The two remained silent for a long time before Lin Xiao, unable to sit still any longer, stood up.
He walked over to Tony's desk, intending to find something interesting to pass the time. Tony's desk was never short of things: Arc Reactor model, a prototype of a newly designed miniature missile thruster, a half-open copy of "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics," and several sheets of draft paper covered with arrows. But the sheet of paper lying in the middle today was different; it was large, new, and had markings on the edges.
Out of curiosity, Lin Xiao reached out and pulled out the paper, unfolding it. Tony pushed up his sunglasses, looking smug.
"Look, this is my latest research result."
The paper showed a structural diagram of a ship, its main body flattened, with four giant rotors symmetrically arranged on both sides. In the lower right corner of the drawing was a line of abbreviations, RC & TS, next to which was a sentence hastily written in black ink, "Thrust is still unstable; continued testing is recommended."
Lin Xiao stared at the line of text, and the voice of Doupao popped into his head.
"Ding-- S.H.I.E.L.D.. Helicarrier project file detected. Technology source: Joint development by Stark Industries and Baxter Building. Core engineers: Tony Stark, Reed Charlize. Current stage: Prototype assembly, approximately 16% complete."
Lin Xiao's finger paused on the edge of the paper for two seconds.
"Sure, Tony." He flipped the blueprint over; underneath was another layer, a cross-sectional diagram of the power system. The thrust steering structure beneath the rotor was densely drawn, with seven or eight groups of bearings marked alone. "What is this? Huh? An aircraft carrier in the sky? Aren't you afraid it'll fall and kill people?"
Tony's lips curled into a smug smile.
"You wouldn't understand." He put his cup on the coffee table, stood up, walked to Lin Xiao's side, rested his hands on the edge of the table, and tilted his head to look at him. "This is called Helicarrier. Aircraft carriers can only swim in water, but this can cruise at an altitude of 20,000 meters. When Fury talked to me about this, I thought he was joking, but then Reed did the calculations, and theoretically it's entirely feasible. The power source is Arc Reactor, and the rotor thrust is enough to lift something weighing 20,000 tons."
" Reed Charlize?" Lin Xiao repeated the name, his tone casual as if he were hearing it for the first time.
"Yes, the one at Baxter Building. A genius, a pure physics genius, even better than me in some areas." Tony's tone held no resentment, but rather a rare seriousness. "Last year, he proposed an engineering solution for the theory of space curvature. After Fury reviewed it, he immediately approved allocating half of S.H.I.E.L.D..'s space defense budget to him. After the Thor incident, the agency's focus on aliens..."
"Alright, alright," Lin Xiao interrupted him. "I'll just ask one question: how long have you been doing this?"
Tony opened his mouth, having a lot more to say, but was momentarily speechless after being cut off like that. "It started when you went to New Mexico."
So you kept this from me for so long.
"I didn't hide it from you." Tony took a step back, raised his hand, and his tone became slightly guilty. "It was Fury. He made everyone involved in the project sign a non-disclosure agreement. It's in black and white; even Pepper doesn't know the specific details. Besides, you were up to something back then, going to New Mexico and then Brazil. I couldn't exactly go to Brazil to tell you this, could I?"
Lin Xiao didn't speak. He laid the drawing flat on the table again.
Tony quickly changed the subject.
"What do you think of this guy? He took me a lot of effort to figure out."
Lin Xiao shook his head.
"I've never seen the real thing." His voice was a little lower than usual. "But I don't like it. It's too big, too flashy. If this thing were flying in the sky, the whole world could see it. Are you trying to make sure aliens can't find Earth's address?"
Tony frowned but didn't reply.
"And do you even have firepower?" Lin Xiao pointed to the gap between the four rotors on the blueprint. "Such a large platform, if you don't put a few turrets on both sides, what are you going to use for defense? Are you going to scare them away with your reputation? Even if the Arc Reactor can generate electricity, if all four rotors are used to propel the power, you'll even have trouble turning."
"We're designing," Tony said, his tone becoming impatient. "The plan isn't finalized yet."
