Chapter Twenty-Seven: Tony's Reflections

"Mr. Harvey Amberlake, where’s Tony?"
Pepper saw Harvey coming up from the underground lab and spoke.

"He should come up by himself soon, or you can go down to find him if you wish."

"I've already finished my dinner, so I’ll be leaving now."
Harvey smiled slightly at her words and replied.

"Are you leaving?"
"Well, it is quite late already."
"You and Tony seemed to have a pleasant conversation. I hope you’ll visit again, Mr. Harvey Amberlake."
Pepper was initially surprised, but after glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized it was already past nine in the evening.

In about another hour, New York would become less peaceful, so Harvey Amberlake leaving now was reasonable.

"Yes, next time if there’s an opportunity."
"Then, goodbye, Miss Pepper."
Harvey nodded gently, said his farewell, and left.

After Harvey departed, Pepper asked directly in the first-floor hall.

"Jarvis, is Tony alright?"
"Can I go down now?"

"Sir is fine. He’s currently pondering some matters."
"It’s not recommended that you disturb him."
"He’ll come up once he’s sorted out his thoughts."

Jarvis responded with his suggestion.

"Alright."
Pepper was simply concerned about Tony. Hearing the recommendation, she suppressed her urge to go down and check on him.

Meanwhile, in the underground laboratory, Tony Stark was deep in thought.

With his intelligence, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to start learning genetics now and develop an agent to enhance his physical abilities—it would just take some time.

In the past, he had considered doing things that would cross the line, so he’d never really entertained such ideas.

But after hearing Harvey Amberlake’s words, his once steadfast beliefs had begun to waver.

"Jarvis, after listening to our conversation, what do you think?"

After a moment’s hesitation, Tony Stark sought another opinion.

"Sir, I don’t quite understand what it means to be human, as I am merely an AI."
"But, to summarize your discussion, there are roughly three points."
"First, the Iron Man suit is extremely powerful, but no matter what, there is an unavoidable and hard-to-change weakness: you, sir."
"Second, you have the ability and confidence to resolve this weakness, but you’ve never crossed the boundaries of human morality, so you haven’t touched genetics which could solve it."
"Third, Mr. Harvey Amberlake’s words are telling you—"
"If you want to make a change, have you truly decided whether it’s necessary to go that far?"
"And if you do, are you mentally prepared?"
"From my observation, you haven’t fully considered these prerequisites."
"So I suggest you focus your efforts on finding a new element to replace palladium."
"If you can’t ensure that piloting the suit is without side effects, then you don’t need to worry about overcoming the suit’s fatal weakness."
"You may not have an immediate answer, but when the time comes, you might have already made your choice."

Jarvis replied to Tony’s inquiry.

"Thanks, Jarvis."

Tony paused at Jarvis’s words, and suddenly his thoughts became clear. He thanked him.

Harvey Amberlake was a superhuman, and Tony himself was a genius, but their perspectives were utterly different because they came from different worlds.

Only by ensuring he could continue to pilot the Iron Man suit would he be able to explore this world, one that ordinary people could never touch.

Only through deeper understanding could he continue meaningful conversations with Harvey Amberlake about his ideas and philosophies.

Perhaps Harvey Amberlake thought his invention of the Iron Man suit had begun to encroach upon the world Harvey inhabited, which was why their discussion had broadened Tony’s horizons so much.

Yet, because of this, Tony Stark found himself with a question: How old was Harvey Amberlake, really?

Harvey Amberlake possessed abilities akin to reversing aging, so the identity Tony had uncovered might only be what Harvey wanted others to see.

"Where is Harvey Amberlake?"

Tony Stark looked around, noticing Harvey was nowhere to be seen, and asked.

"Mr. Harvey Amberlake has already left."

"Before leaving, he specifically reminded you that he won’t always treat your palladium poisoning and then leave."
"So you need to quickly find a new element to replace palladium."
"Since you were deep in thought just now, you might not have heard this."
"From my interpretation, Mr. Harvey Amberlake meant that either you find a new element, or you give up piloting the Iron Man suit."
"If next time you’re poisoned and can’t find a solution, you’ll have to say goodbye to life."

Jarvis relayed Harvey’s words.

"Before I knew I could become younger, I did consider asking Harvey Amberlake to help with my palladium poisoning."
"But after learning I could become younger, I no longer thought that way."

Tony Stark smiled as he listened to Jarvis’s message.

One was simply about curing him, the other was curing him and making him younger by several years—a striking difference.

Now, he was six years younger, his body roughly equivalent to when he was thirty-two, though he was still in his thirties, entering middle age.

The wrinkles were gone, and he looked more youthful; others would just assume he was well-maintained or had some cosmetic procedure.

But if he grew even younger, reverting to his twenties, no matter how he explained it, others would suspect something unusual.

This could expose Harvey Amberlake’s superhuman abilities, and Tony himself might end up as a lab rat.

Though he had the Iron Man suit, he wasn’t invincible. If the military started to take an interest in him, he couldn’t guarantee his own safety.

Therefore, Tony Stark fully understood why Harvey Amberlake didn’t want to help him too much.

Afterward, Tony Stark left the underground lab.

Faced with Pepper’s curious questions, Tony explained some things, while others he brushed off casually.

Pepper’s greatest curiosity was about his newfound youth; Tony could only insist he didn’t know.

This left Pepper somewhat disappointed. After all, there isn’t a woman who doesn’t love beauty or wish for youth.

But Tony really seemed not to know.

So Pepper thought about it and finally decided Tony must have met a friend he could confide in, which made him happier and temporarily look younger.