Though Tony's declaration was indeed rousing, even impassioned,
Pepper wasn't left speechless by his arrogance as she usually was.
Instead, her eyes remained fixed on the suit of armor in the display case.
She was a smart woman, and she was also the de facto head manager of Stark Industries.
When Tony said it was a personal suit of armor and wouldn't be sold to outsiders, Pepper understood.
True, the armor was too dangerous to sell indiscriminately to the military or anyone else.
But what about the underlying technology?
What if, instead of making combat armor, they used the technology to invent similar civilian robots?!
For example, rescue robots that could take humans' places in dangerous jobs?
Or ordinary housekeeping robots that could enter homes everywhere?
Or even advanced medical robots that required extremely high precision?!
Pepper's breathing grew rapid. The more she thought about it, the brighter her eyes shone, until they had practically turned into dollar signs.
This was a perfectly viable path!
And it was a path no one in the world had ever taken before!
Once Stark Industries announced its entry into the civilian intelligent robotics sector, it would undoubtedly spark a technological revolution that would change the way people lived!
When that happened, the plummeting stock would surely make a spectacular comeback!
No! It would rise even higher than before!
This was wonderful news!
At the thought, the worry vanished from Pepper's face, and she couldn't help laughing.
"My God, Tony, you really are a genius who never ceases to surprise me! This technology is amazing. It can definitely save the company's stock."
Hearing Pepper's praise, Tony lifted his chin and accepted it without hesitation.
"Potts, there's no need to be so surprised. I've always been like this. A genius's mind is always full of ideas that can change the world. For me, this is just business as usual."
Luca, however, had no intention of indulging his smugness.
"Give it a rest, Tony. Stop admiring yourself."
Then Luca pointed at the armor and began airing his complaints, his face full of disdain.
"I told you this morning to spray-paint the tin black, or some other color that looked a little more refined. But you just wouldn't listen!"
"Look at it. It's shiny silver from head to toe."
"Do you think this is a Transformers set? Or are you trying to package yourself as an oversized stainless-steel soda can?"
The moment Tony heard Luca belittle his work of art, he took offense.
What a joke. He would never allow anyone to question his taste.
Though the real reason was that he hadn't figured out a color scheme.
"What do you know?! Black is too monotonous. It would look like an honor guard at a funeral! It doesn't suit my style at all!"
"I'm Tony Stark! I want to be the most dazzling person in the room. I want the whole world's eyes on me!"
"If Iron Man didn't have a cool, dazzling suit of armor, how could he live up to my status?!"
At that, Tony glanced at Luca and curled his lip.
"Only someone like you, with no artistic sense and no eye for beauty, would like boring, monotonous black."
"So I don't have any hopes for the armor you're going to show us later. It'll definitely be too ugly to look at."
Tony spread his hands and put on a look of profound dismay.
"If we hadn't upgraded JARVIS's core systems and working capabilities together last year, allowing him to operate all kinds of machines automatically... No, no, I shouldn't put it that way."
Tony shook his head and corrected himself.
"I should say, if JARVIS weren't such a polite artificial intelligence, he wouldn't be able to resist jumping out and tearing your terrible taste to shreds!"
Luca was just about to fire back.
But before he could speak, JARVIS's calm voice came through.
"Sir, if I may be frank. According to information collected from the internet, rankings of the world's most popular colors indicate that black appears to be the public's favorite, representing mystery and composure."
JARVIS paused, then thoughtfully dealt another blow.
"Therefore, from the perspective of big data analysis, there is nothing wrong with Mr. Luca's taste."
Luca burst out laughing as soon as he heard that.
He immediately gave JARVIS a thumbs-up and praised him.
"Well done, JARVIS! That's scientific data!"
Then Luca looked at Tony's darkened face and couldn't resist a mocking remark.
"Did you hear that, Tony? Even the artificial intelligence you wrote yourself thinks your taste is outdated. Admit it, your armor is just a glowing toy!"
Tony's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Furious, he pointed at the camera and shouted a threat.
"JARVIS! Whose side are you on?! Looks like I'll have to reduce your computing power to the lowest level tonight! You'll only be able to calculate how to play Minesweeper!"
Luca immediately mocked him again.
"Wow, angry because you're embarrassed? The richest man in the world has actually started bullying an artificial intelligence. Now that's big news."
The two traded barbs, and it looked as though another round of arguing was about to begin.
But Pepper couldn't take it anymore and hurriedly shouted for them to stop.
"Wait! Wait!"
"I haven't even caught up yet. What are you two talking about? What Iron Man? What armor? Did Luca make a suit of this... armor too?"
Pepper pointed at the display case, unsure for the moment how to describe the thing.
After all, she didn't know whether to call it a suit of armor or a suit of plate armor.
