Chapter 70: The Female Reporter Fails and Heads to the Stark Expo
Though the female reporter didn't succeed in her initial goal, she still managed to snag a seat beside Christina at the Stark Expo.
Ethan Lee didn't mind.
Though she didn't meet his standards for deep conversation, Christina's alluring figure and provocative outfit were certainly a pleasant sight to have nearby. It was the same logic as watching short videos—those flashy influencers might not be as attractive as his girlfriends, but that never stopped him from enjoying the view.
Pure appreciation.
No emotional investment.
No drop in standards.
Tony didn't pay much attention to Christina and continued his conversation with Ethan.
"Did you come here on that motorcycle?"
Ethan shrugged, "How else would I get here? Teleportation?"
That made both women, Pepper and Christina, chuckle.
Pepper smiled, "Mr. Lee, you're hilarious~"
Christina, taking advantage of the coffee table blocking the view, slyly pulled Ethan's hand toward her thigh—her intentions obvious.
But Ethan didn't let her guide him. Instead, he gently used the tip of his fingernail to trace a series of English letters on her skin.
Christina shivered from the contact.
At first, she thought—
A true romantic artist.
Even his teasing had flair.
Far more exciting than anything Tony Stark had ever done.
But once Ethan finished writing, she was irritated.
The letters spelled:
"Have you taken a shower?"
It was clear he was put off by the fact that she had just "interviewed" someone else.
A bit of artist-level germophobia, perhaps?
…
Tony went on, oblivious. "No, I mean…"
He pointed to the screen showing Veronica still honking furiously at the entrance. "It's just kind of wild seeing an artist show up at the Expo on such a badass bike…"
Honk. Honk. Honk—
The loud horn blared through the living room.
"Why is it still going off?" Tony rubbed his ears. "Lee, if your bike's acting up, I can help you fix it."
Honk! Honk! Honk—!
Veronica's blaring seemed to get shriller—like she was getting angrier.
"Wait—multiple honking rhythms? That's a terrible design," Tony grumbled.
HOOONK—!!!
"Okay, Tony. Stop critiquing my bike," Ethan called out. "Veronica, quiet down."
Honk.
The noise stopped immediately.
"Voice-controlled?" Tony blinked, unaware that Ethan had just saved his life. "This ride of yours has a lot of features. If you're into gadgets, I'd love to mod it a little—"
"Shut up, Tony."
Ethan grabbed a strange oval-shaped fruit from the table and shoved it into Tony's mouth to stop his rambling.
"Cough!"
Tony choked, pulled the fruit out. "Ugh, I don't like this—it's just for decoration."
Caught off guard by Ethan's quick hands, he frowned.
"Is that one of those martial arts techniques?"
He tossed the fruit into the trash. "I'm even more interested now. Let's train after breakfast!"
Seeing that the conversation between Tony and Ethan was nearing its end, Christina grew nervous. She figured Stark might send her away afterward.
Trying to salvage her chance, she took Ethan's hand again and used his fingertip to trace a message onto her thigh:
"I've showered, sir. Very clean~"
Of course, she and Tony had both cleaned up—otherwise, they wouldn't have taken so long.
After writing the message, she pressed Ethan's hand against her thigh.
This time, he didn't pull away, which made her quietly rejoice.
But every time she tried to push his hand further, Ethan would slip it sideways—grazing, not lingering.
He didn't mind some harmless contact, but anything beyond that?
Even if they had taken precautions, the thought of what she'd just done still felt… off-putting.
…
"Mr. Ethan Lee! I've heard so much about you~" Christina beamed.
"I've always wanted to interview the legendary painter, and I can't believe I ran into you at Mr. Stark's house!"
She leaned in, her voice silky.
"I'm Christina Ever, a reporter with Vanity Fair. I'd love to schedule a private interview. Do you have time?"
