"Mark II is finally complete, huh."
Alan watched as the Mark II disappeared from sight.
The successful development of Mark II signified the true birth of Iron Man.
From now on, all of Iron Man's future suits would be improvements and scene optimizations based on the Mark II design.
There would even be various Mark-XX armors in the future, showcasing Tony's incredible genius.
"Once Tony gains fame after his fight with Iron Monger, Stark Industries' stock will skyrocket."
"By then, I won't have to live so frugally anymore."
...
On the other side of town, Gwen had just returned home.
"Mom, has Dad come back yet?"
Gwen had already changed back into her regular clothes nearby and asked the moment she walked in.
After all, the last thing she wanted was for her father, George, to notice anything unusual.
As his daughter, Gwen knew all too well about George's detective and reasoning skills.
You don't become the head of the NYPD without earning respect through real abilities.
"He called earlier and said he'd be home late tonight. He also asked me to keep an eye on you and make sure you didn't stay out too late."
"Well, at least I don't have to report to him now."
Gwen's mom grumbled as she handed Gwen a glass of water.
"Thanks, Mom."
Gwen kissed her on the cheek. "Dad still treats me like a little girl."
"Well, you are his precious only daughter."
"Is that... a new pair of headphones?"
Gwen's mom immediately noticed the black earbuds in her daughter's ears.
"Yeah, the old ones broke, so I got a new pair."
Gwen quickly laughed it off and said, "Mom, I still have some assignments to finish. I'm heading to my room."
She handed the empty glass back to her mom and headed upstairs.
Gwen's mom shook her head with a smile, "Like father, like daughter."
After returning to the living room, Gwen's mom picked up the house phone and dialed George.
On the other end, George was sitting in a black unmarked car, seemingly observing something.
Across the street was Peter Parker's house.
A middle-aged man was returning home with groceries in hand.
The officer next to George said, "That man is Peter Parker's uncle, Ben Parker."
"He works as a technician at a nearby supermarket."
George nodded and asked, "Any updates from Team B?"
"Peter Parker hasn't left Oscorp since he entered earlier today."
"Our team doesn't have the authority to enter Oscorp without special orders."
"There's no need to go in. Just confirming Peter Parker is inside is enough."
Clearly, George hadn't fully trusted Peter's words this morning. After letting Peter go, he'd had people tail him and had come to stake out Peter's house himself.
But after a whole day, he hadn't found anything noteworthy.
At that moment, George's personal phone rang.
Seeing it was a call from home, George answered.
His wife's voice came through the line: "Your precious daughter is home. Don't worry."
George glanced at his watch.
She came home this early?
"Did she come back alone?"
"Yeah, just by herself."
"Alright, I'll head home once I finish this mission."
George hung up.
The officer beside him chuckled, "Chief, you sure do care about your daughter."
"Of course. She's my only child."
"There aren't many good influences at that university, so I have to keep her safe."
The entire precinct knew that George was a total overprotective dad.
...
Gwen locked her door after returning to her room. Once she was certain everything was secure, she opened her laptop.
"Red Queen, my computer is ready..."
"One moment, Miss Gwen."
After a brief pause, the Red Queen appeared on Gwen's screen.
"Miss Gwen, if anything unusual happens on this end, I will notify you immediately."
"You just need to speak directly, and I will transmit your voice as if you were still in your room."
"Wow, Alan really thought of everything."
Gwen removed her outer clothes to reveal her Spider suit underneath, then walked to the window and shot out a web.
"Thanks, Red Queen!"
With that, she jumped out the window.
Not long after Gwen left, her mother knocked on her door with a snack tray.
"Gwen, I brought you some snacks."
The Red Queen quickly transmitted Gwen's voice from earlier.
"Good thing Alan set this up, or I would've been caught tonight," Gwen thought with relief and responded, "Thanks, Mom, but I'm not hungry. You can save it for Dad."
Hearing her daughter's response, Gwen's mom didn't press further.
"Don't stay up too late, take care of yourself."
"Got it, Mom."
In the city of New York, Gwen swung between buildings.
Suddenly, the Red Queen's voice spoke up: "A robbery just occurred in the Bronx, the victim is an elderly person."
"Thanks, Red Queen."
"Time to remind someone that crime doesn't pay."
...
Meanwhile, in Tony's lab, Tony was pressing an ice pack to his head.
He had survived falling from 10,000 meters without a scratch, yet when he returned home, the weight of his suit caused him to crash through the floor into the basement.
He even crushed one of his beloved cars in the process, leaving him completely speechless.
Watching the disheveled Tony, Yinsen struggled to suppress a laugh, "Looks like you need to switch to lighter aerospace titanium."
"That's a solid idea."
"Jarvis, order some aerospace titanium."
"Right away, sir."
"The new model is complete, would you like to see it?"
"Show me."
A full titanium armor design, along with its specs, appeared before Tony and Yinsen.
"The color's not great."
The armor on the screen was pure gold.
"Jarvis, do you have any other color options?"
"I thought this suited your subtle personality."
Hearing Jarvis's sarcastic tone, Yinsen realized that the AI had learned enough to reach a human-like level of wit.
Yinsen teased Tony, "Even your butler knows you so well."
"Jarvis, color it like the other model."
"Right away, sir."
Soon, a silver and white version of the Iron Man suit appeared on the screen.
Tony, now satisfied, said, "Perfect."
Just then, Yinsen noticed something on the news: "You're hosting a charity gala tonight?"
Tony looked baffled. "What? I've been here all day."
He followed Yinsen's gaze to the TV.
A reporter was talking about a charity event supposedly organized by Tony Stark himself, while also criticizing Tony's recent actions. It was clear that she was a victim of the recent Stark Industries stock decline.
"Let's go, Yinsen. I'll take you for a drink..."
