Chapter 1818: Journey of a Madman (31)

The car sped along the New Jersey highway, kicking up a faint trail of dust. The setting sun dipped below the brownish-red earth at the end of the road, turning the puddles on the lead-gray, traffic-choked streets of Manhattan into dazzling gold and red.

When Tony Stark appeared in the cafe wearing his Iron Man suit, it caused quite a stir. People pulled out their phones one after another, the sound of shutters clicking incessantly. Stark waved a hand impatiently, but the crowd only continued to grow.

The clerk behind the counter walked out with a forced smile, looking helplessly at the congestion at the entrance. He rubbed his hands together, intending to step forward and advise Stark not to be so high-profile, but a stack of cash was immediately slapped onto the counter.

The chubby boss's eyes lit up with a golden glow from inside the kitchen doorway. With a "snap," the "Closed" sign was hung on the cafe's front door.

Stark leaned back with his hands behind his head, reclining in the chair at the seat with the best view by the window. "Ding-a-ling," the wind chime at the door rang. When the lithe figure of the red-headed female agent appeared around the corner, Stark whistled at Seeing Natasha.

Seeing Natasha set her handbag aside and sat opposite Stark. After taking off her sunglasses, she raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Long time no see, Tony. How have you been lately?"

"You know the answer to that." Tony tilted his head to glance at her, then turned his face back and said, "Pepper hasn't stopped giving me trouble since you left. If you guys don't come to me, I'm going to go to Nick to demand compensation for emotional distress."

Seeing Natasha didn't put on her usual cold face to talk business. She rested her elbows on the table, straightened her somewhat pale fingers to prop up her chin, and looked at Stark from above her eyes, saying, "What, does Pepper disagree with the evaluation I gave you?"

Stark immediately puffed out his cheeks and glared, saying, "That was pure slander! You lowered my image in her eyes. Originally, she didn't even..."

"Originally, she didn't have many complaints about your lousy technique and lack of service awareness, but after hearing my complaints, she realized there are plenty of good men in this world. Sorry, big genius Stark, but that's the most mindless work there is."

Stark glared hard at the clerk who was eavesdropping at the kitchen door, but he still rubbed his nose in embarrassment, took his feet off the side of the chair, and reluctantly sat up straight.

"I drank too much that day, my consciousness was a bit hazy, so it's understandable that I didn't perform well. Besides, you didn't point out the problem on the spot but slandered me everywhere afterward; you aren't much better yourself."

"You misunderstood. I never told anyone about the two of us. If Pepper complained to you, you should check on those cover models of yours."

Stark immediately frowned suspiciously, his eyes darting as if recalling who might have made a scene with Pepper. After a while, he held up a finger and said, "I won't sign a non-disclosure agreement with you, but you absolutely cannot talk to Pepper about topics like 'good men'."

Seeing Natasha immediately narrowed her eyes, just like a cat that had spotted a fish. She smiled at Stark and said, "I thought Pepper was just 'one of them.' Is she? Or is she not?"

Seeing Natasha keenly grasped the trace of panic in Stark's expression. The female agent wrinkled her nose and said, "You're wearing at least seven different perfumes. Another wild yacht party? How many missed calls did Pepper give you?"

"Are you wiretapping my phone?"

"Good heavens, do I have to tell you that you look as pure and innocent right now as a boy who just finished his graduation prom?" Seeing Natasha decided to go for the kill: "You're in love with Pepper."

The two Starks, one in the cafe and one in the Devourer Engine, covered their eyes at the same time.

"Did you guys see it back then too?" Stark, sitting at the bar in the hall of the Devourer Engine, looked at Nick and said, "Did I write it all over my face? Really?"

"I can only say that Pepper is probably the only person who hasn't discovered this yet. From a psychological standpoint, you two are truly a match made in heaven," Schiller shrugged and said.

The Stark inside the cafe had completely changed his posture. He rested his forearms on the coffee table, leaned forward, and stared at Seeing Natasha, saying, "You're talking nonsense."

Then he relaxed his body, leaned back, and put his hands behind his head again, assuming a leisurely pose.

But Seeing Natasha didn't buy it at all. She took the coffee handed over by the clerk, snorted, and said, "You don't dare to admit your inner feelings because you know you're dying. You know you can't let Pepper fall in love with you. If she falls in love with you, you will both experience the pain of separation."

Iron Man's lips turned pale.

"You don't want to drag anyone down. You just want to find a place to die after you've had your fun, preferably where no one will remember you and no one will grieve for you."

"No one would grieve for me anyway!" Stark curled his lip and said, "A notorious arms dealer, a wealthy playboy who lacks benevolence—if anyone grieves for me, I'd only think they had water in their brain."

"Then what about your father?"

"Don't mention him to me!"

The beautiful and cunning cat had spotted a fish again, but the female agent never had the patience to cast bait carefully; she preferred using a harpoon directly.

"You know there is someone who would definitely want to save you, even if he were dead. Unfortunately, he is dead."

"It's better that he's dead." Stark gripped the coffee cup tightly.

"But a person's death is not determined by the time their physical body passes away."

Seeing Natasha began preparing to release a smoke bomb called philosophy. This was, of course, a trick she learned from Schiller. Once the discussion turned to philosophy, most people's brains couldn't keep up, and she herself had once had her vision blurred this way.

