By the time Leon finished his shower, the oversized TV in the living room was replaying the moment Tony announced the closure of Stark Industries’ weapons division.
“…Mr.
Stark, what exactly happened to you during your captivity?”
“I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to protect them.
And I realized that I had become part of a system with zero accountability.”
As he spoke, Tony—who had been sitting behind the podium—suddenly stood up and walked around to the front.
“I came to a realization.”
“I realized that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.
And that is why, effective immediately—”
“I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries!”
As Tony’s words fell, the reporters in the room erupted into chaos.
Obadiah couldn’t sit still for a moment longer.
He rushed onto the stage to take over the microphone, trying desperately to roll back what Tony had just said.
But spoken words were like spilled water.
Tony’s mind was made up, and the closure of the weapons division was now set in stone.
Leon had no interest in watching the rest of the broadcast.
He turned off the TV and was about to go back to sleep to recover his exhausted mental energy when JARVIS’s voice echoed:
“Master Leon, there is an incoming call from Stark Industries.”
“Connect it.”
“Leon, what are you doing?
I’m not coming home tonight.
Pepper insists on keeping me at the company to handle the fallout from closing the weapons division.”
“If I come home and see that cover girl we talked about lying in your bed, watch out or I’ll kick your damn ass.”
“Oh, poor Tony…
I just feel so bad for you, big brother.”
“Bye-bye~”
After dropping his green-tea-bitch routine, Leon immediately hung up the phone.
What a joke.
As if he would listen to Tony!
*I’ll do whatever the hell I want!*
“Time to sleep!”
“Good night, Master Leon.”
“Good night, JARVIS.”
…
When Leon woke up, rubbing his messy hair, it was already noon the following day.
Tony had finished his work and returned home.
Right now, he was down in his subterranean workshop and garage, loudly hammering away.
*Clang!
Clang! New chapters come out on g.com first.
Clang!*
“My dear older brother, are you going to let anyone sleep or what?” Leon yawned as he took the elevator down, complaining as he walked out.
“Leon, you came at the right time.” Seeing Leon approach, Tony took out a brand-new, miniature arc reactor and handed it to him.
“Help me swap this out.”
“Can’t you just let Pepper do a little thing like this?” Leon asked, looking at Tony, who had taken off his shirt and was lying flat on the bench.
“I don’t want her to worry.
She’s already under enough pressure,” Tony said, a rare touch of tenderness appearing on his face.
“Fair point,” Leon agreed, nodding.
In three quick moves, he helped Tony swap in the new arc reactor.
“What do I do with this old one?” Leon tossed the little device that had saved Tony’s life up and down in his hand.
“Whatever you want.”
After putting his shirt back on, Tony threw himself back into crafting his suit.
He planned to finish his second set of armor before dealing with the matter of his abduction.
Tony had previously looked down on individual strength because he was rich enough to believe there was no problem in the world that money couldn’t solve.
However, after experiencing the kidnapping…
and after seeing his younger brother Leon gain superhuman strength…
Tony’s perspective had gradually shifted.
If nothing else, he had to reclaim his authority as an older brother in front of Leon.
Otherwise, if his younger brother had to save him every time something like this happened, where would his dignity as a billionaire mechanical genius go?
Tony would never allow Leon to be the only awesome one!
If they were brothers, they would be awesome together!
Pumping himself up internally, Tony became increasingly absorbed in his work, failing to notice that Leon was doodling on the back of his shirt.
Dum-E, the mechanical arm assisting Tony, noticed it.
But just as it was about to warn Tony, Leon crushed the steel casing of the marker pen in his hand into a lump.
Dum-E instantly went motionless, pretending it hadn’t seen a thing.
“Boring.”
Tossing the old arc reactor in his hand, Leon quickly lost interest in Tony’s tedious armor assembly, mostly because he couldn’t understand any of it anyway.
*System, are you there?* Leon called out in his mind.
[Prompt: Would you like to perform today’s sign-in?]
*System, I hear the…
wait, hold on!*
Out of the corner of his eye, Leon suddenly spotted a circular shield in the corner of Tony’s workshop—red, white, and blue, with a five-pointed star in the center.
It was a high-imitation replica of Captain America’s Vibranium shield.
The real thing was currently frozen in the Arctic alongside Cap himself.
Leon walked over.
To test a theory, he set down the old arc reactor, picked up the prop shield, and initiated the system sign-in.
*System, I hear the echo of supreme luck!*
*Open it!*
Get out!” Tony barked angrily.
“Sure thing, big bro.”
“See ya, bro.”
Leon dropped the fake Cap shield and left with absolute decisiveness, simply because…
he could barely hold back the wild grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
The moment he stepped back into his bedroom, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Hahahaha!”
“I did it!
I fucking did it!”
The system notification still echoing in his mind was the sweetest music in the world.
*Give me more, I love to hear it.*
[Ding!
Daily sign-in complete.
Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the system-exclusive, non-toxic, side-effect-free, and magnet-immune innate physique: ‘Adamantium Skeleton’.]
[Adamantium Skeleton: Composed of the hardest known metal on Earth.
The metal formula has been lost.
This skeleton is indestructible, extremely resistant to high temperatures, and system-customized—non-toxic, side-effect-free, and unaffected by magnetism.
‘Super Self-Healing’ functions normally.]
[Description: Congratulations, you have taken another step further down the path of shedding your humanity.]
[Note: The ‘Adamantium Skeleton’ will be treated as the Host’s native physique.
The stronger you become, the stronger it grows, with no upper limit.]
“Awesome!”
“My guess was spot on!”
Combining this with his previous sign-in rewards, Leon was now almost 100% certain that the system’s rewards were linked to his state, his surroundings, and the items he touched.
It might even be related to key plot characters around him, though he would have to verify that later.
In any case, now that he knew the sign-in rewards could be manually steered within a predictable range, it opened up massive possibilities.
Just as Leon was fantasizing about beating up Superman and kicking Thanos in no time, a sharp, bone-deep pain suddenly struck him!
“Fuck!”
[Note: The ‘Adamantium Skeleton’ integration has begun.]
“Huh?!”
“It’s starting now?!”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?!
I thought this was supposed to be a painless automatic process!”
After complaining to the system with his dying breath, Leon fainted dead away from the sheer agony.
Young people really had it good—they could fall asleep anywhere.
He lay curled up on his plush king-sized bed, eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth, twitching every now and then.
He looked like he was still there, but in reality, his soul had briefly departed.
On the other side of the house, Tony’s Mark 2 armor was already taking shape.
As if by twist of fate, the two brothers forged their superhuman bodies of steel in their own ways, with incredible, unspoken synergy!