Technology changes lives.
The phrase applied perfectly well to Joey right now, considering he still had not actually made much money.
Apparently, the things he could think of, other people could think of too.
Some clever people across the Pacific had already figured out how to mass-produce diamonds. The stuff simply was not as valuable as it used to be.
"What more do you want?"
Joey and Starfire had just walked out of an underground black-market fencing den somewhere in New York. She honestly felt Joey was being way too greedy.
"You barely moved your hands and got twenty-five thousand dollars in cash."
That really was not Joey's fault.
He knew perfectly well that in this countey, twenty-five grand would barely cover a major diagnostic workup or a minor surgical procedure. Compared to that little girl's medical bills, it was practically nothing.
As Joey calculated the costs in his head, he stuffed the two thick bundles of bills into his pocket. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
He impatiently raked a hand through the hair hanging over his forehead and muttered a dangerously radical thought:
"God, this is annoying. Maybe I should just conquer this country and reform the healthcare system while I'm at it."
Of course, that was only something he could think about.
If he actually tried it, forget everyone else, Tony Stark would probably be the first person to lose his mind at him.
After all, this was Tony's world. Tony's universe.
Joey had come here for help, not to carry on Krypton's traditional line of work.
Besides, conquering and governing were two entirely different problems.
Starfire smiled softly as she held onto Joey's arm, gently trying to comfort him.
"Worst case, we just make a few bigger ones. Now that I understand the principle, I can help too."
She was not joking.
At this point, Starfire herself was basically a miniature star. Tamaranean biology allowed her to generate immense heat, while the Green Lantern ring could create extreme pressure.
"No, too slow."
Joey shook his head.
"The more of these you make, the less they're worth."
His gaze swept across the city until he locked onto the hospital where Flint's daughter was staying.
Then he slowly walked there together with Starfire.
At the very least, the money they had now should keep her afloat for a few days.
Money itself was never really a problem for Joey.
If he absolutely had to, he could always use the most primitive method imaginable: fly into space, smash together a pair of neutron stars, or trigger a supernova and collect the gold afterward.
While Joey was finally beginning to unwind in his own way after days of constant tension, Tony's blood pressure, meanwhile, was skyrocketing.
"I've told you like fifty times already, Calson. I don't know the guy!"
Faced with Coulson's painfully polite interrogation, Tony did not quite feel like throwing him out of his property.
Partly because S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reputation still deserved at least a little respect.
And partly because Tony had always been someone who repaid favors. Back when he had been digging through S.H.I.E.L.D. storage facilities for the remnants of his father's belongings, Coulson had helped him a great deal.
"It's... sigh, forget it."
The exhausted Coulson no longer even wanted to correct Tony's pronunciation anymore. Right now, all he wanted was information on the man in the red cape.
"This genuinely concerns global security, Tony. We know he came to see you after brutally killing Blonsky."
As a former top military contractor, Tony knew plenty of classified information, including the fact that Blonsky had been the human identity of the Abomination.
So that was what this was about.
The moment Tony pieced together the reason for Coulson's visit, he immediately fired back.
"First of all, I'm temporarily choosing not to address the fact that you people have been monitoring my house."
"Second, Blonsky was completely out of control at the time. He was basically a living weapon carrying out indiscriminate attacks in the middle of Manhattan."
Tony's tone rose higher and higher as he spoke.
He had already spent the entire morning dealing with Coulson's nonstop questioning. By now, it was practically noon, and his hangover had completely worn off.
There was no way he was not irritated.
Especially after discovering that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been secretly monitoring visitors to his home.
That alone was enough to make him snap.
If Stark did not show some teeth once in a while, S.H.I.E.L.D. was apparently going to start treating him like Hammer Industries.
"And one last thing."
"Get the fuck out of—"
"Calm down, Tony. Nobody's monitoring your house."
Agent Coulson realized immediately that he had phrased things poorly and given Tony the wrong idea, so he hurried to explain himself.
"That guy in the red cape literally flew straight toward your mansion in broad daylight. Anyone assigned to track him would have seen him enter your house unless they were blind!"
"I'll temporarily accept that explanation."
Coulson's words did not completely convince Tony, but after making such a scene, the agent would probably feel too awkward to continue questioning him about Joey.
Tony knew exactly how S.H.I.E.L.D. operated.
Joey's origins, the crisis in the other universe, everything they were trying to accomplish in this world...
Those were topics S.H.I.E.L.D. absolutely could not be allowed to touch.
The moment any of it leaked, that one-eyed bastard would definitely lose his mind.
Tony raised his wrist and glanced at the watch on it before looking toward Coulson.
"It's almost noon. Want to stay for lunch?"
Coulson smiled politely, clearly hearing the implied dismissal.
"No, thank y—"
BOOM!
Right as Coulson was preparing to excuse himself and leave, a burst of light suddenly erupted in the living room.
A mech appeared out of thin air.
The machine, entirely silver-white with exposed hydraulic systems and electronic wiring running across its body, landed in a kneeling pose—then immediately smashed half the mini-bar beside it to pieces with a thunderous crash.
Coulson stared at the suddenly materialized mech, his eyes full of curiosity.
"Tony, what is this? A new suit of yours?"
"Why does it kind of look like the Terminator?"
The Terminator-like mech slowly rose from its crouched position.
Its glowing red eyes locked onto Tony.
Then it raised the rifle in its hands and aimed directly at him while a dangerous mechanical voice crackled from its speakers:
"Target confirmed—Tony Stark—termination."
"HOLY SHIT!"
Agent Coulson reacted instantly.
The moment the gun barrel lifted, he spun around and tackled Tony to the ground, deliberately exposing his own back to the weapon.
BANG!
The expected gunfire never came.
Instead, there was a dull popping noise that Tony found extremely familiar—exactly like those little party cannons used at celebrations.
Tony looked up.
Sure enough, instead of deadly energy blasts, the Terminator mech's rifle fired sparkling streamers and colorful confetti everywhere.
At that point, Tony finally understood exactly what was going on.
Whoever had sent this Terminator-looking robot was painfully obvious.
After all, there were only two people who had talked to him about The Terminator recently.
"Cyborg, you little son of a—"
While silently cursing Cyborg three thousand times over in his head, Tony struggled with all his might to keep his facial expression under control.
Unfortunately, he still had to deal with Coulson afterward.
"Tony, you need to tell me the truth. What the hell is this Terminator thing?!"
Because the thoroughly startled Coulson had suddenly remembered how the red-caped figure in the surveillance footage had appeared over New York in the first place.
"The way this mech just appeared out of nowhere..."
"It's exactly the same as the red cape guy!"
Caught completely off guard by the sudden teleportation incident happening right in front of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Tony knew it was probably going to be hard to bluff his way out of this one.
His brain immediately started spinning at maximum speed.
"Okay, calm down, Coulson. Let me make something up for you—I mean let me explain."