Chapter 21

For more than a month, aside from attending school and occasionally visiting the New York Sanctum, Abel spent most of his time on potion restoration, especially focused on the restoration of Veritaserum.

Unfortunately, all the medicines obtained from Pioneer Technologies were lost during his potion experiments, and he still hadn't successfully restored Veritaserum. However, it wasn't a total loss. Abel was already certain that it was feasible to replace part of the core ingredients of Veritaserum with the materials he had experimented with.

It would just require further, longer, and more detailed experiments to perfect the potion formula.

In addition to this, Abel made another significant discovery. From the large quantity of materials he had purchased in the mysterious shop, he found and successfully experimented with a composite material that could replace the key ingredient in the Draught of Living Death. He managed to create a version of the Draught of Living Death in this world, with effects almost identical to those from his previous life. This was the best consolation after the failure with Veritaserum.

Moreover, Abel felt truly grateful that Treya was not the kind of parent who liked to interfere or invade her child's privacy. This allowed Abel to carry out potion experiments in his room without concern. Even if she came into his room, she would assume that Abel was doing chemistry experiments at home.

Abel took out a black notebook with no logo and began writing in it with special ink and a quill. He documented the process of exploring, experimenting, and discovering the restoration of the Draught of Living Death and Veritaserum.

This black notebook was Abel's first potion book, written entirely by himself. It was both a record and an organization of his experiments.

Just as he was writing the first word, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

Abel picked it up and saw the caller ID: Sean. He answered, "Sean, what's up?"

"Did you forget again?"

"Forget... uh, I really can't remember. Just tell me."

"I knew it... Just a reminder, today is Friday, and it's 6:30 in the evening."

At this, Abel finally remembered that he had promised Sean they would go out to see a movie together tonight. It wasn't just Abel and Sean; there would be many girls Sean had arranged under Abel's name, along with some other boys.

As for why Abel had agreed, it dated back to the party a month ago. Abel had left early to track Tessa, and after returning from Pioneer Technologies, he hadn't gone back to the party. Instead, he went straight home.

To make up for leaving without saying goodbye, Abel had promised Sean he would join him for a movie when a new one was released, giving Sean a chance to meet some girls.

Of course, Abel had almost forgotten again.

"Okay, I remember now. I'll grab a taxi and be there before 7:30. But what's the new movie you wanted to see?"

"What do you think of High School Musical 3, the famous teen musical romance?"

"...Well, it's more suited for you, perfect for watching with a certain girl."

There was no backing out now. He had already made a promise, and there was no room for regret. Although Abel personally wasn't too excited about the movie, it didn't matter since he'd already seen it. He would just compare it with the version he had seen in his previous life.

After confirming the time and theater, Abel put the phone down and continued writing. It wasn't until seven o'clock that he finished up and changed his clothes to head out.

When Abel arrived at the theater, Sean and the others had just arrived. The two groups met up, bought their tickets, and went in to watch the movie.

Abel sat in a corner seat, while Sean successfully sat beside the girl he liked and couldn't focus on the movie at all.

As for Abel, he didn't watch the movie either. His thoughts were entirely on how to develop his own laboratory and figure out a way to deal with Tony Stark and his "PY" issue.

[*Note: I don't know what this "PY" stands for. If anyone knows, please let me know.]

Abel was so lost in thought that the movie ended without him coming up with a plan for how to approach Tony Stark naturally. With Stark's personality, rushing to him wouldn't likely lead to success in Abel's plans.

Later, the group headed to a nearby burger restaurant for a quick bite, laughing and chatting before preparing to go home. The group split up. Though Abel and Sean lived in the same direction, Sean still had to continue his "in-depth communication" with the girl, so Abel decided not to be a third wheel and took the bus home alone.

The bus moved through the traffic, and Abel, no longer pondering his earlier thoughts, stared out at the night, lost in a quiet daze.

But suddenly, the bus came to an abrupt stop, and some passengers stood up to look ahead. It was then that the sound of an explosion and impact reached them, snapping Abel out of his daze.

He opened the window and looked forward, immediately spotting two humanoid metal armors clashing. The larger, iron-gray armor was attacking the smaller, gold-and-red armor, which was dodging the blows using its agility and speed.

In an instant, Abel realized what was happening.

After calculating the time, it seemed this was indeed the moment he thought it was.

It appeared he was lucky to be here.

Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to get close to Tony Stark?

With that thought, Abel didn't hesitate. He opened the window wider, pulled up his hood, jumped out, and disappeared into the traffic. In a hidden spot, he cast a Levitation Charm, soared into the air, and approached the battle between Tony and Stan.

Seeing Stan, in his Iron Monger suit, lift a car full of women and children, preparing to throw it at Tony, Abel immediately pulled out his wand and pointed it at the car. The car floated up, breaking free from Stan's grasp, and under Abel's control, it slowly landed on the side of the road.

At that moment, the mother driving the car floored the accelerator and sped off...

Well, that saved Abel the trouble of continuing to protect them from Stan.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you!"

Tony and Stan almost asked in unison, but Abel didn't answer. He waved his wand again, causing Stan, still inside the Iron Monger suit, to float helplessly in mid-air, roaring and struggling. With another wave of his wand, Abel sent Stan flying toward a deserted area.

Then Abel turned to Tony and said, "Take him out somewhere without people—there are too many civilians here!