Harvey drove home and ordered a pile of takeout to be delivered to his manor.
He had done everything he needed to do. Now, all he had to do was wait for Tony Stark to come knocking on his door.
Besides Tony Stark, there were not many people he could recruit at this stage who had sufficiently strong destinies.
If he recruited Hulk Bruce Banner, he should be able to gain quite a bit of Void Energy.
However, Bruce Banner was still hiding everywhere, too afraid to face the Hulk's power within him.
Rather than thinking about controlling his immense power, he wanted to eliminate the power inside himself.
Harvey would make Bruce Banner realize just how mediocre that idea was, but now was not yet the time to seek out the Hulk.
Abomination was a pretty good target. His potential and strength could not compare to the Hulk's, but he was still quite powerful.
However, Harvey had no idea where Abomination had been locked up, so there was no way to begin searching.
Asking General Ross directly might get him an answer, but he could not act too conspicuously yet.
With nine years left, before Purple Sweet Potato arrived, as long as he evolved more than a thousand times and obtained other Hero Templates, he could confront Thanos head-on.
And once he obtained Void Walker Kassadin's Hero Template, his range of activity would no longer be limited to Earth.
He would roam among different planets. At that point, not only could he establish the Void Cult, but there would also be all kinds of monsters throughout the universe for him to hunt.
Absorbing those monsters' life energy would surely give him even more Evolution Points to evolve. By then, he might have far more than a mere thousand evolutions.
If he could obtain Dark Star Voidreaver's Hero Origin and combine it with other Hero Templates—
Harvey was confident that even if he could not do anything to the Celestials, he would never need to worry about them posing a threat of death to him.
It was now 2008, with two months remaining until 2009.
The era when all kinds of superheroes erupted in explosive numbers would come after the New York War in 2012.
And his evolution efficiency and the speed at which he gained Void Energy would not slow down simply because the number of evolutions increased.
Instead, as he evolved more times and grew stronger, they would only become faster and faster.
Thinking of this, Harvey played games with a smile on his face.
After Harvey treated Tony and gave him some guidance,
Tony Stark temporarily stopped bombarding Harvey with calls every day.
Tony Stark handed the company over to Pepper to manage. Aside from major matters requiring his signature, he devoted all his remaining time to research.
His conversation with Harvey Anberaka had allowed him to see a far broader world.
Moreover, Tony Stark's body had become younger and more energetic, greatly increasing the speed of his research and development.
The Mark series did not stop at four or five generations. In just two months, it had evolved directly to Mark Seventeen, with vastly improved performance.
And after the shrapnel in Tony Stark's body disappeared, he no longer needed to wear the Arc Reactor at all times.
He only needed to wear it while testing new Iron Man armor, which greatly slowed the rate of palladium poisoning in Tony Stark's body.
As a result, Tony Stark had none of the listless decline that came with impending death.
Two months passed without him noticing, and America's New Year arrived. The entire country was immersed in celebration.
On that day, Tony Stark contacted Harvey directly. He wanted to celebrate the New Year with someone who had done him a great favor and whom he considered a friend.
"Sir, Mr. Harvey Anberlaka rejected the call in less than two seconds."
Tony Stark had thought that after last time, Harvey Anberlaka would no longer reject his calls. Hearing Jarvis's words now, he could not help swearing.
"Damn it, that guy is still as hard to contact as ever."
"Sir, perhaps he thinks you are contacting him because you need his help with something again, so he rejected the call."
Jarvis spoke from Harvey's perspective.
"Jarvis, I never thought I would hear something so cold and realistic from you."
Tony Stark sounded somewhat saddened.
"Then do you still wish to contact him?"
Jarvis asked.
"No. I'll go find him myself. Help me arrange lunch."
After giving the instruction, Tony Stark drove off himself.
Harvey Anberaka most often lived in the wealthy villa district of Brooklyn.
That location was not far from Stark Mansion, so finding him would not be difficult.
In just over half an hour, Tony Stark arrived at a luxurious manor spanning several thousand square meters.
Tony Stark got out of the car and pressed the doorbell.
Harvey pressed a button, and the scenery outside the entrance was projected onto the wall. Seeing that Tony Stark had arrived, he opened the gate.
"This guy really goes overboard when it comes to extravagance."
Tony Stark drove inside, looking at the surroundings as he muttered to himself.
Stark Mansion was already lavishly built, but its truly valuable things were underground. It did not have that many extravagant yet useless decorations.
