Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Drunk.
"You can't crack the suit, do you? That's why you pretend to have no interest in it." Tony mocks him.
'B*tch I had my suit years before yours even came out.' Of course, he only rebutted it in his mind.
What he says then is " Unlike some overgrown toddler, I have no interest in toys."
Not really his best comeback, but still manages to shut up Tony for a bit.
"Yeah sure, sure," Tony said dismissively. "Come out with a real 'thing' then, in the upcoming Stark Expo. I will keep the slot after the opening just for you."
Tony came here today with an invitation, but he still flew to his balcony to enter the house.
"I will send you the bills for the scorch mark later." Ryan quipped.
"Aren't you the richest man in the world? Can I afford it?" Tony said sarcastically.
"How do you think I got to be rich? This is the way" Ryan said.
"Are you going to show me the city or not?" Tony said annoyedly.
"You're not going to take off your suit? Are you afraid of me or something?" Ryan said as Tony is still in his Mark 3 armor.
He does. He is afraid that Ryan will know his condition. His black lines now almost reach his neck.
"I am a busy man. Chop-chop" Tony said hurriedly.
Ryan unveils a projection of a futuristic city.
"I call it Tomorrowland." He explained several aspects of the city. He zoomed into the pedestrian walking place.
"Every time someone steps on the tiles, their kinetic energy will be captured and changed into electricity. One footstep can produce 5 Watts of energy. It can power a light bulb for about 20 seconds. Imagine millions of footsteps every day."
"There will also be a solar farm for the city and solar panels will be installed everywhere."
Tony interjected. "Why not nuclear energy?"
Ryan moves his point of view to face Tony and says solemnly "I tried. Even building another city in a different country makes our country officials mad. If I want to build a nuclear power plant, then I have to face five big superpowers."
He mutters something that confuses Tony. "Maybe if we face an external threat, then humans will unite together and stop this petty fight over who has nuclear weapons and who does not."
He hopes for that. But if the cinematic universe is correct, humans won't change. And it's because of…
"Tony! Don't steal my stuff. That's very rare." The toddler is drinking some of his liquor collection. It is very rare actually as he made it himself. It is created from the Golden Wine he got from the lottery before.
Golden Apple Wine is extremely potent. He only can take one sip before he passes out. The one that Tony drinks are an extremely diluted one that he makes for Gwen and his family.
The wine also had extreme strengthening properties. One sip could increase his strength by 300 kg. He only got a jug of it, and he didn't want to waste it.
"Don't be the stingy, Richest Man." Tony drinks a sip. Instantly, he's drunk. Ryan's strengthened body had 10 tons of power and could barely withstand it. Tony just has a human physique.
There is something good that came out of his actions. His palladium poisoning level decreased! It was 50% before, but now it's only 25%. The wine also strengthens the part of his body, adding 20 kg of strength to him when he finishes the glass.
Ryan looks at Tony in dissatisfaction. "How are you going to listen if you're drunk?" He still hasn't unveiled the electric coil on the road that can recharge an electric car while they are driving.
His airbus, a type of public transportation that will never be late, as it flew in the air. Extreme weather won't even affect the bus path. But it only works in the city inside its circuit. Tony now passed out on his couch, only seeing the design in his dreams.
"(sigh) I got excited about nothing" Ryan closed the hologram and went to sit on the sofa. It's a big, L- shaped sofa so he is quite far from the passed-out Tony. He thought about the upcoming expo.
He could take out a lot of groundbreaking things, but he is instigated by Stark's word and he wants to make his invention.
"Even if I reference movies for it, it doesn't matter as long as I create it on my own, and not buy it at the system marketplace."
He takes out a book and starts listing some ideas.
"Tony! HEY YOU BASTARD!" He yells at the guy. "Okay, he won't wake up anytime soon. ALBUS, call Pepper Potts."
In the Stark Industry New York Branch, Pepper is handling some matters that Tony is supposed to take care of. The secretary received a call amidst her busy work.