Getting a one-on-one with a famous painter like Ethan was excellent content—even if it had to be done for free. And if he painted her portrait? That would be bragging material for years—and possibly her ticket into the social elite.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Ms. Christina Ever… Is this how all Vanity Fair reporters conduct interviews?"
His gaze dropped pointedly to her revealing outfit. The meaning was crystal clear—
Private interview?
Girl, please.
With that look, it's hard to tell whether you're interviewing or offering a service.
"You might enjoy it~" Christina wasn't fazed.
Why act coy? she thought. Your hand was on my leg just a minute ago~
She gave a seductive smile. "Ask Mr. Stark—I'm sure he'd vouch for my interviewing skills. We just had a great one~"
Tony, lounging across from them, looked up and said casually, "Oh yeah. Her interview was… thorough."
He grinned and lip-synced toward Ethan—
[She washed it clean]
"How generous of you, Tony," Ethan said dryly, rolling his eyes.
He was here to discuss serious matters—not… this.
Since when had Tony become more inappropriate than usual?
Pepper finally had enough.
She stood, fetched Christina's dry-cleaned clothes, and handed them to her.
"Ma'am, here are your clothes. Cleaned and ironed."
Translation:
Time to stop fooling around and get dressed.
"Oh~ thank you~"
Christina chuckled as she took the plastic bag, opened it, and sat on the sofa next to Ethan Lee, beginning to change clothes. Her long legs were deliberately lifted high.
Pepper's forehead throbbed with frustration.
Out of sight, out of mind, she thought, turning to Tony.
"I'll go get you some breakfast."
Tony nodded. "Go ahead, Pepper."
"You…"
Before leaving, Pepper shot a glance at Christina—who was still changing—and said, "We'll have a good chat later."
If I didn't know Tony would never go back to his ex… Pepper clenched her jaw. Who knows what these two men and one woman could end up doing in the living room…
---
"So, how did I do?"
Once Pepper left, Christina visibly relaxed. After putting on her clothes, she clung to Ethan Lee's arm, pressing her curvaceous figure close to his.
"Mr. Lee, what do you think about the interview?"
Ethan, now that the other lady had left, could speak a bit more bluntly. But saying "You're not my type" outright felt a bit too cold and ungentlemanly.
So he answered tactfully, "Miss Christina, don't you feel there's no spark between us?"
Christina: ??
You were touching my legs earlier, and now that I'm dressed, you're pretending you don't know me?
"Christina."
Tony chimed in, clearly ready to send her off. "Your car's been waiting for a while. We should be considerate of the driver, right?"
Though he didn't care much about Christina, it still rubbed him the wrong way to see the woman he just spent the night with clinging to another man right in front of him.
Christina had no choice but to curse in her heart—
Men. All the same!
Still, she wasn't willing to give up so easily. As she left, she handed Ethan Lee a small note.
---
Once Christina was gone, Ethan glanced at the phone number on the note. A small spark flickered on his fingertip, and the paper ignited.
Tony, watching the scene, raised an eyebrow.
"You can use your combat training to light fires now?"
Ethan casually scattered the ashes into the ashtray. "You can't really train for this kind of thing, Tony. Maybe I'm just naturally gifted."
Technically, the Golden Light Spell could evolve into thunder magic, but that wasn't something he had learned—nor did Tony think much of it.
"All right," Tony muttered, glancing at the ashes. "She's not that bad, honestly. You sure you want to pass her up?"
"I prefer classic Eastern aesthetics, Tony."
Ethan stood up, clapping the dust off his hands. "Let's go get some breakfast. I'll teach you a few techniques today."
---
"I noticed you've been buying up a lot of company stock lately?"
In the boxing ring, Tony threw a punch with his gloves on.
"You know the stock's been tanking since I announced we're shutting down the weapons division. Do you trust me that much?"
"Focus, Tony."
Ethan easily dodged, swept his leg, and took Tony down.
"This isn't a boxing match. You're nowhere near ready, Iron Man."
"Hey, hey! Do you even know who you're talking down to?"
