“Uncle Obadiah, hello!” Lan Xingyu loudly greeted Obadiah, signaling to Pepper that Obadiah had arrived.
“What are you doing here?” Obadiah asked, momentarily taken aback by Lan Xingyu’s deliberate cuteness.
“Pepper said she needed to organize some things, so I came along to play. I’ve never been here before! It’s so big, and what’s that big circle downstairs? Do you know, Uncle Obadiah?”
“Oh, that? That’s the large arc reactor. It can power this entire building,” Obadiah replied.
“Wow! That’s amazing. Uncle Obadiah, you’re incredible! You know everything!” Lan Xingyu continued to buy Pepper time.
Flattered, Obadiah let his guard down a bit.
“Not really, I’ve just worked here for a long time.”
“How long have you worked here, Uncle Obadiah?”
“A long time. I was working with Tony’s father before he passed away and have been here ever since.”
“Wow, that’s a long time!” Lan Xingyu kept the conversation going.
“Yes, it’s been most of my life…” Obadiah seemed to fall into reminiscing.
At this moment, Pepper had finished copying the files and discreetly hid the drive among some useless documents.
“Alright, Lan Xingyu, let’s not bother Uncle Obadiah anymore. You said you were hungry, right? Let’s go have some steak.”
“Really? Great!” Lan Xingyu thought to himself that he deserved an Oscar for this performance.
“Goodbye, Obadiah,” Pepper said as she approached Lan Xingyu and took his hand.
“Goodbye!” Obadiah responded.
Just as they were about to leave, Obadiah called out to Pepper, causing her to freeze.
“By the way, Pepper, did you see today’s newspaper?”
Relieved, Pepper replied, “I think it’s on the desk. You can look for it.”
“Alright, I’ll find it. Goodbye.”
As soon as they left the office, Pepper hurried Lan Xingyu to the elevator, heading downstairs. Lan Xingyu was rubbing his face, thinking, “What have I done? Ah, I feel so gross! I should never have agreed to help Tony. I want to hide forever!”
Ignoring Lan Xingyu’s internal struggle and Pepper’s tension, the scene shifts back to Obadiah. Not finding the newspaper, Obadiah noticed the download completed dialog on the computer. His face darkened instantly. He rushed out and saw Pepper leaving with a man in a black suit, someone he recognized as an agent.
Obadiah’s face turned even darker. He clenched his fist, seemingly making a decision, and drove to Tony’s house.
Back with Lan Xingyu, they met up with Coulson and explained the situation. Coulson brought them to SHIELD’s headquarters. On the way, Lan Xingyu checked in on Tony through the magical surveillance spell he had left at Tony’s house. What he saw made him laugh.
The sofa was now full of holes, with cotton stuffing everywhere. Tony was desperately chasing the Husky, Panda, who was avoiding him with its small size and agile movements. Tony even slipped on some cotton, landing flat on his back. Lan Xingyu found it hilarious.
Joy is indeed built on others’ suffering, Lan Xingyu thought, recalling a quote from Lu Xun. (Lu Xun: “Damn, did you hear me say that? Damn.”)
Seeing that Tony was safe, Lan Xingyu stopped monitoring him as they arrived at SHIELD. Coulson asked Lan Xingyu and Pepper to wait in the car for a moment while he went inside.
Finally relaxing, Pepper grabbed Lan Xingyu and began to playfully pinch his cheeks.
“Pepper, Coulson is coming back, let me go,” Lan Xingyu mumbled through his squished cheeks.
But Pepper didn’t hear him, continuing to pinch and squeeze his face. When Coulson returned, he saw Lan Xingyu’s face morphing in unimaginable ways.
Pepper only stopped when Coulson opened the door, feeling much lighter. After all, pinching Lan Xingyu’s cheeks was the best stress relief. Lan Xingyu, on the other hand, lay on the seat, his face showing the same expression as Tony’s earlier…
After a while, Lan Xingyu recovered and checked on Tony again.
He saw that Obadiah had taken Tony’s arc reactor, leaving Tony to crawl towards the backup arc reactor Lan Xingyu had left near his gaming setup.
Tony was despairing, realizing his uncle, whom he considered his only family, was the one who tried to kill him. But he couldn’t die yet. He hadn’t atoned for his sins. This thought kept him crawling towards the desk. But when he reached the desk, he couldn’t climb up, not even onto a nearby chair!
Seeing Tony struggle, Lan Xingyu was about to intervene when the Husky, Panda, pushed the glass container holding the arc reactor off the desk. Lan Xingyu relaxed.
Tony saw the reactor fall and looked at the dog, mumbling, “Panda, good boy!” He broke the glass, took out the reactor, and installed it. Since he hadn’t been without the reactor for too long, he soon stood up, ready to don his armor and settle things with Obadiah.
Meanwhile, Lan Xingyu arrived at Stark Industries. They got out of the car and followed Pepper to Production Room 16.
“My card doesn’t work here!” Pepper said anxiously.
“No problem, step aside,” Coulson said, placing a small device on the lock.
“What’s that? A gadget?” Pepper asked, seeing the small device.
“You might want to step back a bit,” Coulson advised.
“Yes, sure, no problem,” Pepper replied, pushing Lan Xingyu away from the door.
There was a small explosion, and the door opened.
“Kid, you can’t come in now,” Coulson said to Lan Xingyu, then entered with Pepper and the agents.
What are they doing? Sending in unprepared squishies first while leaving the tank outside? Lan Xingyu thought. He cast an invisibility spell and followed them in.
Inside, it was dark. They searched around but couldn’t find anything until they saw the first Iron Man suit. Pepper noticed something and moved closer. Suddenly, two cold blue lights lit up, shining on Pepper. She screamed and ran out, with the agents rushing to support her.
Obadiah was frustrated. He had just acquired the arc reactor and was immediately discovered. Now, with agents surrounding him, he decided to vent his anger on them.
The Iron Monger suit jumped up, extending its arms to crush the agents. Just as it was about to hit them, Obadiah’s expression turned puzzled. Why was he flying?
To everyone, the Iron Monger had suddenly been flung away, crashing through the floor and flying out. The expressions on their faces matched Obadiah’s…
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