[Zhongyingmei] It's not a slime!

Ruby didn't go to Pepper's office right away.

She is very clear that there are white demon eyes all over this building, and she must be cautious in any kind of behavior.

What's more, when she was attacked by those crazy people just now, Tony Stark turned away indifferently, expressing his attitude.

As he said - he didn't care about Ruby.

It doesn't mean he gave her freedom, it just means that he doesn't protect her anymore, that's all.

It wasn't until night fell that Ruby opened the door of the room that had been granted to her, and quietly ran out.

She knocked on Pepper's office door.

The latter was sitting behind his desk and sorting out the documents. When he saw her coming in, he immediately put away his work and stood up.

"Sit." She pointed to the sofa.

"..." Ruby sat on the sofa a little stiffly, without saying a word.

"It's okay," Pepper said. "This is the only safe place left in the building. He can't see it."

Ruby was slightly taken aback: "Really?"

Pepper nodded.

Ruby looked up into Pepper's eyes, and she frowned.

—Can't believe it, Ruby, you can't quite believe it.

Maybe it's just a test from that demon, to see if you're good enough, enough that you have to consider every possibility, you have to be vigilant.The only person you can trust is yourself.

So Ruby still didn't speak.

She just looked at Pepper, as if waiting for her to speak first.

Pepper sat down opposite her, looking at the bright but unfamiliar eyes of the little girl, she knew countless people and immediately understood what Ruby was thinking.

"I know it's hard for you to believe me in the current situation." Pepper said, "You have been here for so long, and he and I have been trying to observe you. Tony has protected you too well, or concealed you too much. Well, he has kept you out of the negative information... At that time I thought, maybe you and I, and him, are the only three conscious people in the whole building, and you are the only one who has been kept In the dark."

"?" Ruby was confused by the confusing personal pronouns in Pepper's words, and she said in confusion, "The only three sober people? Who is the other?"

"...that's complicated to explain," Pepper said. "I'll tell you from the beginning."

Ruby nodded.

"I'm sure you've heard a lot of rumors about Tony Stark," she said, "but those rumors obviously don't match what you've seen, do they?"

Ruby frowned: "...Yes."

This is also where she feels the most incredible.

She believed in Peter very much, so she also had a considerable affection for Iron Man who Peter said could become his goal and father like the lighthouse, not to mention how upright she knew Iron Man was—— It was also the reason why she was able to let go of her vigilance.

So who is this demon that now looms behind her like a haunting shadow?

Where is the rumored Tony Stark?

"Some time ago, they... I mean, the Avengers, participated in an extremely dangerous battle, in which many of them had their views of good and evil reversed," Pepper said, " Although most of the people were transformed back in the end, only Tony used some means to avoid the second transformation."

"So...he's not the same man now?" Ruby said.

Pepper nodded: "He was... a very good person."

"Is there no way to change him back?" Ruby asked.

"As far as I know," Pepper said, "Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch were the ones who completed this big project, and they have lost contact now."

These existences that are so powerful beyond human imagination are difficult to be contacted, unless the next crisis enough to destroy the universe is born.

"I know he did some very bad things to you." Pepper continued, "In fact, his shadow has spread to the entire city—you saw it, Extremis 3.0."

Ruby nodded.

She wasn't stupid in the first place, and after the initial shock passed, she quickly sorted out the confusion and danger hidden in it.

It was simply a new kind of drug.

Much more poisonous than any drug.

"That's not the only outrageous thing he's done, he's also hostile to buying media, manipulating public opinion, expanding his international reach. He's even manipulating you, isn't he?" Pepper continued, "Your The sudden change in appearance is also his trick, right?"

Ruby sighed: "Yeah, although...it doesn't matter anymore."

"He didn't...do anything to you?" Pepper asked hesitantly.

Pepper asked that question for a reason.

From the moment she saw this girl for the first time, the feeling of indescribable amazement has been lingering in her heart.

This girl is not a stunning beauty. Pepper has seen too many women who are more beautiful than her, more elegant than her, and more devilish than her. Even among the supermodels who have used the Extremis virus, there are some outstanding women It is also more beautiful than the immature child in front of him.

However, her temperament is really too unique.

Like soft, white cotton candy, sweet and soft, clean and spotless, when those ruby-like eyes looked at her from afar, Pepper even felt like he had fallen into a fairy tale house surrounded by candies , as if there was an intoxicating sweet fragrance in the air.

When she was about five or six years old, Pepper didn't worry about what Tony would do. After all, she was too small, like a carefully carved doll, who just wanted the sweetest candy to be placed on her. White and soft palms.

And when she grew up suddenly, although her temperament didn't change significantly, her beauty was revealed in another way that was even more irresistible.Her sweetness and purity are within reach, every smile of hers is like an invitation, her soft lips are like petals coated with syrup, and her every move is like wine made from peach blossoms. People are intoxicated.

It is precisely because she is completely unaware of her own beauty that she can show it so unscrupulously, so naturally and without embellishment.

Why would Tony want to turn this child with special abilities into an adult?

Pepper knew him all too well.

The former Tony Stark could hardly resist this level of temptation, let alone the current Tony Stark who has completely indulged his desires.To him, Ruby is just a delicate and blooming flower kept in a flower pot. The reason why he hasn't picked it yet is because he knows that this flower will never escape his palm.

"..." Ruby froze for a moment, then quickly waved her hands, "No! He, he said he wouldn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do."

Pepper seemed relieved.

She walked up to Ruby and gave her a gentle hug: "Don't be afraid, child, you must protect yourself."

Ruby's body was a little stiff, but she still didn't refuse the hug.

