Chapter 17: Someone Wants to Kill You
2022-10-19 Author: Great Demon Spirit
After a solid night's sleep in the house, Tony began to clean the house. He didn't even need to think to know that this house was undefended for many people; they could come and go as they pleased, and who knew how many cameras had been installed.
Otherwise, how did the X-Men manage to put that letter on the table inside?
Tony spread the Allspark outwards in all directions, without holding back. He wondered if it was his imagination, but the stinging pain in his head felt much less severe than before.
This made Tony very happy, indicating that he was continuously recovering; though slow, it was a steady recovery.
Having experienced the might of Level Four, operating at Level Three always felt restrictive, even though his Level Three Combat Power surpassed many legitimate Level Three Mutants.
Mysterious Allspark particles slowly spread, permeating every corner inside and outside the house, locating many hidden technological devices.
These were surveillance devices planted by various organizations and agencies, perhaps from the Council, perhaps from the Brotherhood of Mutants, perhaps from S.H.I.E.L.D. But who they belonged to didn't matter, because they all became junk, saturated and ruined by the Allspark.
Pondering for a moment, Tony dug out several watches from home and put them all on his wrists. He then took out the phone from his pocket that some unknown faction had thrown at him, found that no one had contacted him, and simply modified it along with the others, since it could still retain its communication function even after transformation.
Tony finally had time to systematically plan and organize his Combat Power.
Currently, the only thing he could truly rely on was Optimus Prime. Although Tony hadn't slackened in strengthening Optimus Prime, the materials obtained from the Brotherhood of Mutants were insufficient, only allowing for a 50% to 70% enhancement of defensive power on the original basis. The increase was limited; the rest would have to be continually repaired during battle.
Thinking about it carefully now, in the battle against Abomination, if it weren't for that beast, Hulk, zeroing in on Abomination and launching a two-on-one assault, Tony alone would truly not have been a match in a one-on-one fight.
He was powerless to do anything about Adamantium and Vibranium right now, unless he found a large company to plan and forge them, specifically creating plates of Armor to cover Optimus Prime's truck form, and exercising caution during transformation, simply using the High-Level metals as Armor, as he still couldn't modify High-Level metals.
What was even worse was that he had no money. Who could he ask to build the Armor?
"Back then, I should have asked Azazel for money, and had them directly deposit tens of millions of dollars into my account, instead of asking for a small amount of insufficient metal and this piece of Vibranium."
Tony took out the Vibranium and stared at it, filled with immense resentment. In his hands, this piece of Vibranium could only serve as a brick; during a fight, when someone wasn't looking, he could smack them with it, and it would look quite formidable.
"Am I really going to use it as a brick?"
Tony's face was filled with worry, feeling like this good item was being wasted. Theoretically, one gram of Vibranium was worth ten thousand dollars on the market, but in reality, it far exceeded that price, because it was virtually impossible to find on the market. Ordinary people couldn't find this metal at all; only major powers and organizations might acquire some.
Wakanda guarded its Vibranium mines too strictly, so strictly that many organizations didn't even know Wakanda had a Vibranium mine.
Therefore, this palm-sized piece alone could fetch an exorbitant price if thrown onto the market.
But Tony himself was drooling over it; how could he be so magnanimous as to just sell it?
To forge Vibranium into a weapon, he would have to find a large company, such as Stark Industries or Wayne Enterprises. Tony desperately needed a personal Armor to protect himself. His biggest weakness now was himself! If a Transformer was destroyed, Tony could raise a new one as long as he had time, but if Tony died, who would raise him?
Only using things like phones and watches to protect himself personally, he truly felt insecure.
This was where the value of this piece of Vibranium became apparent.
"So who should I seek out? Stark? Or Mr. Wayne?" Tony paced back and forth in the room, hands behind his back, feeling somewhat anxious.
That Tony Stark was still living a playboy life; God knows how long it would be until he became Iron Man. For an unknown nobody like him to show up now would be pure self-humiliation. Thinking about the things Stark had done, deceiving sincere scientists like fools, ultimately leading to the birth of the Extremis Virus.
So, go find Wayne?
"Ah, the 'simple and honest folk' of Gotham City..." Tony groaned aloud, his head started aching just thinking about Gotham City. That place was full of eccentrics, and only Mr. Wayne had the energy to dress up as The Bat every day and contend with those lunatics from Arkham, insisting on capturing them alive.
Catch and release, release and catch. The endless joy of human-on-human struggle constituted Batman's daily routine.
"If I went to Gotham City... Mr. Wayne already had a bit of a pure-humanist tendency. I don't know much about him, so if I, a Mutant, went there, would I even be considered human in his eyes? Not to mention Mr. Wayne's somewhat gloomy psychology; even if he approved of me that day, who knows, in a few days he might even have built an Anti-Tony Armor."
Being targeted by the likes of Joker would be an even greater disaster; God knows what those crime enthusiasts would do.
Tony scratched his head, distraught with worry. Was it really so difficult to find a large corporation to help him modify the Vibranium?
Iron Man and Batman were still relatively reliable options. As for places like Hammer Industries and LexCorp, he feared he'd barely set foot inside before he'd be targeted and ambushed.
As for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Tony shook his head even more vigorously. The waters there were too deep. Before Hydra was purged, it was best not to get too close to S.H.I.E.L.D. unless absolutely necessary.
The waters of this world were all too deep, bottomless, and truly terrifying. He could only stir things up during this relatively peaceful period, as it would only get more horrifying later on, not to mention that powerful beings from various eras across the Universe would gradually awaken from their slumber and seals.
Tony pondered for a long time without a result, so he simply went out, got in his car, and drove to the Daily Bugle.
Tony first needed to get some money to pay off a portion of his mortgage. The rest would be for repairing Optimus Prime, and if possible, finding a way to get two decent motorcycles, as Optimus Prime alone couldn't support him.
The meeting went smoothly. Tony went straight to Jameson's office and was warmly welcomed by Jameson. However, when Tony brought up the portrait rights fee, Jameson's face immediately changed. That stingy old man wouldn't part with a single cent, refusing to budge even when facing a Quasi-Level Four Mutant, which was truly something else.
Ultimately, Jameson paid Tony one hundred thousand dollars.
This amount of money left Tony speechless, but it was barely enough, so he grudgingly accepted it. Talking money with that old geezer Jameson was harder than outright killing him.
His only regret was not seeing Spider-Man; he wondered what he was up to.
Tony drove home and sat on the sofa, seriously considering his expenses. Including his existing savings at home and the one million dollars in government compensation, it was already a considerable sum of money.
But paying off the loan in one go would take a good chunk of it. If possible, he also wanted to buy a batch of alloys, at least better than Optimus Prime's original material, but this would require some time.
Buzz!
His phone buzzed. A text message was sent to the phone he'd received from an unknown sender.
The message contained only one sentence: "Someone wants to kill you!"
(end of chapter)