Despite his complaints, Tony's actions were swift. He raised an eyebrow upon hearing Li Hua's words: "I also have many questions I want to ask you. Let's talk at my private seaside villa."
"But judging by appearances, you don't seem to have the ability to fly. You're not planning to run all the way, are you? Do you need a ride from me?"
"No need. You just need to give us the address, and we can teleport there directly," Elena replied nonchalantly.
Tony's face fell upon hearing this, realizing he had forgotten they possessed space-transfer technology similar to a game's teleportation circle.
He gave them the precise location of his villa and watched the light of the teleportation circle flash, then gave a slight huff.
He first met with Pepper, quickly arranged the aftermath of the attack, and then flew back to his villa.
His first priority was to immediately replace the Arc Reactor, as it not only powered the suit but also sustained Tony's life.
As for the board meeting, it was postponed for the time being. Stark Tower had been attacked and suffered heavy losses, requiring renovation. Pepper decided to give all non-essential group personnel three days off.
Back at his seaside villa, after installing a new Arc Reactor, Tony opened a bottle of wine and lay down on the sofa, raising his glass to Li Hua and Elena. "Could the two of you reveal your true selves now? Or do you still intend to conceal your identities, afraid to show your real faces?"
Li Hua and Elena exchanged glances, pulled out their game cartridges, and deactivated their transformations.
Tony's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of intelligence passing through them as he saw the armor on Li Hua and Elena disappear into thin air.
"J.A.R.V.I.S."
"Yes, Sir. Based on facial recognition data, the gentleman is named Li Hua and the lady is named Elena. They are both doctors at Holy City University Hospital in New York. I have already sent the specific identification information to your mobile phone," J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately responded, understanding the subtle command.
Tony nodded slightly, glancing down at the information on his phone.
"Would either of you care for a drink? I don't invite people to drink often," Tony said, his tone languid.
"I don't drink. Alcohol affects the accuracy of my surgical scalpel," Li Hua replied flatly.
"What about this beautiful lady?" Tony asked, raising his glass to Elena with a smile he considered highly charming.
Elena refused without reservation: "We are here to discuss a matter with you, and I never drink with people I dislike."
Tony waved his hand in slight frustration and said: "Alright, then tell me, what is it you need to talk about? Since you've saved me twice, as long as it doesn't threaten national or social stability, and it's within my ability, Tony Stark's capabilities, I believe most requests can be met."
...
After listening to Li Hua and Elena, Tony pondered for a moment and said, "So your plan is for me to provide cover for you?"
"That's right. Our goal is only to eliminate the Bugster Virus and treat the patients. We don't want to be targeted by strange departments or peculiar agents," Li Hua nodded and replied.
After a moment of silence, Tony nodded again: "That's fine, but you have to explain to me in detail what this so-called Bugster Virus is all about and what the principle behind your armor is. At least let me know what I'm dealing with."
"I want to talk to the people behind you. Who created the... transformation items you're using? Genm Corp.? Then have the CEO of Genm Corp.—"
He looked at the information on his phone and continued, "—Dan Kuroto, have him talk to me. Or are there other forces behind the two of you?"
Li Hua and Elena's expressions didn't change when Tony mentioned Genm Corp.; this was fully expected. After all, the Holy City University Hospital where they both worked was fully funded and built by Genm Corp. Tony Stark, with his resources, could easily find this out.
"Fine," Li Hua agreed to Tony's request, picking up a projector and placing it on the table.
The projector activated, and the image of Dan Kuroto appeared on the wall.
With the outbreak of the Bugster Virus, the script related to the Kamen Riders also needed to be gradually unfolded. Dan Kuroto was communicating with Tony Stark at this moment to outline the relevant settings.
This was both to secure Tony Stark's assistance for Brave and Snipe and to leverage him to establish the script's setting and background.
In the future, when S.H.I.E.L.D. or similar organizations learned the relevant background and settings from Tony Stark, it would possess a high degree of credibility because it had been verified by the famous scientist and genius, Tony Stark.
Of course, the Bugster Virus setting shared by Dan Kuroto was entirely factual; the main purpose of having Tony Stark's endorsement was to avoid many unnecessary troubles.
"It really is Genm Corporation. Few people would ever suspect that a game manufacturer could create such powerful armor," Tony said, his expression changing slightly.