"Then listen to me." Lin Xiao looked up at Tony, a smile playing on his lips—a smile he usually only showed before setting a trap. "Firepower is essential. The biggest advantage of Helicarrier is that it's a mobile platform, capable of deploying troops to any location on Earth at any time. Therefore, it must be able to withstand the first wave of attack. The rotors must have backups, the power must be redundant, and the defense must include a laser interception system. You can't make a big metal shell that can only fly but can't fight."
Tony stared at him for a few seconds.
"This doesn't sound like something you'd say." His tone slowed, as if he were re-evaluating Lin Xiao. "You usually talk about throwing money around, running away, and letting others go first. How come you suddenly know so much about military matters?"
"I don't understand military matters." Lin Xiao folded the blueprints and shoved them into Tony's arms. "But I know one thing: things that can fly are the easiest to fall. Think about Obadiah, think about that Iron Monger, think about Ivan. Didn't they all think they were in the bag? And what happened?"
Tony looked down at the crumpled drawing in his hand and didn't reply.
"Oh, by the way," Lin Xiao turned around, took a couple of steps, and suddenly stopped, " Reed's wife, Susan Stone. Is she pretty?"
Tony looked up, his expression shifting from contemplation to a moment of astonishment, then to a look of utter disdain, as if to say, "You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth."
"I'm talking to you about something serious, and you're already thinking about this?"
"I was just asking," Lin Xiao said innocently. "You just said Reed is a genius, and that you're working with him. I need to know about him, just in case we need to deal with each other in the future."
Tony tossed the blueprints onto the table, pushed up his sunglasses, and glanced at him sideways. "Blonde, pretty good-looking, nice round butt. What are you trying to do? She has a fiancé, and he's a core member of the project team. Don't get any funny ideas. Reed may be quiet, but he's very perceptive. You can walk around him a couple of times, and he'll know what you're thinking."
Am I that obvious?
"Your expression is really lewd, I could tell at a glance." Tony picked up the glass of water again and took a sip.
Lin Xiao clicked his tongue and didn't reply. His mind Doupao up information about the Fantastic Four: Reed Charlize, Ben Green, Susan Stone, Johnny Stone, Cosmic Rays, and the four elemental powers. He listened to half of it, but didn't look at the rest closely.
"Alright." Lin Xiao rubbed his slippers on Tony's carpet and walked towards the door. "Don't forget to upgrade the firepower of your Helicarrier. I'm going to S.H.I.E.L.D.."
What are you going to do?
"Go check if Reed's wife is pretty for you." Lin Xiao said without turning his head.
Tony cursed loudly behind his back, but Lin Xiao could tell it wasn't a real curse. He smiled in the hallway, took out his phone from his pocket, scrolled to Mei's chat window, and sent, "Home in a bit." After sending the message, he put his phone back in his pocket, pushed open the side door of Stark Industries, and looked out at the gray-blue sky of Lower Manhattan.
S.H.I.E.L.D.. Secret Research and Development Center
Inside, a flurry of activity was underway. In one workshop, scaffolding and welding sparks filled the air, while crane booms moved back and forth, delivering massive alloy plates to the welding points. The entire hall resembled a steel behemoth under assembly, its skeleton already fully erected, with four symmetrical rotor bases arranged on either side, each as tall as a three-story building.
Just then, a blonde woman jumped down from the scaffolding, bending her knees slightly upon landing to cushion the impact. She was wearing a light blue R&D department uniform, her hair casually tied back with a hair tie, her forehead covered in sweat, and a small black oil stain on the tip of her nose Susan Storm, nicknamed Invisible Woman.
Susan Stone had a stuffy nose from the beginning, and then she sneezed three times in a row.
Reed Charlize peeked out from behind the scaffolding on the other side, holding a tablet in his hand, and waved it at Susan: "Susan, are you alright? Come over and take a look at this data in a bit. The thrust deviation is 0.3% larger than yesterday. I don't think it's a sensor problem."
Susan shook her head and touched her nose. "I'm fine, I just feel like someone's talking about me."