How About Nanotechnology?

"So, this is how you cured Happy and helped him lose some weight while you were at it, right?"

Tony watched the black Symbiote leave his body, undisguised curiosity in his eyes. In less than a minute, the wound in his chest had actually healed completely!

After withdrawing Venom, Lu Wen clapped his hands, leaned back into the sofa, and explained to Tony from beginning to end what a Symbiote was, where it had come from, and its current state.

Tony fell silent for a few seconds after listening, his gaze still fixed on the spot where Venom had withdrawn.

"So, this thing can combine with armor?"

"In theory, absolutely! It can cover any surface, sense its host's thoughts, and even comes with its own dimensional pocket.

"But first, you have to develop nanotechnology! Combine that with the Symbiote, and you could put the armor straight on like clothes, without even spending time deploying or closing it up."

"Still, with the Swarm Robots to inspire you, I imagine it won't take you long to figure out the technology."

Lu Wen didn't understand technology, but he felt that Hiro's system of arranging robots through neural sensory control should be pretty similar to the automatic assembly of Tony's later nano armor.

After hearing him out, Tony looked much more serious than before.

He stared at his fingers for a while without responding directly, merely repeating those words under his breath: "Adaptive Armor System."

He mulled it over, then looked up at Lu Wen. "You don't even understand technology. How did you come up with this?"

"I'm really not a technical guy, but I've seen things! There's an old saying back home: even if you've never eaten pork, surely you've seen a pig run! I provide the ideas, you make them happen. Isn't that what I bring to the table?"

Tony didn't argue any further. That was indeed why he had chosen to trust Lu Wen in the first place! Judging by their experiences so far, his eye for investment had been as sharp as ever.

"Good idea. I've decided! Nano armor is the main priority now, but you'll have to give me a sample of that Symbiote. If conditions allow, I might be able to get it all done in one go!"

Tony held out his hand, gesturing for Lu Wen to hand it over.

Without wasting any more words, Lu Wen took out a tube containing a Venom sample that he had prepared long ago.

The Venom inside retained only a faint trace of instinctive consciousness, which didn't affect its viability or cause any unexpected reactions from being experimented on.

The moment Tony received the sample, he eagerly moved to get to work, and Lu Wen hurriedly held him down.

"Come on, man! Would you take a look at where you are?" Lu Wen pointed at the floor.

Tony turned to look. This wasn't his workshop, but a deluxe private room at Loving Hospital in Los Angeles.

"You're still in the hospital! Even if I just healed you, you're still in a hospital! I'm not in a hurry to get it, so could you stop being so impatient?"

Once Tony realized, he rolled his eyes at Lu Wen and snapped back!

"How could I not be impatient? With something this interesting right in front of me, of course I want to study it as soon as possible. I'm a hands-on hobbyist!

"Besides, I've still got your Green Goblin Serum and the Extremis Virus to work on, along with an unstable portal. If I don't get moving, how long is all that going to take? After all, you just drop things off, dust off your hands, and leave."

Tony spread his hands to indicate there was nothing he could do about it.

"Then call Dr. Banner over, and that old flame of yours! Call in anyone you can trust! You old geezer, you're not getting any younger. It's time you learned to ask for help."

Hearing Lu Wen call him old, Tony immediately straightened up in defiance.

"Listen, kid! I admit you're young, but I'm not old either! I'm still in my prime, all right! I..."

Pepper pushed the door open forcefully and silenced Tony with a single look.

Pepper carried a glass of water, with Baymax following behind her. She had happened to hear Tony's bravado at the door.

What a joke. As if I don't know exactly what state you're in!

She set the water on the bedside table and glanced at Tony's "I can keep fighting for another twenty years" expression, her voice calm but carrying weight:

"The last time you worked seventy-two hours straight, your heart rate shot up to a hundred and ten! Have you forgotten Baymax's warning already? Keep being this reckless, and I might have Baymax force you to shut down every day."

Pepper Potts was referring to Lu Wen's Fist Numbness that day. Both JARVIS and Baymax had told her about it.

"Wasn't that a psychological issue? Besides, I still had that damned electromagnet in my chest back then. That's why I seemed to be in such bad shape. Haven't I been cured now?" Tony muttered.

