Oh! Buddy, You Have Palladium Poisoning

Lin Feng had only just enjoyed a few peaceful days when he saw Tony Stark's live broadcast on television again.

Watching the hearing about Stark turning over the Iron Man suit on TV, Lin Feng understood at once. The plot of Iron Man 2 had arrived.

That meant Tony should already have palladium poisoning by now.

And his blood toxicity level might be even worse than in the original story.

Tony's competitive nature meant he would never let Lin Feng become the sole center of public attention.

Frequently appearing before the public in the suit had only worsened his palladium poisoning.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Feng got up and prepared to head to Stark's villa.

Flying in broad daylight would attract too much attention, so Lin Feng chose to drive.

Before reaching Tony's villa, Lin Feng ran into Pepper.

"Hey! Pepper, is Tony home?" Lin Feng asked as he approached the villa. "What's wrong? Did Tony make you mad?"

As he drew closer, Lin Feng sharply noticed the frosty expression on Pepper's face. She was clearly angry.

"Oh! Mr. Lin Feng?" Pepper turned around in surprise, then heard his question.

"That's right! You have no idea what that bastard did!" As if she had found someone to vent to, Pepper poured out the whole story.

"He donated all of our modern art collection!"

"Without discussing it with me! Every single piece, all of it!"

"Donated it to what? The Boy Scouts of America?" Pepper said furiously.

"Do you know, Lin Feng? I spent ten whole years organizing those things!"

"He donated everything without even saying a word to me!"

Furious, Pepper stomped her foot. Lin Feng awkwardly rubbed his nose as well.

"I'm done talking to you, Lin Feng. I'm going to get an explanation from him right now!" With that, Pepper headed toward the villa.

Seeing this, Lin Feng hurried forward and stopped her.

"Hey, Pepper!"

"Tony... how should I put this? Something happened to Tony recently." Lin Feng hesitated over whether to tell her about Tony's palladium poisoning.

"Something happened to him? What could possibly have happened to him?"

"Did he fall for some cover girl again?"

The more Pepper thought it was possible, the more an inexplicable rage rose in her.

"Alright, alright, Pepper..." Lin Feng said helplessly.

"You know, Tony has always used that thing to stay alive." Lin Feng traced a circle over his chest.

"The Arc Reactor?" Pepper asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, that's right..."

"That thing saved him, but it's also killing him!" Lin Feng explained. "The reactor's core uses palladium, and Tony has palladium poisoning now."

"I don't think he has found a solution yet."

"And if he can't find a new element to replace palladium, his life may be on a countdown."

"So he might..."

"Not be in the best mood or state of mind!"

"Oh my God!" After hearing Lin Feng's explanation, Pepper immediately looked shocked and worried.

"He never told me!" Pepper was at a loss now. Upon hearing that Tony's life might be on a countdown, her earlier anger had long vanished without a trace.

"No, I need to go in and see him!"

"Hey! Wait, Pepper!" Lin Feng called out to her again.

"I came here this time to deal with Tony's palladium poisoning."

"Let me handle it, alright?"

"You have a way to cure him?" Pepper looked at Lin Feng with hope and anticipation in her eyes.

"That's right, Miss Pepper, but I need a little help from you!" Lin Feng smiled. "Could you prepare a pot of hot water and two cups for me?"

"That's all?"

"Yes. Get those ready, and I'll go talk to Tony first!"

"Alright, alright. Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Lin Feng."

Still half doubtful, Pepper went upstairs to prepare the hot water. She knew she could not help with this sort of thing.

She wanted to help but was powerless. Since Lin Feng said he had a way, Pepper could only trust him.

After Pepper left, Lin Feng headed toward the underground workshop. As he walked, he used Super Hearing to find out how Tony was doing.

"How much of this disgusting stuff do I have to drink every day?" Tony Stark held up a glass of chlorophyll juice with a look of disgust. The palladium poisoning had left him dizzy and weak.

After gulping down more than half of it, Tony took out a matchbox-sized metal device.

