By the time Alex arrived at Howard Stark's mansion, nearly two hours had passed.
He was a full hour late for their scheduled meeting.
"Has Howard Stark ever been stood up like this before?"
Alex couldn't help but think with a touch of mischief.
Then again, the sudden ambush from Stryker's men had caught him completely off guard. It really wasn't his fault.
Ding-dong.
Adjusting his mood, Alex reached out and pressed the doorbell at the entrance of the estate.
Moments later, Jarvis appeared.
"Mr. Alex? You're finally here. Mr. Stark's been waiting for you."
Jarvis opened the gate in a hurry, clearly relieved.
"Apologies, Jarvis. I got tied up with some things. Is Mr. Stark still doing okay?"
Alex asked casually as they walked.
"Well, nothing's been smashed, and he hasn't cursed anyone out yet. All things considered, I'd say he's holding up fine."
Jarvis said this with complete seriousness after thinking for a moment.
"…Right."
"Jarvis, I suddenly feel like turning back. Think I can still bail on this?"
"Mr. Alex, I assure you—Mr. Stark isn't going to eat you."
As they chatted, Jarvis led Alex into the luxurious mansion.
Howard Stark, the legendary playboy himself, stood up with a dramatic sigh.
"Alex, I've met senators, generals, tycoons… but you're the first to keep me waiting this long."
"Truly honored to set a new record. Apologies again—something urgent came up last minute."
"It's fine. I've waited this long already. Besides, you did save my life, didn't you?"
Howard welcomed him in personally, then called out,
"Jarvis, tell the kitchen to start preparing again."
In truth, the meal had been ready long ago. But after waiting endlessly for Alex, Howard had the whole thing temporarily called off. Now that Alex had finally arrived, it was time to fire things up again.
Ah, the luxury of being rich.
"Mr. Stark, saving your life is a pretty big favor. I hope you're not thinking a meal's enough to repay it."
Alex said half-jokingly, half-seriously.
Letting Howard Stark owe you a favor? That was no small feat—he'd be a fool not to cash it in.
"Haha, of course. Dinner's just a token of appreciation, nothing more."
Howard chuckled.
"Come, let me give you a tour of my home."
"I'd love that!"
Alex replied with genuine interest.
In both his past and current life, he'd never stepped foot inside the estate of someone on Howard Stark's level. This was a rare chance to see how the truly wealthy lived.
"Let's start with my collection room. I've got some real treasures in there."
With a hint of pride in his tone, Howard led Alex into an extravagant room.
Luxurious.
Absolutely outrageous.
That was Alex's first reaction—it was practically a private museum.
Priceless paintings, antiques, vintage wine, luxury watches—they were all piled up like some kind of high-end garage sale.
It was chaos. Expensive, opulent chaos.
"Giotto's Kiss of Judas. Captures that psychological moment between Jesus and Judas. Honestly, I don't like it much—too heavy.
But you know how it is. Some gifts, you can't refuse even if you hate them. You just smile and nod."
"Ah, the Claymore from Scotland. A man's favorite kind of toy, am I right? You seem to like it too, Alex. What man doesn't like a sharp blade?"
"Exactly, exactly. This old relic here—first bicycle in the world. Looks rough now, but back then? A stroke of genius."
…
Howard enthusiastically explained every item Alex glanced at.
As expected, every single object was a rare treasure, leaving Alex thoroughly impressed.
"Come on, let me show you my garage next!"
After finishing his round of showing off, the playboy brought Alex to his car collection, equally excited.
Lining both sides of the massive garage were rows and rows of luxury vehicles in every shape and color. It looked more like a luxury car dealership than a private garage.
"What do you think, Alex? Fifteen years' worth of hunting—every gem is right here!"
Eyes gleaming, Howard proudly introduced every one of his prized cars.
"This baby—Cadillac V-16. Production ended back in the '40s. First mass-produced car with a V-16 engine. Took me quite a bit of effort to get my hands on one."
As he raved on in front of a red convertible, Alex found himself tuning out.
To be honest, thanks to the limitations of the era, the cars here looked ancient to him. Outdated beyond words.
[Special energy source detected!]
Suddenly, a prompt rang in Alex's mind.
He froze on the spot.
His vision shifted—courtesy of the system—into something akin to a computer's scanning mode.
In this view, the Cadillac Howard had been talking about was marked with a flickering red dot via digital overlay.
Clearly, that was where the special energy source was located.
"A special energy source? What does that mean?"
Alex was confused, but, as usual, the system didn't give any direct answers.
[Analyzing energy source…]
[Energy Value: 37 Origin Points. Status: Non-extractable.]
More prompts appeared, leaving Alex even more baffled.
The system measured energy using Origin Points—and this one was marked "non-extractable." That had to mean some were extractable, right?
And if it could be extracted… could it directly refill his Origin Points?
"That must be it!"
Alex's eyes lit up. The logic wasn't complicated—it was actually pretty straightforward.
What puzzled him was: why was this one non-extractable?
And why would a car have an energy source hidden inside?
He didn't yet fully understand what the system considered a "special energy source," but one thing was certain—it definitely wasn't gasoline. That would be way too basic.
And gasoline wasn't exactly rare or special, was it?
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