"At least Rhode wouldn't think of it," he quipped about his friend Colonel Rhodes without meaning to.
"More accurately, it should be called the Rider System. It utilizes the Gamer Driver and the power within the Game Gashats to transform the user into a Kamen Rider and combat the monsters birthed by the Bugster Virus," Dan Kuroto explained with a slight smile on his face.
"Kamen Rider? That's quite chuunibyou. Should I say that's what's expected from someone whose main job is designing games?" Tony muttered softly, his expression slightly odd.
"Mr. Stark, you can ask me any questions you have directly now," Dan Kuroto said, giving Tony a slight once-over.
Tony's expression turned serious. "Dan, what exactly is this so-called Bugster Virus?"
"What the Bugster Virus is? We do not know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Tony couldn't help but frown.
"Because the origin of the Bugster Virus is unknown. Its existence, capabilities, and nature are beyond the scope of current science to understand and explain. It possesses the powerful ability to materialize illusory imagination into reality and to erase reality into illusion."
"How is that possible?" Tony sounded incredulous upon hearing this.
"Otherwise, how would those monsters appear and disappear out of thin air? Mr. Tony Stark, as a world-class physicist, can you explain it?" Dan Kuroto watched Tony's expression with amusement.
"This... what is the principle behind it? Is it data turning into a physical entity?" Tony's mind was reeling. The Bugster monsters did appear and vanish completely out of thin air, exactly like monsters in a game, neither flesh-and-blood nor mechanical creations.
Could they be data life forms? But data life forms wouldn't be able to affect the physical world without a physical medium to inhabit.
Furthermore, based on the previous combat situation, Tony had ruled out the possibility of an elemental energy life form, as energy life forms would undoubtedly have powerful energy fluctuations.
Yet, the detection systems equipped on Tony's Iron Man armor found no anomalies whatsoever. The feedback received from the scan was like that of an inanimate object.
Even if they possessed a special ability to block electromagnetic waves, infrared radiation, or energy waves for some reason, preventing his armor's detection systems from observing the immense energy within such life forms, when an energy life form dies, it must release a massive amount of energy. Energy never disappears out of thin air. The armor's detection systems absolutely could not fail to observe such a huge release of energy.
However, after the Bugster monster was defeated, it simply vanished without any other residual effects, as if words on paper were simply erased by an eraser.
"Since the so-called Bugster Virus possesses such powerful capabilities and is beyond the recognition of current technology, how did you create this so-called Rider System, allowing the two of them to transform into Kamen Riders to fight the Bugster monsters?" Tony asked, his eyes gleaming, looking directly at Dan Kuroto's projection.
Dan Kuroto nodded. "The power held by the Bugster Virus is unimaginable. It's difficult for current technology, like various weapons, to inflict genuine damage on it. Mr. Stark should have experienced this firsthand."
Tony nodded in agreement involuntarily. When fighting the monster, his armor had exhausted every trick, trying every weapon in its arsenal. These weapons were all developed by him personally and could basically be considered the most advanced weapons in the world.
Excluding strategic weapons used for genuine large-scale warfare, the weaponry equipped on his Iron Man suit should be second to none in terms of destructive power. Tony Stark was quite confident in the weapons he developed.
Yet, they struggled to inflict genuine damage on the previous Bugster monster. It was like a child trying to defeat an adult with a water gun. But these two Kamen Riders could cause direct damage to the monster.
"So, how did the Kamen Rider System you created manage to do it? To inflict direct and effective damage on the Bugster?" Tony asked eagerly, his eyes burning with curiosity.
A look of slight helplessness appeared on Dan Kuroto's face: "Trying to combat the Bugster Virus through conventional means is absolutely impossible."
"The only thing that can destroy the Bugster Virus is the virus itself."
Tony was stunned, blurting out: "The Rider System you created actually uses the power of the Bugster Virus!"
"Correct," Dan Kuroto confirmed with a nod. "Only in this way can humanity hope to contend with the incredible Bugster Virus."
"But how did you manage to do that? When the two of them use the virus's power to transform into Kamen Riders, why aren't they affected like the ordinary patients who are infected?" Tony asked, puzzled. "Is it related to the Gamer Driver and the Game Gashats you mentioned? What is the principle behind how these things are made?"
As he spoke, he unconsciously looked at the Gamer Drivers on Li Hua and Elena's waists, and the Game Gashats they held in their hands.
(End of Chapter)