The Copy Begins

"In the cave in Afghanistan, when I built the first generation, the highest frequency my control chips could support was only two hundred hertz."

"Later, I upgraded the armor but never changed the reactor's temperature-control system. It had always worked fine, so I left it alone."

"Working fine doesn't mean the parameters are optimal," Lynn said.

"You're right." Tony admitted it, though his expression still held a hint of reluctance. "What's the second one?"

"Second, the radiation shielding on the casing. You're using a titanium alloy right now. If you can get your hands on Vibranium—even a tiny amount—and coat the inside of the casing with a film of Vibranium just 0.1 microns thick, you can reduce radiation leakage by more than ninety percent."

"Vibranium's hard to get. Wakanda has strict export restrictions."

"But it's not impossible. You're Tony Stark."

Tony snorted but didn't argue.

"Third, and most important." Lynn slowed his speech. "The problem with Palladium itself."

He picked up a pen from the table in front of him and drew a triangle on the back of a prescription pad.

"Palladium has an atomic number of forty-six, with ten electrons in its 4d orbital."

"That electron configuration limits its stability in high-energy environments. Once it passes that limit, Palladium atoms gradually break free from their positions in the lattice and become free ions. That's the source of your poisoning."

"What you need isn't a better Palladium alloy. You need an entirely new element, one with a special electron configuration in its 4d or 5d orbital. It has to sustain the Arc Reactor's energy density without producing toxic metabolic by-products during operation."

Tony stared at the triangle Lynn had drawn.

"Do you know how to synthesize this element?"

"No." Lynn set down the pen. "But I know a lead."

"What lead?"

"Your father."

Tony's body tensed.

Lynn noticed. It wasn't nervousness, but something deeper—a resistance.

Tony's relationship with Howard Stark was poor. That much was clear from public reports.

"Your father was one of the finest physicists and engineers of his time. He worked on the Manhattan Project and had access to extensive fundamental research on synthesizing new elements."

"If he left behind research materials, manuscripts, notes, design blueprints, or even a video recording, they might contain the answer you need."

"You're better equipped than I am to find it in whatever he left behind."

Tony said nothing.

He sat there, staring at the triangle Lynn had drawn.

For a long time.

Then he stood up.

"How much for the consultation?"

"This time, I won't charge you."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"I want something else in exchange," Lynn said. "A full set of top-of-the-line equipment from Stark Industries' medical technology division: a Quantum Imaging Scanner, a nanoscopic Surgical Assist Robotic Arm, and a Bio-Electronic Monitoring System. For upgrading my clinic."

"Your clinic?" Tony glanced back at the little room, barely twenty square meters. "Are you sure you can fit all that in here?"

"I'll expand."

"What else?"

"An Emergency Communicator. One that can contact you directly."

Tony gave him a sidelong glance.

"You want a direct line to Iron Man?"

"I'm a doctor. My patients might need follow-up treatment at any time."

Tony thought it over, then pulled a metal disc from his pocket, just a little bigger than a fingernail. It was red and gold, with a tiny button on it.

"Press it once and I'll get the signal. Don't overuse it."

Lynn took it and slipped it into his lab coat pocket.

Tony walked to the clinic entrance and opened the door.

He paused on the threshold without turning around.

"JARVIS."

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you think this guy might be smarter than me?"

"Based on the available data, sir, he is simply intelligent in a different way. But if he continues to improve—"

"Don't."

Tony put on his sunglasses and walked out.

After the examination room door closed, the System Panel lit up in Lynn's field of vision.

[Ding! Treatment complete! Evaluation: S-Class Extraordinary!]

[Saintly Hands Copy activated... Scanning target's ability pool...]

[Core talent detected: Super Genius: Engineering and Invention (S-Class)]

[Based on treatment contribution (S-Class), automatically copying the highest-quality talent—]

[Copy progress: 9%...33%...58%...81%...100%!]

[Ding! Copy complete! Acquired S-Class talent: Super Genius: Engineering and Invention (Incomplete Version · 65%)!]

[Ability details: Top-tier engineering talent in nanomaterials, energy systems, weapons engineering, mechanical design, and other fields. Can independently design and manufacture high-tech equipment.]

A second kind of "Super Intelligence" flooded his mind.

It was a way of thinking completely different from Batman's.

Tony Stark's mind wasn't a detective's mind. It was a creator's.

Batman's thought process was: see a problem, analyze its structure, and deduce the answer from the known facts.

Top-down.

Tony's thought process was: see a need, construct a three-dimensional model of the solution in his mind, then build it with his hands.

Bottom-up.

The moment the two kinds of intelligence coexisted in his mind, Lynn felt something he had never experienced before—his mental space had expanded.

Before, he could see through a problem. Now, he could not only see through it, but also build a solution with his own hands.

Diagnosis and construction.

Analysis and creation.

A perfect complement.

[Reputation Points change: +90 (Cured Iron Man · Superhero-level treatment). Current Reputation Points: 580.]

Lynn looked at the number of Reputation Points.

Five hundred and eighty.

The Ability Forge unlocked at five hundred.

He had passed the threshold.

The equipment arrived a week later.

Three Stark Industries delivery trucks pulled into the alley behind the clinic.

There was even more on the packing list than Lynn had expected. Tony had added a Biochemical Lab Bench and a backup power supply system.

A note was attached, written in Tony's scrawl, which looked like chicken scratch: "Don't break them. —T.S."

Beneath it was another, smaller line: "P.S. You were right. I found my father's files."

Lynn put the note away in a drawer.

Installation and calibration took three days.

He saw patients as usual during the day and worked on the equipment at night.

He slept for no more than eight hours in total over the three days.

His Healing Factor kept his body running efficiently despite the little sleep.

After installing each piece of equipment, Lynn used Batman's analytical intelligence to check its upper parameter limits.

Then he used Tony's engineering talent to make targeted modifications.