At a glance, Fang Yuan looked like a playboy. He didn't refuse any of the women who approached him, and soon his hands were filled with napkins covered in the contact information of beauties.
However, after scanning the room, his gaze locked onto a woman in a red dress.
The dress she wore perfectly accentuated her figure.
Curvy—that was the key point.
Although she was a bit lacking in height, her face and figure more than made up for it.
Fang Yuan walked up, raised his glass, and took the initiative to greet her.
"Fang Yuan."
Hearing his self-introduction, the beauty's expression changed slightly before immediately returning to normal. Had Fang Yuan's reactions not been at a superhuman level, he might not have noticed.
As expected of the Black Widow.
That's right, this beauty was the top S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, Natasha Romanoff.
She was acting under the orders of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick 'Baldy Motherfucker' Fury to go undercover near Tony Stark.
Black Widow had two tasks: first, to monitor Tony's physical condition to prevent Iron Man from dropping dead just as he started.
Second, to evaluate Tony's psychological state.
Forming the Avengers was an idea Nick Fury had for a long time, and now he had finally decided to implement it.
Tony Stark was the son of a S.H.I.E.L.D. founder and had now become a Superhero. He was practically 'pure-blooded' for the cause, making him naturally one of Fury's targets.
"Natalie Rushman."
Natasha said her alias with a smile, her heartbeat perfectly controlled.
But Fang Yuan had already sensed that she recognized him.
As a top Agent, gathering intelligence on targets before an operation was the most basic of basics, especially since this mission involved a S.H.I.E.L.D. founder.
After learning Tony was ill, Fury had actually had S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists secretly look for a solution, but like Tony, they could only find ways to alleviate it, not cure it.
To find a permanent cure, one had to start at the source. So Fury dug up Howard's old files to see if the inventor of the Arc Reactor had left any clues.
Natasha had naturally read through them, even files from the very beginning of S.H.I.E.L.D. As a mutual friend of Captain America and Howard, Fang Yuan might not have been famous to the public, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had records of him.
There were both written records and video recordings. After all, while Fang Yuan hadn't appeared often in the past, he hadn't deliberately hidden himself either.
A Chinese face appearing in such records was quite distinctive, so Natasha had an initial impression of Fang Yuan and remembered everything the moment she saw him.
How could she not be surprised when a man who had disappeared for 65 years suddenly appeared before her?
If looking alike was one possible explanation, having the exact same name made it impossible to dismiss as a coincidence.
Fortunately, as an experienced Agent, Natasha's emergency response was top-tier, so she simply gave Fang Yuan a slight smile.
Truth be told, although Natasha had some 'flaws' like her height or freckles, the charm in her face was incredibly alluring, enough to smooth over any other shortcomings.
Neither Raven, the White Queen, nor Starlight had quite the same flavor as Natasha.
No wonder Durant wanted to drink her bathwater.
"What can I do for you, sir?"
Natalie asked softly, perfectly playing the role of an urban beauty.
"I'd like to have dinner with you, of course." Fang Yuan threw a straight ball the whole way.
"Hmm?"
Natalie raised an eyebrow at the slips of paper in Fang Yuan's hand. Seeing this, Fang Yuan had an epiphany and immediately took all the contact info from those other beauties and... stuffed them all into his pocket.
A few of them were quite good-looking; it would be a waste.
Natalie's smile stiffened slightly. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't he try to hide it a little when flirting with her?
"I'm afraid that won't work. I'm currently working and will be heading back to New York with my boss tonight." Natalie seemed to be declining, but she was actually discreetly probing Fang Yuan's movements.
If Fang Yuan were truly interested in her, he would reveal his itinerary; even if he didn't, she could take the initiative to follow up later.
Black Widow was a master at utilizing her physical advantages.
"New York?" Fang Yuan acted as if he hadn't noticed anything. "I happen to be going to New York. Can I have your contact info?"
"Sure. What are you going to New York for?"
Natalie naturally wouldn't refuse. Although Fang Yuan wasn't her primary target, she habitually gathered intelligence on such an obvious anomaly for S.H.I.E.L.D. to track later.
Fang Yuan didn't hide anything: "If all goes well, I'll be starting a company. How about you come be my secretary then?"
"Thank you, but I already have a job." Natalie politely declined.
Even though she wanted to get information from Fang Yuan, Black Widow wouldn't just agree to everything he said.
After all, she was currently Tony Stark's secretary. It would be strange if she agreed.
"Oh, you mean that job?" Fang Yuan pointed behind Natalie. "Your boss might be gone soon."
"What?"
Natalie quickly turned around and saw on the TV that at the racetrack, her boss Tony Stark had actually put on a racing suit, replaced a driver at the last minute, and gotten into a race car!
Natalie frowned deeply. She knew her target's actions were often unpredictable, but she didn't expect him to be this reckless.
