The Beginning of the Doraemon Name

To be precise, Tony and Pepper had not actually "made their relationship official" yet.

But for Tony and Pepper, that smile they exchanged at the airport and her joke about not wanting to change bosses again had already been enough.

After returning from the Middle East, the former playboy Tony had found his weakness. Having understood his own heart, Tony had completed his so-called return from the wild.

As for Sherlock, because of the so-called plot, he had always regarded Pepper as Tony's wife. With all those relationships tangled together, the two grown men were thoroughly kept in line by Pepper.

One was the only Alchemist in the world, and the other was an absolute super genius, yet both men were scolded so harshly by Pepper that they could barely lift their heads.

Fortunately, Pepper did not go too far. After giving them both a proper dressing-down, she still took up her responsibilities as a secretary and began contacting cleaners to tidy up the mansion.

As for their garage, sorry, the two grown men would have to clean that up themselves!

After arranging everything, Pepper could not help but wonder what the two of them had been doing lately to wreck the mansion into such a state.

"So, why don't we talk about what you two have been doing all this time?"

After making all the arrangements, Pepper turned toward Sherlock and Tony and asked them bluntly.

Upon hearing Pepper's question, the two men, who were cleaning with their heads lowered like defeated roosters, froze almost instantly.

The reason for their reaction was simple: the "competition" they had held over the past month was too embarrassing to show anyone.

Starting with Tony, he had lost miserably in this contest of creativity.

Thanks to the convenience of Sherlock's Alchemy and the machine tools in Tony's mansion, Sherlock's production of alchemical creations had exploded.

It was no exaggeration to say that, over this single month, Sherlock had produced more alchemical works than all the practice pieces he had made during his five years of studying Alchemy.

Sherlock's output had become incredibly efficient, with one alchemical creation after another coming from his hands. In contrast, Tony's progress had been painfully slow.

After all, although Tony had Mark One as experience to draw from, he still had a long way to go down the road of refinement.

Besides, science was not Alchemy. Science required experimentation. So far, Tony had only completed the construction of the propulsion system and the armor's skeletal framework.

That was precisely why, upon hearing Pepper's question, Tony instinctively wanted to avoid it.

And given Tony's personality, if he had not successfully completed the armor, he would never reveal that he was building one.

Sherlock's reason for freezing was just as simple. Thanks to Tony's super factory, Sherlock's output of alchemical works over the past month had been enormous.

But despite that massive output, Sherlock did not want to display his so-called "works."

The reason was simple as well. At their core, Sherlock's "works" from the past month were merely knockoffs he had created to satisfy his collecting habit.

From color-changing "Demon Slayer" swords to the Great Sage's "Ruyi Jingu Bang," and even the legendary "Zanka no Tachi," there were countless such anime-related collectibles.

If those could still be dismissed as anime merchandise, then the "alchemical works" Sherlock had made by copying Doraemon gadgets in order to gain an absolute advantage over Tony in their contest were genuinely shameful to him.

After all, Doraemon was also a globally popular anime in this world. It was hard to imagine how embarrassing it would be if Sherlock pulled a Bamboo Copter from the Fourth-Dimensional Pocket on his stomach and stuck it onto his head.

The two frozen men avoided Pepper's gaze and rapidly began communicating with their eyes.

Tony: Take the blame!

Sherlock: Why should I?

Tony: Your mechanical arm! I'll upgrade it for you! Lifetime upgrades! A redesign! Lifetime warranty!

Sherlock: As if my Alchemy can't do that!

Tony: More money! Plus a custom-made suit of armor! And some precious materials!

Sherlock: Deal!

Once their exchange was over, Sherlock finally stopped cleaning, raised his head toward Pepper, and spoke.

"Big Sister Pepper, I gained so much this past month. With Tony's help, I completed quite a few alchemical creations. Let me show you!"

Sherlock's tone was affected and overly sweet. He especially emphasized the words "with Tony's help," as though afraid Pepper might overlook Tony's "contribution" to his alchemical works.

On the other side, Tony, who was still cleaning, broke out in goosebumps when he heard Sherlock's tone. Honestly, if Pepper had not been watching him right then, Tony would have wanted to slap Sherlock across the face and pay to send him to Hollywood to learn what acting really was.

Such atrocious acting, combined with the exchange they had just had with their eyes, naturally could not fool a strong woman like Pepper. The instant she saw Sherlock's performance, Pepper concluded that the two bastards were definitely hiding something from her.

No, more accurately, Tony was definitely hiding something from her. But Pepper did not expose him. She merely crossed her arms and stood there, waiting for Sherlock's performance.

Even Doro hid behind Pepper's thigh, poking its head out with a curious look as it waited for Sherlock's "performance."

Seeing that Pepper would not be satisfied without proof, Sherlock weighed the pros and cons and ultimately decided to hide his anime fan identity. He would just plagiarize it outright.

He immediately pointed at the pocket on his stomach.

"First, this! A Fourth-Dimensional Pocket, just like Doraemon's! Theoretically, the space inside can be infinitely large! I specifically use it to store alchemical tools!"

After explaining the pocket on his stomach, Sherlock reached into it and began rummaging around.

It was rather miraculous. The semicircular Fourth-Dimensional Pocket looked only about the size of a tablet, yet Sherlock managed to stuff his entire arm into it. Its elasticity was so absurdly good that it was baffling, even comparable to Hulk's purple pants.

The next second, under Pepper's slightly curious gaze, accompanied by the signature sound effect of a Doraemon gadget appearing, Sherlock actually pulled a Bamboo Copter from the Fourth-Dimensional Pocket and stuck it onto his head.

Then, amid Tony's increasingly accustomed look of speechlessness and Pepper's incredulous stare, the Bamboo Copter on Sherlock's head began spinning, lifting Sherlock himself into the air.