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"Hey, Stark? What's up?"
Dan stood in a pile of rubble as he answered Stark's call.
Through the video feed, Stark paused when he saw the wreckage behind Dan and couldn't help but comment.
"When did you guys switch careers to demolition? With those suits of yours, I bet no demolition company can compete anymore."
Dan frowned.
"Cut the crap. This used to be a vampire lab. We wiped out the vamps and took the lab down with them. Now, what do you want?"
Stark stroked his goatee, speaking lazily.
"What, can't a guy call his business partner for a quick chat? I'm just checking in, you know, like partners do."
Dan's brow furrowed. This guy really hadn't changed much since before that whole Afghanistan mess.
"Yeah, well, thanks for the concern. If that's all, I'm hanging up. We found some stuff in this lab that needs looking into. Oh, and can I trouble you to handle the fallout from this company's 'explosion'? Buying out some no-name biotech firm shouldn't be a big deal for you, partner."
He stressed the word partner, clearly with a smirk, and reached to hang up.
Seeing Dan about to end the call, Stark quickly dropped the jokey attitude.
"Hey, wait—don't hang up. I'm serious now. I found Blood Lake."
"You found Blood Lake?!"
Dan immediately tensed up.
"Yeah. I had J.A.R.V.I.S. keep tabs on a few corrupt officials' movements. One thing led to another, and we traced them to a shady location. After confirming, I'm pretty sure that's the place we've been searching for all this time. Also…"
"Also what?"
"Well, from the looks of it, they already went through with at least one ascension ritual. From what I found, several of those officials have replaced their entire household staff recently. The old staff? Never showed up again. So I'm guessing…"
Listening to Stark, Dan clenched his fists. His knuckles cracked.
"Got it. Erik and I will deal with Blood Lake ASAP. Really, thank you."
Seeing Dan's serious reaction, Stark let out a sigh of relief and slipped back into his usual nonchalant tone.
"Hey, buddy. I did my part. Now don't you think it's your turn to help me with a little something?"
Dan noticed the sketchy smile on Stark's face and spotted the scattered pieces of armor and a red belt behind him. His eye twitched.
"We'll talk about it later. I've got stuff to handle right now. And don't forget to clean up the mess with that biotech company."
With that, Dan hung up.
"What's wrong, Dan? You look jumpy,"
Erik asked, walking out of the wrecked lab after finishing up inside.
"Ahem, it's nothing. Stark found Blood Lake."
"Blood Lake?!"
Erik immediately went stiff.
"Are you serious? Where?"
"We'll talk at base. Not here."
Dan motioned for Erik to follow and led the way out of the basement.
In the car, Dan couldn't help but feel a chill. He had only known Stark for a few days, and the guy already built a transformation belt?! If he's given more time, would there even be anything left for Dan and Erik to do?
Also… was Stark's whole style drifting off-course?
Dan replayed all his mental images of Iron Man. None of those suits ever transformed with a belt, right?
"Damn it, what's with this version of Iron Man? He's getting weirder by the day."
At Stark Industries, Tony was sitting at his workbench, obsessively studying the transformation belt and his armor.
"What exactly is missing?"
While thinking, he pulled out blueprints he'd drawn from memory—designs for Drive and Ixa.
After a long time, he let out a heavy sigh and flopped back into his chair.
"It's still not enough data…"
He kept trying to recall everything he'd seen back at the Clauren Estate—the two riders, Drive and Ixa.
"Nope, still not enough. If I want to go further with this, I need more data."
Suddenly, a bold idea struck him. He turned to glance at the map beside him, and sure enough, Blood Lake's coordinates were clearly marked.
"Tony!"
Just as Stark was deep in thought, someone interrupted him.
"Hey, Potts! Can't you see I'm working here? What's got you all worked up?"
With messy hair and dark circles under his eyes, Stark turned to look at Pepper Potts, who had just stormed into his lab.
Potts stared at Stark with disapproval.
"Tony, I heard you had J.A.R.V.I.S. stop funding for Ohana and more than a dozen other companies. Why? I need an explanation. You do realize who's behind those companies, right?"
"Corrupt officials? Greedy tycoons? So what? Since when do I, Tony Stark, give a damn?"
Tony was full of disdain.
"Tony, it's not about fear. Those people are major political players. Offending them could cause serious trouble for Stark Industries."
Pepper kept trying to talk sense into him. She couldn't understand why Tony—who rarely even got involved in company affairs—suddenly pulled support from a dozen firms.
"Heh."
Tony let out a cold laugh.
"Trouble? As long as Stark Industries has me, trouble becomes opportunity. Because I'm Tony Stark—the genius of all geniuses."
Arrogant as ever—but that's just who Tony was.
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, and his bravado dimmed a bit.
"At the very least, he doesn't have a company like mine. Yup, definitely doesn't."
"Huh?"
Pepper gave him a confused look. With a sigh, she calmly said:
"Enough, Tony. Can you please just tell me what's really going on? The board needs a clear explanation. This is more complicated than you think. There are a lot of moving parts behind this."
Stark looked at her silently for a moment before finally replying.
"Pepper… do you remember those guys who threatened you last time?"
She froze, her face going pale.
"You mean… the vampires?!"
Stark nodded.
He pulled up the intel he had gathered and laid everything out for her to see.
"They've already been turned. If I keep sponsoring them, it's like I'm funding monsters. Now do you get it?"
"....."