Five minutes ago he was socializing at a cocktail party, and five minutes later he's at a racetrack?
At this moment, Fang Yuan added a timely comment: "By the way, does this count as drunk driving?"
But Black Widow had no time to chat with him anymore; Pepper was already calling out over there.
"Natalie, Natalie!"
"Did you know about this?"
Natalie shook her head: "I only just found out myself."
"How can I help you now?" she asked.
Pepper was the one who knew Tony better, so Natalie chose to consult a professional for advice.
"Where's Happy? Go find Happy!" Pepper quickly told Natalie to find Tony's driver-cum-bodyguard-cum-personal assistant.
Happy was holding Tony's new suit.
Tony's current Iron Man Suits couldn't be carried on his person yet, so to deal with emergencies, he had specially created a briefcase suit—the Mark 5.
This suit had weak protection, couldn't fly, and its only weapon was a palm repulsor, but it excelled in portability. Plus, the transformation sequence was incredibly cool, making this armor very recognizable in Fang Yuan's previous life.
Pepper knew she couldn't stop Tony now, so she could only pray that Tony would drive steadily and not crash so badly that he wouldn't even have a chance to use the Iron Man Suit to save his life.
Fortunately, Happy hadn't arrived yet, but Ivan Vanko had arrived just in time.
Ivan's father, Anton, and Tony's father, Howard, were once colleagues. They co-invented the Arc Reactor, but Anton focused more on using the invention to make money, while Howard wanted to use it to change the World's landscape.
So, Anton, whose philosophy clashed with Howard's, was expelled by him.
Actually, from Fang Yuan's perspective, Anton's thinking was understandable. After all, Howard had Stark Industries and didn't lack money, but Anton Vanko was different.
But the reality was that Anton's ideas were far more dangerous than just making money. His philosophy was closer to that of Terrorists, which was why Howard had kicked him out so decisively.
But Anton's son, Ivan, wouldn't delve into all that. He only knew that the Stark family had caused his family's misfortune, so he came for revenge.
Especially since Tony Stark had just declared at a hearing that no one would be able to build an Iron Man Suit for the next ten or twenty years.
The core of the Iron Man Suit was the Arc Reactor, a technology he happened to possess.
So Ivan wanted to slap Tony's face in front of the whole World and bring shame to the Stark family.
Unfortunately, just as Ivan stepped onto the racetrack, he received a job offer from Fang Yuan.
"Oi, are you interested in coming to be my dog?"
Ivan stopped in his tracks, surprised by the voice that suddenly appeared in his head.
He didn't understand it, but he clearly wasn't interested.
"Come be my dog!"
Fang Yuan's voice appeared again, but this time he asked using Telepathy.
Ivan's eyes flickered a few times, and then he finally gave the correct answer.
"Okay!"
In just the time it took to walk a few steps, Fang Yuan had gained another fanboy.
"Professor X's charm really is something," he thought to himself.
Even though he had become Fang Yuan's loyal dog, Ivan still didn't stop his steps.
He said he was going to take down Stark, so he was going to take down Stark.
Fang Yuan only made them acknowledge him as their master; he didn't affect their thinking on other matters.
So Ivan unzipped his bulging coat, and the Arc Reactor at his chest quickly activated, releasing a powerful electric current that burned his coat to ashes.
At that moment, everyone saw Ivan's attire clearly. He was wearing a crude exoskeleton on his upper body, and two long whips flashing with electric current sizzled in his hands.
And most surprisingly, at the chest of Ivan's exoskeleton, there was actually an Arc Reactor very similar to Iron Man's!
The public, who had been following the news lately, was in an uproar. Tony Stark had said less than a month ago that no one could build this thing within ten years.
"What is this person trying to do?" an observer immediately asked.
Then, on the screen, Ivan swung his whips, slicing a passing race car in half in one blow!
Everyone immediately understood—this was a terrorist attack!
Meanwhile, Pepper quickly found Happy, wanting to drive onto the track to deliver the Iron Man Suit to Tony.
Although Ivan hadn't spoken, anyone with eyes could tell from that Arc Reactor that he was definitely coming for Iron Man.
However, Tony's race car was getting closer and closer to Ivan, and Pepper and the others obviously wouldn't make it in time to stop him.
"Boom!"
Just as Ivan had forced Tony back and successfully stopped his car, a sonic boom suddenly echoed from the sky. Then, a blue Iron Man landed directly on the track, blocking the path between Ivan and Tony.
The newcomer was naturally Howard. Upon hearing his son was in trouble, he flew over immediately.
Many people who didn't know the truth thought this was a new Iron Man Suit model created by Tony.
But Tony himself was stunned. He struggled to crawl out of the car and stared intently at the Iron Guardian in front of him.
"How did another person who can make an Arc Reactor pop up?"
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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