Amidst the grandeur of the party, champagne bubbles reflected the light of crystal chandeliers, and the rustle of elegant clothes and shadows of the guests intertwined with laughter into a bustle of vanity.
However, the delicacies on Kara’s plate gradually lost their appeal—a faint unease was quietly spreading along the edges of her keen senses.
Tony had been away from his seat for too long.
She set down her silver fork, and her Super Hearing filtered through the surrounding chatter, the band’s performance, and the clinking of glasses like a tide, focusing intently toward the restrooms.
There was no sound of Tony, only the rush of water and the subtle movements of others entering and leaving.
Her eyes scanned the room once more, but he was still nowhere to be seen.
Natasha—or rather, “Natalie” at this moment—was weaving through the guests with an elegant posture.
Her gaze seemed casual, but she had also noticed Tony’s long absence, and her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Kara stood up, deciding to get some fresh air and check near the men’s restroom while she was at it.
Just as she reached the archway connecting the main hall to the side corridor, she saw Tony walking toward her from the other end of the hallway.
His pace still carried that Stark-esque composure, and the smile on his face was even a bit brighter than before, as if he had merely gone to touch up his makeup.
But Kara’s Super Vision caught the details: his knuckles were white from being clenched tightly; a flash of almost perfectly suppressed despair flickered deep in his eyes; and around the reactor on his chest, the hideous black lines had expanded even further than last time.
“Hey, Kara, full already?
I heard the desserts here are good,” Tony said as he walked up to her, his tone light as he tried to lead her away from this relatively quiet corner.
“Tony,” Kara didn’t move, her voice lowered, “are you okay?” Tony’s smile stiffened for a split second before becoming even more exaggerated: “Okay?
I’m great, of course.
Champagne, beautiful women, Mediterranean sun—what’s not to like?” He raised a hand to pat her shoulder, but she gently dodged it.
“You know what I’m asking.” Kara looked him straight in the eye, her blue eyes clear as mirrors under the dim corridor lights, as if they could see through all disguises.
“The Palladium toxin, it’s worsened again, hasn’t it?” The smile on Tony’s face finally faded slowly.
He looked around to ensure no one was paying attention before pulling Kara behind the shadow of a decorative pillar.
His voice was pressed extremely low, carrying a trace of an undetectable tremor: “53%…
Kara, it’s climbing faster than Jarvis’s worst-case simulations.
All the new solutions…
have still failed.” 53%—the number carried a chill, making Kara realize the severity of the problem.
“You need help, Tony, not to shoulder this alone.” Kara’s voice carried a sense of finality.
“Does Pepper still not know?” “No!
She can’t know!” Tony denied immediately, panic flashing in his eyes.
“Pepper would do something foolish; she’d stop everything to force me to get treatment, but there is no treatment!
It would only make her watch me wither away…
adding to her pain, and the company was just handed over to her…” Tony took a deep breath, struggling to calm his emotions.
“Listen, Kara, maybe you can understand.
But this is my fight.
Promise me, don’t tell Pepper, don’t tell anyone.” Kara looked at the vulnerability and pleading behind the pride in his eyes and fell silent.
She knew that forceful persuasion wouldn’t work on Tony Stark; it would only make him close himself off even more.
“I won’t say anything on my own initiative,” Kara finally promised.
“But Tony, if you need help, I’m here, as a friend.” Tony gave her a deep look, his gaze complex.
“Thanks, Kara, really.” He lightly patted her arm.
“I want to go for a walk.
You go back first.” He turned and walked alone toward the side door leading to the racing track.
Kara stood there, watching his departing back.
She understood that at this moment, Tony needed to be alone.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she ultimately did not follow.
A man like Tony Stark becomes prouder the closer he gets to a dead end; he would rather bear everything alone than let those he loves suffer the pain of parting.
She returned to the still-boisterous hall, but her mind was completely elsewhere.
She sat down casually in a corner, her Super Hearing quietly unfolding like an invisible net, covering the direction Tony had gone.
She caught his heavy and irregular footsteps, and even heard him cursing under his breath at the air—his tone full of anger and helplessness toward the palladium element.
Withdrawing from her Super Hearing state, Kara sighed softly.
All she could do now was wait—wait for a turning point, or at least, wait for Tony’s condition to improve slightly.
Before long, the hall’s televisions began a live broadcast of the real-time racing situation at the Monte Carlo Circuit.
The images shocked everyone—Tony Stark had actually put on a racing suit and was conducting a pre-race interview with reporters.
“If you have a race car but don’t drive it, what’s the point of owning it?” Tony said to the camera, his smile nonchalant.
“This madman…” Kara cursed under her breath, no longer able to sit still.
She quickly rose, ignoring the guests around her who were raising their glasses and laughing or admiring Tony’s “bold words” on the screen, and strode toward the exit.
Natasha keenly noticed her departure, her eyes shifting slightly, but she had already turned her steps toward Pepper.
53% blood toxicity.
Intense exercise, high stress, possible impacts…
any accident on the race track could be fatal for the current Tony.
As Kara walked out of the hotel, she felt that Tony was simply enjoying one last burst of madness before death.
She should have known—Tony Stark was never someone who could listen to advice.
Monte Carlo Circuit The sun baked the asphalt road, and the air vibrated with the pre-heating roar of engines until it felt hot.
The fanatical atmosphere was almost tangible, with flags waving in the stands and the crowd’s noise reaching a fever pitch.
Wearing a sun hat and sunglasses, Kara used her Daily Bugle credentials to squeeze into the media area near the pit lane exit.
The view here was broad, allowing her to clearly see the starting grid and the first few turns.
On the track, the cars sped like arrows released from a bow.
Tires shrieked against the ground, the speed so fast it was breathtaking.
Tony’s driving skills were not bad; he skillfully wove through the chaotic traffic, steadily improving his position.
Kara’s gaze was locked onto his F1 car, her Super Hearing doing its best to filter out the deafening noise to catch any anomalies.
As the race reached the third lap, it entered a relatively stable stage of maneuvering.
Tony seemed to be getting into his stride, his racing lines smooth.
Just then— Kara jerked her head, her gaze shooting like lightning toward the source of a strange sound—it wasn’t from the track, nor the stands, but near the barrier between the pit area and the track!
A man wearing grey overalls and pushing a toolbox was lowering his head, approaching the gap in the barrier with a steady pace that was out of place with the busy atmosphere around him!
“Tony!
Watch out!” Kara cried out, her voice instantly swallowed by the roar of the engines.
Kara thought to herself that this was bad; there were cameras everywhere, and she couldn’t personally go down to save him without exposing her identity, so she could only continue to watch.
She saw the man suddenly tear off his overalls the moment he stepped over the barrier—revealing a crude but menacing metal vest underneath, arms wrapped in thick electrical cables, and those two Energy Whips flickering with ominous blue-white electrical light!
The man swung his arms, and the Energy Whips tore through the air with a devastating whistle, lashing toward Tony’s speeding race car!
In the nick of time, Tony seemed to sense the danger and tried his best to swerve and avoid it.
But the car’s extreme speed and the narrow space of the track left him with nowhere to hide.
One energy whip grazed the ground, melting a blinding scorch mark into the asphalt; the other struck the car’s suspension with a solid hit!
Bang—!!!
Blinding electrical light and sparks from tearing metal exploded at the same time!
Amidst the loud bang of a bursting tire, the race car spun out of control like a heavily struck top, crashing violently into the concrete barrier!
In the sound of intense friction and impact, the car body slid and rolled as it twisted and deformed, finally coming to a stop on its side.
Thick smoke billowed out from under the hood.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”