One Half Each

"What was that? An antigravity device made of propellers?"

"Did I suddenly go back to the Age of Discovery? Why does an aerospace carrier use propellers?"

"We need to refit this fortress from the ground up!"

Tony was completely absorbed, his eyes darting rapidly as he pointed at one module after another and voiced his modification ideas.

"Replace the power system with an Arc Generator, convert the antigravity propulsion into concentrated energy beams, strengthen the stealth system..."

"And on the deck, I can build armor storage bays, allowing real-time armor deployment..."

"Wait! Tony, hold on!" Seeing Tony take over as though he owned the place, Leon hurriedly cut him off.

"What? Do you have other modification suggestions?" Tony now held Leon's scientific talent in high regard.

"No, I'm saying you seem to have gotten one thing wrong."

"What?"

"This fortress isn't yours yet."

"What? JARVIS clearly said you gave it to me!"

"I said it was a fortieth birthday gift. Are you forty now? You still have several months before you even turn thirty-nine!"

Tony was stunned. "Forty? Are you planning to leave this fortress sitting idle for the next year or so?"

"Of course not. I still have uses for it. The Widows need this fortress for now, and besides..."

"So you're giving me a third-hand birthday gift!?"

Tony's tone became earnest. "Leon, what made you so cruel that you won't even give your big brother a second-hand gift? Have I treated you poorly all these years?"

It was clear that he really liked this aerial fortress.

Even during the tour.

He had kept rambling on about its flaws.

And said he could only barely accept such a gift.

Yet his eyes had been sparkling the entire time.

Like a little boy who had just gotten the Transformers toy he had always dreamed of.

"Of course I'm not..."

"How about this!" Tony interrupted again. "Until my fortieth birthday, we split the fortress fifty-fifty. Then it'll count as a two-and-a-half-hand gift!"

Leon hesitated. "But..."

"Leon! You can't possibly refit this entire fortress by yourself, can you?" Tony added.

Those big eyes of his were practically bulging into Leon's face.

"..." Leon's scalp tingled under Tony's eager gaze.

He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. For now, half yours and half mine."

"Normally, I'll have the Widows stationed here for mission handovers and personnel transfers."

"As long as you don't interfere with them, do whatever you want."

Tony beamed. "Of course. I definitely won't interfere with those girls' work!"

"But why do you always call them Widows? Does the Red Room specifically recruit Widows for training?"

Leon shook his head. "They were selected by the Gene Sequencing Project when they were young, then sent here..."

He briefly explained the Red Room's history.

Tony's expression turned somewhat somber after hearing it.

"Training and modifying little girls..."

"First Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D., then the Red Room."

"Beneath this world's calm surface, who knows how many evil organizations like these are hiding in the shadows."

"Take me to meet the girls."

"And since you plan to establish a new organization, perhaps you should give them a new name."

"You can't have a group of girls calling themselves Widows while they follow you around every day, can you?"

"That would make you look like some utterly wicked lord from the Middle Ages."

Tony had always possessed a warm heart.

Leon nodded. "They'll naturally have a new name later."

When the two returned to the deck.

The girls were still there, basking in the sun, gazing at the sea of clouds, and chatting.

Their conversation jumped from one topic to another, and they discussed anything that came to mind.

For them, having only just gained their freedom, simply sitting like this—even for an entire day—was blissful beyond measure.

The moment they saw Leon, all the girls stood up and gathered around him.

After the introductions and some conversation.

Tony gave an impassioned speech about his plans to modify the fortress.

And he voluntarily proposed.

As for the Widows responsible for guarding the fortress,

He would pay them a monthly salary of one hundred thousand dollars until they rotated out and left.

However, during the conversation, Tony noticed that the girls were looking at him rather strangely.

Only after repeatedly pressing Leon did he learn that the story of him holding in his pee inside the armor had become common knowledge throughout the fortress.

Thus, Leon and Tony quickly said goodbye to the girls and left the aerial fortress together.

Tony left partly because he was so embarrassed he wished he could disappear into the ground.

And partly because he still needed to return and prepare for today's press conference.

If he missed the press conference, Pepper would definitely be angry for quite a while.

As for Leon, it was time for him to bask in the sun.

He planned to fly straight back to the space capsule and sleep.

Incidentally, he had carried another hatch up there last week and fixed the spaceship's door.

When he had first awakened, he had been so exhilarated that all he wanted was to destroy something to test his strength.

As a result, the hatch had suffered an undeserved disaster.

In the end, he naturally had to repair it himself.

On the fortress deck, the Widows watched the two men fly away with no small amount of envy.

"That's so nice. They can fly around freely."

Yelena said, "I wonder if I'll ever get a chance to have the boss make armor for me too."

"Just thinking about it sounds insanely cool, right? Flames blasting from your feet, whoosh, whoosh! Then you fly away!"

Natasha said nothing beside her, staring at the spot where Leon had vanished into the clouds.

Yelena noticed her sister's unusual behavior and bumped her with her shoulder. "Hey, hey, stop staring. He's already gone. You had those few hours alone with the boss just now. Haven't you looked enough?"

"None of your business." Natasha pushed her sister away.

"It is my business!" Yelena moved closer again in displeasure.

She suddenly thought of something. "Oh, right, right. You two must have... done it just now, right? How did it feel?"

The other girls became interested upon hearing this topic and all crowded over.

"Yeah, Superman is so strong. How did it feel?"

"Tell us."

"Was he as powerful as a hydraulic pile driver? Or as fast as an electric drill?"

"We can't have him, and if you still won't tell us, we'll die of jealousy!"

One by one, the Widows turned into curious babies, practically ready to write the word curiosity into their eyes.

Natasha's face turned bashful for a moment. She raised a hand and loosely curled it in the air. "It just... felt a little like flying in the sky... and he never stopped, and he was... really big."

"Ahhh!!"

"Shit!"

"Natasha, you're the worst!"

"My Superman!!"

When they truly heard what they had wanted to hear.

The curious babies instead suffered a complete emotional breakdown.

The scene erupted into wails and howls.

Ten in the morning, Los Angeles.

Stark Industries Park.

The press conference began on schedule.

Pepper read a lengthy speech on stage.

It was a proposal concerning the rollout of new energy supplies.

For now, though, it was merely a preliminary explanation.

Actual cooperation would inevitably require coordination with major sovereign nations before it could begin.

The reporters below kept their flashbulbs firing. Before Pepper finished speaking, everyone remained quiet.

They knew they were witnessing a major event that would change the world.

If they performed well enough, perhaps their brilliant reports from today would one day land them in textbooks.

Yet after Pepper finished, the question-and-answer session the reporters had been eagerly awaiting never came.

Pepper stepped aside on the stage to make room, and Tony Stark walked up instead.

"Ahem, everyone, don't get too excited. I'll just say a few words." He rested both hands on the podium.

After a brief stir, the crowd quieted again, hundreds of eyes waiting for Tony's next speech.