"Listen, Tony! Lu Wen is right. You can't keep overworking yourself like this. You've already reached the point where you don't even get hard in the morning anymore!"

Tony shot upright in shock!

"Wait, honey! We were having a perfectly nice conversation. Could we not bring up that sort of subject?"

The finishing blow from his bedmate was undoubtedly fatal, and Baymax joined in too.

Baymax said, "Mr. Tony, you need not be concerned. This is a normal physiological phenomenon. For middle-aged people..."

"Stop, stop! Baymax, stop. I'm not concerned at all! Don't keep going. Could we not steer the conversation toward my male characteristics?"

Seeing Tony's embarrassment, Lu Wen wanted to spare his dignity, but all he could manage was not laughing out loud. He couldn't force the corners of his mouth back down!

Damn mouth! Hold it in!

That afternoon, Lu Wen left the hospital. Before leaving, they agreed that if Tony wanted to work, he should make nanotechnology and the Extremis Virus his top priorities.

Lu Wen's life was fairly regular for a while after that.

For four months, he stayed at his apartment in New York, occasionally dropping by Stark Industries' research and development department.

Tony had set up a new research site in New York specifically to handle the technologies Lu Wen brought back from other worlds, rather than putting them at the old base, which had already been renamed Avengers Tower.

He felt this was safer.

Dr. Banner had agreed to help optimize the Green Goblin Serum, while Maya Hansen was responsible for perfecting the Extremis Virus.

Those months passed peacefully. The original Avengers were all living their own lives, and no more strange factions daring to cut him off on the road appeared around him.

Perhaps Nick Fury had put in some work. Either way, it was quiet! He got to enjoy the slacker life he had once craved most.

Today, four months later, Tony called him to the top floor of Avengers Tower, to the very room where they had first met on the day he arrived.

"Good morning, Dr. Banner!" As soon as Lu Wen entered, Banner was the first person he saw, and he greeted him first.

"Morning. Come on over. We've got a gift for you today." Banner smiled and beckoned to Lu Wen.

After months of visits, they had gotten to know each other well.

"Really? Let's see what gifts Dr. Banner and Uncle Tony have brought me!" In the blink of an eye, Lu Wen was sitting between Banner and Tony.

"Hah. Now you know to call me Uncle Tony instead of an old geezer!"

"That was then, this is now."

Banner had long since grown used to their bickering. Smiling, he opened the case on the table in front of him.

Inside lay a full fifteen syringes filled with orange liquid.

"Take a look. The first-generation perfected Extremis Virus!"

Lu Wen picked up a syringe and examined it while Tony explained the product beside him.

"The original abilities are unchanged, just like those Extremis Soldiers we encountered before, but we've addressed the risk of self-detonation. It's now absolutely stable after injection!

"And according to our calculations, based on its properties, once you inject this version of the virus, you won't have to squeeze out your Chest Cannon a little at a time like you're constipated anymore!"

A faint smile curled at the corners of Lu Wen's mouth, and he put the syringe back in the case.

"If this really lets me fire my Chest Cannon that smoothly, I'll have to thank you."

All three burst out laughing.

"Thanks, but remember to send me a copy of all the production data for this version. Even if you develop a new generation later, there might still be somewhere I can use it."

Lu Wen put the syringe back in the case, closed the lid, and picked it up, ready to stand and leave.

"What, leaving so soon? Aren't you going to inject one so we can see the results? If it fails, at least we'll have an experimental case."

Tony put on a serious face, looking as though he was waiting for Lu Wen to be his guinea pig.

"Come on. I trust your results. You wouldn't give it to me if you hadn't perfected it through testing."

Lu Wen raised his eyebrows, giving Tony a look that said, I trust you, buddy.

(≖ ◡ ≖)✧

"Sounds like I should be touched." Tony turned to Banner with a smile.

"I think so too," Banner agreed.

"All right, I'll stop messing around with you two for now. I'm heading out again for a while. As for this, I'll show you the effects of the injection once I've sorted out a little problem of my own."

Lu Wen patted the case in his hand, then strode out of Avengers Tower.