No One but You

While the renovations on the new house proceeded in an orderly fashion, a phone call pulled Lin Hai's attention back to the main Iron Man storyline.

The call was from Pepper.

"Hello, Dr. Lin. I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Pepper sounded somewhat tired, likely from handling all the fallout from Tony's decision to shut down the weapons division. "I'd like to buy another Sandalwood Bracelet from you—the same kind as last time..."

The one Tony had worn before had been stripped off him by the Ten Rings Gang in the cave. Although Lin Hai had later located it through his Life Force sensing, he had no plans to return it to Tony for now. He intended to wait until the time was right, then give it to Tony together with that tablet as a "special gift."

"No problem, Miss Pepper," Lin Hai readily agreed. "Will you come pick it up at the clinic, or should I deliver it?"

"Please deliver it to Stark Tower and give it to Happy. I'll let him know beforehand. Thank you so much!"

Pepper's voice was full of sincere gratitude. In her eyes, the bracelet's effects were incredibly powerful. Even Tony, who had never cared much about such things, had brought up buying another bracelet himself not long after returning.

"Alright. I'll have it delivered tomorrow."

After the call ended, another generous payment from Pepper arrived in Lin Hai's account. The efficiency and generosity were truly impressive.

Another bracelet made its way into Tony's hands. Meanwhile, according to the original trajectory, Obadiah Stane's ambition and fear were brewing, and the birth of Iron Monger should have already entered its countdown.

*Before Obadiah, as Iron Monger, took to the streets and fought Tony's Iron Man... Tony seemed to have wrecked a U.S. military fighter jet