Two weeks later, the turmoil surrounding the Eternals had completely subsided.
The SSC base has fully returned to its normal operating rhythm. The alert level for the alien threat has been lowered to the lowest level, the field teams have resumed regular patrols, and the lights in the research and development area are on all night again, even longer than before.
After all, the R&D department now has a workaholic who's lived for seven thousand years.
At 3:17 a. m., in the deepest part of the research and development layer, in the armor laboratory.
Tony Stark leaned against his workbench, his eyes fixed on the holographic armor model suspended in mid-air. His fingers flew across the air, disassembling the molecular structure model of the nanomaterials. The coffee cup had been sitting beside him for a long time, long since cold, but he hadn't touched it.
He has been working for more than 30 hours straight.
In the past, after working for more than thirty hours straight, he would have been completely distracted and relying on caffeine to keep going. But today was different.
His thinking was exceptionally clear.
Tony initially thought that this was a long-awaited encounter with a worthy opponent that had unleashed his potential.
Phastos, this ancient relic who has lived for seven thousand years, may look plain, but his understanding of materials and energy is textbook-level.
The two of them would argue back and forth in the lab every day, each presenting the other with a solution and a derivation, their faces turning red with anger, yet they could always come up with new ideas in the blink of an eye.
But today Tony had a vague feeling that it wasn't just that.
His reaction speed, spatial imagination, and even his intuition about energy flow were all significantly faster than usual. It was as if a layer of fog had suddenly dissipated from his mind, and many questions that he couldn't figure out before, he could now answer with just a glance.
" Stark, the energy circuit here can be compressed by another seven percent."
Phastos's voice came from the side. This Eternals engineer had also been working for more than thirty hours, but his eyes showed no signs of fatigue, only fervor.
He pointed to the shoulder armor of the holographic model and adjusted his glasses. "With your current arrangement, there's a 12% loss during energy conduction. If you change it to a double helix structure, the loss can be reduced to less than 5%."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "A double helix? That would reduce structural stability."
"Use a nested structure of closely packed hexagons for support," Phastos blurted out. "That idea you mentioned last week works perfectly here."
Tony paused for a moment.
He did mention the hexagonal close-packed nested structure last week, but it was just a vague idea, and he hadn't really taken it to heart. Phastos actually remembered it and applied it precisely to this position.
But what concerned him even more was that as soon as Phastos finished speaking, he had instantly calculated the stress data for the three arrangement schemes in his mind. He knew which one was the optimal solution without even doing a simulation.
That's too fast.
It's abnormally fast.
Tony shook his head, dismissing the doubt.
Oh well, it was just a burst of inspiration. Geniuses are like that sometimes, he told himself.
The laboratory door slid open at that moment.
Lynn walked in carrying two cups of hot coffee, his trench coat draped over his arm, the bandage on his chest removed, revealing only a black fitted undershirt underneath. He glanced at the two workaholics with gleaming eyes at the workbench and raised an eyebrow. "Gentlemen, do you know what time it is?"
" Lynn?"
Tony turned around. "What brings you here?"
"Let's see if you two are planning to weld yourselves into the lab."
Lynn placed the coffee on the worktable. " Pepper said you haven't been back to your room for thirty-six hours. She had some work at the company and couldn't be there all at once, so she sent me over to check on you."
He glanced at Phastos beside him, "Aren't you going to do anything about him?"
Phastos looked bewildered. "Why should I care? The research is entering a critical stage; it's normal to not eat or sleep."
Lynn laughed, "Did you hear that, Tony? He's even crazier than you."
Tony smirked, picked up his coffee, took a sip—the temperature was just right—and glanced at Lynn. "Don't talk about me. Have you healed your injuries? Who was that looking like a broken doll last time?"
Lynn stretched his shoulder. "If this injury can't be healed in two weeks, I'm really useless."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the armor model on the holographic projection, and he raised an eyebrow. "Pretty fast progress. Only two weeks, and the new generation is almost finished?"
Tony immediately became smug. "I'm not saying this to be rude, but while Phastos might lack aesthetic sense, his technical skills are truly impressive. If the two of us team up, the performance of this armor will at least double."
Phastos nodded earnestly beside him, "It can be even better."
Lynn smiled but didn't reply. He leaned against the workbench, watching the two of them start arguing about the arrangement of energy circuits again, getting into a heated debate, yet somehow managing to accurately grasp each other's train of thought.
