When Kurohane stood again in front of Tony's villa, even Pepper showed clear surprise.
"Mr. Kurohane? Why are you back again?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Long story," Kurohane replied briefly. "I need to see Tony to discuss something. Is he available?"
"Tony once said, if it's you, he always has time," Pepper replied with a friendly smile, opening the door and inviting Kurohane in.
Admittedly, in this era of flip phones, Tony was already playing with advanced artificial intelligence. He even had a personal AI assistant, Jarvis. It could only be said that Tony was indeed a step ahead of his time. One of the items in his room, if sold, would definitely fetch a fantastic price. However, our future Iron Man, his greatest dream was actually to create green energy technology. That is, a pollution-free power plant! What an environmentally friendly vision!
Pepper led Kurohane to the entrance of Tony's garage laboratory. At that moment, Tony was sitting in front of a computer, surrounded by a sea of rapidly moving data on the screen. No one could understand what he was doing!
"Tony, Kurohane has come to see you again. Are you busy?" Pepper reached out, knocked on the glass door of the laboratory, and then opened it with her fingerprint.
Tony remained glued to the data on the monitor and didn't even look up. "Just put the drink on the table. I can't leave this."
"Tony, it's me," Kurohane interjected.
Hearing Kurohane's voice, Tony finally looked up. Kurohane stood behind Pepper, waving slightly at Tony, then smiling at Pepper.
"Could I trouble you for a glass of juice, beautiful lady?" he asked politely.
"Of course," Pepper replied happily to Kurohane's greeting. She nodded and went to prepare drinks for the two men. She was an intelligent woman and knew that Kurohane's arrival must bring something important for her boss. Most likely related to the metal button Tony had given him earlier. As a professional assistant, she knew her limits when it came to interfering in her boss's affairs!
Watching Kurohane walk past him and 'task' Pepper, Tony felt a weight on his head. It felt like the little cabbage he planted at home was being targeted by a wild boar. "Hey, Pepper is my assistant. You haven't paid her salary yet!" Tony protested jokingly.
"It's just a glass of juice," Kurohane replied casually.
Kurohane immediately approached Tony and saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo displayed on one of the files on the monitor. He knew that the 'gift' he had left at the secret base had worked, and Tony hadn't been idle. Tony had directly invaded S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database, successfully breached the firewall, and started transferring data to his home! Kurohane felt he couldn't understand Tony's way of working at all. Indeed, everyone's skills were different.
"Good efficiency. How did you do it?" Kurohane asked in admiration.
"This is where I present to you my personal butler, Jarvis!" Tony raised his head proudly, like a child showing off his advanced toy.
After Tony's words, a very refined male voice sounded. If there wasn't a slight electrical hum, the voice would have been almost indistinguishable from a real human.
"Hello, Mr. Kurohane. I am Mr. Tony's personal butler, Jarvis. As per Mr. Tony's instructions, you have been granted access to the main gate of this villa. As for other areas, they are temporarily not open to you. Please do not wander around alone."
Kurohane: (Eyebrows raised, slightly annoyed) (???)
Kind-hearted Tony! Just because I once fainted from dehydration, he's still holding a grudge! The most annoying thing is my system. I even handcuffed Tony, but it didn't give me any Justice Points! Just a little bit of Justice Points would be great! Kurohane thought.
"Don't look at me with that expression. This is my private villa!" Tony was quite pleased with Kurohane's current expression and felt more confident in his own home. This wasn't the Middle East with sand everywhere; this was the playground of the rich, Tony Stark!
"The device you installed, its main function is to help me connect to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intranet. As for breaching their firewall, I didn't need any help at all. Jarvis can handle it. I must admit, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s firewall is much stronger than the Pentagon's. However, this time it's Tony Stark who's making a move, so this level of difficulty is nothing. Unfortunately, I haven't found any data about Director Fury's embezzlement yet, but it's only a matter of time..."
"No need, Tony. I know where Nick Fury spent his money," Kurohane interrupted, cutting off Tony's self-praise. He repeated the story he had just heard from Coulson, word for word, to Tony, whose eyes lit up!
"Wow! Aliens and Superheroes!" Tony was intrigued by Kurohane's story and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. However, he suddenly frowned, realizing there was a word Kurohane had just said that he didn't understand. "Jarvis, what does 'Nick Fury' that Kurohane mentioned mean?"
"It is a type of food originating from the ancient east. However, I believe Mr. Kurohane is referring to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury," Jarvis replied in a flat tone.
"Show me a picture of 'Nick Fury', and then show me a picture of Nick Fury," Tony commanded curiously.
Looking at the picture of 'Nick Fury' (likely Japanese pickled cucumbers) and Nick Fury on the monitor, Tony unconsciously nodded. Then he turned and looked at Kurohane with a serious gaze, saying, "Kurohane, you've earned my friendship. The nickname you came up with is perfect!"
Kurohane: (Eyes widened, confused) ゛('◇')?
Is this how a super AI like Jarvis is used? Is Tony's friendship so easy to obtain? Just needs a suitable nickname? Then, if I mention Coulson's nickname, what will you do? Kurohane wondered.
"Do you remember Coulson who came back with us? The nickname I gave him is 'Mediterranean'!" Kurohane tried his luck.
"Mediterranean? I've been there. Why call him that nickname?" Tony enthusiastically asked Jarvis to search for the meaning of "Mediterranean" in Japanese again. Then he picked up Coulson's photo again and burst into laughter at his receding hairline. "Good heavens, Kurohane, you're a true genius! Japanese is so interesting. Is this humor unique to Eastern people? Jarvis, from now on, Mr. Kurohane will have the same access as Pepper. He can come and go from my villa freely."
Kurohane also didn't expect that even though he had left S.H.I.E.L.D., his two superiors there were still secretly helping him in unexpected ways! How touching! Next time I handcuff them, I promise to be gentler! Kurohane thought emotionally.
"Oh, that's right, Tony. If possible, help me find some information about Hell's Kitchen."
"Hell's Kitchen? The people there are not good people!" Tony replied in a warning tone.
"I've already resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony!" Kurohane suddenly raised his voice, startling Tony! "However, this will never shake my determination to fight evil. Hell's Kitchen is my next battlefield! Tony, can you help me?"
"Like Batman and his butler Alfred? In that case, I must be Batman!" Tony replied with a wide smile, enthusiastic about the idea.
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