Things That Must Not Be Reported

"Wow, so you're that man in the iron suit?" Jonah said in surprise.

"That's right, it's me!" Tony struck a smug pose, waiting for Jonah to shower him with praise.

"Sure enough, hiding behind a mask and sneaking around like a rat is exactly your style."

Tony's expression stiffened. "Stark has always acted openly and honorably."

"Including selling weapons behind the scenes to Third World countries and starting wars around the world?" Jonah retorted sarcastically.

"We're not war profiteers. We work for peace. Countless people around the world have avoided harm because of our weapons," Tony said with perfect conviction.

"And countless others have lost their homes and families, becoming displaced because of your weapons." Jonah refused to give an inch.

"Because of Stark's outstanding contributions to peace, I even received a peace medal." Tony brought up some lousy trophy he had casually taken home long ago and had since thrown who knew where.

"Yeah, not only did you get a peace medal, even the President of the United States who started wars got one. Hitler and Mussolini even received Nobel Peace Prizes! Those award judges always find a way to redefine the word 'peace.'"

After Afghanistan, Tony had also questioned whether his weapons were truly tools for preserving peace. But without having gone through a life-or-death ordeal in that cave, he did not feel as deeply about it.

After returning, there had been too much to deal with, and he had gradually pushed the matter to the back of his mind again.

Now, Jonah's words had stabbed at that wound once more.

But he was Tony. Even if he died, his mouth would remain stubborn.

"Peace requires force to maintain it. Without sufficient force, peace is nothing but a castle in the air. Take the Hulk yesterday. If the military had been stronger, Peter, a civilian, would never have needed to fight for the public."

At the mention of Peter, Jonah finally remembered today's main character and hurriedly turned back to apologize.

"Peter, you're a hero. You deserve the treatment a hero deserves: flowers, applause, honor... The Daily Bugle will do everything it can to help you. We'll always have your back."

"Uh... thank you for the praise, Editor Jonah. Actually, I never thought about becoming a hero."

Peter bashfully scratched his head and smiled shyly. But he was practically a muscleman now, so the gesture felt somewhat out of place.

Jonah tossed Tony aside and stopped paying attention to him. Sitting back down, he continued the interview.

"You are a brave man. You dared to step forward and face that enormous monster. Even while blood was spraying everywhere, you never retreated. Don't doubt it, Peter. You are a hero."

"Actually, I didn't plan on meddling at first. It was just that the gift I had carefully picked out for Sharon got swept away by the gusts that big guy stirred up. So, in the heat of the moment, I jumped out."

"So it was the power of love?" After hearing this, Jonah liked Peter even more. He could tell that Peter was a good kid.

"Perhaps your original intention wasn't to save people, but your actions objectively stopped that monster from hurting more people. And when you later faced a powerful enemy, you didn't back down. You persisted in resisting."

Peter felt even more awkward. He rubbed his nose and gave a wry smile.

"Ultimate Limit Qigong might affect the brain and make people more combative. Once I started fighting, my fighting spirit boiled over. I became incredibly fanatical and completely forgot everything besides the battle. All I could think about was defeating the enemy."

"That's because your realm isn't high enough. Look at me—I've always been so calm, without the slightest desire to fight." Tony had been thoroughly ignored at the side, which left him feeling especially unbalanced, so he jumped in with a snide remark.

"Once you reach the Magnetic Field Rotation Realm, you should be able to control your emotions." Tony spoke with a touch of showing off.

"Uh... I think I've already reached the Magnetic Field Rotation Realm." As Peter spoke, he held out one finger and made the cup on the table fly around.

"It really is Magnetic Field Rotation!" Tony exclaimed. "So fighting really can let you level up quickly. Master was telling the truth."

"Of course Master was telling the truth. Didn't you also advance during the battle in Afghanistan?"

"Uh... I suppose so." Naturally, Tony was too embarrassed to admit that he had been frightened by his own missile, thought he was certain to die, and advanced in a desperate moment.

"Sorry to interrupt, but from what you're saying, you acquired your superpowers through study? They weren't caused by some genetic mutation or experiment?" Jonah asked in astonishment.

Tony arrogantly turned his head away, unwilling to acknowledge him, while Peter obediently answered his question.

"That's true. We're all formal disciples of the Ultimate Limit Sect. After joining, we can control electric currents. This isn't a superpower, but a kind of Qigong."

"Oh, God!" He turned to look at Tony. "Even someone like this can do it?"

Tony shot him an annoyed glare, but he still proudly drew an electric serpent from his hand and played with it.

Jonah's dumbfounded expression greatly improved Tony's mood.

"This is a discovery that will shock the world!" Jonah suddenly realized that this news was far more shocking than Thor.

Allowing ordinary people to transcend mortal limits and wield supernatural power—how many people dreamed of such a thing?

And as the man who released this news, Jonah Jameson would surely go down in history as well.

A Pulitzer Prize would be his for the taking. If it were not awarded to him, everyone would consider it an injustice.

And under his leadership, the Daily Bugle would crush every other major newspaper and become the most famous paper in the world.

However, his ambitions were quickly shattered, strangled to death by a certain bald Black man who had just walked in.

"FBI." The bald Black man pulled out an ID and flashed it before Jonah. "Editor Jameson, I regret to inform you that, due to certain national security concerns, parts of your report need to be removed."

Tony watched coldly as Nick Fury flaunted that FBI ID to deceive people, but he did not expose him.

He disliked Nick Fury, but he disliked that foul-mouthed editor even more.

"You can't do this! We have freedom of speech!" Jonah protested loudly.

Nick Fury could not be bothered to waste words on him. He simply took out a phone and handed it over.

"Your boss is on the line. Go protest to him."

Jonah took the phone and loudly argued with the person on the other end, but the final result was obvious: the newspaper's owner won.

He angrily handed the phone back to Nick Fury. "You're committing a crime! This is illegal!"

Nick Fury ignored him completely. "The Daily Bugle can report on Thor, and it can report on Iron Man, but it must not mention Ultimate Limit Qigong. Not one word."