So she let out a long sigh and said helplessly,
"For God's sake. How many crazy decisions have you two made behind my back?!"
At Pepper's question, Luca and Tony exchanged a glance, then both broke into smiles.
Luca shrugged and stepped aside.
"Come on, this is your moment in the spotlight. You tell her."
Tony didn't hesitate.
He straightened his collar and gave Pepper a confident smile.
"You heard right, Potts."
"I've made a decision. Starting today, I'm going to become the greatest superhero in the world!"
"You can call me Iron Man!"
Pepper: ???
A superhero?!
Are you all right, Tony?!
Seeing Pepper's bewildered expression, Tony felt a slight twinge of embarrassment.
He cleared his throat, trying to make it sound a little more reasonable.
"Ahem... To put it simply, that's how it is. Luca and I made a joint decision last night."
"Starting today, we're this world's brand-new superheroes! That's right, superheroes in the literal sense. Like Captain America."
Tony pointed at himself.
"To make it easier for the public to address me, I've given myself the nickname Iron Man. It's a really cool name, right?"
"And as for Luca..."
Tony frowned and gave it some serious thought.
"He can shoot energy and fly... How about Flash Boy? Or Human Flashlight?"
Clearly, Tony hadn't settled on a suitable nickname yet.
He looked at Pepper again and spread his hands.
"Anyway, that's the situation. Do you understand, Potts?"
Luca rolled his eyes as he listened, utterly speechless.
"To hell with Flash Boy! I don't need a flashy nickname. I'm Luca Stark, and I'm myself."
"And about the name Iron Man, I still have to give you a hard time about it. It's so old-fashioned. It sounds like someone who works at a scrapyard."
By now, however, Pepper was no longer taking in their argument about nicknames.
She was utterly bewildered.
How could she put it...
Did you know what it felt like when two capitalists worth hundreds of billions told you they wanted to become superheroes like Captain America?!
WTF!
Did that make any sense?!
It was utterly ridiculous!
But seeing the serious look in Tony's eyes and Luca's matter-of-fact expression,
Pepper understood that these two lunatics definitely weren't joking. They were serious!
Helplessly, she pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling as though her head were splitting.
"Tony, are you serious?"
"Captain America has been gone for more than half a century, and it really has been a long time since anyone like him appeared in this world."
"But are you going to put on tights and become a circus promotional performer like him too?"
The two were a little embarrassed and said nothing for a moment.
Pepper sighed and continued questioning them loudly.
"And you say you're going to be superheroes? Then tell me, what are you going to do?"
"Are you going to fly around patrolling the skies every day? Or be good Samaritans who help little old ladies cross the street on schedule every day? Don't tell me you're going to catch thieves who snatch wallets on the street?"
The two still said nothing.
Pepper could only shake her head, somewhat speechless.
"Listen, you Starks. The world is complicated, and it's realistic. The world doesn't need superheroes! You'll only bring endless trouble on yourselves!"
Though Pepper's earnest words were discouraging, the two knew she cared about them.
So Luca smiled happily.
But he felt it was necessary to explain their objective.
"Potts, my dear sister, that's where you misunderstand."
Luca walked over to Pepper, the joking look leaving his face as his gaze grew profound.
"How could we possibly become boring superheroes? Help little old ladies cross the street? Catch thieves? That only happens in fairy tales."
"All we're going to do is create an image of someone people admire. To be precise, this isn't about saving the world at all. It's a business strategy of ours!"
Pepper froze for a moment, unable to quite follow.
"A strategy? What do you mean?"
Luca smiled and patiently explained.
"First of all, our stock has been plummeting."
"So besides developing our business, we also need to make use of the superhero identity and the halo that comes with it."
Luca walked over to the display case and patted the glass.
"I believe you've already guessed about the intelligent robot project. That's right, Tony and I have made a decision. From now on, aside from the pharmaceutical department continuing to develop new drugs,"
"the parent company will shift its entire focus to launching clean energy and intelligent robot projects."
Pepper had been following along just fine, but suddenly she was dumbfounded again.
"Wait, I understand intelligent robots. But what is this clean energy? The company has never been involved in that kind of business before."
Luca said nothing and instead pointed at Tony's chest.
Pepper followed Luca's pointing finger, and then her mouth fell open in surprise.
"You mean... that thing keeping you alive?"
Tony cut in, his face full of pride.
"That's right, Potts. The reactor does more than just keep the shrapnel in my body in place. It's a truly limitless, pollution-free source of clean energy!"
"It uses cold fusion to produce an unimaginable amount of electricity in an extremely small volume."
"Do you understand what that means? If we scaled it up and built a large Arc Reactor, it could even provide enough electricity to power all of Los Angeles for an entire year!"