Nick Fury's Request

Stark Tower.

Iron Man gazed at the shimmering "triangle" in his hand, his face alight with excitement and anticipation.

After so many days of hard work, he had finally synthesized a new element.

"Congratulations, sir. You've created a new element," the considerate AI, Jarvis, sent a congratulatory message immediately.

Iron Man wasted no time, and with a hint of excitement, placed the new element into the Arc Reactor.

The Arc Reactor immediately began to glow.

"Sir, the reactor is accepting the updated core. I will begin testing immediately," Jarvis said, and then promptly initiated the tests.

The result was, of course, beyond question: the new element was perfectly usable!

The palladium poisoning that had plagued Iron Man for the better part of a year was solved!

Iron Man was now feeling as carefree as could be.

"Sir, Miss Pepper is here!"

Jarvis suddenly chimed in. Iron Man looked up to see Pepper at the door. She entered, having typed in the access code.

"God, Tony, how many days has it been since you slept?" Pepper couldn't help but exclaim, covering her mouth.

Iron Man looked like he'd been through the wringer. "What on earth have you been doing down here?"

"Pepper, I just synthesized a new element, I succeeded!" Iron Man shouted excitedly at Pepper.

"A new element?" Pepper was completely baffled, utterly confused.

She had no idea what this meant.

"Listen, Tony, whether you've synthesized an element or whatever, you need to rest right now."

Pepper earnestly advised Stark, "Listen to me, leave this room and go relax."

"Sounds like a great idea!" Iron Man nodded seriously.

Actually, even if Pepper hadn't said anything, Iron Man was planning to go out and relax anyway. After all, even "Iron Man" couldn't handle this extreme workload.

"Tony, you really think so?"

This caught Pepper off guard. Tony Stark was actually willing to listen to someone's advice; this was truly a sign of the times.

"Of course!" Iron Man suggested enthusiastically, "The Monaco Grand Prix is about to start. How about we go see the race? Will you come with me?"

"I have a lot of work to do."

"You don't anymore. I'm giving you a vacation right now," Iron Man said, behaving like a spoiled brat. "Your only job now is to accompany your boss to the races."

"Tony, you can't do that," Pepper said, speechless.

"I absolutely can. After all, I'm your boss."

What else could Pepper do? With such a willful and ridiculously wealthy CEO as her boss, she could only give in.

"Sir, I need to remind you that I still haven't found anyone matching the description of Ivan Vanko," Jarvis immediately reminded Iron Man after Pepper left Stark Tower. "He's very likely not in America."

"Well, besides working on synthesizing the new element, Iron Man has also had Jarvis searching for Ivan Vanko."

"Unfortunately, Jarvis did find quite a few people named Ivan Vanko, but none of them matched the description Iron Man gave."

"It's alright... I don't think he'd just happen to be in Monaco."

Iron Man said nonchalantly, as if such a coincidence was impossible.

After briefly arranging the next steps, Iron Man took a shower and enjoyed a delicious meal, finally feeling like himself again.

The next day, Nick Fury received the news and came to see Iron Man in person.

"Stark, it seems Howard was right about you," Nick Fury said, sitting down across from Iron Man without any pretense, sounding like an old man.

"Of course, he was right about me," Iron Man replied matter-of-factly, never knowing the meaning of modesty.

"Alright, Stark, you and I both know I'm not here to visit. Let's skip the useless pleasantries and get straight to the point."

Nick Fury sat up straight, facing Iron Man with a serious expression. "I need your help."

Nick Fury helping Iron Man synthesize a new element, and Iron Man helping Nick Fury investigate Hydra – this was agreed upon after everyone finished answering the questions.

Iron Man wouldn't go back on his word, of course.

"Tell me your needs directly," Iron Man asked crisply.

"I have a large number of personnel who need to be monitored and analyzed, but I can't use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources. In this situation, it's difficult for me to accomplish this."

"So, I was hoping you could provide some technical support, like researching surveillance drones, giving me a system similar to Jarvis, and so on."

"You're Iron Man. You're a rare genius in America. I don't think this will be a difficult task for you."

Everyone had seen the videos of the question-and-answer system, so Nick Fury didn't try to hide his intentions. He stated his purpose directly.

"I understand. I'll get right on it and make something." Iron Man promised confidently.

Nick Fury left, satisfied.

However, he didn't expect that Iron Man, who had just promised to get right to work on development, would be on a private jet to Monaco the very next day.

He arrived at the Monaco Grand Prix.

"Iron Man!"

"Iron Man!"

When Iron Man and Pepper stepped out of the luxury car, enthusiastic cheers immediately erupted from the crowd.

Even in Europe, Iron Man had quite a few fervent fans.

Iron Man was already used to this. With a confident and composed smile on his face, he waved to his enthusiastic fans.

Then, he and Pepper walked into the venue, chatting and laughing.

Happy, who wasn't a chubby guy yet, followed behind them, wearing sunglasses and looking utterly cool.

"Pepper, we're in Europe now, so whatever happens next, let's just go with the flow, alright?"

Considering his actions might seriously shock Pepper, Iron Man started giving her a heads-up.

"What do you mean, 'go with the flow'?"

Pepper sensed something wasn't right. Tony was probably about to stir up some trouble again.

Her boss had never been one to let her have a moment's peace.

She wasn't the CEO anymore, but she felt a hundred times busier.

But before Pepper could ask, many of the upper-class guests in the hall rushed over to greet Iron Man.

Pepper didn't have a chance to ask anything.

(End of Chapter)