When Carl and Zhao Helen arrived at the restaurant,
They unexpectedly ran into Tony Stark and his assistant, Pepper Potts.
Naturally, when Tony saw the Superman who had saved him, he greeted him warmly.
Carl responded politely.
Then he introduced: 『Carl』: "This is my girlfriend, Zhao Helen."
『Tony Stark』: "Oh, what a beautiful lady."
After a brief conversation, Tony and Pepper took the initiative to leave.
Tony had good instincts. He could tell Carl was here to accompany his girlfriend, and his presence would be an intrusion.
Besides, Tony himself had co out with Pepper, he obviously wanted so alone ti with her too.
So, they bid farewell.
Seeing Tony Stark again reminded Carl of sothing,
The palladium poisoning incident.
That was part of the Iron Man 2 storyline.
In that arc, Tony Stark had built a miniature Arc Reactor in a cave.
It was incredibly powerful.
Not only could it absorb the shrapnel lodged in his chest to keep him alive,
It also powered his Iron Man suit.
However, there was a flaw,
One of the components used was a tal called palladium.
That elent was toxic to the human body.
In Iron Man 2,
Tony suffered palladium poisoning from using the Iron Man suit too often.
While it wasn't imdiately fatal, it was rapidly progressing.
He did a lot of things with a sense of impending doom, even as if he were preparing for death.
For instance, he hosted an extravagant party,
And handed over control of his company to Pepper.
He also allowed his friend Rhodey to take the unpainted Mark II suit.
That suit would later beco known as the War Machine armor.
Before Rhodey left, the two of them even fought.
It seed like Rhodey beat up Tony and stole the suit.
Even Rhodey himself thought that was the case.
But realistically, that was ridiculous.
Tony had been wearing and fighting in the Iron Man suit for six or seven months by that point,
With all that experience, how could he lose to soone wearing it for the first ti?
The Mark II wasn't even painted.
Tony's suit, on the other hand, was the upgraded Mark III.
The two suits weren't even in the sa league.
Besides, Iron Man suits aren't sothing just anyone can use.
Each suit costs hundreds of millions of dollars to produce.
So models are worth far more.
Tony might be rich, but he's not stupid.
He wouldn't let just anyone walk away with one.
The operating system requires authentication from Tony himself to activate.
Otherwise, the suits are useless.
So how did Rhodey walk away with the suit in Iron Man 2?
Simple,
Tony, knowing he didn't have much ti left, gave it to him.
Otherwise, how could Rhodey use the suit?
How could he fight against the upgraded Mark III in a basic Mark II?
He'd be destroyed instantly.
At that mont, a voice spoke:
『Zhao Helen』: "So that's the famous Tony Stark, huh?"
She watched Tony and Pepper leave, a bit curious.
『Zhao Helen』: "He's not as bad as the news makes him out to be."
『Zhao Helen』: "A lot of articles paint him as a useless playboy."
『Zhao Helen』: "It's only recently, after news of you and him ca out, that public opinion has improved."
Since Zhao Helen completed her studies in the U.S.,
She had so familiarity with Tony Stark.
But they'd never t, so her impressions were based on news reports.
『Carl』: "How could he be just a playboy?" Carl chuckled. 『Carl』: "If that were true, Stark Industries would've gone under a long ti ago."
『Carl』: "Even if it hadn't, there's no way he'd be running it."
『Zhao Helen』: "Good point."
Carl paused, then asked:
『Carl』: "By the way, do you know anything about palladium?"
Zhao Helen, a PhD in dicine, might know.
Carl himself had only heard about it in the movies.
He vaguely recalled it was a necessary component for the Arc Reactor.
Later in the story, Tony found files from his father through SHIELD and used them to discover a replacent elent.
Zhao Helen looked at Carl curiously.
『Zhao Helen』: "Why are you asking about that?"
『Carl』: "Just curious."
『Zhao Helen』: "Hmm… Palladium is a chemical elent with good malleability."
『Zhao Helen』: "It's typically a silvery-white transition tal, often used in aerospace, weaponry, and energy applications."
『Zhao Helen』: "Also useful as a catalyst."
『Carl』: "Oh…"
He thought for a mont.
『Carl』: "If soone gets palladium poisoning, how would it be treated?"
Zhao Helen's expression shifted.
She looked at Carl in shock, then suddenly pulled up his shirt.
『Carl』: "Hey, what are you doing?"
『Zhao Helen』: (urgently) "You're poisoned with palladium, aren't you?"
『Zhao Helen』: "That stuff is highly toxic!"
『Zhao Helen』: "It's not too bad as long as you don't have prolonged exposure, but still!"
『Zhao Helen』: "How did you get poisoned?!"
『Carl』: "..."
Carl finally realized what she ant.
She thought he had been poisoned.
He smiled and explained:
『Carl』: "Not ."
『Carl』: "With how strong my body is, how could I be poisoned?"
『Carl』: "Even if I swallowed palladium, I'd be fine."
『Carl』: "It's a friend of mine…"
From what Zhao Helen said, palladium poisoning was no joke.
Still, as long as there wasn't long-term exposure, it wasn't fatal.
But Tony's Arc Reactor required palladium.
It seed Carl had no choice but to visit SHIELD and retrieve Howard Stark's notes.
He had wanted to ask if Zhao Helen had any solution,
But it seed like she didn't.
Zhao Helen clearly didn't believe him.
『Zhao Helen』: "Quit bluffing, let see!"
『Carl』: "Alright, alright."
He reluctantly let her lift his shirt.
『Carl』: "I'm telling you, it's not ."
She thoroughly inspected his upper body.
Finding no symptoms,
She started checking other areas,
『Carl』: "Whoa there. That's enough."
『Carl』: "If you really need to check, let's wait till we're ho."
『Carl』: "The restaurant staff is staring at us."
Zhao Helen looked around,
Sure enough, a young waitress was watching them through the glass with curiosity.
And it wasn't just her,
Several passersby had also gathered, intrigued by the handso couple.
They looked like they were about to cause a scene.
『Zhao Helen』: "Fine, we'll check at ho."
『Carl』: "Relax, my body's even stronger now. I'm not getting sick."
He smiled, leading Zhao Helen into the restaurant.
Since they had a reservation, the food ca quickly.
The two of them sat and enjoyed their al together.
End of chapter...
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