"Dead drunk? How could that happen? I will be there." She ended her call. "Natalie, send this to the legal team."
"Yes, Miss Potts. Anything else?" Natalie Rushman said.
"The itinerary for the expo has to be given to all shareholders. You can just drop it off to management." She then calls Happy to drive to the Brooklyn area, where Ryan's house is located.
Seeing Pepper walk away, Natalie goes on to do the job she is told. She flips through the document while walking. She didn't need to do that, but she is a spy. The type of behavior to collect information is ingrained in her.
While flipping through the shareholder names and addresses, she saw a familiar name. [Kai Vera - 1.1% shares]
The memory of her happiest adult moment plays back in her mind. His pranks, his laugh, his care. She wants to go back multiple times, but she stopped herself.
'Maybe it's because I am in New York. When I move to the main branch in LA, I won't feel like so'
…
Pepper arrived at Ryan's penthouse with 2 bodyguards and a stretcher. "Thank you, Knight, for putting up with this." She pointed to Tony.
Her lover has been restless lately. She is glad that Tony had someone other than Rhodes to talk to. Lately, Rhodes and Tony had been icy with each other.
"Wait, he is still searching for V? What for?" Ryan is a little surprised when Pepper tells him that.
"I think he feels responsible. He is excited when the kid shows back up to take his dagger, but he hasn't appeared in public ever since." Pepper said.
It's more than that. It's because of V's legacy. After the incident, the movement to address bullying in school had been countrywide.
That was when Tony realized it. Why does V come back one last time? He couldn't have survived long with his injury, therefore he will let himself live among the public some other way. Tony too wants to live behind his legacy.
And, if the kid is alive, he wants to make sure that his life is easier. Give him a reward or something.
Tony is dragged out on a stretcher. His body enveloped by the armor has been making Happy, the bodyguard, huff loudly. The visit ends, leaving Ryan alone at the penthouse.
'I didn't think someone I created for fun could affect someone like this.' Ryan contemplated.
The next day, Gwen is reading books on molecular biology when Ryan walks in and hugs her from behind. He rested his chin on top of her head. "Baby, let's go out"
"I thought you like to stay at home? What's the matter?" Gwen said while turning to face him.
"I have too many things to do. I thought about taking a short break." He is a little tired.
Managing the country, the vampire and demon incident, Hydra, looking out for Roxxon oil company, and his research on the virus and new invention that he still procrastinates to start.
He brings Gwen to eat pizza in Italy. "I thought you wanted to take a 'short' break?" She asks while munching on some pizza.
"This is a short break. We are going to fly back after this." He is picking off toppings from the pizza and snacking on them before he eats the bread part.
She stares at him, making him a little uneasy. "What?"
Gwen smiles and says "Nothing, sometimes I feel like you're just a kid who happened to be a billionaire. "
"Are you saying I have no class?" He laughs.
Maybe because he always does things on his own, likes to stay low-key, or when he does things like this. Her impressions of him renew again.
He does the Italian hand gestures to Gwen, and they take off after finishing the pizza.
He enjoys the moment of peace. He will be busy when he goes back home.
…
At home, while he is studying, he eats a small blue orb from the lottery as it helps him. "More precisely, it opens up my understanding."
The blue ones could increase his thinking ability, that's what he thinks. He bought a lot of new knowledge and digested it using the blue orbs.
"My mind is clearer than ever. Not only can I digest skill, magic knowledge, and grimoires, but I can also use it to further my understanding of the sciences." Ryan is eating the blue orb almost daily.
He becomes a bookworm for a couple of months, making Gwen and his family worried for him.
The red orb he got can be used for perfecting cultivation, which Kai used most of the orb to cultivate. He uses 20 of those on his own.
Kai bites the red orb. it turns into pure energy that starts to refine his skin. After that, his muscles, then organs, then bone, meridian, and so on.
It feels like ants are crawling all over his body when he takes the orb. When he digests one, he needs to take a bath as his body becomes smelly as impurities are expelled from it.
