Tony had been a playboy for too long, but now he exclusively loved Pepper and had also started to be strict with his body management.
Pepper woke up and looked at the empty spot beside her, devoid of any warmth.
She walked towards the underground laboratory and saw Tony doing pull-ups in a short-sleeved shirt.
"Hey," Tony finished a set, took the towel and functional drink handed to him by the robotic arm, wiped his sweat, and teased Pepper, "Are you smitten with me?"
"The old you wouldn't get up this early." Pepper leaned against the doorway, her lips curved up. "Which girl caught your eye?"
"Yes, her name is Pepper." Tony smiled as he walked over, picked up his watch, and glanced at the time. "Oh, an hour passed so quickly."
He was lying.
In fact, after Pepper fell asleep last night, he came here because of insomnia.
He just pretended to have exercised for an hour, making Pepper mistakenly believe that he woke up in the morning.
The couple, deeply in love, approached each other and shared a passionate good morning kiss.
"Right, did you brush your teeth?" After the kiss, Tony smirked, teasing her to cover up his guilt.
Pepper placed her hand on Tony's chest, pushed him away, and walked up the stairs barefoot, her voice drifting back.
"No."
Tony grinned, turned to look at the armor he was making, and his smile faded.
***
General Ross and the Secretary of State left.
With a hint of solemnity, he took a deep look at John before leaving.
While everyone else was immersed in the joy of the Super Heroes' birth, John had pointed out the various situations that their arrival would bring about.
Now, let alone closing Hammer Industries, they even increased their orders.
General Ross subtly hinted that he hoped Hammer Industries could also iterate on the Steel Soldiers.
John responded that they needed to increase the price.
As for making them as advanced as Tony Stark's armor, they shouldn't even think about it.
Not unless there could be an artificial intelligence on the level of Jarvis.
The next day, John had planned to stay home, but unfortunately, someone always wanted to bother him.
This time it wasn't Hattie, but Olov.
"You're not at Taran Industries working on your alien technology, what are you doing here?"
John, with an unfriendly face, stared at Olov, who had been pressing the doorbell for half an hour.
He began to consider moving, feeling that such things would happen again in the future.
Danny was with Olov, looking as if he had seen a ghost, and said exaggeratedly, "The sun is already high, John."
"You should come out and walk around instead of staying home all day." Olov complained, "I knew I hadn't seen you much before."
He pulled John into the stretched limousine, and Danny was always by Olov's side.
Sometimes John wondered if Danny was also there when Olov was picking up girls.
"You should go see the beautiful doctor you found."
"Who?" John was taken aback.
Olov smacked his lips. "Dr. Helen, don't you think she's very beautiful?"
It seemed that beauty had no borders. Hearing Olov say this, John looked him up and down.
"You didn't fall for her, did you?"
"I like women with hot figures," Olov waved his hands repeatedly upon hearing this. "Besides, I won't compete with you for women."
John said speechlessly, "She's not my woman."
"What?" Olov looked shocked. "I thought you liked her?"
"How did you come to that conclusion?" John looked suspicious. Since Dr. Helen joined Taran Industries, he had only met her once.
But Olov analyzed, "A woman with exotic features, just said a few words in front of you, and you gave her five hundred million to build a laboratory."
Exotic features?
Okay, to Olov, Dr. Helen, with her Asian features, was indeed exotic.
"Isn't that liking?" Olov analyzed seriously. "Five hundred million, and you haven't even gone to see the experiment once. Which Boss spends five hundred million as casually as you do?"
Listening to his analysis, John fell into thought.
"Are you too idle?" John said indifferently. "Actually, Tennessee can also be developed."
"Cough, cough." Olov's eyes widened when he heard John was going to send him away again. "I'm your uncle, no matter what!"
"Tony Stark also got his uncle killed." John pouted.
Olov chuckled. "You wouldn't, right?"
John just gave him a look, letting him figure it out himself.
It was better to be without an uncle who took the lead in spreading rumors.
***
Taran Industries Medical Department.
After being reminded, John finally remembered to visit this place.
Five hundred million US dollars was enough to build this into the top medical laboratory in the United States.
Dr. Helen tied up her hair and was nodding at the gene sequence on the screen.
She had brought her research team, and the progress of the Regeneration Cradle was very smooth.
This was also inseparable from John's support, giving money when needed and people when needed.
This was simply the best Boss she had ever met; it was just that this Boss was too hands-off.
In the first month, Dr. Helen was a little worried that John would come over to inspect and guide.
Later, she found that John seemed to have forgotten about her, and only then did she relax.
This day, she was preparing for the first trial run of the Regeneration Cradle when she saw John coming over.
Seeing that familiar face, John felt a little dazed.
Compared to the Regeneration Cradle, he really wanted to know if Dr. Helen had a relative named Nagini.
Coincidentally, the trial run was happening, so John just stood there watching the Regeneration Cradle, which was somewhat similar to Ivan's charging pod.
This thing could perform trauma repair, tissue and organ regeneration, human regeneration, and many other difficult medical problems facing the world today.
In theory, as long as you weren't dead, lying inside could bring you back to life.
Of course, the current Regeneration Cradle couldn't do that yet.
The experimental stage was still limited to trauma repair.
A white mouse was put in, and the injured and dying area basically recovered without damage after being repaired.
John stared at the experiment, and Dr. Helen didn't dare to breathe heavily beside him.
Seeing the success, she cheered.
Realizing John was beside her, she forced herself to calm down again.
"This thing is really amazing." Looking at the trauma repair, John felt like he was seeing a healing spell.
At the same time, he confirmed that the Regeneration Cradle would become a major invention that would shake the world.
Dr. Helen smiled reservedly. "Thank you for your help, otherwise the progress wouldn't have been so rapid."
"You are excellent enough to receive my help." John shook his head slightly. "I believe you will succeed, not because of a feeling, but because of you as a person."
Dr. Helen was recognized, which greatly increased her favorable impression of John.
She took the initiative to show John around the Regeneration Cradle laboratory.
While John was touring, his phone rang.
Seeing who was calling, he was a little puzzled.
Dr. Helen wisely stepped aside. John answered the phone and said, "Don't tell me you want to buy weapons from me."
On the other end of the phone, a female voice came through.
"Mr. Wick, I want to ask you for a favor."
It was Pepper.
She called John, and he didn't know if Tony knew.
John having Pepper's number was purely because both were leaders of large companies, and it was normal for them to have each other's contact information.
"Favor?" John thought for a moment and said, "You can call my assistant."
"Mr. Wick," Pepper interrupted him, "Tony is a little off."
Although she hadn't discovered Tony's insomnia, Pepper still felt a faint sense of unease.
"I wanted to find Rhodes, but he's not here, so it can only be you," Pepper said. "You are his friend."
Friend?
John's expression was strange.
"Alright, I'll go see him."
Since Pepper said so, John couldn't refuse to give her face.
It definitely wasn't because he was curious about what could be wrong with that playboy Tony Stark.
The next day, he openly skipped work and had Ferdinand drive him to Tony's residence.
This address was given by Pepper.
He rang the doorbell, holding a box of strawberries in his hand.
Tony opened the door and saw him, his face filled with confusion besides being stunned.
"Someone said you needed a psychologist."
John swaggered into his house and casually placed the strawberries on the table.
He looked around the house and said casually, "Need help?"
Tony hesitated.
***********
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