"Check palladium levels."

Tony pressed his finger against the device.

"Blood toxicity level: 43%, sir."

Just as Lin Feng had expected, Tony's frequent use of the suit had pushed his blood toxicity level nearly fifty percent higher than it had been in the original story.

"Continued use of the suit has worsened your condition, sir."

Tony Stark irritably tapped the table, then JARVIS informed him that the energy had been depleted.

After replacing the reactor core, Tony looked at the black spiderweb-like veins across his chest with even greater helplessness.

"Sir!" JARVIS suddenly warned him. "Mr. Lin Feng has arrived!"

"Lin? What's he here for?" JARVIS quickly put down the T-shirt and took a sip of chlorophyll juice.

Lin Feng had already entered by then.

The moment he came in, he saw Tony drinking chlorophyll juice.

"Hey, Tony, does it taste good?" Lin Feng could not resist teasing him. Chlorophyll juice was not absolutely awful, but it was far from good.

"What is this? Your new drink formula, Tony?"

"That's right. Green, healthy. I suggest you have a cup too, buddy!" Tony would never lose in a battle of words.

"What are you here for, buddy?" Tony fired back. "To check out my new drink formula?"

"Oh no! Tony, I came to have tea with you." Lin Feng waved a hand. He could not outargue that damn system, and he could not outargue Tony either.

"Tea? I don't have time for tea." Tony shook his head at once. He disliked that bitter taste. Just like chlorophyll, he only drank this stuff to ease the palladium poisoning.

"Don't say that, my friend! Trust me, not just anyone gets to drink my tea."

Lin Feng stepped forward, slung an arm around Tony's shoulders without another word, and dragged him upstairs.

"It's much more effective than chlorophyll. You'll like it." As Lin Feng spoke, he pointed at the reactor in Tony's chest.

"You know?" Tony looked at Lin Feng, who was waggling his eyebrows at him, and pointed to the reactor in his own chest. He asked uncertainly.

"Of course I know, Tony." Lin Feng sighed. "Palladium poisoning. I could figure that much out."

Hearing Lin Feng's answer, Tony fell silent.

He did not know what to say and could only let Lin Feng drag him to the sofa in the living room.

"Here's the hot water, Lin Feng!" Pepper came downstairs carrying a tray and set the hot water and cups on the table.

"Oh? Pepper, you're here too?" Tony raised an eyebrow and looked up.

Why did Pepper's expression seem a little off today?

Tony turned to look at Lin Feng.

"Buddy... don't tell me she too..."

"That's right! I know now, Tony!" Pepper sat down on the sofa as well.

"Oh! God." Tony slapped a hand over his face, looking miserable.

"Buddy, are you trying to let the whole world know I'm living on chlorophyll?"

"You can't blame Lin Feng, Tony!" Pepper stared directly at Tony with her beautiful eyes. There was anger and grievance in them, but even more concern.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

Seeing Pepper lose her temper, Tony found himself in a difficult spot.

"Uh... Pepper, it's not that I didn't want to tell you."

"I've been looking for a way to deal with it. Trust me, I can solve this."

"And even if I told you, it wouldn't help..."

The moment he said that, Pepper's face filled with hurt.

"Damn it!" Tony cursed under his breath after realizing he had said the wrong thing. This is bad. He hurriedly explained, "That's not what I meant, Pepper. I just..."

"You think I'm useless, don't you, Tony?!" Tears welled up in Pepper's eyes.

"I quit. I'm resigning!"

"Tony! You never care about anyone else's feelings!!"

"You even donated all my hard work from the past ten years! I've had enough!"

"No, no, no!" Tony panicked.

"I wasn't saying you're useless! That's not what I meant, Pepper, listen to me!"

"Then what did you mean?! You didn't even tell me you had palladium poisoning!"

Growing more aggrieved the more she thought about it, Pepper began wiping away tears.

"What I meant was..." Tony's eyes darted around as he thought of a way to calm Pepper down.

"I want you to be CEO..."