"Jarvis, no need to wait up for me tonight."
"You're always like this, sir..."
...
Main City Road.
Tony was speeding in his R8, heading full throttle towards the charity gala.
Beside him, Yinsen sat in the passenger seat, instinctively gripping the door handle.
Suddenly, he regretted coming with Tony. He could have stayed home and researched other things.
"Relax. Trust me."
"Hahaha... Tony, watch the road! Watch the road!"
...
After half an hour of torture, the two finally arrived at the entrance of the charity gala.
Tony casually stepped out of the car.
Yinsen, on the other hand, looked miserable.
"Take care of him, I'll head in first."
Tony casually tossed his car keys to the valet and walked into the charity event alone.
Tony's arrival was like dropping a stone into calm waters—immediately, he became the center of attention.
People who knew him and even those who didn't rushed over to greet him.
Tony dealt with them all one by one.
At the bar, Tony picked up a glass of wine and took a small sip. The reason he came to this charity gala was simply to see who was using his name to host the event.
"Mr. Stark."
A voice sounded beside Tony—it was Coulson.
For some time now, Tony had been staying behind closed doors, and Coulson hadn't had the chance to approach him.
Now that he finally saw Tony, he appeared calm on the surface, but inside, he was quite nervous.
From what he knew, Tony was the typical arrogant and conceited type.
Rarely would he pay attention to strangers, especially strange men.
"And you are?"
"Agent Coulson."
Coulson didn't bother with any roundabout introductions. He directly revealed his identity as an agent.
He believed this was the only way to get Tony's attention.
After all, their organization only held an air of mystery for ordinary people.
To people at Tony's level, they were just slightly stronger regular folks.
"Right, right, you're that..."
In truth, Tony had no idea which department Coulson was from.
"We're from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."
This was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s public-facing name.
"Oh, wow, that's a mouthful. You guys really need to work on the name."
"Yes, many people say the same thing when they hear it."
Coulson could clearly sense Tony's growing impatience, so he got straight to the point: "We sympathize with what you've gone through recently."
"But we hope you could spare some time to give us a debrief."
At that moment, Tony's attention was drawn to a stunning figure in the crowd. He immediately recognized her—it was Pepper.
And tonight, Pepper looked more beautiful and...
Sexy than ever before!
"Of course, I'll set something up. How about seven o'clock, five days from now? I have something to take care of with my assistant at the moment."
Tony shook Coulson's hand perfunctorily.
The five days from now was just something he said on the spot.
He'd probably forget about it soon enough.
With Coulson's resigned look following him, Tony headed towards the center of the party and started chatting with Pepper.
After the two danced, they left together.
Coulson could only wait for Tony to be alone.
After a while, he saw Tony walk back inside. Just as he was about to approach, he noticed a blonde woman heading toward Tony.
"Dammit, do rich people always have this much luck with women? And she's so beautiful too!"
With jealousy and envy practically radiating from his eyes, Coulson watched as the blonde woman started talking to Tony.
"Tony Stark, I didn't expect you to dare show up here."
Tony looked at her, feeling that she seemed familiar. But he couldn't quite recall when they had slept together.
"Carrie..."
Having forgotten her name, Tony just made one up.
"Christine..."
"Now I remember!"
Tony finally recalled her—she was the one he had spent a passionate night with before heading to the Middle East. It was also that night when he first saw the suit.
"I've realized that you're always a man who breaks his word."
Tony frowned. "I think I'm quite trustworthy."
Christine then pulled out a stack of photos. "This town is called Gulmira. Ever heard of it?"
She placed the photos on the bar.
When Tony saw what was in the pictures, his expression changed slightly.
The photos showed weapons—all of them made by Stark Industries. And these were from the batch he had personally ordered to be destroyed.
How did they end up here?
Tony suddenly had a possible explanation!
Grabbing the photos, he left the party.
At the entrance.
Obadiah was dealing with reporters who had come for interviews.
Tony walked up to him. "What's going on in Gulmira?"
"Tony, don't worry. I've already handled the board for you," Obadiah whispered to Tony while maintaining a friendly smile for the cameras.
"Tony, look over here. Let's take a photo together."
"You've been doing business behind my back on both sides?"
Obadiah, biting his cigar, responded quietly, "Don't be so naive. Who do you think organized this charity gala? And who do you think pushed you out of the company's decision-making?"
After that, Obadiah continued to deal with the reporters, leaving Tony standing there in a daze.
Tony had never imagined that ever since his parents' death, the man who had watched him rise step by step—his uncle—could be like this.
Though he was usually arrogant, cocky, and carefree, Tony had always treated Obadiah fairly.
Why would he do this?
"Hey, didn't you go inside? What are you doing here?"
Yinsen, who was about to enter the gala, saw Tony standing alone and asked curiously.
Tony clenched the photos in his hand. "Let's go. We're heading back."
Yinsen: "???"
I just threw up and finally started feeling better. Now you want me to ride in your car again?
But seeing Tony rushing off, Yinsen realized something must have happened.
Gritting his teeth, he followed. "Guess I'm just unlucky!"
In the car.
This time, Tony didn't drive as fast. He told Yinsen everything that had just happened.
Yinsen bowed his head in thought. "Gulmira..."
"You know that place?"
"Of course. The cave where we were imprisoned isn't far from there. That area is controlled by the Ten Rings."
The Ten Rings again!
They were the ones who had kidnapped him. Now they were the ones buying the weapons he had ordered destroyed.
Tony had a vague suspicion in his heart but didn't want to believe it. He hoped it was just a coincidence.
"What are you going to do now?"
"If I said those weapons had to be destroyed, then they must be destroyed."
Tony floored the gas pedal, and the roar of the engine echoed down the Main City Road...
...
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