Ryan and the elf split the rest in half to strengthen their body. Quickly, the 30 orbs are digested. The only green orb is digested by Kai.
It gives him a spirit stage Wind God Art. It wasn't extremely strong but it added Kai lethality in swordsmanship and helps add speed while he flies.
"These orbs are like an essence crystal. The energy is very pure. All the defects I have from previous years of cultivating are perfected." Kai said.
He now has more than 20 tons of strength from the orb and his essence energy art alone! His physical quality alone can make him stand toe-to-toe with the main body before the main body also upgraded himself.
"I feel the threshold to become Epic level, but I don't know how to cross it" Kai mutters. The Essence Energy Art uses understanding to get to the next level. But the rule of universes is different, so he's confused by it.
The Golden Wine contributes a lot to strengthening Kai. "This wine is crazy! The only problem is that I could only drink two sips a day as I will get drunk directly after that."
He was suspected of being an alcoholic by Skye. It's almost become an intervention, so he keeps the wine away for now.
Speaking of what loved ones thought of them, Ryan has been in trouble because he keeps studying till he neglects Gwen. "I promise that it's over now!"
He is kicked out of the bedroom by his lover. Gwen pouts and says "I don't care that you love studying, but don't bring it into our bed!"
Lastly, the elf gets the unknown black fruit. "Oh, so it's the trouble reappearing fruit." It created a mirror space where he can fight someone he killed before.
The space directly imitates the city or place he is in. And updates it in real-time once he kills someone. "I have read a lot of Shield's paper documents in their store with this. I even got to read about project Pegasus."
…
The couple is cuddling on the sofa. Gwen is a bit worried. The expo almost started. But Ryan still hasn't submitted his invention yet even though he has a slot in the presentation.
"Babe, Hiddle has already hinted about it. I know they don't want to pressure you, but could you at least show something to them?" Gwen asks.
"I have a few, maybe you can give me a suggestion as to what I should present?" He asks her while playing with her hair.
She quickly stood up and said, "Let's go see it!" This is the first time Ryan gave a definite answer.
They went to his antique room. Confused, Gwen asks "What are we doing here?"
"Wait, did I never bring you here?" He teases her.
"I have come here a thousand times. But Ryan, what are we doing here? Where's your invention?" She looks around but there are only antiques there.
He smirks and goes to the light switch. After he touches the panel, it turns to an 8-key digit keypad instead. He inserted Gwen's birthday as the password. [02031987]
The room starts to move. Gwen's eyes widened by the magical view.
" It's spinning so much. " Like a Rubix cube, the antique room changes to his messy research room instead. There's a lot of stuff thrown down everywhere.
This is the first time he brought Gwen into his secret life. A little nervous, he turns to see her reaction.
"Oh my god, what just happened!?" She said in a high-pitched voice. Her eyes are twinkling like crazy.
"Just a displacement space. You can think of it as a separate space." He approaches her and takes her hand. His hand shivers a little.
"Let's go see my invention." He directs her to a messy table and a huge box.
"The first one is a 3D printer, it can print out anything you design, from plastic to metal." He has analyzed countless materials to mimic the inkytin, a core material of the 3D-printing. An iron man suit only needs him 2 hours to print.
He prints out butterfly toys made of light metal. The butterfly can fly on its own without electronics in it after he winds it up.
"Second one is this, a working maglev train." It's just a design on the table, with a smaller, working model of the invention.
"The third one is a solar panel." He pouted to a thin film.
"Solar panel is already invented though" Gwen cuts in. It's not that she is undermining him, but she wants to know the specifics.
"Not like mine." His solar panel is 250 times more powerful and efficient than the ones now. After Gwen reads it, she is shocked.
"Wait, I need to take a break first." Her mind is tired of trying to comprehend this. The room, and the inventions. Surprising things keep coming out one after another.
She is already blown away by the 3D- printer before Ryan introduces the next ones.
