“I don’t want it.
Keep it yourself.
Five percent is enough for me.
I’m not going to take advantage of you.
Besides, I can only offer information.
If you really want to make it happen, you’ll have to do the heavy lifting yourself.
I can’t help with that.” Julian Chin turned Tony down and made it clear he didn’t want to discuss the topic for now.
It was a hassle anyway.
The new element was a legacy left behind by Tony’s father.
If he brought it up, he would have to invent a story about where he got the information.
Julian couldn’t be bothered to make up a lie, so he simply declined.
Besides, it wasn’t needed to save Tony’s life anymore.
“Stop dwelling on it.
Instead of wasting time on that, why don’t you get me something to eat?
All I’ve had so far is a single sip of water from you.
Does that sound reasonable?” Julian slumped listlessly on the sofa.
Tony had no choice but to drop the subject and order lunch.
To be honest, he was hungry too.
While they ate, Julian asked about the progress of Tony’s armor.
“I put it on hold.
Once I take the serum, my body size is bound to change at least a little.
If I build it now and end up a size bigger, I won’t fit inside, and it’ll all be a waste.
So I paused manufacturing.
Right now, I’m adjusting the data and focusing more on functional modules.
Maybe I’ll add air conditioning or something—it gets pretty stuffy inside.” “I think you should consider an internal ejection system.
If the armor breaks down, you can launch yourself out instead of getting stuck inside and beaten to a pulp.” “Junior Brother, that sounds terrifying.
What if I get hit mid-air and accidentally trigger it, launching myself out?
I’d rather stay stuck inside.
At most, I’ll just upgrade the shock absorption.” “Fine, suit yourself.
But later on, make me two extra Miniature Reactors.” “What do you need those for?” “To power my house and my father-in-law’s farm.
Save on electricity bills.” “Don’t bother.
I’ll cover your electric bill.
These things require maintenance, and servicing one costs enough to cover your power bill for a whole year.
Otherwise, over time, it might explode.” “I majored in electrical engineering at MIT…
Forget it, I don’t have time to do maintenance anyway.
Never mind.” Julian decisively gave up on the Miniature Reactor.
Since it had only been recently created, it really wasn’t fully stable yet—Pepper had even had to reach into Tony’s chest for it before.
Speaking of Pepper, she walked in holding a tablet and handed it to Julian.
Julian skimmed through the contents.
It was quite comprehensive, ranging from professional textbooks to medical journals and past surgical case studies.
She really was terrified he might accidentally kill Tony.
The case studies weren’t worth reviewing—they took too long, and Julian’s techniques were far too advanced for anyone to replicate anyway.
He set them aside, glanced at Tony’s medical reports, and began brushing up on medical knowledge.
Not just cardiac surgery, but emergency medicine and cardiovascular care as well.
Once he had absorbed enough, he had Tony prepare a nutrient solution for himself, along with an injectable agent to accelerate drug efficacy just in case.
By the next day, Julian had Tony sanitized and wheeled into the operating room.
With Pepper’s help, he put on a sterile surgical gown and turned to look at Pepper, whose eyes were red.
“Want to watch?
You can if you like.” Hearing this, Pepper immediately changed into scrubs and followed him inside.
The shadowless surgical lamp was turned on.
Tony tried to say something, but Julian clapped an anesthesia mask over his face, and within seconds, Tony’s eyes rolled back.
Once he confirmed Tony was unconscious, Julian hooked up the nutrient drip, laid down the surgical drapes, and exposed the area around the Miniature Reactor.
His Sharingan spun rapidly as he activated focus mode.
What followed was beyond Pepper’s comprehension.
From her perspective, Julian simply removed the reactor, cleaned and disinfected the wound, reached in with a scalpel and forceps, and pulled several shrapnel fragments out within seconds, dropping them into a metal tray.
Then, Julian opened an insulated container, pulled out the serum, and injected it directly near the heart, dabbing away a bit of trickling blood with a sterile sponge along the way.
He stared closely for a few seconds, then increased the flow rate of the nutrient drip.
Finally, he administered the acceleration injection into Tony’s system, opened the nutrient drip to maximum output, and feeling it still wasn’t enough, hooked up a second line to Tony’s other arm.
Julian straightened his back.
What a thrilling medical battle that was.
Less than two minutes had passed in total.
Pepper stared at Julian in utter bewilderment.
“Mr.
Chin, what…
what do we need to do next?” “Huh?
Just wait for him to wake up.
Get some food and a fresh set of clothes ready for him.
But hold on a bit.
He’s in the flesh-regeneration phase right now, so let his chest wound heal first.
This formula of mine only provides a mild physical enhancement.
Although it uses the body’s transformation to close most of the incision, the effect isn’t overwhelming.
Full healing will probably take another ten minutes, after which you can step out.
Not right now, though—the healing stage requires a sterile environment, so no going in and out.” Pepper could hardly believe it.
A medical crisis that had stumped the world’s top medical teams took Julian less than two minutes to resolve?
And it was performed far beyond conventional medical standards!
She could only marvel that Tony was the boss while she was just the secretary—Tony’s judgment really was incredible.
Julian noticed Pepper staring at Tony with an intense, fiery gaze and felt bewildered.
*What kind of trope is this?
I saved the guy, and it triggered your romantic feelings for Tony instead?
Are you two playing out destiny or something?* At noon, Julian had lunch at Stark Tower again.
It was a lavish meal; Pepper had ordered a feast that filled the whole table.
