Perhaps noticing that Iron Man frequently appeared near Stark Industries headquarters, or perhaps deducing from Iron Man technological sophistication that "only a genius like Stark could create such a thing" or by comparing Stark schedule with Iron Man appearances and finding inconsistencies—in fact, among the general public, a small number of people had already guessed the truth.
But that was merely speculation.
Because of Shi Xiaolei unexpected intervention, the press conference that was destined to become iconic had dissolved into nothing.
Without that occasion as a catalyst, Tony Stark never got to proclaim the classic line, "I am Iron Man."
Without hearing Stark personal admission, which media outlet would dare to make definitive claims?
It was well known that Stark Industries employed a large team of lawyers.
To earn more bonuses from Stark, these individuals had developed the courage to "take a bite out of anyone" each one an uncompromising tough character.
Of course, the general public ignorance didn't mean that Stark new identity remained completely concealed.
Well-informed organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D., the U.S. military that had long collaborated with Stark Industries, and so on—quite a few institutions and departments had already figured out the situation and knew the fact that "Stark is Iron Man."
It was precisely the pressure from these forces that gave Stark a sense of urgency, which in turn drove him to invent the new energy technology.
"Let me introduce you—this is Rhodes, Air Force Colonel and my best friend."
Stark led Shi Xiaolei into the house and introduced him to a friend.
"Rhodes, this is Rock, a good friend I recently met. Just an extra note, he's incredibly strong; you're absolutely no match for him."
"Hey buddy, nice to meet you."
James Rhodes extended his right hand and shook Shi Xiaolei.
"James Rhodes."
"Pleasure to meet you, Rhodes."
Feeling the pressure from the other fingers, Shi Xiaolei smiled faintly and matched it with a bit of his own strength.
"Just call me Rock. As you can see, I'm Chinese, so I don't have a formal English name."
"Whoa~ Whoa whoa~"
The vise-like grip made Rhodes grimace in pain.
Quickly withdrawing his hand, when he looked at Shi Xiaolei again, his eyes now held a measure of respect.
"Man, you're really strong."
"You're not bad yourself."
Shi Xiaolei shrugged, then pointed back at Stark.
"Much better than this weakling."
"I couldn't agree more."
Rhodes laughed heartily.
"Just for that comment, buddy, you've got yourself a friend in me."
"Hey, can you leave me out of this? Two brutes who only know brute force, looking down on a genius like me—who gave you such confidence?"
Rhodes laughed and said.
"I think it comes from good eating habits and persistent daily exercise."
"..."
Feeling a bit frustrated, Stark instinctively resorted to his usual tactic.
"Rock, get me some more of that white potion later. I refuse to believe that with unlimited stamina, I can't develop a good physique. Oh, right, and the black one too, get me a few bottles of that as well."
The white potion for physical training, the black detox potion... probably because he was concerned that too much exercise might worsen his palladium poisoning, and wanted to use that stuff to detoxify.
"Sure, just tell me how much you need and I'll prepare it for you."
Nodding, Shi Xiaolei suddenly became curious and pointed at the arc reactor in Stark chest, casually asking.
"By the way, Tony, why don't you just have surgery to completely remove this thing? You've definitely tried the red potion effects. With that as insurance, you wouldn't need to worry about the surgery failing."
"You don't understand."
Stark shook his head, pointing to the sofa and leading the way over.
"My injury isn't as simple as it looks. External wounds are easy to treat—just a matter of lying down for a few days. What really makes me hesitant to take action are those metal fragments in my blood vessels..."
Having seen the original storyline, Shi Xiaolei knew exactly what the situation was.
But considering that Stark had never personally told him about these details, if he showed signs of "already knowing" it would be difficult to explain.
So Shi Xiaolei could only pretend he hadn't heard about it before and listened to Stark explanation from beginning to end.
"I understand now."
Nodding, Shi Xiaolei shared the idea he had thought of while his mind had wandered.
"The key issue is that those metal fragments have entered your heart and are difficult to remove, right? Hmm, I think you could first do an experiment with lab mice..."
"...Are you joking?"
After hearing Shi Xiaolei idea, Stark looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"No, I'm serious."
Shi Xiaolei shook his head.
"Although I'm not a medical student, I know that heart transplant surgeries are possible now, aren't they? If someone else heart can be used, why not your own?"
On the operating table, first establish extracorporeal circulation to take over the heart function, putting it on standby.
Then, take out the heart and cut it open, or cut it open directly within the body—essentially, do whatever is most convenient, as long as all the metal fragments can be removed.
Once confirmed that everything is okay, sew it back up, put it back, reconnect everything, and then infuse a few bottles of the red potion...
Whether it's the incision on the heart or the places where blood vessels are sutured, everything could heal instantly.
Applying Shi Xiaolei approach, combined with some techniques from heart transplant surgery, the difficulty of the cure suddenly dropped by several levels.
Of course, the premise was that the red potion was truly as effective as claimed, ensuring that it could instantly heal the incision on the heart and the sutures on the blood vessels—it was precisely because he wasn't certain about this point that Shi Xiaolei didn't make absolute statements, but left some room for doubt, advising Stark to first experiment with mice.
"..."
Seeing that Shi Xiaolei was indeed not joking, Stark also became serious.
Thinking carefully, the feasibility seemed decent?
"Hey, hey, Tony."
Noticing the change in Stark expression, Rhodes smile gradually faded.
"You're not serious, are you? Man, don't be impulsive. Rock, look at what you've done, what kind of crazy idea is this?"
"Don't panic, relax."
Understanding Rhodes feelings, Shi Xiaolei didn't mind his glaring and blaming.
"I just proposed an approach, and I also said that an experiment needs to be done first. And finally... do you think Tony would be careless with his own life given his personality?"
"It's precisely because I know his personality that I'm worried. He's the type to 'act first, talk later' you know?"
"That depends on the situation."
Shi Xiaolei shook his head.
"In other matters, he might be as you say, acting first and talking later. But when it comes to major issues concerning his own life, I believe he still has his boundaries."
"You..."
"Alright, alright, Rhodes."
Stark finally came back to his senses.
Stopping Rhodes who still wanted to complain, looking at Shi Xiaolei, Stark face showed a grateful smile.
"Rock, your suggestion is very valuable. After I complete the experiment, if the effect is really as you imagined... I'll skip the thanks, but just know, I owe you my life."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)