RioRaRyu
patreon
Chapter 268: Curious Tony
🕑 Added 2025-07-29 05:45:08 +0000 UTC"Tony, where are you now?"
Sitting in the car on the way to the hotel, Tony answered Obadiah's call. However, the voice coming from the phone didn’t sound very friendly.
Tony felt a little annoyed. After all, he had been refreshing the space and didn’t have time to deal with Obadiah’s complaints.
"I'm in London, there are some important things," Tony replied politely, though he was growing irritated.
Obadiah Stan had helped Tony for many years after Howard Stark’s death, and he was the one who had run Stark Industries alongside Tony’s father. So, despite the annoyance, Tony still respected Obadiah, considering him a sort of elder.
"Okay, but can you tell me what you’re thinking? Do you have any idea how much Stark Industries’ market value has dropped because of your actions?" Obadiah's voice came through, urgent and demanding.
"It’s nothing, don’t worry, Obadiah. I’ve got a plan," Tony replied, a little more irritable now.
The closure of Stark Industries' most profitable department had caused the stock to plummet. Tony had expected this and wasn’t bothered by it. He knew he could figure out a way to save the company when the time came.
"Let’s talk about it when I get back, Obadiah," Tony said, wanting to end the conversation. "I’ll probably be in New York tomorrow night. That’s all."
"Hey! Tony, you—" Obadiah’s voice trailed off, but Tony hung up before he could finish.
After a moment of reflection, Tony quickly set his phone to block all calls—except from Pepper Potts.
Then, he opened the latest version of WeChat, which he had just updated, and, after a few moments of skillful navigation, began to browse his space.
To be honest, Tony couldn’t believe how engrossed he was in this thing.
But after thinking it through, Tony realized that he wasn’t interested in the software itself, but rather in the people using it—the magicians.
Before meeting Noah, Tony had only thought magicians existed in novels. When he first met Noah, he assumed the guy was just another illusionist.
But after Noah took him to the lab and showed him the server and smart terminal, Tony’s views had changed drastically.
Who ever heard of a magician who could move a pile of dragon bones as large as a small mountain with a single wave of his hand?
Or cut a baby dragon in half with a swipe, and then feed it to the cat?
Well, Phil Coulson had explained that the "cat" was actually a primordial beast, but Tony was still stuck on the fact that the dragon was real.
When Tony asked Noah about the bones, Noah's explanation sent a chill down his spine.
"They’re all leftovers from experiments. The Hungarian Tree-Spear Dragon is expensive. It can destroy a city if it’s released. Luckily, I have a good relationship with the current Minister of the Hungarian Ministry of Magic."
"You treat something that can destroy a city as a commodity?"
"It’s just hard to kill, not unkillable. It’s uncontrollable, though. But bullets? Forget it. Missiles might work, but this thing is fast and could likely evade them. Why, do you want one?"
"No need."
Thinking back to Noah’s regretful face and those dragons that exuded a certain deterrent even in death, Tony swallowed his words.
He suddenly realized that closing the Stark Weapons Department might have been a huge mistake.
Shaking his head, Tony decided not to dwell on it. He picked up his phone again and started scrolling through his space.
Though he only had Noah as a friend on WeChat, the space allowed him to view posts from magicians all over the world.
He noticed that the magicians all used real names on the platform, and even Tony had to use his real name. It was an inconvenience, but Tony thought it was a good system.
He had even been forced to deposit $100,000 into Guling Pavilion, but that didn’t bother him; money wasn’t an issue.
Tony continued browsing, finding it fascinating despite not knowing any of the users. He observed several strange magical organizations and Ministry of Magic officials posting updates, often accompanied by strange magical images, which only piqued his interest further.
However, Tony suddenly noticed that Phil Coulson, the agent from the Logistics Bureau sitting next to him, kept glancing at his phone.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Dude, don’t tell me you don’t have the qualifications to use this thing?" Tony grinned as he raised his phone, showing off.
