The top floor of the Stark Building, Manhattan.
From here, you can see the entire New York at night. Streets like golden necklaces crisscross each other, with endless traffic. They connect high-rise buildings that reach the sky, and string together lights that shine directly into the sky, making the night full of vitality.
On the prosperous side is the quietly flowing Hudson River, which meanders into the bay and uses the power of undercurrents beneath the wide river surface to calm the waves near the coast.
Stark Tower sits right between the two.
Lynn sat on the sofa, tapping her knees.
Stark hadn't arrived yet, and it seemed that even with his personality change, his habit of being late hadn't been affected at all.
“Crash—”
There was a slight noise from the electric door, and Stark walked in, loosening his tie.
"Sorry, magic boy, I'm late."
He was all smiles and looked normal.
In addition to the obvious dark circles under his eyes, it seems that he has not slept well in the past few days.
So, he used a pair of black-framed glasses to cover it up.
"Would you like something to drink?" Stark walked to the private bar and took out a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
"I know you are underage, but compared to what we are about to discuss, this is nothing. Besides, maybe one day, this ban will be lifted... You don't know that the background of that mobile app has collected a lot of information about congressmen. We can make good use of it."
Stark seemed to be showing off his abilities.
"Mr. Stark, you said yesterday that you wanted to establish a good order, but as far as I know, threatening members of parliament is not a glorious thing." Lynn did not act immediately, he was observing.
The man in front of him looked like Stark himself, but why did he just come to the appointment so simply
"The process is not important, what is important is the result. You see, in today's world, even these powerful congressmen have secrets, let alone ordinary people?" Stark pushed the wine glass to Lin En, took a sip himself, and then motioned for Lin En to drink it with confidence.
"Desire is the destroyer of all rules. The new world we want to build will not have such troubles. There, people's desires can be infinitely satisfied, and our new rules can be infinitely close to perfection."
"But this theory is too far-fetched," said Lynn. He found that Stark was not on guard at all, as if he had taken a dose of Felix Felicis.
"No, Lin En, you should listen more to the voices of those users. They are actually dissatisfied with the current world, and they are all cheering for the beautiful future I have described."
Stark is like a missionary now.
"What about SHIELD? They won't agree with you doing this."
"Oh, that old fellow Nick Fury. He is indeed an old fox, and convincing him will be a big problem—"
Stark was giving another immersive speech, and Lynn seized the opportunity to quietly point his wand at him.
"Everyone is petrified!"
There was no way he could dodge at such a close distance.
The spell hit as it sounded.
However, Stark did not respond.
What happened?!
"Hey, Lynn, it seems you still can't agree with my ideas... This disappoints me." Strangely, Stark's figure began to flicker, as if there was a virtual person standing there. "But you will understand after a while, when the whole of New York becomes my follower, you will realize what they really want."
Finally, Stark's figure became blurred, and after the last flash of strong white light, only a white robot was left there.
"Shit, this Stark is a hologram!"
Lynn realized that this technology was very similar to the spiritual realm system that Stark had given him before, and both could realistically restore real things.
It’s just that now the technology has been taken to a higher level, achieving an effect that is so realistic that the fake is indistinguishable from the real thing.
"Hey! Our operation has failed before it even started?" Spider-Man suddenly popped his head out of the window. He had been hiding on the outer curtain wall of Stark Tower.
"Hou Lei, thank you. I almost fell into the red wine glass just now!"
Next to the white-shell robot, Ant-Man slowly returned to his normal size. He had just climbed up the other's arm along the table and the red wine glass, and he noticed something was wrong almost at the same time as Lin En.
"What should we do now? We have come to nothing." Ant-Man complained.
"We underestimated Stark's vigilance. He had no intention of showing up in person from the beginning."
Lynn shook his head. It seemed that the plan to capture Stark would require further consideration.
"I can't believe that Mr. Stark would say those words..." On the side, Spider-Man was dejected.
He had just witnessed Stark's ambitious side, which was completely different from the wise, open-minded and tolerant Stark he usually was.
"Lynn, if he can never change back, does that mean we will never see the original Mr. Stark again? Or the original Iron Man?"
Spider-Man sat on the couch, pulling at his hair.
"We will always find a way to make everything return to normal..." Lin En comforted Spider-Man, although he couldn't think of any good ideas at the moment.
"It's hard to imagine that New York has become like this without any warning... But listen to me, man, I think what Stark said makes some sense. Look at those people outside, they are so happy after using Stark's research." Ant-Man expressed his opinion.
“But what happens after that? If everyone puts their hopes on that app, the normal functioning of society will collapse,” Lynn retorted.
"Maybe Sterk can charge a fee, and then New York will still be the same New York, except that it will have one more magical plastic surgery or medical consumption project." Ant-Man shrugged.
“Charging… Once charging is implemented, many people who have tasted the sweetness of free services will not be able to tolerate the gap and will take risks.” Lin En remembered the plot in the comics, which was roughly along this line.
"I think Lynn is right. Mr. Stark's invention will not bring a bright future. Instead, it will cause unrest and turmoil."
Spider-Man interrupted and said dejectedly.
"How about we try to find Strange? He might have a solution."
Then he turned his head to look at Lynn and Ant-Man, and thought of asking for help.
Lin En leaned back on the sofa, staring at the robot in front of him with a sense of melancholy. He didn't expect that in the end he would have to rely on Doctor Strange to clean up the mess.
Originally, Stark's personality change was closely related to the Vanishing Cabinet. Now going to find Strange, doesn't that mean he admits that he messed up
“… OK, let’s try our luck.”
In the end, Lynn agreed with Spider-Man's suggestion.