As Leon himself had said, whether Tony hated him or not didn't really matter.
What Leon wanted from Tony wasn't friendship or gratitude. All he cared about was Tony's attitude. It was nothing more than a matter of personal taste for Leon, a curiosity about how someone like Tony Stark would react when pushed into a corner.
Everything else was irrelevant.
"Now that we've settled that," Leon said calmly as he stood up, "let's deal with the radiation damage in your body."
Tony blinked in surprise.
"You're saying… you can fix that?"
Leon simply curled his lip slightly.
"Don't act like I'm bragging."
He walked over and placed a hand directly on Tony's shoulder.
"Stop wasting time," Leon continued. "Looking at your face, your body's about ready to collapse."
Tony didn't respond.
The comment had hit a little too close to the truth.
Before coming here, he had actually asked Pepper to help cover up his condition with makeup. On the surface he appeared normal, but the reality inside his body was much worse.
Tiny fragments of shrapnel were still embedded throughout his system.
Some pieces were no larger than grains of gravel, but they had spread through his bloodstream and tissues over time. The only reason he was still alive was the electromagnetic device embedded in his chest.
That crude arc reactor wasn't just powering his early suits.
It was acting as a magnet to keep the metal fragments from reaching his heart.
If even one of those shards reached a critical artery, it would be over.
And the shrapnel wasn't even the worst problem.
The real threat was radiation.
During the kidnapping incident, Tony had been exposed to intense radiation sources. The difference in this timeline was that the damage had progressed much faster than expected.
Right now, his body was already approaching systemic failure.
No existing medical technology could remove the fragments embedded throughout his body. Even if surgeons somehow extracted the larger pieces, countless microscopic shards would still remain.
Meanwhile, the radiation poisoning was steadily destroying his organs.
That was the real reason Tony had come to see Leon.
Originally, he only wanted Leon's help developing a new energy source for the next generation of his suit. He believed that with Leon's terrifying intellect combined with his own genius engineering skills, they could design a new arc reactor capable of supporting more advanced armor.
That was the urgent problem he had come here to solve.
But he had never expected Leon to casually mention curing him entirely.
No one wanted to die.
Especially someone like Tony Stark.
There were still too many things he hadn't finished yet. Too many questions left unanswered.
At this moment, Leon had become his only lifeline.
Tony didn't like it.
But he didn't have a choice.
Suddenly, Tony's vision blurred.
The next instant, the world around him changed.
He found himself standing inside a brightly lit laboratory filled with advanced equipment. All around him were machines and instruments arranged in precise order.
In the center of the room stood a large experimental platform.
It resembled a surgical table, but it was clearly far more sophisticated.
"Take off your clothes and lie down," Leon said casually while pointing to the platform. "I'll remove the shrapnel from your body first."
Tony was still processing what had just happened.
The instantaneous relocation had clearly been some kind of teleportation ability.
He glanced at Leon again.
The man's expression was as calm as ever, as though everything happening here was completely ordinary.
Tony clenched his jaw slightly.
He didn't ask any more questions.
His condition had already reached the point where it couldn't be ignored any longer.
If Leon really could fix this, then Tony had no reason to hesitate.
"Svija," Leon said aloud. "Prepare for a modification experiment."
Tony immediately turned his head.
"Wait. Who are you talking to?" he asked. "Who the hell is Svija?"
"Svija is my intelligent assistant," Leon replied.
"Svija?" Tony repeated, narrowing his eyes.
He had already begun connecting the dots.
Leon waved a hand dismissively.
"Stop guessing," he said. "Just lie down and take a nap like you would with Jarvis. When you wake up, the world will feel very different."
Tony's mouth twitched slightly.
He decided not to argue.
Following Leon's instructions, he removed his clothes and lay down on the cold experimental platform.
Leon stood nearby in silence.
Several robotic arms moved into position above the table. Under Svija's control, the machines began disinfecting Tony's entire body.
Soon afterward, the platform's surrounding containment walls rose upward, forming a sealed chamber.
Nutrient solution poured into the trough until Tony's body was fully submerged.
A breathing mask was placed over his nose and mouth.
At that moment, Tony suddenly felt a sharp prick in his neck.
The sensation lasted only an instant.
Then the world around him began spinning.
His consciousness rapidly faded as the sedative took effect.
Within seconds, Tony Stark lost consciousness.
"Sir," Svija said calmly, "which ability should be implanted into Mr. Stark?"
"The healing factor," Leon replied without hesitation. "Calculate the optimal compatibility ratio and begin the procedure."
"Understood, sir."
The healing factor possessed extraordinary regenerative capabilities.
Once Tony received this mutation, the fragments of shrapnel scattered throughout his body would naturally be expelled as his tissues repaired themselves. At the same time, the cellular damage caused by radiation exposure would heal rapidly.
In short, Tony's body would completely regenerate.
Leon folded his arms while observing the preparation process.
He was genuinely curious.
What would Iron Man look like once he possessed superhuman regeneration?
Svija's calculations moved quickly.
After collecting a sample of Tony's DNA, the system began analyzing the best integration strategy.
Within five minutes, the program had already selected the optimal injection method.
Leon didn't need to intervene.
He simply stood quietly and watched as the experiment began.
.....
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