[Stark's Private Plane]
After a few glasses of brandy, Tony Stark lay dozing on the sofa.
Corin, meanwhile, admired the luxurious private jet before him.
He had just quietly activated the system's valuation function and learned the price of the plane:
[Modified private jet → Valuation 400 million dollars.]
Short on cash, Corin really wanted to throw Tony's plane straight into the system. At his richest he'd only ever had a bit over 400 million dollars. But he could not.
On one hand, the owner of the plane was right in front of him, and Tony had no intention of giving or lending the plane to Corin; on the other hand, they were flying at high altitude. Even if he could redeem it, the people on the plane would die horribly.
That was not something Corin wanted to see.
Maybe Las Vegas had been a decent money-making opportunity before, but his account balance was not enough to redeem any gambling-related talent.
Corin had considered borrowing some money from Tony first, redeeming a powerful gambling talent, and then sweeping Las Vegas clean.
But looking at Tony's arrogant face, Corin just could not bring himself to ask.
Since meeting Tony, he had never let Tony gain the upper hand in front of him; it was always Tony begging him to do things.
'Borrowing money is impossible! Besides, Tony said he'd cover all the losses anyway.'
This kind of psychological game between men, maybe not many people understand it, watching Tony break down again was one of the few pleasures Corin had besides making money.
"Go back and have Alyssa keep checking on Afganistan. Or… take a trip to Somalia?"
Just as Corin pondered his next money-making plan.
Tony tossed and turned beside him, unable to sleep.
Because he knew he probably didn't have long to live.
While Tony Stark focused on developing the new suit, he had inadvertently discovered that the palladium content in his body was rising sharply.
The core energy of the armor is the chest reactor, and the reactor's core energy is the palladium inside.
The missile fragment residue in his body had not been completely removed, and the electromagnetic force generated by the reactor kept them tightly attached.
In other words, he could not survive apart from the reactor for the time being.
Palladium is a toxic substance for the human body. Tony had kept this stuff inside him for a long time, which caused toxins to invade his body.
In just one month, the toxin content in his blood had soared to 53%.
The reactor was installed mainly to keep him alive, and only secondarily to power the armor.
'But now the reactor wants my life?'
'This dead-end—'
"Fuck this," Tony did not want his company ruined because of changes in his body, so before they set out he handed the CEO position to Pepper Potts.
He even specially hired a legal advisor to make the handover official.
"Not gonna lie, Ms. Natalie Rushman is really something." [T/N: Black Widow scene where she defeats Happy in a boxing ring.]
But when did even a legal advisor easily outmatch the CEO's bodyguard?
His chief bodyguard Happy Hogan crumbled in front of Ms. Rushman like a sheet of paper.
'Is this scientific?'
Recalling his newly developed suit, another question popped into Tony's head, "Do I still need a bodyguard?"
———
[Monte Carlo Racetrack]
Wearing a handsome blue racing suit, Tony Stark happily discovered another thing Mr. Silver Duke was not good at, racing.
He repeatedly invited Corin to personally experience the thrill of racing, his attitude exceedingly solicitous.
Corin could clearly see Tony's little scheme, nothing more than wanting to see him make a fool of himself again.
'Show off all you want.'
'When I've made enough money I'll casually redeem Schumacher-level driving skills and show you up!'
'And gambling skills like James Bond, or tonight's tiger-hunting should do.'
As Tony turned to get into the car, Corin's gaze flashed; he suddenly noticed a patch of black on Tony's skin, a kind of bluish-black spreading from within, clearly a sign of poisoning.
Corin suddenly realized, 'How long has it been?'
'Tony's poisoning symptoms are already visible to the naked eye?'
A bright idea for making money appeared in his mind.
That was to intercept the box that could inspire Tony to develop a new reactor, the one Tony's father had left.
As for where to go, Tony had already told him.
On the plane, Tony had mentioned that legal advisor named Natalie Rushman more than once and seemed very interested in her.
At the sound of the name, Corin knew who she was.
The famous [Black Widow] Natasha Romanoff.
Busty, shapely, highly skilled, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top female agent.
This also triggered Corin's memory: S.H.I.E.L.D. had preserved the research results Tony's father left behind and finally handed them to Tony to help him develop a new reactor element.
Having made up his mind, Corin called Tony aside and said in a low voice, "Five hundred million, I'll help you!"
Tony Stark was stunned by Mr. Silver Duke's abrupt line, "What five hundred million? What can you do to help me?"
Corin showed a professional smile, and seeing that smile Tony's body instinctively shuddered.
A premonition of a heavy loss grew stronger.
Tony looked at Corin with suspicion and caution, waiting for an explanation.
Corin sighed inwardly at the thought, 'This feeling of actively soliciting business is really unpleasant, wasting words, and the other party might not even accept.'
'Can't you see Tony is guarding against me like a wolf?'
Recalling his few previous unsuccessful attempts to solicit business, Corin had a feeling Tony might not believe him this time either.
Adopting a try-and-see attitude, he said, "Poisoned, aren't you? Tony…"
Tony Stark's expression stiffened. He looked at Corin with some surprise, his eyes darting rapidly, but he didn't know what to say for the moment.
Corin continued in a low voice, "Tony, I know the palladium in the reactor in your chest is corroding your body. I can help you solve this problem."
He extended a hand; the professional smile became even friendlier, "Just five hundred million!"
Hearing Corin's words, Tony's expression shifted from surprise to shock to disbelief, and finally he let out a light laugh and shook his head helplessly, "Mr. Silver Duke, I don't think you can help me with this."
"But your powers of observation are impressive…"
"Please keep this between us for now."
"Enough about this, watch me bring you back a trophy!"
Saying that, Tony took off his glasses, gave Corin a confident smile, put on his helmet, and walked toward the blue-and-white racecar spray-painted with the STARK logo.
His outstretched hand hung in midair as Corin watched Tony nimbly climb into the cramped cockpit.
With the green light, dozens of racers turned into streaks of different colors and sped away.
The roaring of engines reminded Corin:
Once again, his attempt to solicit business, failed successfully.
With a trace of puzzlement, Corin went to the stands to watch.
'Is this what the old saying means, if you rush at a deal it's not a business?'
Thinking back on his conversation with Tony just now, Corin didn't think he'd done anything wrong; he really could obtain the crucial item to help Tony out of trouble.
But sadly, Tony simply didn't believe him.
What Corin didn't know was that Tony had fully learned his lesson from Las Vegas: Namely, he would no longer easily believe anything about Corin beyond his combat ability.
At this moment a strange man dressed as crew appeared on the racetrack.
After a flash of electricity, the man's upper garments were instantly burned to ashes, revealing tech-heavy gear underneath: A reactor on his chest almost identical to Tony's emitted several electricity-flashing circuits that wrapped around his torso and arms.
Two long whips hung on the ground, and with the irregular jumping of the electric light they cut trenches into the previously smooth track.
Corin, outside the guardrail, instantly recognized the man, "Hey! Isn't that… who is it?"
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