Harvey's manor, however, appeared to be filled with expensive things everywhere, and its grounds were far larger than Stark Mansion's.
Tony Stark had investigated Harvey, so without needing Harvey to guide him, he drove straight along the path to an extravagantly decorated mansion.
Harvey had already opened the front door and was waiting for him.
"It's New Year's. Why aren't you staying home and celebrating with Pepper? What did you come all this way to see me for?"
Before Tony Stark could even offer a friendly greeting, he heard Harvey's words.
"I figured you were probably spending New Year's alone, so I wanted to come hang out with you."
Tony Stark looked at Harvey in his casual home clothes and smiled without the slightest embarrassment.
"Don't give me that. With your personality, that hardly counts as a reason to come find me."
"Just say it. What exactly do you need me for?"
Harvey waved a hand, not believing him at all.
"You saw through me. But I've already had Jarvis prepare lunch. How about we go to my place and talk?"
Tony Stark paused before speaking.
He had completely forgotten that he had previously sworn he would never ask Harvey Anberaka for help.
"Have Jarvis add two whole cows' worth of dishes to what he has already prepared, and I'll come visit your place."
"I eat more than usual during the New Year."
Harvey spoke after hearing Tony Stark's offer.
"Forget two cows. Even ten cows would not be a problem."
Tony Stark patted his chest and agreed immediately.
"Fine. I'll change clothes. Wait for me."
Harvey nodded and closed the front door.
A few minutes later, Harvey emerged wearing an exquisite suit that highlighted his elegance and handsome appearance.
He could dress however he wanted at home, but when going out, he still needed to wear clothes that suited his status.
Harvey opened his garage, thought for a moment, and chose a low-key yet practical silver BMW.
"No wonder so many young rich women in New York's upper circles want to invite you to banquets."
"With that face, tsk tsk, you've got the same style I had in my youth."
Tony Stark looked at Harvey Anberaka's appearance and his exceptionally elegant movements as he spoke.
With Harvey Anberaka's young, handsome, muscular figure and his obvious air of elegance, it was hardly strange that some wealthy women would be attracted to him.
"Tony Stark, shouldn't you be researching your light bulb? Why are you paying attention to this gossip?"
Harvey drove up beside Tony Stark's car, rolled down his window, and spoke helplessly.
"Of course I'm not the one paying attention."
"Pepper manages Stark Industries for me and has to attend all kinds of events."
"And since the public sees you as my friend, plenty of people ask Pepper about you."
"Don't you occasionally spend the night with young beautiful women?"
"Getting involved with them would not only let you have fun, it could also bring you a lot of conveniences."
"So why are you not interested in them at all?"
Tony distanced himself from the matter, yet still asked curiously.
"Which is easier to get rid of: young, beautiful women without much status, or young wealthy women? Aren't you more experienced than I am?"
Harvey rolled his eyes at Tony's gossiping expression.
"That's true."
Tony Stark understood after hearing that.
"Let's go."
Harvey said that, rolled up the window, and drove off.
Tony Stark also drove after him at once.
Less than half an hour later,
Harvey followed Tony Stark to Stark Mansion.
Because it was New Year's, Stark Mansion had been decorated a little.
"Mr. Harvey Anberlaka, long time no see."
Pepper smiled faintly when she saw Harvey Anberaka arrive.
"Long time no see, Miss Pepper."
Harvey responded politely.
"We're going downstairs to talk for a while. Pepper, stay up here for now."
Tony Stark spoke directly.
Then he entered the underground laboratory with Harvey Anberaka.
"Welcome, Mr. Harvey Anberlaka."
After seeing Harvey arrive, Jarvis spoke respectfully.
"Jarvis, bring up the periodic table."
Tony Stark said immediately.
Soon, the entire periodic table appeared.
"I've tested every element, but I still could not find one that could replace it."
"Harvey Anberaka, do you think there really is an element that can replace it?"
Tony Stark rested his chin on one hand, a trace of heaviness on his face.
Based on what he knew of Harvey Anberaka, the other man had previously told him to work hard to find a replacement element to improve the Arc Reactor.
That implied there had to be an element in the world capable of replacing palladium.
Yet no matter how he searched, he could not find a new replacement element, leaving him stuck at a bottleneck.
"I knew you must have something to ask me about."
Harvey's eyes flickered as he spoke.
Before you continue