Ritual

The two of them did not drink anything too strong. After all, JARVIS would have the New Element analyzed soon.

Tony poured Lu Qi a glass of red wine.

"Come on, try one of my finest bottles. I've never had this stuff either, but it should taste good if it costs this much."

Lu Qi was speechless. "Do you really only buy expensive things, not good ones?"

Tony smiled. "I only buy the best."

But cheap goods were rarely good. Lu Qi knew that much.

"What do you plan to do once the New Element is successfully developed?" Lu Qi suddenly asked as he watched Tony relax.

"What else would I do?" Tony was caught off guard instead.

"Look, we still don't know whether the New Element can replace Palladium, or whether it is radioactive. What will you do if it isn't as great as we imagined?"

What would he do? Tony was somewhat lost as well. He had tried every element on the periodic table and found none that could replace Palladium. Just when he was about to give up, his father had told him there was still one element he had not tried.

So he had begun creating that element, but he had never really considered whether it could replace Palladium.

"You could try removing the shrapnel in your chest," Lu Qi said, seeing Tony's confused expression.

"So that's what you were getting at." Tony smiled. He had wondered what Lu Qi was going to say.

"I asked the best doctor on Earth in this field. He said that, with his skills, he only had a twenty percent chance of getting the shrapnel out before I died."

Tony smiled and drained his wine in one gulp.

"Even if I provide him with a set of medical equipment I invented, the odds are only forty percent... That's too low."

Tony looked at the empty wineglass in his hand, disappointment and pain in his eyes.

He did not want to replace his Palladium core every few days, nor did he want his friends to help detoxify him.

Lu Qi understood that too. Tony was an extremely proud man. He had once considered himself unmatched in the world and had stood up countless famous and capable experts from all fields. A man like him would not want to cling to life through a device that could kill him, nor would he want to depend on his friends just to stay alive.

But a forty percent chance was truly too low. It was not even a fifty-fifty shot, and it also depended on Doctor Wang performing perfectly.

He could barely accept entrusting his life to a friend, but entrusting it to a stranger was something he could not accept!

Seeing Tony lost in thought, Lu Qi regretted bringing it up.

Tony would eventually make up his mind to remove all the shrapnel from his chest, but not now. That would happen in the future.

By then, technology would have advanced significantly, and the surgery would be much more reliable.

After drinking the wine in his glass, Lu Qi patted Tony on the shoulder.

"All right, my mistake. I'll drink a penalty glass. The chances of success are indeed low right now, but don't forget that human technology is always advancing. Maybe one day in the future, we'll be able to remove every piece of shrapnel from you. What we need to do now is make sure you live until that day!"

Lu Qi stood and glanced at the starry sky. If Earth did not have it, he would search the universe; if this universe did not have it, he would search other worlds!

Tony watched Lu Qi rise. It felt like Lu Qi had made some kind of decision for his sake, and he smiled.

"Hey, don't act like I'm that fragile, all right? I'm Iron Man. I'm not fragile at all. Actually, the material I use for my armor is Gold-Titanium Alloy, but Gold-Titanium Alloy Man just sounds..."

"Sir, analysis of the New Element is complete. It can perfectly replace Palladium and has no radioactivity. Congratulations, you will receive the Nobel Prize in Physics."

JARVIS suddenly spoke, interrupting Tony.

"What? JARVIS, are you sure?" Tony was overjoyed.

"Hey, Lu Qi, did you hear that? Damn it, I'm putting in the New Element right now. I'll never have to drink that damned chlorophyll juice again!"

Lu Qi smiled. "And now you won't have to worry about passing radioactive material into Pepper's body!"

"Go to hell!" Tony sprang up and ran into the house.

"I forgive you, but you have to be my kid's godfather! Come over and take some pictures! I have to keep this as a memento!"

There was no need for Lu Qi to take pictures. JARVIS had who knew how many cameras inside the house. Still, Lu Qi followed him in and took out his camera.

The New Element had been synthesized using the same sort of chip as the arc reactor as its carrier, so Tony directly installed the reaction chip into the reactor.

"Ready?" Tony asked Lu Qi with a smile.

Lu Qi struck a pose, prepared to fire off continuous shots and capture every moment. As for recording video, that could be left to JARVIS.

"I'm starting!" Tony shoved the reactor into his chest.

