Chapter 73: Tony’s Last Pride
"I didn’t expect you to be the one waiting for me here."
"Don’t tell me you want your broken armor back."
After getting off the plane, Orion Cross had not expected the first person he saw to be Tony.
"I wasn’t stupidly waiting here the whole time. I already held a press conference earlier and even ate a cheeseburger while I was at it."
Tony immediately denied it outright.
"Yes, and at that press conference, you directly admitted that you were the ’tin can’ that appeared on the Middle Eastern battlefield."
Pepper rolled her eyes from the side.
"No, no, no. That’s Iron Man. Although the thing is made of titanium alloy, the name is indeed pretty good."
Tony naturally knew Pepper was worried about his safety, but ever since he learned that there were countless victims who had lost their families just like Wanda and Pietro, he had already made up his mind to do something. Besides, hiding things in front of the media? That did not really seem like his style.
"All right. If you have something to say, hurry up. I want to go home, take a shower, and sleep."
Orion Cross exhaled a breath of cold air, yawned, and spoke.
"Don’t be like that. During the press conference just now, I helped cover for you. Those reporters didn’t dig even half a word out of my mouth."
"Do you know what they called you?"
"A combination of a Kryptonian and Wonder Woman. It nearly killed me laughing!"
As Tony spoke, he remembered the questions those reporters had asked earlier and could not help laughing out loud. Just as the DC world had Marvel comics, the Marvel world also had DC comics, though they only had rough storylines and had not deeply explored the characters.
"Good. When I get the chance, I’ll find a Kryptonian to beat you up. I hope you can develop kryptonite armor by then."
Orion Cross looked at Tony laughing and spoke faintly.
"Uh?! I was just joking. There isn’t really a world out there with Kryptonians, is there?"
Tony’s smile suddenly stiffened. He abruptly remembered that Orion Cross’s main ability was not shields or super strength, but crossing dimensions. If Orion Cross really brought over a Kryptonian, Tony would not be able to withstand it. After all, this world did not have kryptonite. How was he supposed to counter Superman?
"Who knows? Maybe the Kryptonian I find will be Superman’s older cousin, the kind who wears a short skirt and black stockings."
Orion Cross shrugged and spoke casually.
"Oh, don’t do this to me. I’ve already sworn to turn over a new leaf."
Hearing Orion Cross’s words, Tony felt a headache coming on and hurriedly held Pepper’s hand beside him. After everything he had experienced, he no longer had the heart to keep drifting through life as a playboy.
"So your serious business is announcing your relationship with Miss Pepper? Then I’m leaving."
Seeing the two of them like that, Orion Cross instantly felt a headache. Why should he stay here and be a third wheel?
"Wait. Do you still remember what you said before about starting a company?"
Seeing that Orion Cross was about to leave, Tony hurriedly let go of Pepper’s hand, chased after him, and said, "I’ll fully support you with manpower and funding, but I want twenty percent of the shares."
"You should understand that if I truly want to develop, there will be no upper limit."
Orion Cross looked into Tony’s eyes as he spoke. If any other person in the world today were discussing a business partnership with Tony Stark, they would immediately agree to such terms. But Orion Cross was different. He could travel between different dimensions, which meant he was destined to produce countless monopolized products.
"Yes. So out of that twenty percent, five percent is compensation from me to the siblings. The remaining ten percent will be split equally between Pepper and me..."
"And the final five percent of the profits will all be injected into the new Stark Charity Foundation I’m establishing."
As Tony said the last part, he lowered his voice and leaned close to Orion Cross’s ear. "If I die, my five percent will all be inherited by Pepper."
"You’re already drinking vegetable juice this early?"
"How did you know?"
Tony raised his head in shock. He had only discovered today, after being violently beaten by Wanda and Pietro and having Jarvis check his body, that palladium was constantly corroding his body. If he continued using the Arc Reactor, there was a very high chance he would suffer heavy metal poisoning in a few months and die suddenly.
"From the moment I knew what your reactor was made of, I guessed this day would come. I just didn’t expect it to come so soon. I thought you’d continue messing around for a while longer. Metallic palladium has low toxicity if ingested orally, but high toxicity if injected intravenously. To be honest, you don’t have to use this. If you’re afraid of dying, why not switch back to the electromagnet Yinsen made for you before?"
Orion Cross tapped the reactor on Tony’s chest as he spoke.
"You want me to be like I was in that cave, carrying an electromagnet around to attend parties, press conferences, and meet reporters?"
"And let the whole world know that Tony Stark is a useless cripple who can’t survive without a machine?"
Tony smiled and shook his head. "I’d rather die."
"What do you mean you’d rather die?"
Pepper walked over in confusion and looked at the two of them.
"Uh, Orion said I should drink less from now on, and I said I’d rather die."
Tony was startled. His emotions had surged just now, and he had completely forgotten that Pepper was right beside them, so he hurriedly explained.
"You really should drink less. When we get back, I’m throwing out your entire collection."
Pepper nodded in deep agreement.
"Don’t throw it away. Waste is shameful. Send it to my house instead."
Orion Cross smiled and spoke.
"Fine."
Pepper nodded and agreed.
Tony looked at the two of them in shock as they decided the new owner of his precious wine collection just like that.
"All right. I’m going back."
Orion Cross patted Tony on the shoulder. "If you really still want to continue living your life, then you can go find those agents and ask their boss for your father’s inheritance."
After saying that, Orion Cross turned and left, getting into a taxi. He did not ask Tony again whether he had any thoughts about the Hextech energy core. When Tony returned the Hextech core to him, Orion Cross had already understood that Tony was unwilling to place control over his own life in someone else’s hands.
Indeed, the Hextech core could replace the palladium Arc Reactor, and the magical power within it could even produce even more miraculous effects. But the energy of the Hextech core was also limited. If Tony wanted to obtain a new one, he would have to rely on Orion Cross’s dimensional travel to reach that world where technology and magic coexisted. That meant, in a certain sense, Tony Stark would become a domesticated dog.
Even if Orion Cross had no such intention, what if one day Orion Cross had something to deal with and could not travel to that dimension? What if war broke out in that dimension and the city was destroyed? Then Tony Stark’s life would immediately end like a joke.
IF YOU WANT TO READ 60+ ADVANCED ChapterS HEAD OVER TO PATREON https://patreon.com/AniForge058