Li Yue and Tony had already returned to Tony's villa. Tony, with the help of J.A.R.V.I.S., took off his Iron Man suit.
Li Yue, on the other hand, took a bottle of iced soda from the fridge and sat on the sofa, drinking it without any pretense. He had just fought Abomination; although he didn't exert much effort, he still had to remain highly focused to avoid being hit by Abomination's fists. Now that he was relaxed, he couldn't help but feel a bit tired.
"Tony, your suit is still so handsome! Why do you dress so formally every day? Don't you feel uncomfortable?"
Li Yue watched Tony take off his armor, walk to the refrigerator, and eventually take out a can of soda. He then came in front of Li Yue, elegantly sat on the sofa, and drank the several-dollar soda. If an outsider didn't know, they might think he was holding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of red wine.
"Li Yue, you don't understand. I am Iron Man now, the most famous superhero in the world, so I must maintain my noble and gentlemanly demeanor at all times."
Tony crossed his legs, leaned back on the sofa, and said pretentiously.
"Oh, come on, Tony, this is your villa, and there are no outsiders. Hurry up and change out of that flashy outfit; it's making my eyes dizzy."
"You're right. Wait a moment; I'll be right back."
Tony stood up directly, placed the drink in his hand on the table, and went back to his room to change. When he came out again, he was in casual wear. Although the clothes were clearly expensive, they looked much more comfortable.
"Tony, are your clothes specially made? How can the arc reactor be exposed?"
Li Yue looked at the triangular arc reactor exposed on Tony's chest, which was no longer round, suggesting that Tony had already created a new element. But if the reactor was exposed, wouldn't the clothes need a hole?
"Of course, I had the world's top and most famous designer create this. It cost me..."
"Alright, alright, stop. Back in New York, you said I disappeared for a few months?"
Li Yue interrupted Tony's shameless display of wealth and asked, somewhat surprised, remembering what Tony had said when they met today. He had only been in the X-Men world for a little over a week, so how had so much time passed here?
"Yes, to be precise, you've been gone for exactly five months. Your girlfriend has been coming to me every day for months asking about you. It's been a real headache."
Speaking of this, Tony again had a constipated expression, indicating how difficult it had been for him.
"Alright, I'll go find Lois in a bit. Let's first talk about what major events have happened in these five months. Has the Stark Expo opened?"
Li Yue asked. According to the movie plot, it shouldn't be time for Iron Man 2 to begin yet, but Li Yue wasn't sure if the plot would change because of him.
"Major events? No major events happened. After your reminder, I kept looking through the things my father left me, but there was no progress at first. It wasn't until a few months ago that I discovered my father was actually one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I immediately went to that one-eyed director and asked him for the truth. He didn't hide anything from me and told me everything he knew, and he gave me some of my father's belongings. It was there that I found a way to completely get rid of palladium poisoning."
"So, Li Yue, did you know all this early on but didn't tell me, making me waste several months?"
"However, Li Yue, I still want to express my sincere gratitude to you."
Towards the end of his speech, Tony's face had lost its cynical expression and became incredibly solemn and sincere. Because of Li Yue's reminder, he received his father's belongings and realized that his father wasn't uncaring, but rather, like himself, wasn't very good at expressing his love.
"Tony, you need to know that these are all things you must experience. Only by going through them will you truly change in the future, and then..."
Li Yue also said to Tony in a deep voice, but he stopped halfway through. Li Yue knew that only by experiencing certain things could Tony become the Tony who would ultimately sacrifice his life for the world and snap his fingers.
"Li Yue, I understand your intentions."
Tony didn't blame Li Yue; on the contrary, he was grateful to Li Yue for letting him know certain things.
"Where were we? Oh, right, I found a way to solve palladium poisoning, which is to invent a new element. To be precise, my father discovered it, but with the technology of his time, it couldn't be manufactured. However, for a genius like me, it wasn't difficult. So, what I'm wearing on my chest now is an arc reactor that uses the new element."
Tony said this with an unreadable expression on his face, a mix of realization and happiness, finally tapping the arc reactor on his chest with his finger.
"Alright, so you mean nothing major happened during this time, right?"
Li Yue rubbed his forehead and said helplessly.
"Of course, this world has me, Iron Man. Villains no longer dare to show their faces. What major events could happen?"
Tony reverted to his usual narcissistic personality.
"Then what happened today?"
Li Yue asked mercilessly.
"Uh, today was a special situation. That was the military's own doing. I don't want to clean up their mess."
Tony choked for a moment but still stubbornly insisted.
"Burp... Alright, I'm not going to argue with you about this. I'm going to see Lois first."
Li Yue finally tilted his head back and guzzled down the can of soda, then placed the empty can on the table, stood up, and let out a burp. He said to Tony, preparing to leave.
"Li Yue, remember to come over tomorrow. I've upgraded my armor several times again. I'll show you how powerful they are then."
Seeing Li Yue about to leave, Tony quickly spoke up to remind him.
Li Yue didn't say anything more, made an "OK" gesture with his right hand to Tony, and then instantly vanished from Tony's sight.
"I really envy him for that ability. No, I need to intensify my armor research. Maybe one day I'll be able to get the technology to travel through wormholes."
Tony thought to himself, filled with renewed motivation. He quickly finished his drink and hurried to the underground lab to continue his armor research... At this moment, Li Yue had already arrived at Lois's door, but he paced back and forth in front of it, hesitating for a long time, not having the courage to knock. He wondered what Lois's expression would be when she saw him—happy? Or angry?
Finally, Li Yue made up his mind and raised his right hand, ready to knock.
However, before Li Yue's right hand could touch the door, the sound of shattering glass entered his ears.
Li Yue immediately turned his head to look, only to find that the surrounding scenery had undergone a complete reversal at some point. It was as if the world itself was being rolled up like a scroll.
A person in a yellow monastic robe, with a hood covering their face, whose features were indistinct, made an inexplicable gesture with their right hand, holding it up in front of their right side.
"Li Yue, we need to talk about your unauthorized entry into this universe!"
"Holy crap, she's here!"
Looking at the face that lifted its head, removed its hood, and spoke to him, Li Yue felt a shock of horror in his heart.