting, you can't stop me!"
Tony's attitude was equally firm: "No, I don't agree!"
"Why don't you agree? Who do you think you are to me?"
"I am your... you can't afford the breach of contract penalty!"
This tsundere fellow, at this moment, instead of coaxing the girl, brought up the breach of contract penalty.
Can you reason with a girl?
Victor couldn't watch anymore and interjected: "Pepper, my previous offer is still valid. I can still afford the breach of contract penalty."
"Damn it! You bastard!" Tony was furious, angrily scolding: "I shouldn't have invited you over. Nothing good ever happens when I meet you!"
"Hey, be reasonable, you were the one who exposed my secrets first." Victor shrugged: "That phone call was just a misunderstanding. Who the hell made your number and my D... so similar."
Tony bared his teeth, still wanting to throw a tantrum, when Pepper suddenly turned and walked away silently in her high heels, ignoring Tony's calls.
Seeing that Tony still wanted to vent his anger on him, Victor, exasperated, used psychokinesis to push him.
"Aren't you going to chase her quickly! Are you really going to let her come work for me?"
Tony's mouth moved, his chest heaving violently, finally turning into a very weak warning: "You just wait!"
Tony quickly chased after Pepper in the direction she left.
Victor was left sitting proudly on the sofa, happily sipping his wine.
[Victor · knowledge is power · Chen] KO [Tony · Poison Tongue · Stark]
Hmph hmph.
Competing in verbal jabs?
You don't even know yourself as well as I know you. How could you win against me in a verbal duel?
I'll verbally blast you!
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PS: Chapter 2400! To celebrate the protagonist verbally blasting Tony · Poison Tongue · Stark, let's get some recommendation tickets, yay!