Tony sprang back up and attacked again. "Being a superhero isn't as easy as you think!"
"Oh?"
Ethan caught his arm and threw him over his back again.
"Then don't rely on predictable moves. Your enemies won't follow ring rules."
"Ugh."
Tony stayed on the mat, clutching his waist.
"All right, all right! I've had enough for today. I've learned plenty."
He was completely worn out.
Ethan jumped off the stage, taking the black tea offered by Jarvis's mechanical arm.
"Then practice more on your own."
"Dude," Tony said between breaths. "Want to check out my Iron Man suit?"
---
Trying to redeem himself, Tony led Ethan down to his basement.
There, Ethan noticed Ethan (not himself—Tony's assistant, formerly a doctor). It looked like he was now working with Tony.
Tony stood before his suit, arms open and proud. "What do you think?"
"What?"
Ethan approached, knocking on the metallic armor.
Just from its design, he could tell that if he used his shockwave ability, this suit would be torn apart in seconds.
Tony slumped slightly. "Come on, Li, give me something."
Ethan (the assistant) laughed from across the room. "Tony, only women scream at your showboating."
"That's true," Ethan Lee added with a smirk. "Ethan Lee."
"Ethan," the assistant shook his hand. "Pleasure."
"You're working on… this?" Ethan asked, eyeing a dismantled silver mech in front of him.
It was a design Ethan Lee instantly recognized—the early model of Obadiah's Iron Monger suit.
"Tony brought it back," the assistant explained with a chuckle. "Said he wanted me to try using it. But I'm no engineer, so I just help take it apart."
Tony added, "That thing nearly killed me. If it weren't for Black Spider, I'd be dead."
"You owe him big time," Ethan (the assistant) said. "We both do."
"Actually…" Ethan Lee said calmly, "I am the Black Spider."
"Oh, come on!"
Tony patted him on the shoulder, laughing. "What, you're a fan or something?"
Ethan the assistant grinned, clearly amused.
Ethan Lee simply shrugged. If you don't believe me, don't blame me later when you're socially embarrassed.
"You seem to like superheroes," Tony said. "Want to try this thing out? I think you'd do well in it."
"This?" Ethan Lee looked at the Iron Monger parts and shook his head.
"No thanks. Give it to Ethan instead."
Besides the fact it freezes at high altitude, even with improvements, it's still beneath me.
"Fine."
Tony didn't push further.
"So, interested in the Expo in Flushing tonight?"
"Stark Expo?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
Ah, you want me to see you show off.
---
♪ All you women who want a man on the street! ♪
♪ Just keep coming and put your hand out to me! ♪
"Can't you turn this music off, Tony?"
It was evening—around 6 p.m.—and Ethan Lee was seated in a special seat on the transport plane.
Why a transport plane? Just look at Tony Stark.
He stood by the hatch in full Iron Man armor, blasting hard rock music to hype himself up.
♪ It's just a cup, why all the drama? ♪
Ethan picked at his ear.
"This music is way too loud. Your taste hasn't improved."
"Turn it off, Jarvis."
As the cabin door opened, Tony prepared to jump.
Ethan reminded him, "Hey, don't take my motorcycle with you."
Yes, his bike was checked in too. After the expo, he had no intention of going back to Tony's place. If it weren't for the so-called "exciting" show, he wouldn't have come at all.
"Watch this, Lee!"
Tony leaped from the plane with flair—
♪ 'Cause I'm the one who's gonna make you burn! ♪
♪ I'm gonna take you down, down, down! ♪
Below, fireworks burst in the sky as Iron Man descended dramatically toward the Stark Expo.
It was a pure show-off move.
Ethan leaned by the cabin window, watching.
All this… just for an entrance?
He had to admit—for the first few seconds, Tony did look kind of cool.
Until—
BANG!
A firework exploded right into Tony's helmet.
"…"
Ethan shook his head.
"Jarvis, take us down."
[Understood, Mr. Lee.]