"Holy shit! A Scroll of Town Portal!!!"
Seeing the pale gray item in Steve's hand, Fang Mo could not help crying out in surprise.
Fang Mo knew he would be able to return sooner or later, but he had not expected his luck to explode this time and let him go back immediately. Honestly, it felt almost unbelievable.
If Fang Mo had not stopped dreaming after awakening his Stand, he would have thought he was still inside one.
"I can finally go back..."
Looking at the Return Scroll in his hand, Fang Mo could not help recalling that block-filled world. Honestly, it even felt like a lifetime had passed.
He could even feel that world of his calling out to him.
The feeling almost made him unwilling to stay for even one more second.
However, considering the peculiar nature of The Lost Cities Mod, Fang Mo had a feeling he might return here in the future. So he could only steel himself and deal with the matters at hand first, lest he cause trouble for his future self.
After making himself a simple breakfast, Fang Mo went into the living room, sat before the coffee table, and watched the news while eating.
The commotion from last night had indeed been enormous. The media was now reporting on it everywhere, especially the monster battle between Abomination and Hulk. Of course, Fang Mo had also been filmed. He had no idea what ordinary citizens in the Marvel world were thinking—their lives were practically on the line, yet they had still dared to remain there and record videos.
However, although some video footage had leaked, the entire sequence was incomplete. It seemed to end around the point when Fang Mo and Hulk attacked Abomination together.
Fang Mo guessed that the Military and S.H.I.E.L.D. were deliberately intervening in the matter. Besides, the situation had truly become dangerous toward the end of the battle, so those citizens probably had not dared to keep filming.
Even so, the scene of the monster battle still sparked fear and discussion among the people of the United States.
Naturally, they wanted to know where these monsters had come from. After all, the Military had not been conducting experiments for just a day or two. All sides had their own guesses; perhaps this was another bioengineered monster created by some secret experiment.
Besides that, they also wanted to know who the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared was. Was he a superhero? Or another freak created by the Military?
And aside from that matter, Stark Company had also undergone tremendous changes.
First was Obadiah. The official information now stated that he had suffered an accident during an experimental mishap. In any case, he was dead.
With something this major happening to the company, no matter how little Tony Stark wanted to manage it, he had no choice but to hold a press conference. At the event, he explained that Stark Industries would need to transform going forward. They definitely would not continue making weapons. They would never make weapons again in this lifetime. They would probably transition into an energy company or something similar.
However, this was only a proposal for the time being. Stark Industries was far too massive to transform overnight just because it said it would.
At the press conference, quite a few reporters had also gathered information about the Iron Armor and questioned him on the spot. For example, what exactly was that flying robot, and what relationship did it have with Stark Industries? Abomination had gone out of control earlier, so they wanted to know whether Stark Industries had also been working with the Military to research something.
Yes, although Fang Mo's interference had prevented Obadiah and Stark from staging a mech battle in New York like in the original story, given Stark's flashy, smug personality and his habit of flying around everywhere in his armor, it was only natural that people had snapped some clues.
After all, the guy had never even considered hiding himself, had he?
Of course, the Military and the higher-ups had guessed as much, so they gave Stark a huge stack of prepared explanations.
But what they had not expected was that Stark merely glanced at the speech a few times before instantly losing patience. Without a second thought, he tossed the script onto the table and blurted out Marvel's most classic line: "The truth is... I am Iron Man."
The media below instantly erupted upon hearing those words. Flashbulbs went off wildly as they tried to get a major scoop.
"This guy is really willful."
Seeing this, an agent below slapped a hand over his face. "I clearly prepared fifty witnesses for him. Why couldn't he just follow the script..."
As for Stark himself—
For some reason, after saying those words, he suddenly frowned, as though something had occurred to him.
Then his mind jolted violently, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
Yes. In the very next second after uttering that classic line, Stark suddenly remembered that the instant Fang Mo had first met him, Fang Mo seemed to have directly said, "Holy shit, Iron Man."
Thinking about the things Fang Mo usually said to him, Stark realized that Fang Mo seemed to have an especially strong prejudice against Palladium. From the very beginning, Fang Mo had kept making radiation jokes with him. Last night, he had even directly pointed out the danger of Stark's Arc Reactor and said that if Stark drank Chlorophyll until he threw up, he could go find him.
Stark naturally knew that Chlorophyll could suppress heavy metal poisoning, and his Arc Reactor did indeed have the flaw of excessive Palladium concentration. But how did Fang Mo, a wizard who knew nothing about science, know these things?
At once, an indescribable sense of absurdity welled up in Stark's heart.
Thinking of this, Stark no longer even wanted to continue the press conference. Without saying goodbye to anyone, he turned and left.
There were too many things he wanted to ask Fang Mo face-to-face. Earlier, his mind had been entirely occupied with building the Iron Armor, and he had never considered this angle at all. But now that he examined it closely, Stark realized that Fang Mo was practically full of suspicious points—whether it was the things he had said before, the way he looked at Stark, or even his manner and attitude.
It was as if... Fang Mo knew him incredibly well.
"Hey, Tony, where are you going?"
Seeing Stark suddenly leave the press conference, Pepper Potts and Colonel Rhodes hurried after him. "Did something happen?"
"I suddenly remembered something urgent. I have to deal with it immediately."
As Stark spoke, he was already getting into the car. "Pepper, handle those reporters. Happy, drive."
"Boss, where are we going?" Happy asked dutifully.
"To find Fang Mo!"
Stark immediately said, "He should still be at home!"
Without another word, Happy slammed his foot on the accelerator. The engine roared loudly, instantly carrying Stark toward the outskirts of New York City.
However, when Stark arrived at Fang Mo's residence—
He happened to see Nick Fury walking out with a dark expression.
"Tony Stark, the famous Iron Man." Upon seeing Stark, Nick Fury immediately approached him. "It seems you came to find Fang Mo as well, but unfortunately, we were both one step too late."
"Too late?"
Stark froze. "He went out?"
"No." Nick Fury shook his head. "He has already left this place, but no one knows where he went. Perhaps into the universe, perhaps into another spacetime. We do not know either."
Hearing that, Stark did not know what to say. He only felt a tightness in his chest. Now he had nowhere to ask all the questions he wanted answered. His mind was stuffed with doubts, and for someone like him, that feeling was truly unbearable.
"However, although he left, he did leave something for you."
At that moment, Nick Fury suddenly spoke.
"What?"
Stark froze.
Nick Fury said nothing. He merely took something out from inside his coat.
It was a golden Apple of pure, pristine color.
Before you continue