It's quite amazing that two people with a seven-thousand-year age difference could have such a congenial conversation about technology.
He stood there for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's stop for a bit. Tony, come out with me for a second."
Tony looked reluctant. "What? I'm right at the crucial part."
"I'll give you a break. I won't be able to explain to Pepper if you suddenly die." Lynn had already turned and was walking towards the door. "By the way, I also want to tell you something. Ajak just sent a message."
Tony paused for a moment, then followed him out.
The lights in the corridor outside the lab were dim. Lynn leaned against the wall, took a packet of mints from her pocket, and tossed one to Tony.
Tony caught the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. "Still no news from Ikaris?"
Lynn nodded. " Ajak said he couldn't find any trace of him within his perception range. It was as if he was deliberately shielding his energy signals."
Tony frowned. "Won't this cause some trouble?"
Lynn shrugged. "Probably not. His faith has crumbled; he needs somewhere to lick his wounds. As long as he doesn't touch the embryo, let him be. If he really wants to come back and cause trouble, I'll deal with that."
Tony glanced at him.
Tony knew this wasn't an exaggeration. This guy could even go toe-to-toe with Celestials Judge and deliberately lose a match to save face for him, so Ikaris was nothing to him.
Tony asked, "By the way, how's the embryo transfer going?"
Lynn said, "It's stable. A third of the adaptation period is over, and the energy fluctuations are becoming more and more stable each day. In three months, we can remove the power supply from the Soul Stone and Mind Stone, and then the problem will be completely solved."
Tony nodded. That's good. This was a huge deal. The image of Arishem's arrival kept appearing in his dreams these past few days, and he was always afraid that Arishem would attack again someday. Now it seems that it's truly over.
Lynn straightened up. "Alright, I won't keep you two from discussing anymore. Go back to your work, but... don't push yourself too hard. You've been working for over thirty hours; even an iron man couldn't handle that."
"Okay, okay."
Tony waved his hand, turned, and walked towards the lab. "I'll rest after I finish this set of simulations."
Lynn watched his retreating figure and shook his head. This man works like a madman. He didn't say anything more and turned to walk in another direction.
When Tony returned to the lab, Phastos was already modifying the energy circuit model.
The two of them plunged back into the data, and time flew by.
From late at night to early morning, from early morning to dawn.
When the last set of simulation data appeared, displaying "stress meets standards, energy consumption meets standards, structural stability exceeds standards," Tony glanced at the time.
Thirty-six hours exactly.
No more, no less.
"Nailed it."
Phastos breathed a sigh of relief, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "Faster than expected."
Tony leaned back on the workbench and rubbed his eyes. All three optimization plans were finished. In the past, it would have taken at least a week. Today, he actually got it done in thirty-six hours.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Tony stretched, his bones cracking. "I'm going back to sleep. You should rest too. We'll deal with the weapons system tomorrow."
Phastos nodded but didn't move, his eyes still fixed on the holographic model, as if he were thinking about something.
Tony smiled and ignored him. This guy was obsessed; he couldn't afford to keep up.
He picked up his coat, turned, and walked towards the door.
But just as he turned around, a buzzing sound rang out...
A sharp, intense pain exploded from the depths of my brain without warning.
It felt like a red-hot needle had been plunged into his brainstem, spreading along the nerves throughout his brain. Tony's body stiffened abruptly, and he reached out to grab the workbench next to him, his knuckles instantly turning white from gripping it so tightly.
Phastos sensed something was wrong and looked up at him.
" Stark?"
Tony didn't answer.
He couldn't speak, his vision was turning black, his ears were ringing sharply, and the whole world was spinning.
The pain wasn't the dull, throbbing ache from staying up all night; it felt like something was awakening inside, stretching open his nerves.
One second. Two seconds... ten seconds.
Just when Tony thought he was about to faint, the excruciating pain suddenly subsided.
It disappeared completely, as quickly as if it had never happened.
Only a slight dizziness and a throbbing pain in his temples reminded him that what he had just experienced was not a hallucination.
"... fine."
Tony took a breath, loosened his clenched fists, and rubbed his temples. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and the back of his clothes was soaked.
"I had a bit of a headache just now."
Phastos frowned at him. "You look terrible."