"Well, there really isn’t," Phil replied, a bit helplessly. "Didn’t you hear from Mr. Finniel? Only two people in the ordinary world use this software: you and our director."
"Really?" Tony smirked, enjoying the moment. "Seems like you’re not all that valued by the magicians."
"Maybe. After all, I’m not our director, and I don’t do what you do for Mr. Finniel," Phil shrugged, unconcerned.
Tony found himself a little bored, but his curiosity was now directed elsewhere—specifically, on Coulson’s knowledge about aliens.
"Are there really aliens in this world?" Tony asked, leaning in slightly.
"Of course," Coulson nodded. "Thirteen years ago, when I just joined S.H.I.E.L.D., my first mission was investigating a woman in a space suit with Fury. Back then, he wasn’t the director."
"Wait, space suit?" Tony’s eyes widened. "Is she an alien?"
"No," Coulson shook his head. "She was originally an Earthling, but she was taken by an alien race called the Kree. The most important part is that she lost her memory and didn’t know she was from Earth."
"Then what happened?"
"Then, the director and I witnessed a group of green aliens who could shape-shift. They were Skrulls. One of them even transformed into me and was discovered by Mr. Finniel, who dealt with them."
Coulson detailed everything—from the Skrulls to the Kree, and how Noah’s magic had nearly set the spaceship ablaze. He even spoke of the Supreme Sorcerer’s immense power—able to open doors to the universe and destroy an entire fleet with a mere wave of the hand from billions of kilometers away!
Tony listened intently, his skepticism fading as Coulson recounted the events.
Honestly, if it weren’t for Jarvis confirming that an explosion of such magnitude did occur thirteen years ago, Tony might’ve assumed Coulson had read one too many science fiction novels.
Both men were silent for a moment, taking in the weight of the revelation.
Coulson added quietly, "We’ve collected data that suggests the missiles fired towards Earth were equivalent to atomic bombs. If they hit, Earth would have been destroyed."
Tony sighed deeply and thought for a long moment before giving an order to Jarvis via his earpiece.
"Jarvis, delete our previous recording."
"Okay, sir."
Jarvis was Tony’s most prized AI system, fully under his command. And even though Tony didn’t want to admit it, he had to admit that Noah had contributed to its creation.
Tony sighed. He had originally wanted to analyze the recording or expose it, but now he realized that doing so would likely bring him more trouble than he was willing to handle.
Upon arriving at the hotel, which had been booked through Stark Industries, Tony quickly dismissed everyone.
He retrieved the "History of Magic" books he had taken from the Temple and began to peruse them. These books contained a wealth of information spanning thousands of years, and Tony found himself deeply engrossed.
As he read, a massive, hidden world of magicians unfolded in his mind—one that was so fascinating and overwhelming that he couldn’t stop reading.
Meanwhile, back in the office, Noah was looking at his phone when he noticed a familiar face: Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., wearing his signature eye mask.
"I say, do you enjoy calling me on WeChat when you have nothing else to do? Don’t you check the time difference?" Noah complained, clearly irritated.
"Sorry, it’s just that Tony is so important, I have to give him more attention," Fury said, his usual serious face breaking into a grin. "He’s Howard Stark’s son, and he’s got a deep connection with S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I don’t care who he is," Noah shrugged. "But it’s true he’s quite wealthy. He bought an account for $100,000. He doesn’t waste time with nonsense, which is more than I can say for you."
"I don’t have money!" Fury protested, then quickly added, "I haven’t been greedy either! Alright, let’s not dwell on that. How did your talk with him go?"
"It’s fine," Noah replied, resting his head on his hand, a little impatient. "He agreed to help me install the AI terminal in two days, and he’s giving me ten of the best servers for free. In exchange, I gave him my WeChat account."
"He also has WeChat?"
"Yep. Maybe you can add him as a friend and chat with him."
