United States, New York City.
Back home, Tony handled Leon Ragnell's identity in the shortest time possible—and at the fastest speed he knew how.
On top of that, he handed Leon the keys to a big villa.
A place to settle in, comfortably.
As for shares of Stark Industries—those couldn't be sorted out overnight; the procedures were complicated. Leon didn't mind.
When it came to that stock, you could give Tony a hundred kinds of courage and he still wouldn't dare skim off a single share.
Leon also had his eye on the Space Stone. But for now he was still in the dark about S.H.I.E.L.D., and he didn't fully understand this world. Patience would serve him better.
"Leon, my dear friend!"
The moment Tony stepped in, he pulled Leon into a big hug.
Leon didn't mind. Tony had already replaced the reactor in his chest—the palladium unit was out, a new Arc Reactor was in—and Leon couldn't help giving it a second, even a third look.
This thing was, in essence, controlled nuclear fusion.
Back in the Dragon Ball world, though, Leon had made something even more over-the-top.
Android 17 and 18's reactors.
Infinite energy!
Well—relatively infinite. Under normal conditions they had limitless output, but faced with an overwhelmingly stronger opponent—total suppression—their energy could be drained. Cellular aging slowed to a crawl and they barely needed food.
The Arc Reactor impressed Leon; it was just that it only rose to the level of "pretty good."
Tony passed Leon a case with a grin. "Go on, open it!"
Leon popped it open.
Inside was a suite of electronics.
"Register your fingerprints and you can boot it up. Put on the earpiece and you can talk to your A.I.," Tony said, suitably self-satisfied. "Not to brag, but this is the most powerful personal A.I. on Earth."
"I'm sure it's the most advanced of its kind," Leon said. Tony's genius needed no embellishment—here, he was easily among the best.
"Please assign a name," the female voice of the A.I. announced.
Leon thought for a moment. "Call her Eve."
"Name 'Eve' confirmed," the A.I. replied.
Leon hooked the earpiece over his ear. Eve's voice came through at once: "Master, shall I link to the villa's electronic systems?"
"Do it," Leon said with a nod.
Eve could control everything in the villa, and later she could be tied into his lab. With his specs, she could run experimental equipment to the letter. In terms of practical utility, she was extremely smart—more advanced than most A.I. he'd seen in the Dragon Ball world.
"Leon!" Tony said quickly. "I still have to bring the shares through the board. Don't worry—I won't let you lose out."
He paused, then added, "Also, I'm giving up weapons sales. From here on, I'm pivoting to new energy."
"New energy?" Leon blinked.
So Dr. Yinsen really did leave a mark on Tony. No more weapons—now it was clean energy. Looked like Iron Man had still been born.
"Trust me," Tony said at once. "The stock will tank at first—but believe in me. I'll bring it back."
"What kind of new energy, specifically?" Leon asked casually.
Tony tapped the Arc Reactor on his chest. "This… I believe it can put out enough power to replace existing energy systems, entirely. It'll be an unprecedented miracle."
"What about palladium poisoning?" Leon asked, offhand.
Tony froze. "You… you know about that too?"
"As for your Arc Reactor, I have a few ideas for improvements," Leon said, smiling. "I'd love to compare notes."
Tony was skeptical.
But once they actually got into it, Tony was shaken.
They talked straight through to midnight.
Turned out Leon wasn't just blowing smoke—he was a real scientist. He could lay out one-two-three, with clear logic. More than a few of his lines of thought snapped pieces into place for Tony like a key turning a lock.
Leon had plenty of goods in his own toolbox.
He could independently design the reactor used by Android 17 and 18.
Just a nudge here, a hint there—and Tony profited greatly.
Leon, for his part, learned a lot too.
He even felt that, if he rebuilt Android 17 and 18 from scratch, he could push them at least to a Super Two–tier design.
Of course, that would take time!
Science is a craft that thrives on exchange.
"Should I build an android in the Marvel world?"
Leon glanced at Eve's shimmering avatar, then looked back to Tony. "Tony, I need a lab. I'll need you to source the hardware."
"Sure. No problem," Tony said, completely unfazed.
Leon didn't stand on ceremony. He pulled out a thick book. "For now, I only need what's on this list. If I need anything else, I'll bring it to you."
"I—"
Tony was stunned.
He stared at the monstrous table of contents and couldn't help swallowing hard.
Billionaire or not, the back of his neck prickled.
Building this lab would cost a fortune.
And that was just the start.
This guy really wasn't treating him like an outsider.
But when Tony thought about what he'd gained today, he still nodded. "No problem."
If they could truly crack the reactor equations—what kind of profits would that bring?
Hundreds of billions. Trillions.
He'd have a monopoly on energy for the entire planet.
Too much?
Not at all.
(End of Chapter)
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