"Beep beep beep~ Beep beep beep~"
Tony lay in the soft, warm bed. Squinting his sleepy eyes, he spoke, "Turn off the alarm, J.A.R.V.I.S., I'm awake."
The alarm stopped immediately.
Tony yawned, forcing himself to sit up from the covers. He sat at the head of the bed with his eyes closed, as if cherishing the last lingering traces of a sweet dream.
J.A.R.V.I.S. said, "If I may say so, I think you need more sleep, sir."
"Yeah, I think so too. Unfortunately, we have more important things to do. I can't sleep well until they're done."
Saying this, he yawned again and jumped off the bed, speaking as he walked toward the bathroom.
"Get the work preparations ready for me first, J.A.R.V.I.S. I'll be there after I wash my face."
Fully awake, Tony arrived at the laboratory. He realized that this was probably the place where he had spent the most time since transmigrating.
Today's top priority was still the new element.
The extraction of the new element was already successful. The next step was to apply this new element to a new model of the Arc Reactor, and to design a new model of armor adapted to the stronger power of the new reactor.
That would be the "Mark VI" armor, the first suit in the movies to be equipped with the new energy reactor.
According to the design concept, the Mark VI would receive a fully upgraded reactor, possessing much stronger output power than previous models. To maximize these power advantages, the Mark VI was designed with stronger propulsion, faster speed, and higher energy output power.
Tony threw himself into work from the moment he got up in the morning. He even ate his meals in the laboratory, supervising his "clumsy bots" as they continued working while he ate.
He was busy until sunset when the brand-new reactor was finally completed. Only then could Tony completely bid farewell to the old model that was poisoning his body every day.
When the new reactor was swapped into his chest, Tony instantly felt refreshed. Watching the azure glow bloom within the small circle on his chest, he suddenly had the illusion that all the filth in his body had been washed away by this holy light, as if his whole being had become lighter.
Of course, it would be even better if he could completely remove the annoying shrapnel from his chest. But at least this was an important milestone, meaning he wouldn't have to worry about his heart issues for a while.
The next step was to implement the specific design of the Mark VI.
With the new reactor installed, Tony was in a good mood. Humming a tune, he allowed himself a brief rest during his busy scientific research work. During this time, he reviewed the "High-Risk Individuals" file he had established—he would go through this file at least every three days and make notes on characters and events he newly remembered.
For example, in the past two days, he remembered another important character.
"Quentin Beck. Mark this person for me," Tony said.
J.A.R.V.I.S. marked the name on the list and, before Tony could issue specific instructions, had already intelligently retrieved the relevant files in sync.
"Quentin Beck, an engineer in our company's Advanced Technology R&D Department. His research direction is the intersection of virtual reality and artificial technology..."
Below, his specific resume, including education and work experience, was displayed in a cascade.
"R&D engineer, huh," Tony pondered, holding his chin.
Quentin Beck, in the future, would be a supervillain codenamed "Mysterio," primarily a Spider-Man villain. However, in the movies, this person was originally a Stark Industries engineer... In fact, he could be considered a brilliant engineer.
He developed a holographic imaging technology called "B.A.R.F.", which was so realistic it could pass for reality, like bringing movie special effects into the real world.
In the later stages of the Cinematic Universe, this person was fired by Stark Industries due to his unstable personality. Later, he used his "B.A.R.F." technology, which was real enough to confuse the fake with the genuine, to package himself as a superhero from the multiverse, staging a real-life Hollywood blockbuster in front of the public using a bunch of drones.
Leaving aside how this person thinks, being able to achieve such a level of holographic imagery is absolutely a powerful technology with wide applications. Its practical value is undeniable.
J.A.R.V.I.S. asked, "Are you interested in Engineer Beck?"
"Yes, a little. Find a time to arrange for me to meet this Quentin Beck... No, wait." Tony thought for a moment. "On second thought... don't contact Beck personally. Contact his department. Then arrange an inspection. Just say... the boss has recently become interested in the field of holographic special effects and wants to visit the project team on a whim. Just like that."
J.A.R.V.I.S.: "No problem, sir."
Tony hurriedly finished his dinner, then continued to throw himself into the development of the new armor.
He was busy until around dawn again before finally completely finishing the design of the Mark VI armor. In appearance, it was consistent with the movie's Mark VI. Compared to the original movie version, he naturally made some personalized modifications, but the fundamental design philosophy was, after all, an armor model designed to maximize the energy of the new reactor. Based on this philosophy, they were naturally largely the same.
After the design part was completed, the remaining parts were the specific fabrication, assembly, and painting of the armor. However, by this time, Tony's intelligent armor production line was relatively mature. After the design phase was completed, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s supervision was enough for the rest; he didn't need to do it himself.
After a sleep, the Mark VI would be just about finished.
A day later, the Virtual R&D Department where Quentin Beck worked welcomed the Chairman's personal inspection.
Unsurprisingly, the whole department faced it as if facing a formidable enemy. The person in charge likely mobilized all his employees immediately after receiving the notice, doing his utmost to instill in everyone the importance of this opportunity for their department. The level of importance attached to it was probably no less than that of a local official in ancient times receiving a king.
But this was actually human nature.
It must be known that although everyone knew they were nominally working for Tony Stark, the Stark Group was a behemoth beyond imagination. Most of them probably wouldn't have the chance to see Tony Stark in person even if they worked there for a lifetime.
And for this boss to actually take an interest in a specific project team and come to visit in person, this was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for everyone in the group.
If they were truly appreciated by the big shot, the whole group might rise to the top together, and it wasn't impossible for everyone to get on the fast track of life from then on.
Therefore, as soon as Tony got out of the car, the person in charge's fawning smile almost plastered directly onto his face.
And the object of Tony's attention, the future "Mysterio" in the original history, followed his supervisor as the chief engineer the entire time. He almost used every trick in the book to make good use of these hard-won few minutes, risking his life to sell the glorious prospects of their project to the boss.
But what they didn't know was that they didn't need to sell it at all; the boss had already made up his mind before coming here.
"Very interesting."
After listening to their extravagant explanations, Tony smiled slightly with his hands behind his back and spoke.
"I'm investing in this project."