Seeing the last reporter walk out the front door,
Pepper's shoulders, which she had been forcing herself to hold up, instantly slumped, and she collapsed onto the sofa.
She took off her high heels, planted her bare feet on the carpet, and rubbed her aching temples hard.
"For God's sake. This is even more exhausting than dealing with terrorists in Afghanistan."
Pepper let out a long sigh.
But she had only just closed her eyes to rest for less than a minute when-
"Ring! Ring!"
Her phone suddenly rang beside her, as if urgently demanding her attention.
Pepper jumped and grabbed it irritably.
She glanced at the screen. The caller was Luca.
She rolled her eyes and answered.
"Listen, Pepper, my dear big sister. I need two spicy chicken burgers right now. Remember, the lettuce has to be good. And pick up two double cheeseburgers for the old man who won't stop yapping beside me. We want colas with ice."
On the other end of the line, Luca sounded lazy, and she could hear him chewing something.
Pepper took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to go through the internet cable and hit him.
"I know. Spicy chicken burgers and double cheeseburgers. Luca, do you know that was the fifth group of reporters this morning?"
"You're hiding in the basement like cowards. Do you know how many questions I've fended off for you? Do you know how tired I am? You two ungrateful bastards!"
Before Luca could say anything,
Tony's confident, haughty voice came through.
"Potts, stop complaining. We're not hiding like cowards. We're doing great research!"
Luca immediately corrected him.
"Correction, Potts. I'm doing research that will shock the world. As for Tony, he's just hammering metal over here and handing me a wrench now and then."
"Damn it, Luca! This is my underground lab! I invented all that equipment!"
Listening to the two of them go back and forth on the phone, Pepper was utterly speechless.
"All right, all right. I know you're doing important work that will change the world. I'll leave saving the Earth to you. I'll go buy hamburgers for you two heroes saving the Earth right now."
"Come downstairs and see for yourself first, Potts. I guarantee it'll open your eyes."
Tony spoke smugly over the phone.
Then, with a beep, the call ended.
Pepper put down her phone and shook her head helplessly.
She glanced at the clock. It was still early.
There weren't any new reporters bothering her right now anyway.
She decided to go downstairs first and see what the two bastards were up to.
Whenever they said they were going to do something that would shock the world, it usually came with enormous trouble.
Pepper put on her slippers and entered a spiral staircase at the edge of the living room that led to the underground lab.
The villa's basement was actually a private high-tech lab that Tony and Luca had built for themselves.
It was enormous, filled with advanced equipment and instruments unlike anything seen in the outside world.
As soon as she walked down the stairs,
a heated argument reached her ears.
"That thing is going to kill you, Tony! It's completely unstable!"
That was Luca's voice.
He sounded serious, with none of his usual irreverence.
Then came Tony's stubborn, clearly defiant reply.
"Shut up, Luca! I know exactly what condition my body is in! I don't need you examining me with your perverted eyes!"
"And I'm Tony Stark! I'm a genius! There's nothing in the world I can't overcome! I'll find a way to solve it! It's only a matter of time!"
Hearing their conversation, Pepper stopped.
She frowned, utterly confused.
That thing?
What thing was going to kill Tony? What on earth were they arguing about?
Pepper didn't dwell on it. She pushed open the lab's glass door and teased them with a smile.
"Oh? Who's arguing? What magical thing could possibly stump our great genius inventor, Mr. Tony Stark?"
At the sound of Pepper's voice, the two brothers, who had been standing face-to-face in confrontation, instantly stopped.
When Tony saw Pepper, his expression grew somewhat complicated and stiff.
A flicker of panic crossed his eyes, but he hid it well and quickly composed himself.
Clearly, Pepper absolutely couldn't be allowed to hear what they had just been discussing. He didn't want her to worry about him.
Tony immediately put on a relaxed smile and took a couple of steps forward.
"You must have misheard, Potts."
"Did you sleep badly last night and start hearing things? There's nothing in this world that can stump Tony Stark! Absolutely nothing!"
"We were just discussing which brand of ketchup tastes better."
Luca shook his head helplessly.
He knew very well that the core of the reactor in Tony's chest was made of palladium.
As the palladium released energy, it also continuously released toxins into Tony's bloodstream.
This was chronic poisoning.
If they couldn't find a replacement new element before the toxin concentration reached a lethal level, Tony would die.
Luca had just wanted to use his biological agent to help Tony slow the spread of the toxins.
But Tony, the stubborn, prideful fool, insisted that he could find a new element using his own scientific brain.
That was how the argument had started.
But seeing Tony's reaction now, Luca understood that he didn't want Pepper to worry.
After all, they had just been through a life-and-death ordeal.
If they told Pepper now that Tony was dying, she would probably break down on the spot.
That was the kind of person his older brother was: arrogant and awkward.
The more he cared about someone, the more he preferred to bear his pain alone.
So Luca didn't pursue the subject any further.
"That's right, Pepper, you misheard. Come over here. We'll show you something that'll shock the whole world."
Luca's words successfully piqued Pepper's curiosity.
She walked over to the two of them, curiously examining the various glowing instruments around her.
"What is it? Have you invented another new kind of delay pill that you're planning to put on the market?"
Tony took the opportunity to return to the console and quickly tap a few keys.
"This is much more interesting than those boring pills. JARVIS, are the scan results ready?"
The next second,
a gentle, thoroughly gentlemanly voice immediately sounded throughout the lab.
"The results were fully available two minutes ago, sir."
The voice of the intelligent butler JARVIS was very steady.
"Also, good morning, Miss Potts. It's a pleasure to see you."
Pepper smiled and greeted the camera suspended in midair.
"Good morning, JARVIS."
Then Tony snapped his fingers.
"Very good, JARVIS. Project the report and model you just generated. Let's open our assistant's eyes."
"Right away, sir."
As soon as he finished speaking,
the holographic projector in the center of the lab lit up blue.
Beams of light moved rapidly through the air, soon coming together to form a huge three-dimensional human model.
The model was unmistakably a body scan of Luca Stark.
Tony raised his head and studied the final data that had just appeared in midair.
He couldn't help smacking his lips and making a strange sound of amazement.
"For God's sake. This guy is a monster wearing human skin."
Tony's reaction made Pepper even more curious.
The three of them looked at the holographic projection together.
Beside the human model was some basic data.
[Test subject: Luca Stark.] [Height: 191 cm.] [Weight: unknown.]