Why did Zhou Cheng feel that stealing the blueprints from Stan was not a problem at all?"
Tony Stark rested his chin on his hand and began to seriously ponder this question.
The other party had just shown a certain degree of moral bottom line.
He felt that as the protagonist, he should not do something as undignified as stealing or robbing.
But why did he change his attitude when it came to Stan?
What was the difference between stealing something from him and stealing something from Stan?
"It's Stan!"
Soon, Tony Stark arrived at this answer.
Comparing the two cases, there was arguably no difference from beginning to end.
The only difference was the target.
One target was himself, and the other target was Stan.
That was all.
So~
The direct reason for Zhou Cheng's completely different attitudes was Stan!
The logical cause and effect were so obvious that they were laid out before him without even needing analysis.
So the question was.
What exactly did Stan do to make Zhou Cheng treat him differently?
[Forget it, I might as well wash up and go to bed, it's all pointless effort.]
[Even if I get those blueprints, they won't be of much use.]
[After all, the true core, the Arc Reactor, isn't on the blueprints at all; that's the key.]
[Without the reactor, the Iron Man Armor is just a pile of immobile scrap metal, utterly useless.]
[If it was made nicely, you could even buy it back as a toy or something, but the Mark I?]
[I think it can only be sold for scrap metal!]
Heh heh.
A sarcastic smile involuntarily curled at the corner of Tony Stark's mouth.
I told you, you were dreaming.
Are my things something you can just steal or take as you please?
Even if the blueprints were shoved in your face, they'd be useless!
The diary was right, what's the most core thing about the Iron Man Armor?
Undoubtedly, it's the energy source.
If this problem isn't solved, everything is meaningless.
And this core technology, the energy source, is undoubtedly stored in Tony Stark's mind.
However…
Was the energy source used by the Mark Armor actually the Arc Reactor?
There was one of those in Stark Tower, sitting there for who knows how many years.
It was just a display, utterly useless.
But it seemed that the other him had found a way to miniaturize it and successfully used it in the Armor.
"Miniaturizing that big guy to use as an energy source, what a brilliant idea!"
"As expected of me!"
"This is indeed a very promising research direction!"
Tony Stark's eyes lit up again.
[Don't even mention not having the reactor blueprints; even if I did, I couldn't use them!]
[That reactor is deadly!]
[Shi Da Ke almost died in his own Armor, he even prepared for his death.]
[If he hadn't researched a new element at the critical moment, Shi Da Ke would have definitely kicked the bucket!]
The reactor is deadly?
Tony Stark was only slightly startled before he immediately realized.
That's right, the Arc Reactor uses palladium metal!
Palladium is highly toxic to the human body.
If a miniaturized Arc Reactor were truly used to power the Iron Man Armor, used so "close to the body"...
Once or twice would be fine, but over a long period, it would indeed cause poisoning.
And in severe cases, it could indeed lead to death.
But there was a prerequisite: deep poisoning.
This meant that.
The other him wore the Armor too frequently, leading to the worst possible outcome.
"Why?"
"Why didn't he take off the Armor?"
Tony Stark couldn't understand.
Palladium poisoning was indeed potent, but it wasn't unavoidable.
In fact, avoiding it was very simple: just don't wear the Armor, right?
But the other Tony Stark would rather worsen his poisoning day by day, rather sacrifice his life than take off the Armor.
Why, exactly?
Lacking the necessary information, Tony Stark couldn't come up with an answer.
So he simply didn't dwell on it.
Anyway, this wouldn't happen to him again.
Since the other him could synthesize a new element, then he definitely could!
As long as the new element was synthesized, all problems would cease to exist.
It was that simple.
[So Howard was truly amazing, it was as if he could divine the future.]
[He left behind crucial clues so many years ago, guiding Shi Da Ke to synthesize the new element.]
[This led to a 'cross-time rescue,' saving Shi Da Ke's life.]
[You have to admit it, he truly is Shi Da Ke's father!]
So this.
Was this what the diary mentioned earlier, that his father saved his life so many years after dying?
Was this the truth?
This question had lingered in Tony Stark's mind for so long, and the answer was finally revealed at this moment.
But Tony Stark completely disagreed.
This was a joke, wasn't it?
No matter how amazing or incredible his old man was.
How could he still guide him to synthesize a new element years after his death?
That was ridiculous!
Just as Zhou Cheng complained in the diary, could his old man divine the future?
And 'cross-time rescue,' were you writing a novel?
So this matter was actually very clear.
It must have been him, Tony, who, in order to solve the palladium problem, conducted detailed and in-depth research on the Arc Reactor.
Ultimately, relying on his own intelligence, he synthesized the new element.
It had nothing to do with his old man, Howard.
So why did Zhou Cheng, the owner of the diary, say that he was guided by Howard?
Undoubtedly, Zhou Cheng was a fanboy of Howard!
This guy had expressed his admiration for his old man multiple times.
And the Arc Reactor was indeed created by Howard, and some technical data, undoubtedly, were also left by Howard.
Tony Stark succeeded precisely by studying the technical data left by Howard.
Therefore.
That's why Zhou Cheng glorified it as Howard's achievement, right?
In reality, this matter had absolutely nothing to do with Howard.
He, Tony, relied on his own intelligence!
Hmm, it must be like that!
[It was also because of this "cross-time rescue" that Shi Da Ke reconciled with his father.]
[He finally understood that he had misunderstood his father all these years.]
[Howard was not the person he imagined, someone who was indifferent to him.]
[On the contrary, Howard's love for him was extremely profound.]
That Zhou Cheng guy, he really was a fanboy of Howard, wasn't he?
Tony Stark dismissively curled his lips.
Otherwise, why would the other party repeatedly try to clear his father's name?
His own old man, "loved him profoundly"?
Please!
How Howard treated him, wouldn't he, as his son, know clearly?
That guy was very harsh on him, never once said things like "I love you" to him.
In fact, the happiest he ever was, was the day he sent him to boarding school.
This is called profound love?