Upon learning that Earth would be invaded by a cosmic overlord in the future, everyone's expressions turned grim.
Although this conclusion was merely Coulson's inference, it wasn't a baseless fantasy but had a certain degree of logic.
And such a matter, even if there was only a sliver of possibility, needed to be treated with caution.
No amount of caution was too much.
After all, this was a major event concerning the fate and survival of Earth!
Both Coulson and Rhodes made a decision: upon returning, they would immediately report everything that had happened today.
"Please answer: In the future, how will Iron Man, Tony Stark, die?"
"A. Natural death"
"B. Death by palladium poisoning"
"C. Killed by Thanos"
"D. Death by backlash from the Infinity Stones"
"Friendly reminder: Correct answerers will receive a bottle of healing potion. Incorrect answerers will have one of their attributes randomly deducted, including but not limited to knowledge, experience, skills, possessions, etc."
As soon as this question appeared, the atmosphere at the scene turned strange.
Rhodes and Coulson couldn't help but look at Iron Man.
No one expected the second question to be so explosive.
Tony Stark had just announced himself as Iron Man, and now this question was already exploring Iron Man's death.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Iron Man said, feigning nonchalance. "People always die; this is just a normal question."
However, despite his words, Iron Man's heart was actually a little shaken, not as calm as he appeared on the surface.
Because he had a premonition that he might die a violent death in the future.
He wouldn't die of old age.
After all, this was a question about the future. If he could truly enjoy his later years and die peacefully, there would be no need for this question, right?
Furthermore, the battle revealed in the previous question, showing Iron Man fighting against the heavens and earth and venturing into the cosmos, made him even less optimistic about his future.
"Well then, let's analyze this question," Rhodes said, withdrawing his gaze and speaking seriously to the two. "First, let's look at option A… So…"
After stammering for a few moments, Rhodes ultimately couldn't bring himself to say it and tossed the question to Iron Man. "Tony, why don't you analyze this option?"
Neither Rhodes nor Coulson actually believed that Iron Man would die a natural death in the future.
Both of them already knew that this world was not as simple as it appeared on the surface; there were some unknown, extraordinary powers at play.
For example, the Hulk, and the cosmic overlord Thanos from the previous question.
Especially for Coulson, who knew far more details than Rhodes.
And Iron Man, as a superhero on Earth, possessed powerful abilities that ordinary people did not, and he would inevitably become involved in conflicts with these extraordinary forces.
In this situation, compared to natural death, Rhodes and Coulson both believed that Iron Man was more likely to be killed by someone.
It might even be that cosmic overlord, Thanos.
In that video, Iron Man was stabbed through by Thanos!
But Rhodes ultimately couldn't say such a thing in front of Iron Man.
"Man, I am Iron Man. I am a superhero!"
Iron Man knew what Rhodes was thinking. He shrugged and took over the question. "Superheroes don't die so mundanely! And Iron Man even less so!"
"If Iron Man ever dies, it should be like a fireworks display—leaving the world with the most brilliant light even in death!"
"So A can be ruled out. That's not how I, Iron Man, would die!"
Option A was thus ruled out, and everyone unanimously agreed, with no dissenting opinions.
"What about B, palladium poisoning?" Coulson's gaze fell on option B.
Then he suddenly remembered something and looked at Iron Man again. "If I'm not mistaken, the Arc Reactor in your Stark Industries mainly uses palladium, right?"
Stark Industries originally had a massive Arc Reactor, co-invented by Stark's father, Howard Stark, and Anton Vanko, specifically to provide clean energy to the world.
This was a flagship product of Stark Industries decades ago, and some of its basic parameters were publicly available.
So it wasn't surprising that Rhodes and Coulson knew about it.
However, just last night, a major battle between Iron Man and Stane had completely destroyed that Arc Reactor.
That was why Iron Man held a press conference today to explain the massive explosion that occurred last night to the media.
Originally, Coulson and the military had reached a consensus that Tony Stark's identity should not be exposed, and everything would be attributed to a fictitious bodyguard.
But who knew that Tony Stark wouldn't follow the agreed-upon script and directly admitted that he was Iron Man.
"Tony, could it be that last night's explosion caused you palladium poisoning?" Rhodes's pupils suddenly constricted as he realized something. "I told you earlier that you needed a detailed medical examination!"
"I wish things were that simple!" Iron Man couldn't help but complain.
"Your Iron Suit!" Coulson's eyes widened slightly. "The miniature Arc Reactor in it should also be using palladium, right?"
As soon as Coulson said that, Rhodes immediately realized that his guess was wrong and that Coulson's conjecture was reasonable.
"So the Iron Suit is poisoning you? The Iron Suit is killing you?" Rhodes also widened his eyes, saying in exasperation.
"These are minor issues. For a genius like me, I will definitely find other elements to replace palladium in the future. Let's continue to look at other options."
Iron Man didn't deny it but spoke with full confidence.
But in reality, ever since he decided to use the Arc Reactor as the power source for the Iron Suit, Iron Man had begun searching for a substitute for palladium.
However, even now, he had no leads.
He had tried almost all elements, but none were successful.
In fact, Iron Man was already at his wit's end.
But even in this helpless situation, Iron Man remained full of confidence.
That was because the Iron Man who fought Thanos in the video from the previous question was at least ten to twenty years in the future!
And based on Iron Man's current poisoning situation, he could at most live for a year!
The fact that he could live that long meant he must have already solved the palladium poisoning problem!
Rhodes and Coulson were unaware of this, but Iron Man himself was very clear—hence why he was so confident that he would find an element to replace palladium in the future.