Tony's Big Trouble

"Oh, thank goodness. You were wearing Tony's Iron Man armor, so you're both alright..."

Less than half an hour after the explosion, Pepper rushed over with the police and security personnel as soon as she heard the news to confirm the situation.

She had been lying in bed, almost asleep, when she learned that Howard and Maria had been caught up in a bombing attack.

God knew how "pleasantly surprised" Pepper had felt at the time. She had scrambled out of bed, all sleepiness gone, and rushed over with the main group immediately.

Thankfully, Howard and Maria had been protected by the Iron Man armor and nothing had happened to them. Otherwise, Pepper would have blamed herself to death for failing to look after Tony and his parents.

As for Happy, Pepper only cared about him in passing. Just a tiny bit.

"Did you forget, Pepper? With Maria's and my current constitutions, we'd be fine even without the Iron Man armor. The armor just makes it easier to protect ordinary civilians," Howard explained confidently to his future eldest daughter-in-law.

Only then did Pepper realize it.

Howard and Maria, like her, had both received the Superhuman Serum. At the very least, they had physiques on par with Soldier Boy's. Forget a human bomb—even a nuclear bomb wouldn't hurt them, unless its yield was so absurdly high that the Earth itself couldn't ignore the damage. They could easily survive at ground zero, absorb the energy from the blast into their bodies, and reuse it to strengthen themselves.

"That's true."

Pepper nodded in agreement. She had been too anxious, too worried that something had happened to Howard and Maria, and had completely forgotten about that.

It wasn't really Pepper's fault for not remembering right away. With how low-key Howard and Maria were—putting on