The Key to the Future!

But he threw them into the storage room and let his hard work be buried in the dust!

Thinking about this, Tony Stark couldn't help but feel a deep sense of self-reproach.

Tony Stark was shocked when his father, whom he had always thought was selfish, cold, and unloving, suddenly changed his image. The deep-rooted beliefs that had always influenced him suddenly collapsed, which had a huge impact on Tony Stark!

After spending a long time in the dark laboratory, Tony Stark finally came to his senses. At the same time, the knot in his heart that had always been there was finally untied, and he felt much lighter and happier.

After reconnecting with his father Howard, Tony Stark was also very curious about the "life's work" that Howard had left him. However, after going through all the materials and documents in the box, Tony Stark found that there was no specific information about the research.

The only information he gleaned from the documents in the box was that Howard was researching a New Element, but he had no clue about its New Element composition.

Tony Stark frowned as he looked at the pile of documents in front of him. Since his father said that he had left him the unfinished research results, there must have been some information about it. It must have been hidden for the sake of secrecy!

And there must be clues in all this information!

Suddenly, Tony Stark's eyes lit up as he recalled Howard's reaction in the video he had just seen when he talked about what Howard had left behind.

The film reel was put back into the projector, and as it rotated, the image played again.

"All of this was created for you!"

"One day you will understand that this represents not only human invention, but also my life's achievement!"

"This is the key to the future!"

As Howard spoke in the footage, he seemingly unintentionally turned to the side and raised his hand to gesture behind him.

Found it!

That city model!

When Howard talked about his research findings, he was referring to that city model!

Howard's research findings—the secret of that New Element —may very well be hidden within this sand table!

If he remembered correctly, this model was located at Stark Industries!

Tony Stark immediately got up, changed his clothes, and drove to Stark Industries without hesitation.

Originally, Happy would drive him when he went out, but ever since Pepper was appointed president of Stark Industries, Happy has become Pepper's personal bodyguard and driver, Tony, the boss, has to drive himself when he goes out.

Upon arriving at Stark Industries, Tony quickly found the model of the futuristic city in the memorial hall. He disassembled the model into several pieces and installed them in the passenger seat of the convertible sports car. Tony Stark hesitated, wondering whether he should also visit Pepper's office.

Previously, due to the worsening palladium poisoning and the ever-approaching death, Tony Stark became somewhat despondent, handing over all matters concerning Stark Industries to Pepper and ignoring everything himself, which put considerable pressure on her.

Because he didn't want others to worry, and because of his pride, he was unwilling to expose his embarrassing situation, so he kept it a secret from everyone, including Pepper!

Without knowing the reason, his irresponsibility towards the company, coupled with the various absurd things he has done recently, including donating the modern art collection that Pepper had painstakingly gathered for him over the years to the Boy Scouts of America, has made Pepper quite dissatisfied with him. Her attitude towards him has always been lukewarm. Even at the dinner last night to welcome Chen Mo home, although Pepper was very nice to Chen Mo, she immediately reverted to her original indifference when she looked at him.

With the information about the New Element left by his father Howard, Tony Stark was now full of confidence in solving his palladium poisoning problem. The weight that had been on his mind for more than two years finally disappeared, and Tony Stark wanted to tell Pepper the whole story and ask for her forgiveness.

However, after considering Pepper's attitude towards him recently, he felt that he was more likely to be kicked out, so after glancing in the direction of President Pepper's office, Tony rationally chose to leave.

I think I'm not going to die this time, so I'm not in a hurry. I'll take it slow. I don't believe that Pepper Potts can really ignore me forever!

Driving a convertible sports car with a model of a sand table sticking out high from the car, Tony Stark sped back to the villa.

Tony Stark moved the stack of sand table models, which had been broken into four pieces but were still over two meters long and about sixty centimeters wide, back to the lab. He then cleared out a table and put the sand table back together.

Looking at the sand table model in front of him, which was exactly the same as the one in the video left by Howard, Tony Stark studied it for a long time and realized that there seemed to be a certain pattern in the design of this future city. All the buildings were distributed in a circle around a globe sculpture at the very center.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., scan the sand table and create a data model. I need an interactive projection screen."

As soon as Tony Stark finished speaking, a blue light scanning screen slowly swept across the sand table, and a sand table architectural model composed of blue lines quickly appeared.

Tony Stark moved the completed digital model from the sand table to an open space and set it up. He then pulled up a chair, sat in front of the light screen, and pondered, resting his chin on his hand.

What does this look like?

Tony Stark muttered to himself.

"It's a bit like an atom."

"The atomic nucleus should be here."

As he spoke, Tony Stark pointed to the Earth sculpture in the center.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., make this big globe stand out."

As Tony Stark manipulated the model, the Earth sculpture at the very center of the 3D digital model was magnified and highlighted.

Tony Stark stared at the sphere at the very center, then glanced at the orderly but somewhat chaotic buildings, roads, and greenery around him, and spoke.

"Take away the roads, remove them all!"

With a wave of his hand, Tony Stark caused the radial roads on the model to disappear completely.

"Sir, what do you wish to achieve?"

J.A.R.V.I.S. asked.

"I want to discover... no! To rediscover, a New Element."

This element was first discovered by his father, Howard, and what he has to do now is to rediscover it based on the clues left by Howard!

"Remove the landscaping—the bushes, the trees, the parking lot, the exits, the entrances..."

As Tony Stark spoke, he manipulated the projector with both hands, and one by one, things disappeared from the projector, quickly making the originally cluttered projection image simpler.