Tony: My dad left me a cheat code?

The first rays of dawn pierced through the smoke and dust that filled the air above Harlem.

The sound of sirens grew louder as a S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy quickly cordoned off the neighborhood that had just experienced the chaos of gods and demons.

"Damn it, this big scene is going to be hard to handle today."

Coulson looked at the scene before him and felt his temples throbbing.

The streets were like crumpled pieces of waste paper, with broken walls and ruins everywhere.

Several agents in biohazard suits were lifting Ivan, who was foaming at the mouth and barely breathing, onto a stretcher.

As for that even more terrifying abomination...

It had already been placed into a specially made, oversized, high-strength containment container.

Although the monster had woken up and was huddled in a corner trembling, muttering nonsense like "Stop pinching me" and "Give me back my heart," it had completely lost the momentum it had shown before when it wanted to tear New York to shreds.

"Li, this is definitely the most difficult report I've ever written in my career."

Coulson walked over to Leon, looked at the leisurely man, and sighed helplessly. "'Alien Prince Causes Fighting Due to Family Dispute, Leading to Demolition of Harlem District'? Chief Fury would kill me if he saw that headline."

"Isn't this the perfect opportunity to showcase your literary talent, Phil?"

Li Ang shrugged, decisively shirking responsibility.

"Besides, the main culprits are that destroyer and that abomination. What does it have to do with me, a law-abiding citizen who runs a shop?"

Coulson's lips twitched.

A law-abiding citizen?

What law-abiding citizen would dare to rip someone's heart out with their bare hands and play with it like a ball?

Not far away, Tony was sitting on half of the broken wall.

He held the rudimentary reactor that he had torn from Ivan's body in his hand, his expression not showing the joy of a successful operation, but rather a deep sense of frustration.

Although the shrapnel in his chest was removed, Li Ang even cleaned up the necrotic tissue caused by palladium poisoning.

"What are you looking at?"

Li Ang had somehow appeared beside Tony, his gaze falling on the tattered object in his hand. "Is this crudely made imitation something that deserves ten minutes of staring from the great Mr. Stark?"

"This is not a counterfeit."

Tony didn't look up, his voice a little hoarse, "Although the workmanship is rough, this circulatory system... is even more perfect than what I, a genius, could make."

He looked up, his bloodshot eyes filled with self-doubt.

"That Russian is right, this technology is not my invention."

"This was developed by his father and my father together... while I can't even find a new element to replace palladium like he did."

Tony slammed the reactor to the ground. "No! There's no substitute! This is a dead end!"

He was even a little jealous of Ivan, whom he had slapped unconscious.

At least that madman still firmly believes he's right.

And Tony Stark, who was once hailed as a genius, now doesn't even know where the road is.

"Who told you that you have to look within the known periodic table?"

Li Ang leaned against the broken wall, arms crossed, his tone playful.

Tony turned his head: "What do you mean?"

"That Ivan is indeed quite skilled, but he achieved this by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Li Ang held up a finger and shook it, "What's more, his father, Anton, only saw money, while your father saw the future."

"The future?" Tony scoffed, his eyes behind his sunglasses filled with disdain. "Come on, that old man only knows how to sell weapons and then dump me at boarding school."

"Anton wanted to miniaturize the Arc Reactor so he could sell it to the superpower at the time for weapons and make huge profits."

"So Howard kicked him out and deported him."

Li Ang ignored Tony's sarcasm and calmly recounted a long-forgotten piece of history.

Howard knew that if this thing had been invented in that era, it would have only brought about endless wars.

"So he chose to shelve the technology, or rather... turn it into a puzzle that can only be solved in the future."

Tony was stunned.

Even he, as the son himself, was unaware of these things.

"How...how do you know all this?" Tony stood up, his expression grave.

"That's not important. What's important is, do you really think your cold-hearted father left you nothing?"

Li Ang pointed to Tony's chest, "Howard actually foresaw your current predicament twenty years ago."

"Huh? Did you foresee that I would become a Tin Man, or that I would be poisoned?" Tony thought it was simply a fantasy.

