An Invitation for the New Year

Harvey drove back home, ordering a pile of takeout to be delivered to his mansion.

Everything he needed to do was done. Now, he just had to wait for Tony Stark to come to him.

Besides Tony Stark, there weren't many people he could recruit at this stage who had strong enough destinies.

If Bruce Banner, the Hulk, could be recruited, he should be able to bring quite a bit of Void energy.

However, Bruce Banner was still hiding and didn't dare to face the Hulk within him.

He possessed great power but instead of controlling it, he wanted to eliminate it.

Harvey would make Bruce Banner realize how mediocre that idea was, but now wasn't the time to find the Hulk.

The Abomination was a good target. While not as potent or strong as the Hulk, he was still quite powerful.

But Harvey didn't know where the Abomination was imprisoned, so he had no starting point.

Directly asking General Ross might yield an answer, but his actions couldn't be too high-profile right now.

In nine years, before the Purple Sweet Potato arrived, if he could evolve over a thousand times and obtain other hero templates, he could directly confront Thanos head-on.

Furthermore, once he obtained the Void Walker Kassadin hero template, his range of activity wouldn't be limited to Earth.

Instead, he would roam various planets. At that time, he could not only establish the Void Cult but also hunt various monsters in the universe.

Absorbing the life energy of those monsters would surely provide more Evolution Points for him to evolve. By then, he might have evolved far more than a thousand times.

If he could obtain the hero origin of the Dark Star Voidreaver and combine it with other hero templates, Harvey was confident that even if he couldn't defeat the Celestials, he definitely wouldn't need to worry about them posing a fatal threat to him.

It was currently 2008, and in two months, it would be 2009.

The period when various superheroes would erupt in a frenzy was after the Battle of New York in 2012.

And his evolution efficiency and the speed at which he gained Void energy wouldn't slow down with more attempts.

On the contrary, as he evolved more and became stronger, he would get faster and faster.

Thinking this, Harvey smiled as he played his game.

After Harvey treated Tony and provided some guidance, Tony Stark temporarily stopped his daily life-threatening calls and constant harassment of Harvey.

Tony Stark handed over the company's management to Pepper. Aside from major decisions requiring his signature, he dedicated all his time to research.

His conversation with Harvey Anberlak had shown him a much vaster world.

Moreover, Tony Stark's body was now younger and more energetic, greatly increasing his research speed.

The Mark models didn't stop at the fourth or fifth generation. In just two months, they had evolved directly to the seventeenth generation, with significantly enhanced performance.

And since the shrapnel in Tony Stark's body had disappeared, he no longer needed to wear the Arc Reactor all the time.

He only needed to wear it when testing new Iron Man armors, which greatly slowed down the speed of Tony Stark's palladium poisoning.

This also meant Tony Stark no longer experienced the period of decline that came with the imminent threat of death.

Time passed unnoticed for two months. It was the New Year in America, and the entire nation was filled with a celebratory atmosphere.

On this day, Tony Stark directly contacted Harvey, wanting to celebrate the New Year with this person who had been a great help to him and could be considered a friend.

"Sir, Mr. Harvey Anberlak rejected the call in less than two seconds."

Tony Stark had expected that after their last interaction, his call to Harvey Anberlak wouldn't be rejected. Hearing Jarvis's words now, he couldn't help but curse.

"Damn it, this guy is as hard to reach as ever."

"Sir, he might have rejected it because he thought you were calling him for more trouble," Jarvis said from Harvey's perspective.

"Jarvis, I never thought I'd hear such cold and realistic words from you,"

Tony Stark said sadly upon hearing Jarvis's words.

"Do you still want me to contact him?"

Jarvis asked after hearing this.

"No, I'll go find him myself. You help me find someone to prepare lunch."

Tony Stark instructed before driving off himself.

Harvey Anberlak's most frequent residence was in the wealthy villa district of Brooklyn.

That location wasn't far from Stark Mansion, so it wasn't difficult to get there.

In just over half an hour, Tony Stark arrived at a luxurious mansion covering several thousand square meters.

Tony Stark got out of the car and pressed the doorbell.

Harvey projected the scene at the entrance onto the wall. Seeing that it was Tony Stark, he opened the door.

"This guy is truly excessive in his extravagance."

Tony Stark drove in, looking at the surroundings and muttering.

His Stark Mansion was already luxuriously built, but what was truly valuable was underground. There wasn't that much in the way of extravagant, useless things.

