"Sir, Anton Vanko is a Soviet physicist. He defected to the United States in 1963, but due to espionage accusations, he was deported in 1967.
"Ivan Vanko is his son. He was also a physicist. He was sentenced to 15 years in the Kopeisk Prison after smuggling plutonium to Pakistan. This is the only information that was available on the public network," Jarvis replied diligently.
Tony roughly grasped the situation from Jarvis' report.
Tony had seen Anton Vanko's name in a blueprint among his father's keepsakes: the Arc Reactor blueprint. Anton's name was even listed above his father's name.
Although, he didn't know that Anton was deported due to espionage.
That was hardly relevant. The more pressing matter was the fact that Anton's son, Ivan Vanko, was already targeting him. What should he do?
"So, Li Yue, what do you think I should do?" Tony shook off his thoughts and turned to Li Yue, hoping that Li Yue would have some ideas.
"Why don't we lure the snake out of the hole?" Li Yue suddenly said after thinking for a while, facing Tony's gaze.
"Lure him? But how..."
...
Li Yue teleported right to Tony's living room again the next day, as per usual.
"Jarvis, what is Tony doing?" Li Yue asked Jarvis.
"Mr. Stark is currently in the gym and performing physical training with Mr. Happy. Would you like me to inform Mr. Stark?"
"It's fine; you don't need to tell him. I'll just go there myself."
Li Yue already knew Tony's villa as well as he knew his own home, so of course, he knew where the gym was. He immediately headed right there.
Tony and Happy were practicing in the ring, both of them wearing boxing gloves. To be honest, Happy was pretty much beaten one-sidedly by Tony. His cumbersome weight was no match for Tony's agility. Fortunately, he was wearing protective gear, so he wasn't hurt.
"Good morning, Tony, Happy," Li Yue greeted the two.
"Good morning, Li Yue. Do you want to come up and practice with Happy?"
"Forget about it," Li Yue rejected the proposal, afraid that he would turn Happy into a bloody pulp.
Li Yue's month-long training wasn't fruitless. He had learned quite a bit of practical combat skills from Mordo, all distilled from Mordo's life and death struggles.
Tony didn't press Li Yue and resumed his training with Happy.
Li Yue sat on the sofa and watched as Tony "beat" Happy while eating the fruits on the table.
Tony's combat proficiency was pretty decent; it seemed that he had trained seriously. Some of his moves were similar to the Wing Chun martial arts from the Ip Man movie that Li Yue watched in his previous life. It seemed that Tony had learned that specific martial art.
Li Yue imagined Tony taking the same stance as Ip Man but while wearing the armor suit. "Wing Chun, Iron Man. Fight me ten at once."
Li Yue almost couldn't hold his laughter.
"Tony, when did you learn Wing Chun? Your stances looked like it," Li Yue asked after finishing a banana.
"Oh, Li Yue, you know Wing Chun too? A teacher taught me this martial art; he was said to be Bruce Lee's senior."
Li Yue was rather surprised when he heard Tony's reply. He didn't expect that the Kung Fu superstar Li Xiaolong would exist in this world as well.
...
"Hey, Tony, the notary is here. Can you come here and sign the transfer documents? Oh, Mr. Li Yue, you're here as well! Good morning," Pepper suddenly entered the room and spoke to Tony before she noticed and greeted Li Yue.
Li Yue stood up and greeted Pepper as well before realizing the familiar scene. He was a little confused. Didn't Tony solve the palladium poisoning problem? Why would he hand the company over to Pepper?
Li Yue subconsciously turned to the door, half-expecting the next person to enter.
Sure enough, a woman in black pants and a white shirt entered with a document in her hand. She had a slender waist and long legs, a perfect figure unmatched by any other.
As expected of the Black Widow. All three men in the room were stunned by her mere entrance. Happy was the first to snap out of his daze and smacked the back of Tony's head.
Li Yue also stared at the woman, but in his case, it was not out of lust. He was very familiar with this person: he hadn't seen her in person, but he had seen her in movies countless times.
As expected of the Widows, whose bath water could make someone rich instantly. She really was captivating.
Li Yue recalled the information about her. Natasha Romanov, a special agent of SHIELD tasked with infiltrating Stark Industries and getting close to Tony Stark.
...
Natasha had been with Stark Industries for months. She finally saw an opening to meet with Tony Stark yesterday, so she added some laxatives to the coffee of the original legal advisor and took their place to bring the documents to Tony.
She intended to get close by exploiting Tony's playboy side, and today it seemed to be spectacularly successful. Her breathtaking appearance had taken Tony's attention.
However, Natasha noticed a person that she didn't expect: Li Yue, who was sitting on the sofa. She was slightly surprised, but quickly hid it.
Of course, Natasha knew about Li Yue. The director had mentioned Li Yue to her, as well as the mystery surrounding him, including that he apparently came from another universe.
"I thought he disappeared a month ago. Why did he suddenly appear here? I should probably report this to the director," Natasha's thoughts raced, but as expected from a professional agent, she didn't show any of it on her face.
Her current task was to get close to Tony and ascertain his character, and, if possible, get the technical specifications of the Iron Man armor.
...
Li Yue watched as Tony finalized the transfer of the company's management rights to Pepper. Tony also said that he wanted the beautiful notarist as his "personal assistant," but Pepper shot him down immediately. Pepper truly understood Tony's inner machinations better than anyone.
Tony still stared at Natasha's behind when the two women left the room.
"Tony, you should probably give up on her. She's not as simple as you thought!" Li Yue couldn't hold himself from warning Tony, but he didn't reveal Natasha's identity.
"What, you know her? What do you mean she's not simple?" Tony immediately turned his attention.
Tony didn't feel anything wrong about Natasha. Wasn't she just a beautiful and sexy woman?
"Well, I've warned you. It's up to you to listen to me or not," Li Yue didn't push it further.
"What about the operation? Have you prepared everything?" Li Yue changed the topic.
"Don't worry. Ivan Vanko wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. And when he comes, I'll use my latest armor to whoop his ass in front of everyone. Let him see who's the better scientist," Tony replied confidently, impatient to meet Ivan Vanko.