Tony waved his hand, his voice still a little hoarse, "It must be from staying up all night. Thirty-six hours straight, I guess I'm getting old, I can't keep going."
He said that, but he was a little uneasy inside.
wrong.
Who is Tony Stark? He could party for 72 hours straight when he was young and it wouldn't hurt him. Although he's not as good as he used to be, he shouldn't be in this much pain after 36 hours.
And that pain... it was so strange. It came without warning and went away just as quickly, it didn't seem to be caused by fatigue.
Tony spoke, glancing at JARVIS standing to the side, his voice low, " JARVIS, get a full-body scan, focusing on your brain."
"Yes, sir."
As JARVIS finished speaking, a beam of blue light descended from the ceiling, sweeping across Tony's body from head to toe. A few seconds later, the scan results were projected in front of him.
[General physiological state: Mild fatigue, slightly low muscle tone, no organic lesions.]
[Brain scan: No tumors, no abnormal blood vessels, no abnormal electrical discharges. Neural activity levels are slightly above average, consistent with prolonged periods of intense thinking.]
[Conclusion: Temporary headache due to fatigue. Rest is recommended.]
Tony stared at the screen for a few seconds.
... Is everything normal?
Was that excruciating pain that almost made him kneel just from fatigue?
He rubbed his temples again.
It seems... not impossible. After all, 36 hours of intense thinking puts a huge strain on the brain, so an occasional lapse in concentration is normal.
Tony waved his hand, picked up his coat, and said, "It's alright, nothing. I'm going back to sleep. You should get some rest too."
Phastos nodded, watching him walk out, a hint of worry still in his eyes.
Tony walked out of the lab and into the elevator.
The elevator doors slowly closed, casting his reflection on the metal wall. He looked at himself in the mirror; his face was indeed a little pale, and there were bloodshot eyes.
Looks like they've really been working incredibly hard.
He chuckled self-deprecatingly. It seemed he really was getting old; he couldn't stay up all night like the young men.
The elevator stopped at the executive floor. Tony walked out, passing the whiteboard in the corridor.
The whiteboard still held half of the formula he had written yesterday, a crucial derivation of the third-generation energy core that had been stuck on him for a long time. He was stuck on the second step and couldn't get past it. Yesterday, he had complained to Phastos that this problem might keep him stuck for a long time.
Tony stopped and looked at the whiteboard.
Suddenly, my thoughts became clear.
The first step, the second step, the third step... the complete derivation process is clearly laid out, and even the value of each parameter is clearly explained.
Tony instinctively walked over and picked up a pen. Almost without pausing, the scratching sound of chalk against the whiteboard echoed in the quiet corridor.
By the time he stopped writing, the entire whiteboard was filled with writing.
Tony stared, stunned, at the complete derivation process on the whiteboard.
He'd been stuck on this problem for a long time.
I just... wrote it down on the spot?
He stood there, staring at the whiteboard for a long time.
Was it because of my headache earlier?
Or... did not sleep for thirty-six hours unleash his potential?
Tony rubbed one of the lines with his fingertip. The logic was sound, the parameters were correct. He had really solved it.
"... Damn it."
Tony muttered a curse under his breath.
He put down his pen, turned and left without looking back at the whiteboard once more.
He didn't want to think about it anymore.
It was just a burst of inspiration, and a slight headache, nothing serious.
He'll probably be back to normal after he takes a nap.
Tony's footsteps quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.
The corridor fell silent again, with only the whiteboard covered in formulas standing there quietly.
In the laboratory, Phastos had already left.
In the empty room, only JARVIS silently tidied the things on his workbench.
Deep within the unnoticed system logs, a new record is quietly being generated:
[Record Number: 2147-0B]
[Event: Peak of abnormal brain electrical activity]
[Duration: 12.7 seconds]
[Peak intensity: 327% above normal baseline]
[Physiological examination: No organic lesions, no signs of external invasion, no residual energy]
[Classification: Fatigue-related neurological disorders]
[Note: This is the 17th such occurrence this month. Previous peak values were all below 50%, and no alerts were triggered. Tony Stark himself did not report this, and the system defaults to classifying it as fatigue fluctuation.]
Nobody saw it.
Nobody knows.
Deep within Tony Stark's brilliant mind, which had just erupted with astonishing inspiration, something was slowly awakening, little by little.
Like an embryo that has been dormant for millions of years, finally feeling the warmth of hatching.