History Took Another Step Forward

This Violet girl—could she be a hardcore shut-in? Luo Xia had a bad feeling about this.

Just as he was thinking that, a loud bang rang out. The interrogation room door was kicked open, and Tony charged in with a stack of papers, ignoring Coulson's attempts to stop him.

Before Luo Xia could figure out what was going on, he heard Tony say to Coulson, "You think Luo Xia's identity is suspicious? I just helped him get his U.S. citizenship papers. Now take that watch off him, or I'll speak directly to your boss."

Luo Xia heard him and wore an utterly hopeless expression.

"Don't worry, Luo Xia. A friend of Tony Stark's won't be treated like a dog and put on a leash." Tony spoke to Luo Xia with righteous indignation.

Luo Xia didn't know what to say. Tony was far too loyal a friend—but if only he'd come in five minutes earlier.

Tony really was loyal, using money to sort out Luo Xia's identity problem. But Luo Xia had already spent AllSpark energy modifying the tracking watch. There was no way he could give it back to Coulson. After all, Luo Xia only had three slots for activating robots, and every one of them was precious.

In the end, Luo Xia could only pretend he didn't want to put his friend in a difficult position and agree to keep the watch. But Coulson had to promise to remove all its harmful functions, leaving only the basic tracking feature. Though, that didn't mean much to Luo Xia.

Tony still wasn't entirely satisfied, but Luo Xia had agreed to it himself, so there wasn't much more he could say.

On the plane back to the United States, Tony was still quite unhappy as he said to Luo Xia, "You really didn't have to do that, Luo Xia. That S.H.I.E.L.D. has no influence over me whatsoever."

"It's fine. I'm not planning to do anything out of line anyway. Sometimes, if you compromise a little with a government agency like this, they'll help you out, too. There's a Chinese saying: 'A peach for a plum.' And now S.H.I.E.L.D. has even given me an unofficial liaison position. If they want to contact you, they'll have to notify me first and let me pass the message along. That'll save you the trouble of people showing up at your door all the time."

"But isn't that putting too much on you?" Tony said, a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. The liaison job pays pretty well—three thousand dollars a month," Luo Xia said with a smile.

"Three thousand dollars is nothing. I'm hiring you as a technical consultant for Stark Industries, with an annual salary of a million." Tony spoke with great generosity.

Luo Xia didn't turn down the job. There were still many things he needed from Stark Industries. Otherwise, even just finding the nuclear material to manufacture the Energy Activation Device would be difficult.

A few hours later, the plane landed safely at New York airport. After Pepper had scolded Tony a few times, he said to her, "Pepper, I'm holding a press conference."

Luo Xia immediately understood what Tony was planning. After surviving his ordeal in Afghanistan, Tony had finally grown a little. At the same time, the Chitauri invasion had drawn a little closer.

Just like that line he'd heard countless times in his previous life, Luo Xia didn't have much time left.

Pepper worked quickly. Luo Xia and Tony had gotten off the plane that morning, and by the time they'd finished lunch, the press conference was already set up.

At the press conference in Stark Tower, Tony had just announced the permanent closure of Stark Industries' weapons division, prompting a barrage of frantic questions from reporters.

Stark Industries had started out as an arms dealer, and weapons sales accounted for most of the company's revenue. Shutting the division down could send it into bankruptcy in no time.

It was a colossal enterprise worth tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars. Any upheaval could affect the entire U.S. economy.

But Tony didn't care. Once he'd made the announcement, he immediately declared the press conference over.

Such a capricious move was bound to anger many people. The ones most affected were undoubtedly Stark Industries' shareholders. And after Tony, the company's largest shareholder was Obadiah Stane, his father's old friend and business partner.

Luo Xia quietly stayed in a corner of the venue, disguised as a staff member and attracting no attention. When he saw the dark look on Obadiah Stane's face, he realized Tony had just made another spectacularly bad decision.

Luo Xia didn't plan to say much about Obadiah Stane. Blood was thicker than water, as the saying went. Luo Xia was just an outsider, while Obadiah Stane was practically a second father to Tony, a very close elder. Warning Tony now would only backfire.

Besides, Luo Xia didn't consider himself Tony's servant. They were only working together for the time being, each getting what he wanted.

After the press conference, Tony hurried off to his lab, full of enthusiasm. When he saw Luo Xia arrive, he didn't stop working. He simply said, "Luo Xia, I put the palladium you wanted in the safe over there. JARVIS, open the safe for him."

"Of course, sir."

Tony's intelligent butler answered politely. Then Luo Xia watched as a section of the lab wall split open, revealing a hidden door and a black briefcase.

He opened it and saw neatly arranged pieces of refined palladium, each sealed in its own container.

Only someone like Tony would hand over refined nuclear material without hesitation, never even asking what Luo Xia planned to do with it.

"I'll get going, then. Let me know if you need anything, Tony. Oh, and I strongly recommend you find a skilled surgeon to remove the shrapnel from your chest. You won't feel any better if you keep carrying that thing around," Luo Xia said to Tony.

"Don't worry. I'll find a solution before the palladium kills me." Tony sounded confident.

Luo Xia could only give him a polite smile before leaving Stark Tower with the palladium.

He was now a technical consultant for Stark Industries, but in this country, he was still just a homeless outsider. The first thing he needed to do was find somewhere safe to stay, then turn all the palladium in the case into Energy Activation Devices and increase his total AllSpark energy as quickly as possible.

He took a cab and rode through the bustling metropolis. Looking at the dazzling cityscape, Luo Xia wondered how much of it would still be standing after the Chitauri arrived.

New York was destined to be a disaster-prone city. In Marvel, nearly nine out of ten major events connected to the end of the world took place there. Ordinary people living in the city went about their lives in ignorance, waiting for disaster to strike. Then they cried out helplessly as they waited for superheroes to arrive, only to become survivors interviewed by reporters afterward.

If they weren't lucky, they'd end up as casualty figures in the news.

No matter how many delightful moments the movies had, they couldn't hide this bloody reality.

At some point, the scene outside the car window changed from towering skyscrapers to low, old buildings. Not far from New York's busiest districts lay a place called Hell's Kitchen.