There's a mini-fridge in the room where Ryan takes out a can of iced tea for her. After drinking, she said, "You can continue."
"Yes Madam, the fourth is a…" he introduces the next two, but it seems like Gwen has already made up her mind. The last two are a personal healthcare companion and a car that runs on water.
"The 3D printer is very good. It'll revolutionize the manufacturing industry. If you want to compete with the iron suit, that is the one."
She gives her honest opinions. She does walk around the room after picking.
"You have a lot of stuff here. Can't believe you keep this from me for so long." She is a little dispirited.
"Does your father know about this room?"
He pulls her that is facing backward from him to his arm. He locks eyes with her and said "You're the only person in the world who knows about this"
His avatars don't count. That word makes Gwen unprecedently happy. She kisses him passionately to convey her happiness. "Thank you for sharing this with me"
Watching her walk around the room, his anxiousness disappears. "It seems like it's a good choice" He pondered greatly about sharing more stuff with Gwen.
Even in his previous life, he couldn't imagine loving someone the way he loved Gwen right now.
Her curious look, the way she beams up seeing new things, the way she looks at him in excitement, making him fall more and more.
"Hey, is this cat ear?" She took off a cat ear headband from the display glass and wore it.
"Yes, I couldn't make a genetically modified cat girl, so I came out with this." It measures your brain wave patterns to show emotions with the ears. Gwen's cat ears right now are currently perked up, showing her excitement.
"Did you make a tail too?" She asks.
"I did, but it's not working well. it needed to be attached…well at the 'back'."
"Perv." Gwen teases.
He is looking at her every move. He recorded everything that she does in his memory, even the way she turns on the prototype plasma cannon.
"WAIT NO!" He realizes it too late. The plasma cannon is already charged. "BOOM" An explosion occurs in his lab, making them covered in black dust. Many papers turn to dust.
"Sooo, I should go make dinner now." She tries to run away from the scene. Ryan grabs the naughty cat collar. She is lucky that he had backups for his work.
Gwen ran away without checking all thing in the room. There are too many dangerous things there. She knows now why he keeps it away.
If she did explore, she would notice storage for an Iron suit there. And her Iron suit next to it.
…
"Sir, Senator Muller had sent in the details for the hearing tomorrow" ALBUS notifies Ryan. The Senator is his people now.
"And what about Senator Stern?" Ryan is preparing for any trouble that may arise from it.
" He tries to contact your father and gets you to help them. But given your history with the weaponized invention, he didn't push forward with it." ALBUS explains.
"The world will focus on the hearing right now. How about our plan to increase teachers' salaries?"
"Sir, after discussion, the Ministry of Education barely submitted the proposal to it. However, the government is being banal about it."
"Push forward with lobbying some of the officials. If they still resist, I will meet them personally."
Ryan had been fighting behind the scenes to make changes in the country. However, it is very difficult. He plans to increase the budget for education and increase teachers' salaries.
"Most teachers are greatly underpaid. How can a student respect them when they know about the teacher's situation? People will respect someone with a big salary. Give teachers that and students will respect them too."
He is fighting hard to help another country. That didn't mean that he had abandoned his.
While he is calculating. Suddenly.
"Sir! There is a breach on your family manor. " ALBUS alerted.
"How could that happen? And how did no one detect it?" He is checking the details and he is greatly shocked by that.
"The breach also carries signatures of the Quantum realm. Based on your description of an important individual, I believe that is Ava Starr. Codename: Ghost"
If he didn't set up monitoring on quantum fluctuation, he will never know. He caught her figure with a hidden camera. She is placing some monitoring equipment on Tim's study before she left.
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Authors Note: Thank you very much for all the support. Head-Patting in Marvel now had reached 1 Million Views!!!! Clap your hand for the author!!
I really don't expect this to happen as this is my first time publishing a story. I got emotional.
Fun story for this chapter today. My Word crashed 3 hours before I posted it so I had to rewrite all of this.
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