How a Body of Steel Is Forged

After Leon finished scrubbing himself clean, the huge television in the living room was replaying the moment Tony decided to shut down Stark Industries' weapons division.

"...Mr. Stark, what exactly did you go through during your kidnapping?"

"I saw young people from my own country die beneath the very weapons I had intended to build to protect them. I also realized that the current system was perfectly at ease with irresponsibility, and I had become part of it."

As he spoke.

Tony, who had been sitting before the podium, suddenly stood and returned to it.

"I've thought it through completely."

"I realized that I should have both the ability and responsibility to contribute more to this beautiful yet imperfect world, rather than merely making weapons that do nothing but explode."

"So, I have decided—"

"To shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division, effective immediately!"

As Tony's words fell.

The reporters erupted into an uproar.

Obadiah, sitting nearby, immediately lost his composure. He hurried onto the stage and took over from Tony, hoping to undo what Tony had just said.

But words spoken were like water spilled. Tony had made up his mind, and the shutdown of Stark Industries' weapons division was now inevitable.

Leon had no interest in watching the rest of the replay.

He turned off the television and was about to go back to sleep, hoping to make up for the mental exhaustion of the past few days, when JARVIS reminded him:

"Master Leon, there is a call from Stark Industries."

"Put it through."

"Leon, what are you doing? I'm not coming home tonight. Pepper insists on keeping me at the company to deal with the aftermath of shutting down the weapons division."

"If I come home and find that cover girl we talked about lying in your bed, I'll kick your damned two cheeks."

"Oh, poor Tony. I only feel sorry for my brother."

"Fine~"

After delivering that saccharine little remark, Leon immediately hung up.

What a joke.

Would he listen to Tony?

He could do whatever the hell he wanted!

"Sleep!"

"Good night, Master Leon."

"Good night, JARVIS."

When Leon woke up, rubbing his hair that had turned into a bird's nest, it was already noon the next day.

Tony had finished up and returned home. Down on the floor below, in his workshop-slash-underground garage, he was busy "forging iron."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"My dear brother, are you going to let people sleep or not?"

Leon yawned as he took the elevator down and complained.

"Leon, you came at just the right time."

Seeing Leon arrive, Tony took out a freshly made miniature Arc Reactor and placed it in his hand. "Help me replace this."

"Couldn't you just have Pepper do something this simple?"

Leon looked at Tony, who had already taken off his shirt and lain down, and asked.

"I'm afraid she'll worry. She already has enough pressure on her."

As he said this, a rare trace of tenderness appeared on Tony's face.

"That's true."

Leon nodded in agreement, then swiftly helped Tony replace the Arc Reactor.

"What should I do with this old one?"

Leon tossed the little thing that had saved Tony's life up and down.

"Whatever you want."

After putting his shirt back on, Tony threw himself into making the armor again. He planned to finish the second suit before dealing with his kidnapping.

Tony had originally disdained personal strength because he was rich enough to believe there was no problem in the world that money could not solve.

But after experiencing this kidnapping.

And seeing his younger brother Leon gain Superman-like strength.

Tony's mindset gradually changed.

Putting everything else aside.

He had to reclaim his dignity as an older brother in front of Leon.

Otherwise, whenever something similar happened, his little brother would have to save him. Did he, a billionaire and mechanical genius, not have any pride?

Tony would never allow Leon to be awesome alone!

If they were brothers, they would be awesome together!

Encouraging himself internally, Tony gradually became absorbed in his work. He did not even notice Leon doodling on the back of his shirt.

Dum-E, the mechanical arm assisting Tony, noticed it. But when it tried to remind Tony, Leon crushed the steel-cased marker in its hand into a lump.

Dum-E immediately stopped moving and pretended not to see what Leon had done.

"Boring."

Tossing the old Arc Reactor in his hand, Leon quickly lost interest in Tony's tedious armor assembly work because he could not understand it.

System, are you there?

Leon called out in his mind.

[Question: Would you like to perform today's check-in?]

System, I heard you... Hey, wait a second!

Out of the corner of his eye, Leon suddenly spotted a round shield in the corner of Tony's workshop, colored red, blue, and white, with a five-pointed star emblazoned in its center.

It was Captain America's Vibranium Shield... a highly convincing replica.

The real one was still frozen in the Arctic alongside Captain America.

Leon walked over. To verify a certain guess in his heart, he put down the old Arc Reactor in his hand, picked up the replica Captain America shield, and began the system check-in.

System, I hear the echo of good fortune!

"Activate!"

"Leon, why did you suddenly shout so loudly? Get out!" Tony roared.

"Okay, bro."

"Bye, bro."

Leon tossed aside the replica Captain America shield and left with unusual decisiveness, because... he could no longer suppress the crazily rising corners of his mouth.

The moment he returned to his bedroom, he could not help bursting into laughter.

"Hahahahaha!"

"I did it! I fucking did it!"

The system notifications still echoing in Leon's mind were such delightful heavenly music~

Give me more. He loved hearing it.

[Ding! Today's check-in has been completed. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the system-exclusive, non-toxic, harmless, side-effect-free, magnetism-immune innate physique: "Adamantium Skeleton."]

[Adamantium Skeleton: Constructed from the hardest known metal on Earth. The metal formula has been lost. This skeleton is indestructible and highly resistant to high temperatures. System-exclusive—non-toxic, harmless, and side-effect-free. It is a reinforcement of one's own bones, is unaffected by magnetism, and "Super Self-Regeneration" functions normally.]

[Description: Congratulations. You have taken another step further down the path of no longer being human.]

[Note: "Adamantium Skeleton" will be treated as the host's innate physique. The stronger you become, the stronger it becomes. There is no upper limit.]

"Awesome!"

"I knew my guess was right!"

Taking the previous check-in rewards into account, Leon could now be almost one hundred percent certain—the system's check-in rewards were related to his own condition, the environment he was in, and the items he came into contact with.

They might also be related to the plot characters around him. That would need to be tested later.

In any case.

Now that he had confirmed that the system's check-in rewards could be deliberately controlled within a foreseeable range, there was far more room to maneuver.

Just as Leon was fantasizing about soon punching Superman and kicking Thanos, a heart-piercing agony that sank deep into his bones suddenly struck!

"Fuck!"

[Note: "Adamantium Skeleton" reinforcement has begun.]

"Ha?!"

"It's only starting now?!"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought you were the painless instant-upgrade type!"

After complaining to the system a few times before his impending death, Leon very straightforwardly passed out from the pain.

Being young was great. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Lying on his side on the springy, soft double bed, his body curled up, his eyes rolled white, foam spilled from his mouth, and he occasionally twitched.

He looked like he was still alive, but in reality, he had been gone for a while.

Elsewhere.

Tony's Mark II Armor had also taken on a fairly complete prototype.

As though fate had arranged it.

The two brothers worked in perfect unspoken harmony, each forging, in his own way, a body of steel that transcended humanity!