"So..." She looked up at Pepper, "You called me over, what is it..."

Pepper took out a mobile phone from her pocket, she hesitated, and said to Ruby: "Everything I will show you next, you must keep it strictly confidential, and no one can tell, understand?"

Seeing Pepper's serious look, Ruby immediately became a little nervous. She sat up straight, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Can you rest assured to show me such important information?"

Pepper was slightly taken aback, as if he didn't expect Ruby to ask this question.

"Yes," she replied, "We trust you so much for a reason, and you'll soon find out, and now you just have to tell me, do you understand what I just said?"

Ruby nodded.

Pepper put the phone in his hand on the coffee table and pressed a few buttons.

Suddenly the phone screen turned black, and after a few lines of code flashed, a dense dot matrix appeared on the screen.

At this moment, a voice that Ruby didn't expect at all rang out:

"Well, I guess this is our first serious meeting?" Tony Stark's voice came from the phone's microphone, "Hello, Ruby."

Ruby's hairs stood on end immediately, and goosebumps arose.

She stood up abruptly, took a step back subconsciously, and looked up at Pepper in astonishment.

"you……"

——You really are in collusion with Tony Stark!Fortunately, she was witty and didn't say anything that shouldn't be said!

"Wait!" Pepper interrupted Ruby, "Listen to him."

Ruby looked at Pepper's serious eyes, resisted the urge to turn around and leave, took a deep breath, and sat back down again.

"Oh, thank you for still being willing to listen to me." Tony's voice on the phone said, "I'm not that Tony Stark outside. My existence is an insurance measure against the current situation, and it is also the last line of defense."

As early as eight years ago, he had a similar experience, when he was controlled by his mind and almost caused irreparable damage.

After regaining his sobriety, the first thing he did was to upload a backup of his consciousness to prevent this from happening again in the future.

He is the last firewall.

Ruby: "...?"

No, although I was tricked by you before, the consciousness uploaded eight years ago...is it too ridiculous?

"Tony, do you really think I'm a fool?" Ruby said blankly.

AI Tony: ………

Seeing that Ruby wanted to turn around and leave again, AI Tony quickly picked the key point and said: "Your system was hacked by him, right? I have already hacked back for you within a certain range. Now, I have some system permissions." , and he doesn't know my existence. If you believe me, I can help you restore the system's functions to a certain extent."

Ruby stopped in her tracks.

She turned around, a little surprised: "...Are you sure?"

Seeing that this sentence successfully attracted the little girl's attention, AI Tony finally breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded: "I'm sure—but I can't recover too much, or I will be discovered by Tony Stark outside."

Ruby frowned.

Restoring certain system functions - this is very important to her.

If the authority of the system has been firmly controlled by Bai Can all the time, and she can't even control the transformation freely, it can only be said that she is restricted at every step, and there is no way out of the predicament.

Regardless of whether the AI ​​Tony in front of him is real or fake, as long as he is willing to give some system permissions, for Ruby, there is room for maneuver in this matter.

"So..." AI Tony said, "Maybe you would like to talk to us about this issue? I understand that you don't trust us. If you don't stand by us, we can't do anything to that guy outside. After all—— As his latest endosymbiont armor, you have no weaknesses, don't you? That also means, he has no weaknesses. We can't beat him, no one can beat him."

Ruby's pupils shrank slightly.

"...Why should I trust you?" she said.

"Dear boy," AI Tony said, "because we need each other, we can't bring down Tony Stark without you, and you can't do it without us. We have the same goal."

"Then why do you trust me?" Ruby continued to ask.

"...I'm sorry to say it." AI Tony's voice became obviously a little embarrassed, "Because I hacked into your system, I saw all the memories recorded in it...I can understand why you don't trust us , but we absolutely believe in you."

"We know what a kind child you are, Ruby." Pepper put his hand on Ruby's shoulder lightly, and said softly, "I'm sorry."

Ruby stood there quietly, silent for a long, long time.

After a while, she smiled lightly.

"Well," she said, "what do I have to lose?"

……

So one person, one symbiont, one AI officially started the discussion on how to kill the white demon outside.

"You mean, the white pot is affected by magic?" Ruby touched her chin.

"Yes, but he doesn't know how to avoid the magic of reversal." Pepper said.

"It only needs some small anti-magic technology, Pepper." AI Tony said, "It's not a difficult thing, as long as you make enough preparations in advance."

"Then why don't you find a magician and cast the reverse magic again while he's not paying attention?" Ruby suggested an idea.

"Well... that's a good idea." AI Tony said, "But Pepper and I have already discussed the feasibility of this matter, and the result of the discussion is-I'm afraid it won't work."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"Because..." Pepper replied, "We can't find magicians of the same level as Doctor Doom or Scarlet Witch, except for Doctor Strange, and they are in a state of being out of contact. I'm afraid they won't have time to take care of them in a short time. .”

And Tony Stark is so familiar with their magic that his anti-magic technology was created for them.

"..." Ruby hesitated, and said, "I know a very powerful magician, but..."

She was speechless for a moment, and after a long while, she took a deep breath and continued: "But he is sick, a very serious illness, I'm not sure if he's dead now..."

AI Tony said, "You mean John Constantine?"

Ruby shrugged: "Well, forget that you have read all the memories of the system. That's right, it's him."

Both AI Tony and Pepper fell into an eerie silence.

Seeing that they didn't react at all, Ruby was a little puzzled: "What's wrong? Can't he?"

"No, there should be no problem with his magical attainments, but..." AI Tony obviously hesitated, "Don't you remember? He died in Las Vegas back then."

Ruby froze.

After a while, she asked word by word: "... What did you say?"