"He anticipated the limits of energy."

Li Ang walked up to Tony, his dark eyes seeming to see right through people's hearts.

"Limited by the technological level of that era, although Howard discovered the theoretical structure of the new element, he could not build it at that time."

"So he hid the atomic arrangement of that element in a place that everyone could see but no one noticed."

Li Ang's lips curled slightly as he uttered the key phrase: "Stark Industries Expo."

boom!

A bolt of lightning cleaved through the fog in Tony's mind.

Stark Expo…that huge park model made up of various pavilions and roads.

That was his father's proudest work, but also the most boring pile of plastic and metal in his childhood memories.

"Hiding the future in the past..."

Tony muttered to himself, pondering what Li Ang had just said, his pupils contracting sharply.

He suddenly remembered how his father used to love fiddling with that model, muttering, "This is the culmination of my life's work," and "This is the key to the future."

At that time, he thought his father was referring to the Expo itself.

Now it seems...

If you remove the irrelevant buildings from the layout of that park model, the remaining roads and main stadium structure... doesn't it look like a giant atomic structure diagram?!

Tony's breathing became rapid, and his hands trembled slightly with excitement.

The deadly predicament that kept him up at night suddenly cracked open at this moment, letting in a blinding light!

"Jarvis! Prepare the vehicle! No... just send my armored vehicle to pick me up!"

Tony shouted incoherently at the air, even forgetting that he was wearing his armor.

"I need to go back to Malibu! I need to get to the storeroom! Quick! Find that damn model for me!"

"It seems you've figured it out."

Looking at Tony, who was as excited as a child, Li Ang chuckled, "Go back and thoroughly search through that old man's belongings. Besides the models, there might be a few videotapes."

He patted Tony on the shoulder and leaned closer to whisper, "You'll find that Howard Stark's greatest invention was never a reactor or an exhibition."

"But it's you, Tony."

Tony froze on the spot.

The greatest invention... was mine?

That father who never said he loved him and was always strict and demanding...

Tony felt his eyes sting; this sudden emotional shock was even harder for him to handle than palladium poisoning.

He took a deep breath, quickly put on his sunglasses, and covered the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Um... I'll transfer the consultation fee to you along with the surgery fee."

Tony's voice returned to its usual nonchalant tone, but with a barely perceptible tremor, "Double, no, ten times."

Tony's visor closed, and he transformed back into the invincible Iron Man.

But before takeoff, he paused suddenly, turned around and looked at Li Ang.

"plum."

"Um?"

"Once I've sorted everything out, you absolutely have to come to my birthday party."

Tony's voice boomed from the loudspeaker, "I'll find you a hundred supermodels, their quality will be far superior to the covers of Playboy!"

"Those tacky parties..." Li Ang raised an eyebrow, "Remember to save me a front-row VIP booth."

"make a deal!"

Tony laughed loudly, and the thrusters under his feet spewed out scorching flames, propelling him into the sky and disappearing into the horizon like a shooting star.

Watching Tony's departing figure, Coulson sighed, "Lee, you're an amazing person, it's like you know everything."

"The more you know, the more trouble you have, Phil."

Li Ang stretched and watched as the rising sun illuminated the ravaged New York.

Banner takes control of himself, Thor awakens, and Tony finds a new goal; this night can be considered a mini-climax of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But Li Ang knew in his heart that this was just a small ripple before the storm.

The real test is yet to come. The purple sweet potato demon, leading an alien army and threatening to turn New York into a gladiatorial arena, is still sharpening its knives on the other side of the starry sky.

"That night is finally over." Coulson rubbed his temples. "I think I can ask for a few days off to go to Portland to see that cellist..."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Phil."

Li Ang patted the kind old man on the shoulder, his eyes filled with pity, "Believe me, you'll be so busy from now on that you won't even have time to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, and remember to settle the bill. Besides the cost of renting the Heart of Abomination, there's also the cost of recovering the technology from these ruins."

Coulson: "..."

He knew it! This guy would never let go of any opportunity to extort money!