As he was eating, a loud clatter echoed from the operating room.
Julian didn’t even get up.
He kept eating, letting Tony adjust to his body first.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Tony walked out of the surgical suite draped in a medical sheet, his expression relaxed like never before.
Seeing Julian, Tony opened his mouth to speak, but Julian waved a hand in disgust.
“Stay away from me.
I’m eating.
Whatever you have to say can wait until after you clean yourself up.” Tony hushed up and turned toward the bathroom.
Pepper had long prepared fresh clothes for him.
Tony’s height—which had been slightly reduced due to actor casting in this world—had now restored to 180 centimeters.
While still a bit short of the original lore’s 186 centimeters, at least he wouldn’t feel intimidated standing next to Captain America anymore.
Emerging from the bathroom in fresh clothes, Tony sat down opposite Julian.
Working up a ravenous appetite, he joined in the feast.
Only after finishing their meal did the two sip tea and begin talking.
“Junior Brother, five percent really isn’t enough.” Julian took a sip of tea, burned his lip, and quickly set the cup down.
“Hiss…
forget about that.
Unbutton your shirt and let me take a look.” Tony unbuttoned his shirt.
The wound on his chest was completely gone, though a few faint black lines remained—traces of palladium poisoning.
“Not bad.
It should flush out of your system in a few days.
Keep an eye on it and let me know if anything feels wrong.” Tony buttoned his shirt back up nonchalantly; a minor detail like that wasn’t worth worrying about.
“I wasn’t referring to any surprise—I just mean for saving me, five percent isn’t enough.” “I still don’t need it.
If you really want to thank me, once you finish developing your suits, make me three suits that regular people can wear.
I’ll use them to protect a few people.” Julian planned to leave one suit with the Parker family, one where Kagome lived, and one at his father-in-law’s farm to prepare for unexpected emergencies.
Naturally, he couldn’t ask for the exact version Tony wore—now that Tony’s physical strength was enhanced, his personal suit would be far more high-end, and an ordinary person might not be able to handle it.
Seeing that Julian was genuinely uninterested in the shares, Tony nodded.
Three sets of armor were a small matter.
After taking note of the required dimensions, Tony asked, “Do you want an integrated AI butler?
It can be fully automated.” “JARVIS?” “Yeah.” “That works.
Give me the automatic mode.” Julian took another sip of tea, set down his cup, and pulled out an invitation, handing it to Tony.
“My engagement party is on the 25th.
Make sure you come.
And don’t wear armor—come properly dressed.” “Even if you asked me to, I don’t have armor right now.
How could I build one so fast?
I have to start over from scratch.” With his business finished, Julian left.
Seeing Pepper near the exit, he gave a nod in greeting.
Pepper walked into the office and saw Tony staring blankly at the invitation.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
This was the second time she felt she had almost lost this man—the first had been when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan.
That terrifying feeling still shook her.
Tony didn’t dare move.
He hadn’t fully adapted to his new physical strength yet—he had crushed a few teacups earlier, and he was terrified he might accidentally break Pepper’s waist.
“Tony, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Pepper had cried more in the past few months than in the entire first half of her life.
“Hey, honey, it’s all over now.
I’ll take care of everything.
If you’re free on the 25th, will you come with me to Julian’s engagement party?
I think I’ll be needing a date.” “Of course.” Time flew, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.
The news was packed.
First, on the afternoon of the 22nd, Tony held a press conference announcing that Stark Industries was shutting down its weapons manufacturing division and ushering in a new era of clean energy.
That same night, Obadiah broke into Tony’s home to assault him, was caught on the spot, but managed to snatch Tony’s prototype reactor and break out, becoming a fugitive on the run.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, chaos broke out in front of Stark Industries.
Obadiah used the older reactor to power the Iron Monger suit and raided Stark Tower to seize control of the company.
However, an operational error caused an explosion, killing him instead.
The incident resulted in a total of one casualty.
On the 24th, Tony officially reclaimed full control, ushering Stark Industries into the Tony era.
At SHIELD…
Nick Fury stared at the report, reading it several times over before laying it down and turning to gaze out the window.
Seeing this, Phil Coulson began his briefing.
“It’s confirmed that Tony’s body has undergone the same physical transformation as Julian Chin’s.
According to our investigation, it may indeed be related to Chinese kung fu.
Julian practices Bajiquan, which cultivates both internal and external martial strength, while Tony has been studying the Chinese martial art Wing Chun.
It’s highly probable that after Julian entered Stark Tower on the 21st, he guided Tony in his training, triggering a breakthrough.
Clearly, Tony now belongs to Julian’s faction.
We haven’t approached Tony Stark directly yet, so we don’t know if we can recruit him into the Avengers Initiative, or if Julian’s attitude reflects Tony’s.
Everything remains uncertain.” The bald director remained silent.
In his eyes, Tony’s current value wasn’t as high as Julian’s—after all, Tony had yet to reveal his armor.
Still, thinking that a home-grown legacy figure like Tony had suddenly aligned with Julian made Nick Fury feel as if someone had snitched his prized asset right out from under his nose.
*No, Tony Stark needs to realize who he is and return to SHIELD’s embrace.
I won’t take this sitting down.* “There’s an item in Tony’s father’s archives.
Take it to Tony Stark, tell him his father’s final wish, and get him to join the Avengers Initiative and work for SHIELD.
‘Julian’s faction’?
What a joke.
SHIELD is Tony Stark’s original employer.”