Feeling the radioactivity from the Palladium in his body slowly being absorbed by the New Element, Tony realized he had not even known the element could do that. This really was clean energy!

As his body felt better and better, Tony cried out excitedly.

Lu Qi kept snapping pictures and shook his head at Tony's expression.

"Why is your expression so exaggerated?" Lu Qi shouted.

"You don't understand! This feels incredible! I feel completely renewed!" Tony exhaled and said excitedly.

"All right, don't celebrate too soon. You can indeed live long enough to see technology advance now, but I don't want you dropping dead from excitement!"

Lu Qi did not know whether someone could really die from being too excited, but seeing Tony this worked up, he decided to dampen his spirits first.

Tony smiled and ignored Lu Qi. He had JARVIS bring up the analysis of the New Element and began studying it carefully.

"I'll send the photos to JARVIS first. Remember to have JARVIS send me a copy of the video." Seeing that Tony looked ready to stay up all night, Lu Qi helplessly shook his head.

Rather than look at all those strange lines and symbols, he would rather recite the Tao Te Ching. At least he could recognize the characters in the Tao Te Ching.

"I'm heading back first. Take your time, and don't work yourself to death."

Lu Qi drew a circle and returned home. Behind him, JARVIS said, "Video deleted."

That felt good!

Lu Qi, who had always felt that something was off, sighed in relief. He checked his phone for tomorrow's Hammer Industries presentation and decided to get some proper rest. There would be another fight tomorrow.

As for going to kill Ivan now? Who knew how many cameras Hammer had installed around him? Lu Qi had gone over a few days ago to see whether there was an opportunity, but even Ivan's bathroom had three cameras! He had no idea how Ivan could take a dump under those conditions.

Lu Qi was speechless. If he were under that kind of surveillance, he would not be able to take a dump at all unless he covered the cameras.

He might as well get a good night's sleep now. As long as he made preparations in advance tomorrow, there was no way Ivan could turn things around. The moment those Iron Soldiers made any suspicious move, he would have the Shadow Legion tear them apart. They would not fire a single bullet!

And so, Lu Qi slept soundly.

The next day, after breakfast, Lu Qi prepared to check on Tony.

To his surprise, Tony called him first.

"Hey, Lu Qi, get over here! It's urgent!"

What was going on? Lu Qi was confused, but he quickly drew a circle and went to Tony's house.

"So this is your emergency?" Lu Qi could hardly believe it.

The urgent matter was that Hammer would be exhibiting at your expo, and you thought it was embarrassing?

Tony's tone was unpleasant. "What good stuff could Hammer Industries possibly have? They got rich by relying on weapons with absolutely no technological sophistication. But the Stark Expo is where the world's most advanced technology is displayed! He must have pulled strings to get a display in the main hall!"

Lu Qi was speechless and took out his phone, opening a news article.

"I think you should take a look at this."

He opened the video in the article.

"I was wondering whether we could give Hammer Industries a chance to display Hammer Industries weapons at the Stark Expo?"

"Of course."

Tony could hardly believe it. "When did I say that?"

Lu Qi thought for a moment. "Probably during the Morocco race? Back then, some idiot wearing a reactor suit with no armor came looking for you."

Tony was speechless. "Why do I remember saying afterward, 'As long as your technology is advanced enough'? No, I need Pepper to sue this news agency. They're reporting fake news!"

Lu Qi helplessly pulled up the editor-in-chief.

"Do you remember this person?" Lu Qi showed Tony the name.

"Who is she? She looks pretty good." Tony took a careful look at the beautiful female reporter in the photo.

"You had a wonderful night with her before. If I remember correctly, it was the night before your 'Happy Hummer' trip."

Tony vaguely recalled it, and his face turned grim.

At the time, he and Pepper had not officially defined their relationship, so things outside had been a little... No, wait! He still had not defined his relationship with Pepper now!

And so, this emergency operation changed from suing Hammer Industries to figuring out how to define his relationship with Pepper.

Lu Qi was furious! "Single people have no rights, huh? I even have to help you figure out how to chase a woman! Just go for it already!"

But after his last birthday, Tony seemed to care more about the sense of ritual in romance. He searched online frantically for ways to confess.

Watching a forty-year-old man search for this stuff online, Lu Qi was speechless, but he still tried to help Tony make some arrangements with his limited insight.