"Instead of constantly being on guard against a possible sudden attack, it's better to lure this Elsa out and completely eliminate the threat." Pepper nodded in agreement with Nick Fury's idea and said this to Tony.
Seeing the concern on Pepper's face, Tony nodded as well.
So Tony and Pepper decided to hold a grand banquet under the pretext of celebrating Stark Industries' great success in entering the energy sector, and at the same time release the news that Tony Stark himself would attend.
Nick Fury arranged for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Frank to set up an ambush in advance. If Elsa's target was Tony, she would definitely not miss this opportunity.
...
"Pepper, you don't need to go, right? No one can predict what dangerous situation might occur," Tony tried to persuade Pepper in the villa.
After discussing the plan with Nick, Tony had originally intended to modify and tune his armor to deal with any possible crisis.
However, Pepper insisted that as the current CEO of Stark Industries, she also had to attend the celebratory banquet.
Tony naturally tried his best to stop her, hoping she would give up the idea.
But Pepper believed that if she, as the CEO of Stark Industries, did not appear at such a banquet related to future strategy, it would instead seem abnormal and might expose a flaw.
Tony knew that once Pepper had made up her mind, she wouldn't change it easily, so he stopped insisting. Since the target was likely himself, as long as he was careful, it probably wouldn't involve Pepper.
"But the development of the new armor needs to be accelerated, and the armor system's performance needs to be upgraded. Otherwise it'll be hard to deal with these strange things with all kinds of special abilities.
First the Bugster Virus, and now the Gaia Memories.
These inexplicably emerging dangerous troubles are really becoming more and more common…" Tony muttered irritably.
"Gaia Memories are not some strange things, but the key to human evolution."
A strange voice suddenly appeared in the laboratory that should have contained only Tony.
Tony was instantly startled and turned toward the sound, seeing a mysterious person fully clad in sleek white armor who had appeared at some unknown time, quietly looking at him.
A trace of surprise flashed across Tony's face as he asked, "Who are you? How did you get in here? And what did you mean by what you just said? What exactly are Gaia Memories?"
Dan in his Eternal form, smiled lightly and introduced himself:
"You may call me Eternal.
As for Gaia Memories, the related Museum Project is one of Foundation X's major development projects. They are carriers for the materialized information of Earth's memory factors, allowing users to obtain powerful abilities corresponding to the concepts stored in the Memory.
Of course, the most important part is that humans with sufficient aptitude and a suitable Memory can resonate with it and undergo co-evolution.
That is also the final goal of the Museum Project."
"Foundation X!" Tony exclaimed.
"You've heard of it?" Dan asked with faint surprise, though he clearly already knew.
Tony's expression grew serious. "The Bugster Virus is also related to your Foundation X, isn't it?"
Dan nodded. "I see. The Bugster Virus is indeed one of the projects as well, though it does not belong to the same series as the Gaia Memories.
As the person in charge of the Gaia Memory Project, I actually don't know very much about it."
Tony was secretly shocked by the unfathomable depth of the Foundation, but outwardly he showed little reaction, snorting disdainfully.
"If Gaia Memories are tools that allow human evolution as you say, then why do they cause negative mental effects and even loss of control in users?
Or is it that you're just trying to turn them into weapons?"
"Any great invention that changes the world must go through enough experimentation and trial-and-error before success in order to find the right path."
Dan chuckled and shook his head meaningfully.
"As a world-class physicist and engineer and inventor, you should understand this very well."
Tony narrowed his eyes slightly. "So the Gaia Memory users appearing in New York right now are your experimental subjects? You're using living people for experiments?"
Dan Dao Yi shrugged noncommittally. "That's their own choice. The Foundation never uses violence or coercion — it's all voluntary.
They want to obtain power, so they purchase Gaia Memories.
As for the cases of losing control, that's due to their own negative emotions triggering the Memory's reactions.
If the user has sufficient aptitude, they can completely control the Gaia Memory's power and use it for themselves."
"And in order to prevent Gaia Memory users from completely losing control and going berserk, we also created the Gaia Memory Rider System and distributed it to suitable users to destroy fully out-of-control Gaia Memories and retrieve the Earth's memory information inside them.
After a Rider destroys a Gaia Memory, the user can return to normal. Aside from being weak for a period of time, there are no other negative effects.
As for this Rider, you've already seen him — he's the Accel who helped you escape danger at Stark Industries headquarters."
Tony's eyes flickered as he sneered faintly. "You came to me and told me all this. What's your purpose?"
Dan placed a briefcase on the table, opened it, and said, "Because I've seen your potential — the potential to evolve a Gaia Memory.
So I came to give you this Memory."
Tony froze for a moment, not expecting someone to come just to give him something.
But he quickly reacted, raising his head and saying, "I don't care what your true goal is, but I have absolutely no need for a Gaia Memory.
With my own talent, I can build armor capable of dealing with any situation."
Dan smiled mysteriously. "Don't reject it so quickly. You're currently being targeted by a runaway Gaia Memory user. You may very well need this Memory later.
And this Memory is absolutely suited for you. It can double the effectiveness of your talent. Once you try using it, you'll understand."
"Oh right — I'll tell you its name. This Memory is called 'Machine.'"
With that, Dan Dao Yi waved at Tony and vanished directly from the laboratory.
The Machine Memory was a Gaia Memory designed specifically for Tony Stark. Like Dr. Banner's Anger Memory, the user's own special talent allows the Memory to break through and upgrade.
Once Tony uses the Machine Memory, all the machines and mechanical creations he makes afterward will become part of the Memory's recorded information, allowing the Machine Memory to continuously evolve.
"JARVIS, how did that guy leave?" Tony asked, staring at where Dan had disappeared.
JARVIS immediately replied, "Sir, both his method of entry and departure are beyond my detection range. It was most likely direct spatial transfer."
Tony nodded silently, staring at the Machine Memory inside the briefcase with a complicated expression.
Tony could indeed faintly feel a strange kind of call from the Machine Memory toward him.
(End of Chapter)