Claiming the Relics

"My business is finished."

"Let's go upstairs and talk about something else."

"I wonder if you could do me a favor and have a chat with Pepper."

"Just so you know, I didn't tell her about what we discussed."

"Pepper simply wanted to have a chat with someone coveted by so many rich women."

Tony Stark spoke up immediately afterward.

"You don't mind?"

Harvey glanced at Tony upon hearing that and spoke.

"You're quite handsome, but you look so much younger than Pepper."

"She doesn't have enough money to entertain any thoughts of keeping you."

"As long as you don't deliberately flirt with Pepper, I don't mind."

Tony Stark waved a hand and said without the slightest concern.

"Since you don't mind, I care even less."

"As for flirting with beautiful women, that's never been my style. They're always the ones who come up and strike up a conversation with me."

Harvey spread his hands, looking completely unconcerned.

"Alright, let's go."

Tony Stark was reassured by that.

However, just as Tony Stark was about to leave the underground lab with Harvey—

"Sir, Mr. Coulson is calling. Would you like to answer?"

Jarvis's voice suddenly rang out.

"That fast?"

Tony Stark sounded somewhat surprised.

Coulson had been helping him investigate his father's relics. Tony had even expected Coulson to drag things out with clever wording, buying time to win his favor.

Yet Coulson had contacted him after barely ten minutes.

If it had been that fast, then there was a good chance they had found his father's relics.

"Maybe they're a little more capable than you imagined?"

Harvey said.

"Then answer it first."

After hearing that, Tony Stark stopped heading upstairs and spoke.

This time, however, it was no longer just an audio call, but a video call.

A Black man in a black trench coat and an eyepatch appeared on-screen, with Coulson standing beside him.

When the Black man looked toward Tony's side and spotted Harvey Anberaka, his gaze flickered.

"Tony Stark, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Coulson's superior."

"And Harvey Anberaka, one of our agents offended you last time. On that agent's behalf, I apologize to you."

"I'm sorry."

Nick Fury took the initiative to introduce himself.

"Director Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Weren't you called something like the Homeland whatever Bureau?"

Tony Stark found the name somewhat strange.

"You can just call me Fury."

"Since it wasn't only you, Tony Stark, who said our agency's name was too long—"

"Harvey Anberaka said the same thing."

"So we've been considering shortening it."

"After thinking it over for some time, we finally came up with a simple, direct name that made people feel safe the moment they heard it."

Nick Fury explained.

"I don't know whether S.H.I.E.L.D. sounds reassuring, but it's much easier to remember than the old one."

Tony Stark said bluntly, in a tone that made people want to punch him.

Harvey simply sat down and took out his phone to play with it.

Nick Fury felt somewhat helpless when he saw that Harvey Anberaka did not even bother to give him a proper glance.

Still, he knew that Natasha's actions last time had indeed been very likely to leave a terrible impression.

Nick Fury was not particularly surprised to see Harvey Anberaka at Stark Mansion.

Harvey Anberaka now held a large amount of stock in Tony Stark's company.

Moreover, nearly everyone among New York's upper class knew that Harvey Anberaka and Tony Stark had become friends.

Even without superpowers, Harvey Anberaka seemed to possess the favor of the goddess of luck. His future achievements would not be insignificant, and it was hardly strange for two wealthy, like-minded men to get along.

"Let's put the matter of the name aside for now."

"Let's discuss business."

"Regarding the relics left by your father, Howard Stark, we did indeed find some things."

"However, your father held an extremely important position in the military, so the things he left behind became military secrets."

Nick Fury leaned forward, clasped his hands atop the desk before him, and spoke with a serious expression.

"You're beating around the bush. What you really mean is that it won't be easy for me to get them, right?"

Tony Stark had dealt with the military plenty of times, so he naturally understood their rhetoric.

"No, no. It's perfectly reasonable to return your father's relics to you."

"Before giving them to you, though, I'd like to understand a few things."

"You're thirty-nine years old now. Over all these years, you never once thought to ask the military whether they still had any of your father's relics."

"But now you suddenly remembered. May I ask why?"

Nick Fury shook his head and spoke.

"Because of this."

Tony Stark pulled open his clothing, revealing the Arc Reactor.

Rather than admitting that Harvey Anberaka's reminder had prompted him to ask for it, he would rather say it was because of the Arc Reactor in his chest.

"This is called an Arc Reactor. It's very useful, and it was the key to my becoming Iron Man."

"But for certain reasons, I have to wear it constantly and can't take it off."

"I want to find a new element to replace it, but I've tried every other element on the periodic table."

"The result is obvious. I found nothing."

"So I thought of my father, a genius like me."

"I wanted to see whether he had left behind any relics that could give me some inspiration."

A complicated look appeared on Tony Stark's face as he explained the reason.

"I understand. I'll have Coulson deliver them to you."

"I hope your father's relics can be of some help to you."

Nick Fury looked at the Arc Reactor glowing white in Tony Stark's chest without much surprise and spoke.

If Tony Stark could not find a replacement element, S.H.I.E.L.D. had something that could ease the symptoms caused by palladium.

But easing the symptoms only treated the surface, not the root. If Tony Stark wanted to live, he still had to find a solution himself.

The Iron Man armor Tony Stark had made possessed astonishing combat power.

After all, it was essentially a fighter jet in humanoid form, and it was even more convenient to maneuver than a fighter jet. It could be said that, despite not being a superpowered individual, it rivaled one.

But if Tony Stark did not have much time left to live, then a rare superhero with the potential to be recruited into the Avengers Initiative would be gone.

"As soon as possible."

The complicated expression vanished from Tony Stark's face. He gave a slight nod.