"We often say that forgetting is the end of death. As long as someone remembers, death never truly ends. Howard Stark has been dead for a long time, but he isn't dead yet because there are still people who remember him. That is the only reason I am here right now."

Seeing Natasha also leaned forward, showing an aggressive posture, looking at Stark and saying, "For your father's sake, Nick sent me to persuade you. He originally wanted to come with me to recruit you, but through the window, he saw you weren't in a good state, so to avoid pressure, he let me come alone. It's just simple concern for your state; recruitment can wait."

"Is he pitying me?!"

"Of course not. He is an old friend of your father's; naturally, he doesn't want to see you get into trouble. What I want to say is that Nick, like everyone who remembers Howard, witnessed Howard's talent with their own eyes, and therefore, so long after his death, they still haven't forgotten him."

"No one will remember you, not because you are such a terrible person. You know Howard Stark was also a playboy and made many ridiculous jokes, but that's not what people remember."

"People only know Howard as a genius inventor, a successful businessman. And you, Tony, if you died now, the eulogy at your funeral would probably only have one sentence: 'Died in the prime of life'."

Seeing Natasha shrugged and took another sip of coffee, saying, "After all, you didn't found the company, you didn't invent the weapons, and only the Iron Man suit is worth mentioning. But how would ordinary people know how useful your suit is? They just think of it as a large toy. And the impression you've left on the world is probably just that of a rich, playboy who loves to have fun."

"Bang!"

The clerk delivering coffee to Stark was startled by the sound of Stark pounding the table. Seeing Natasha stood up to help Stark take the coffee and placed it in front of him.

When the coffee was set down, the water rippled. Seeing Natasha felt as if she saw a tiny bright spot on the surface of the coffee, but she couldn't be sure if it was just a reflection of the liquid.

The cautious female agent's hand shook with quick reflexes, and half a cup of coffee spilled onto Stark's Iron Man suit.

"Oh, my god, sorry." Seeing Natasha apologized hurriedly and turned to ask the clerk for a towel, but Stark stood up with a "whoosh," his voice cold as he said, "I've received Nick's concern. Let's leave it at that for today; I'm leaving."

Seeing Natasha didn't show weakness, staring at Stark and saying, "Your inner lining must be wet, and if nothing goes wrong, Pepper should be waiting anxiously for you at your usual landing spot right now. Do you want her to see you like this?"

Stark began to grow restless. He kept biting his upper lip, looking at Seeing Natasha and saying, "Then what should I do? You expect this bunch of people to be able to clean the lining of my suit?"

"At least go to the restroom and wash off the coffee stains." Seeing Natasha pushed Stark and said, "You wouldn't want to explain to Pepper how you got covered in coffee by another woman."

Stark walked into the restroom looking somewhat disheveled. Seeing Natasha followed him all the way until he stood in front of the mirror at the sink in the middle of the restroom. Through the mirror, he saw Seeing Natasha place her hand on his waist.

Stark was just about to speak, but Seeing Natasha mouthed to him through the mirror: "Don't speak, listen to me."

"Someone wants to kill you." Seeing Natasha continued to mouth the words through the mirror: "A mysterious enemy. We don't know where he is, nor do we know in what way, but he is around you, ready to strike at any time. Be careful, Tony."

After speaking, Seeing Natasha pretended that the flirting was over, hooked her hand around Stark's neck, and left a kiss on his cheek, then walked toward the women's restroom as if nothing had happened.

Stunned for a few seconds, Stark's eyes darted left and right, and then he also pretended nothing was wrong and went to the sink to deal with the lining of his suit.

When Stark left the restroom, he found that Seeing Natasha had already gotten into Nick's car. Through the gradually rolling-up car window, he saw Seeing Natasha's final warning glance, and he couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression.

Could this be a trap by S. H. I. E. L. D.? Creating a crisis to force him to join the superhero organization Nick was building?

Stark tilted his head and touched the blue lines gradually spreading on his shoulder—that was the countdown to his life.

If he died, would anyone look after his descendants decades later?

Pepper and Obadiah were both saddened by his debauchery; perhaps they couldn't wait for him to die.

Taking out his phone, Stark saw a string of missed calls. Seeing Natasha's guess was very accurate. Stark had just been partying wildly on a yacht for three days, during which he didn't answer anyone's calls. He knew he was pushing them away, but he was doing it voluntarily.

But at this moment, Stark suddenly thought of a name. If there was anyone who would place a bouquet of flowers at his grave a hundred years later, it would probably be Rhodey's son, because his father had told the legend of Iron Man more than once. Rhodey knew his epitaph shouldn't just be "playboy."

Stark took a deep breath, looked back at the coffee spilled on the table. As night fell, the golden-red meteor disappeared into the horizon.

A hand reached into the washing machine and fumbled for a long time. A curly-haired black woman pulled out a pair of pants with force, frowned, and shouted at the door: "Hancock, go tell your father, if he dares to wash his rotten jeans with his white shirts again, he can get out of this house!"

Rhodey, sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, turned back to respond, patted the head of his son who had run over, and then saw the firelight of the Iron Man suit engine light up beneath the balcony curtains.