Chapter 103: Genius Sets Off Again (Part 1)

After the night in New York darkened, the lights of the whole city began to go out gradually. Only the top few floors of Stark Tower had faint lights. Pepper, who had been busy all day, walked onto the elevator. After the elevator indicator light turned on, she took a deep breath, but didn't relax completely.

The elevator door opened, and the ceiling lights turned on one by one with her footsteps, guiding her to Stark's laboratory, where she hadn't been for a long time.

The laboratory door opened slowly without making any sound. The whole laboratory was pitch black, with only the lights of the experimental instruments shining faintly. Stark was lying on the experimental table, seemingly asleep.

Jarvis turned on some soft lights, enough for Pepper to see clearly under her feet without waking Stark. Stark was sleeping very soundly, and after Pepper walked over, she found his brows tightly locked.

She saw a pile of materials on his experimental table. In the past, there were experimental data that Pepper couldn't understand, but today, Pepper saw several books that shouldn't have appeared here on the experimental table.

Social engineering, game theory, political science, international relations, etc. Pepper even saw several of her own college textbooks there. There were traces of flipping on them, and even several books were opened and buckled on the desktop, obviously Stark hadn't finished reading them.

She walked a little closer, picked up those materials, most of which were some intelligence related to the military, Congress, and S. H. I. E. L. D., especially some information about their personnel.

Pepper just wanted to bypass the experimental table and walk to Stark's side. Stark moved, he coughed dryly, and then woke up. In the dim light, he saw Pepper standing in front of him and thought he was dreaming.

Stark shook his head and tried to blink his eyes, looking very confused. Pepper often saw this expression of his, usually after drinking or staying up late to do experiments.

"Oh, you're here. Are you done? How have you been lately?" Stark seemed a bit at a loss, as if he hadn't seen Pepper for so many days and felt a bit strange. He used that somewhat embarrassing tone to exchange pleasantries.

Pepper was not affected by him. She walked over and said, "What's wrong with you? Why did you start reading these books?"

Stark looked back at his desktop. His expression was a bit like a child caught playing with a game console by his parents. He twisted his neck somewhat unnaturally, and then said, "A friend recommended it. He said I should read more of this kind of book, otherwise I won't be able to deal with those troubles."

Stark paused, then lowered his head. His voice sounded a bit low, with a seriousness rarely seen in the past.

"S. H. I. E. L. D., the military, and Congress have basically obtained what they wanted. Next, it will be the last negotiation of this incident."

"I represent Stark Group. I know that this time no one will deal with these troubles for me again. I must learn to handle all this by myself."

"I have never participated in any decent negotiations. Sometimes even if I went, I only needed to sit there and wait for Uncle Obadiah to finish everything. I was just a symbolic symbol. Everyone knew I was a genius, so even if I showed impatience or left early, no one dared to say anything..."

"I know, I'm really rotten. I caused a lot of messes and troubles, once mocked the representative on the opposite side for being a retard, or deliberately made the table full of coffee just to leave early."

"I can't remember how many times I've done such stupid things, but I know, this time I have to do it myself."

Stark rubbed his eyes, then rubbed his face with both hands, trying to put away the sad and lost expression. He said, "No one will do these things for me again, no one will solve these troubles for me again, and even no one will look at my inventions or listen to my genius ideas..."

Pepper had to admit that this was the first time she saw Stark's such sad expression. In the past, he made those sad expressions to play tricks or deliberately make people happy, but now, he was really sad.

After Stark calmed down for a while, he clapped his hands and said, "Fine, that's it. I can handle all this, right?"

"I am Stark, how could I not? Can these things be harder than making armor? Watch it, as long as I finish reading these materials and books, in the negotiations a few days later, I can still defeat them by myself..."

Pepper felt a kind of heartache. Before this, whenever Stark acted like a baby and didn't want to do something, she felt very headache, felt that she wasted too much time coaxing this big child, and hoped that Stark could mature quickly.

But now, when Stark calmly accepted doing things he didn't want to do, Pepper suddenly hoped he was still as willful as before.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. Stark matured, this should be a good thing, but Pepper knew very well that such growth must be accompanied by intense pain and sadness. She would rather Stark not experience this pain and live in a utopia forever.

Pepper choked up. Just as she wanted to say something, the phone in her pocket rang again. She had no choice but to leave to answer the phone, and before she could chat with Stark, she had to deal with the work that seemed endless.

Stark looked at Pepper's back as she left. His pain and helplessness reached their peak. He put one hand on the experimental table, then covered his eyes. He had never felt that New York's night was so long. ===== CHAPTER 104 =====