"A fanatical scientist, huh?"
Howard didn't take it seriously at all. He just turned around, patted Alex on the shoulder, and motioned for him to keep moving.
"Mr. Stark, are you as crazy as he is?"
Alex fell into step beside him.
"No, I'm the exception. I'm one of the rare geniuses in the world—I don't need to go mad to prove it."
Howard Stark said smugly. He really wasn't that different from Tony Stark in this regard.
The two chatted idly as they walked into the lobby of an office building. A refined-looking young man came over to greet them.
"Mr. Stark, welcome back."
The voice was so familiar that Alex recognized it before the face.
"Jarvis, take Mr. Alex to Room 218," Howard Stark instructed.
"Alex, give me a moment. I need to step away briefly."
With a quick nod to Alex, Howard turned and left.
"Mr. Alex, I'm Mr. Stark's butler—Jarvis. Please, come with me." Jarvis was the picture of courtesy.
"Thanks."
"No trouble at all."
Jarvis led him to a room that looked like a small conference room, then politely excused himself.
Alex, however, had already fallen deep into thought.
Running into Arnim Zola earlier had triggered a different realization.
That place Zola had come from… wasn't it the exact same location where Tony had traveled back to steal the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame?
Which meant—the Cosmic Cube was lying just a few hundred meters away from him.
Tempted?
Of course he was.
As a transmigrator, Alex knew exactly how insanely powerful the Cosmic Cube was. There was no way he could just pretend it didn't exist.
The power within the Cube was enough to change the world.
Of course, Alex had no grand ambition to rule the Earth or anything like that. But… recently, he'd come up with a bold and borderline crazy plan.
And the Cosmic Cube just might be the key to making it happen.
That said, for now he was still just a fledgling mutant. Nowhere near the level required to act on that plan. So it would have to wait—for now.
While his mind was racing with thoughts, Howard Stark returned—this time with someone else in tow.
Peggy Carter.
To be honest, Alex was caught off guard.
Peggy Carter was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders. Was a routine debrief really enough to warrant the attention of two founding members?
Did the higher-ups at S.H.I.E.L.D. seriously have nothing better to do?
"Alex, you've met Agent Carter before, so I won't bother with introductions," Howard said with a warm smile as he sat across from him. "This is just a routine inquiry. No need to be nervous, okay?"
"Ask away, Mr. Stark."
"Why were you at that bar?"
"A friend of mine is a regular there. He brought me along."
"Did you know I'd be there too?"
"No idea."
…
Just like Howard said, it really was a standard questioning—nothing shady or aggressive. It went smoothly and didn't take long.
"Alex, can I ask how you managed to kill a werewolf with a single punch? According to our intel, that kind of blow would require at least five tons of force."
"That's not a level of strength normal people possess. Unless… you've been enhanced, like Rogers was."
The usually quiet Peggy Carter suddenly broke her silence, her tone sharp and direct—going straight for the jugular.
"Where were you enhanced? Tell me!"
"Agent Carter, I think you're misunderstanding something. I've never been enhanced. I'm not some super-soldier experiment." Alex looked genuinely exasperated.
"No enhancement? You're telling me you were born with that kind of strength? That it's just… natural talent?" Peggy scoffed, clearly not buying it.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Alex just shrugged.
"Alex, let me make something clear—we're not the NYPD or the CIA. We're not so easily fooled." Her tone had sharpened into a warning.
"So, Mr. Stark… am I under arrest?" Alex glanced at Howard.
Peggy's attitude was starting to get on his nerves.
"Of course not."
Howard quickly stepped in. "Alex, don't take it personally. That's just how Agent Carter is."
Howard could understand where Peggy was coming from.
Back in the day, just in case of emergencies, Steve Rogers had quietly left behind a few vials of his blood serum. One of them had even gone to Howard—but he'd eventually handed it over to Peggy, who'd poured it down the drain and destroyed it.
Even so, some of that serum had still leaked out.
So it wasn't a stretch for Peggy to assume Alex was some kind of black-ops project created using Steve's serum. No wonder she was being so aggressive.
"If I'm not under arrest, then I've got things to do. Can I go now?" Alex stood up.
"You haven't answered—" Peggy rose to her feet as well.
But Alex didn't even look at her. He kept his eyes on Howard.
"Peggy, can I talk to you for a moment?" Howard hurriedly pulled her aside and began whispering.
Alex hadn't broken any laws. If anything, he'd saved Howard's life.
Even if he had been enhanced using Steve's blood—so what?
There was nothing to hold against him.
Peggy was mature and rational. She managed to rein in her temper.
After a few words from Howard, she gave Alex one last glance before turning and walking away.
But Alex knew better than to think she'd let this go.
That woman was definitely going to investigate him behind the scenes.
Still, he wasn't worried. The whole mutant thing was about to become public knowledge anyway. Let her dig—he wasn't afraid of being found out.
"Alright, Alex. Thanks for your time."
Howard stepped forward and shook his hand. "I'll have Jarvis drive you home. Also—come by for dinner sometime. I'd like to thank you properly."
"I'd be happy to."
Alex agreed readily.
Being invited to Howard Stark's place? That actually sounded kind of nice.
"Oh, and one more thing—werewolves usually don't act alone. You killed three tonight, but I doubt that's the whole story."
"If anything happens, you have my number."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Alex gave a casual wave.
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