The Foundation Air Assault Company left part of its forces behind to handle the aftermath.
Meanwhile, Ethan, Tony, and the wounded personnel boarded several V-44X Blackfish transports and departed for the Foundation base ahead of the others.
On the way, they also dispatched one V-44 to search for Dr.
Yinsen.
Even the AC-160M Salamander gunship flew directly back to the Foundation base on Paradise Island near Los Angeles.
Apparently, once the gunship had been summoned, it had automatically been assigned to the Foundation base under Ethan’s control.
Ethan had originally assumed it was a one-time-use reward.
He hadn’t expected it to become a permanent asset.
That was an enormous gain.
The V-44X Blackfish was extremely fast.
Despite being a vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft, its cruising speed could reach an astonishing 1,038 km/h.
After roughly ten hours of flight, the V-44X carrying Ethan and the others arrived at the Foundation’s Paradise Island Base near Los Angeles.
Tony had spent almost the entire journey fascinated by the Foundation’s advanced technology.
The V-44X Blackfish alone was vastly superior to the V-22 Osprey currently used by the United States.
Its cruising speed was nearly three times that of the Osprey.
Its operational range was almost ten times greater.
The Blackfish was also larger and could carry significantly more personnel and equipment.
To an ordinary person, these might simply have looked like futuristic machines.
But an expert saw something entirely different.
Many of the Foundation’s engineering technologies gave a genius like Tony an endless stream of inspiration.
After all, when it came to technological development, the most difficult step was often not improving an existing product.
It was finding the right idea in the first place.
Going from nothing to something.
Establishing the correct direction.
Once that path existed, a genius like Tony could derive countless new possibilities from it.
Ethan had no intention of hiding everything from Tony.
In fact, recruiting someone of Tony Stark’s caliber was extremely important to the Foundation.
Compared with Tony’s combat power as Iron Man, Ethan actually believed his value as a scientist and engineer was far greater.
A technological genius like Tony could raise the scientific capabilities of an entire organization.
In the original Marvel timeline, Tony’s Iron Man armor had never truly been developed to its absolute limit for various reasons.
Perhaps part of it came from his guilt over manufacturing and selling weapons.
Compared with the Mark I and Mark II armor he later provided to his friend, Colonel James Rhodes, Tony himself didn’t seem particularly obsessed with continuously loading his own suits with more and more weapons.
By contrast, Rhodes’s War Machine armor, modified with assistance from the U.S.
military, was usually covered in additional weapon systems.
Of course, in Ethan’s eyes, many of those weapons were little more than outdated junk and unnecessary weight.
If Tony could overcome the psychological restraints holding him back and fully devote his intelligence and technical ability to weapons development…
Who knew what kind of terrifying Iron Man armor he might eventually create?
And in this timeline, Dr.
Yinsen hadn’t died.
Tony had yet to become completely fixated on the path that Yinsen’s sacrifice originally pushed him toward.
Without that particular shackle on his thinking, Tony’s value as a scientific talent was even greater.
If the Foundation could establish a partnership with him, even gaining access to technologies such as palladium-based power systems and the Arc Reactor would provide a significant technological boost.
Or Tony could help develop mass-produced exoskeletons for ordinary Foundation combat forces.
Even that alone could dramatically increase the combat power of Foundation troops.
In this regard, Ethan valued Tony Stark much like Nick Fury did.
Only people standing at the head of major organizations truly understood how much a technological genius could elevate the scientific capabilities of an entire faction.
And Ethan had another advantage.
He was already close to Tony.
They had been imprisoned together at the Atala base.
They had suffered through the same crisis.
They had become friends with Dr.
Yinsen as fellow captives.
Then they had gone through the SCP-939 containment incident together.
After everything they had experienced, Tony Stark would naturally be far more receptive to cooperating with the Foundation.
If S.H.I.E.L.D.
still wanted to recruit Stark and eventually establish the Avengers, then from now on, the Foundation was something they simply couldn’t ignore.
Ethan had no intention of preventing the Avengers from being formed.
It was still important for Tony to work with S.H.I.E.L.D.
and help establish the team.
After all, if the Avengers weren’t around to attract attention and gather Earth’s superheroes to defend the planet, the Foundation would have far less room to quietly develop its own strength.
But ensuring that the Avengers were friendly toward him—and capable of cooperating with the Foundation— That was absolutely necessary.
Tony stared out through the transport aircraft as Paradise Island came into view.
“I can’t believe your base is actually on Paradise Island.” He looked genuinely excited.
Then he hesitated.
“Uh…
is this really okay?” “You’re seriously letting me visit one of your secret bases?” Tony had lived in Los Angeles for years, yet he had never known that a secret military installation existed on Paradise Island.
Ethan, however, seemed completely unconcerned.
“Of course it’s fine.” “Didn’t you say Stark Industries wanted to become one of the Foundation’s sponsors?” As he spoke, Ethan opened the onboard refrigerator and took out two bottles of chilled whiskey.
He tossed one to Tony and opened the other for himself.
“But compared with having Stark Industries act as a sponsor…” Ethan took a sip.
“I’d rather establish a partnership with Tony Stark personally.” Tony looked at him in surprise and pointed toward himself.
“Me?” “That’s right.” Ethan nodded.
“In my opinion, you’re worth far more than Stark Industries.” “You’re a genius, Tony.” “Even if your reputation isn’t exactly great.” Tony raised an eyebrow.
Ethan continued without hesitation.
“Most people in the country think you’re just a spoiled billionaire heir with too much money and too much free time.” “A playboy.” “Someone who inherited everything from his father.” “But I know what you’re actually capable of.” “If you’re willing to help the Foundation, then in future containment operations, your abilities could save a great many lives.” Ethan looked directly at him.
“So, Tony Stark…” “Would you be willing to establish a formal cooperation agreement with the Foundation?” Tony fell silent.
His eyes became slightly red.
Ethan’s words had struck far deeper than he’d expected.
Tony had spent most of his life living beneath the shadow of his father, Howard Stark.
People throughout the country saw the Stark name.
They saw the family fortune.
They saw the company Howard had built.
But many of them never truly acknowledged Tony himself.
To them, he was merely a rich heir living off his father’s accomplishments.
A billionaire playboy who had inherited everything.
And yet now…
The Foundation had recognized him.
Not Stark Industries.
Not Howard Stark’s son.
Tony Stark.
For perhaps the first time in a long while, Tony felt as though someone truly understood his value.
Of course, it mattered enormously who those words came from.
If some random stranger on the street had said the same thing, Tony would’ve dismissed it as empty flattery.
But Ethan was different.
He was a Foundation agent.
A commander who had personally led soldiers into an anomaly’s nest.
Someone Tony had fought and survived alongside.
Tony slowly smiled.
“No problem.” He raised his bottle.
“It would be an honor to help the Foundation.”