“Mr.
Stark!”
“Excuse me, Mr.
Stark!”
“I’m Christine Everhart from *Vanity Fair*.
May I ask you a few questions?”
The female reporter, Christine, was held back by two tall bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses.
Since she used only the surname, it wasn’t clear if she was calling Tony or Leon.
At least Leon felt she was calling him.
Tony had already seated himself in the limousine, while Leon, holding the model, was standing outside the door about to get in.
Happy glanced at Christine’s figure and looks and whispered to the brothers, “Pretty hot.”
“Really?” the two asked in unison.
Both Tony and Leon were instantly interested, but Leon had the geographic advantage and moved faster.
Without a trace of reluctance, he stuffed the model in his arms—with whom he hadn’t yet officially made “friends”—right into Tony’s arms inside the car.
“Bro, she’s yours.”
“You little rascal,” Tony laughed and swore, wrapping an arm around the model’s slender waist, gesturing for Happy to drive off first so Leon wouldn’t be embarrassed if the reporter actually wanted to interview Tony.
Before leaving, Tony didn’t forget to instruct, “Just have fun, keep it safe, and don’t make any babies.
I won’t be coming home tonight; I’ll fly straight over.”
Seeing Tony being so considerate, Leon nodded with a smile, acknowledging the advice.
Watching the car drive off into the distance, he turned and gestured to the bodyguards.
“Alright, let her through.”
On the boss’s orders, the bodyguards stepped aside.
“Nice evening, isn’t it?” Christine walked over.
After casting a glance at the tail lights of Tony’s car, she put on a professional smile and said to Leon.
“If Miss Christine stood out in the cold wind all night just to ask such a boring question, then I don’t think we have much to talk about.”
With that, Leon raised a hand to signal his bodyguards to dismiss Christine.
Anxious, Christine dropped her flirtatious tone and seized the hard-won opportunity to begin a proper interview.
“Mr.
Leon, some people call your brother the Da Vinci of our time.
What are your thoughts on that?”
“Bizarre.
He doesn’t even paint.”
“Oh, unless Miss Christine means drool paintings—in that case, Tony is undoubtedly a master.”
“However, it’s obvious that I’m far more deserving of the title ‘Da Vinci’ than he is.”
Leon stated the fact with confidence and pride.
“Uh…” The corner of Christine’s mouth twitched, and she continued, “Then what do you think of Mr.
Tony’s other nickname, the ‘Merchant of Death’?”
“Cool.” Leon whistled, pinching his chin as he gave a brief answer, while blatantly scanning Christine’s body up and down with an aggressively predatory gaze.
Whether Christine did it intentionally or accidentally, despite the chilly night breeze, the top button of her inner white blouse was undone.
That was an ailment that needed a shot, and Leon had plenty of medical experience.
“Let me guess, Brown University?”
“Mhm~” Christine let out a proud little hum.
“I knew it.
Only an institution famous for rebellion and freedom like Brown could cultivate such a sharp-tongued lady as Miss Christine.”
Leon spoke with a touch of sarcasm before continuing, “Miss Christine, the world isn’t perfect, but we don’t have a choice.”
“We can only do our best in our respective positions to shape this imperfect world into what we want it to be.”
“If the day ever comes when we no longer need weapons to enforce peace, I guarantee I’ll make Tony switch careers and build children’s hospitals.”
“You must have practiced those talking points many times,” Christine exposed.
“Of course,” Leon admitted generously.
“Every night before bed, I practice in front of the mirror.”
“I can tell,” Christine agreed without giving him any face.
“Why not come home with me and see with your own eyes how I practice at home?”
Facing Leon’s direct pitch, Christine maintained a restrained yet polite smile.
“Could you please answer my questions seriously?”
“Fair enough.” Leon shrugged and answered solemnly, “I once studied abroad in China.