However, Harvey's mansion seemed to have valuable items everywhere, and it occupied a much larger area than his own Stark Mansion.

Tony Stark had investigated Harvey, so without Harvey needing to guide him, he drove along the path to a lavishly decorated mansion.

And Harvey had already opened the gate and was waiting for him.

"It's the New Year, and you're not staying home to celebrate with Pepper. What brings you to find me specifically?"

Before Tony Stark could even greet him warmly, he heard Harvey speak.

"I figured you'd be spending the New Year alone, so I wanted to come hang out with you."

Tony Stark looked at Harvey, who was dressed in loungewear, and said with a smile, feeling no awkwardness.

"Don't give me that. Knowing your personality, that's not a valid reason to seek me out."

"Just tell me directly, what do you need from me?"

Harvey waved his hand upon hearing this, not believing him at all.

"You guessed it, but I've already asked Jarvis to prepare lunch. Shall we go to my place and chat slowly?"

Tony Stark paused upon hearing this and then spoke.

He had completely forgotten his earlier resolve not to ask Harvey Amberkar for anything.

"If you have Jarvis prepare two whole roasted cows on top of what's already planned, I'll come over and visit."

"I'll be eating more than usual during the New Year."

Harvey said upon hearing Tony Stark's words.

"Don't talk about two cows, even ten cows wouldn't be a problem."

Tony Stark immediately agreed with a pat on his chest.

"Alright then, I'll change my clothes. Wait for me."

Harvey nodded upon hearing this and closed the large door.

Then, after a few minutes, Harvey came out, having changed into an exquisite suit, exuding elegance and handsomeness.

He could dress casually at home, but when going out, he needed to wear clothing befitting his status.

Harvey opened his garage and, after some thought, chose the understated yet practical silver BMW.

"No wonder so many young rich women in New York's upper circles want to invite you to their parties."

"With your appearance, tsk tsk tsk, you have the demeanor of my younger days."

Tony Stark said, seeing Harvey Amberkar's appearance and his extremely elegant movements.

With Harvey Amberkar's youthful, handsome, and sturdy physique, combined with an aura that was clearly very elegant, it wasn't surprising that some rich women would be smitten.

"Tony Stark, aren't you supposed to be studying your light bulbs? Why are you paying attention to this gossip?"

Harvey drove his car next to Tony Stark's, rolled down the window, and said somewhat speechlessly.

"Of course, it's not me paying attention."

"Pepper manages Stark Industries for me and has to attend various events."

"And you and I are perceived as friends by the outside world, so many people inquire about you from Pepper."

"Don't you occasionally spend pleasant nights with some young beauties?"

"Getting involved with them not only brings you pleasure but also a lot of convenience."

"Why don't you have any interest in them?"

Tony distanced himself from the gossip but then asked somewhat nosily.

"Are those women who are not of high status and are young and beautiful easier to get rid of, or those young rich women? Aren't you more experienced than me?"

Harvey rolled his eyes at Tony's gossipy demeanor.

"That's true."

Tony Stark understood upon hearing this.

"Let's go."

Harvey said, rolled up his window, and drove off.

Tony Stark also quickly followed in his car.

In less than half an hour.

Harvey followed Tony Stark to Stark Mansion.

Because it was the New Year, Stark Mansion had some decorations.

"Mr. Harvey Amberkar, it's been a while."

Pepper showed a slight smile upon seeing Harvey Amberkar arrive.

"Long time no see, Ms. Pepper."

Harvey responded politely upon hearing this.

"We're going to chat downstairs. Pepper, you stay here for a bit."

Tony Stark said directly.

Then, he entered the underground research lab with Harvey Amberlaka.

"Welcome, Mr. Harvey Amberlaka."

Jarvis said respectfully upon seeing Harvey arrive.

"Jarvis, bring up the periodic table."

Tony Stark said directly.

Soon, the entire periodic table was displayed.

"I've tried all the elements, but I haven't found a suitable replacement."

"Harvey Amberlaka, do you really think there's a replacement element?"

Tony Stark rested his chin on his hand, a hint of seriousness on his face.

From what he understood of Harvey Amberlaka, the latter had previously mentioned his efforts to find a replacement element to improve the Arc Reactor.

This implied that there definitely was an element in the world that could replace palladium.

However, no matter how he searched, he couldn't find a new element to replace it, leaving him in a bottleneck.

"I knew you'd call me for a reason."

Harvey's eyes flashed as he spoke.