Even now, I clearly remember one of my professors saying, ‘Having no sword in hand and choosing not to use a sword in hand are two entirely different things.’ ‘Dignity exists only on the edge of a blade, and truth lies only within the range of artillery.'”
“I deeply respect and agree with his philosophy.
Weapons aren’t built to take lives, but to demonstrate strength and deter others.”
“Only in this way can we protect the public from the horrors of war.”
“And the cutting-edge weapons of Stark Industries happen to achieve just that.”
Christine was clearly unsatisfied with Leon’s rhetoric and countered, “That’s just your self-serving spin.”
“No, no, no, it’s a fact.”
“My father helped defeat the Nazis and participated in the Manhattan Project.
Many people, including your college professors, called him a hero.”
“And many people say he profited from national calamity,” Christine added.
Leon couldn’t help laughing out loud.
“Then why not report on how our advanced medical tech saved millions of lives, or how smart agricultural tech solved famines?”
“Those projects were funded by the military, honey.”
“Wow…” Christine was left somewhat speechless by Leon’s words.
“In the end, selling weapons is still selling war.
You profit from it—don’t you ever feel so guilty you can’t sleep?”
“Of course not,” Leon denied flatly, chuckling.
“Though I wouldn’t mind losing sleep for you.”
It had to be said: looking into Leon’s eyes—which could make even a dog feel deeply loved—even though Christine had prepared herself mentally, she still couldn’t help falling for him.
Adam’s apple moving, a soft lip-lick—everything was understood without words…
On the drive home, it was like dry wood catching fire.
Even an experienced driver like Leon had a hard time keeping the steering wheel steady.
If Tony hadn’t anticipated this kind of scenario and equipped Leon’s sports car with a JARVIS sub-system to assist with driving, Leon might have had a terrible accident long before today.
JARVIS was the AI butler developed by Tony, named after Howard Stark’s old butler when he was alive.
Driving a car was effortless for its computational power.
Having returned home without further drama, an intense battle capable of causing Leon sleepless nights was naturally unavoidable…
…
The next day.
When a radiant Christine woke up, the overworked Leon was still fast asleep.
Gently stroking Leon’s mature, handsome face with her fingertips, a satisfied look appeared on Christine’s face, and she couldn’t resist planting a kiss on his cheek.
After getting out of bed, wrapped only in a white bath towel, Christine walked barefoot around the high-tech cliffside villa overlooking the ocean.
Here, all kinds of high-tech products rarely seen by the outside world were piled up like trash, making one feel as if they had stepped into the future.
Inside the spacious oceanfront villa, Christine’s exclamations of awe rang out from time to time.
Walking all the way to a cylindrical elevator door that seemed to lead to the basement, Christine tried pressing the down button.
“ERROR!”
“You do not have clearance to enter this area, Miss Everhart.”
“Gosh, what was that!”
A mechanical male voice suddenly sounded in her ear.
In an era where even the concept of artificial intelligence was not yet widespread, Christine was genuinely frightened.
Just then, a gentle female voice came from behind Christine.
“That’s JARVIS.
He manages the entire house.”
Christine turned around at the voice.
Greeting her sight was a capable career woman in secretarial attire with her blonde hair tied in a short ponytail.
“I brought your clothes—dry-cleaned and ironed.
There’s a car waiting outside on standby.
You can go wherever you like.”
As she spoke, Pepper Potts handed the ironed clothes to Christine.
“You must be Miss Pepper Potts.”
“Indeed.”
“After spending so many years by Tony and Leon’s side, they still have you doing laundry.”
Christine took the clothes and changed directly in front of Pepper, shamelessly displaying her youth and assets.
To this, Pepper merely gave a faint smile.
“I will do whatever Mr.
Stark requires because he is my boss.
And Leon is like a younger brother to me, even if I’m younger than him.”
“However, taking out the garbage left behind by my little brother at night falls within my duties as his older sister on occasion.”
“Any other questions, Miss Everhart?” Pepper asked with a “smile.”