"What the hell is this guy doing?"
Artoria, who was leisurely drinking afternoon tea, looked at the information about Tony that suddenly popped up on the TV, saying that Tony was going to develop the outer space field and was preparing to launch Rockets into space or something. This left Artoria very confused. What was wrong with Tony? This action hadn't really appeared in anime or movies. What kind of trouble was he planning to cause? Even if he wanted to build an anti-Celestial suit, he shouldn't be making such a big move at this time; it was really baffling. Now it was the real world. If he wanted to build a suit the size of a planet, what was needed was not just money, but an astronomical amount of materials, as well as energy problems. Hyperion was an example; after Artoria sealed the Honkai Reactor, she used hundreds of Arc Reactors as power sources to drive Hyperion.
"I don't get it."
Elegantly drinking the newly imported black tea from Italy, Artoria felt the mellow taste of the tea. Comparing it to Taiwanese's Da Hong Pao, Artoria still felt that the taste of Da Hong Pao was better. The feeling of drinking tea reminded Artoria of the first time she met the Ancient One, the tea the Ancient One served her. Although it wasn't some expensive tea leaf, it had a different fragrance. Perhaps it had something to do with the person who brewed the tea! Things have changed, and the Ancient One's soul didn't know where it had gone to roam. Even the tea she liked to drink most could no longer be drunk, and she didn't know if she had any regrets in her heart.
"Your little belly is already showing, you won't be able to hide it for much longer, right! Pepper."
Tasting the pastries made by the chef, Artoria looked at Pepper, who was lounging on the sofa. People who weren't familiar with her certainly wouldn't have noticed that Pepper's lower abdomen had already begun to bulge slightly, as if she had eaten too much. But in fact, Pepper hadn't eaten much at all. After the unknown modifications by Maya and the other women, the fetus's development seemed a bit fast. It hadn't even been a month, and Pepper's belly had already started to grow. She didn't know if this would have any impact on the fetus.
"Yeah! Artoria, that's why I came here to hide for a while. It just so happens that I don't know what Tony is busy with during this time. I also happen to be free. I've asked Susan and Helen Cho to help with company matters for a while, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Pepper said indifferently after hearing Artoria's words, but her tone was full of resentment towards a certain someone. He didn't care about her, always welding iron blocks, or using Jarvis to simulate experiments, building virtual platforms and so on. He didn't care about her at all. Although she was very self-reliant, she was still a woman! They had only been married for a short time, and she also wanted her husband's affection, but she could only come to her sister-in-law to soothe her wounded heart.
"Lending my people out and then coming here to slack off, that's not your usual style."
Artoria rolled her beautiful eyes at Pepper and severely condemned such behavior. She never expected that the usually decisive and capable businesswoman would show such a decadent appearance in this situation. It seemed this was her true nature! She usually packaged herself very well, but when there were no outsiders, she revealed some of her original personality. It could also be due to prenatal depression, which caused Pepper's temperament to change with some special circumstances, such as Tony's neglect.
"Do you know why you're here? Besides, my brother's situation hasn't been for just a day or two. You know what kind of person he is. Although he's been acting mysterious lately, he won't neglect those around him. It's just that he might have encountered something very important that temporarily prevents him from focusing on his life."
As the saying goes, it's better to tear down ten temples than to ruin a marriage. What's more, the problem was with her own family. Artoria suppressed the urge to fan the flames. These two had shown off their affection in front of her many times. Burn this couple to Death... bah! No, she couldn't hurt her own family, and this couple was truly in love, so they couldn't be burned. Artoria ultimately said some good things about her brother in front of Pepper. Although what she said wasn't very convincing, it did soften Pepper's expression, which made Artoria slightly relieved. What was this scoundrel brother doing? Why didn't he take his wife home quickly? Their own matters, yet they insisted on involving her, his sister, which was a bit too much.
"That's right! He's been like this for a while, but I really want to 'beep beep' chop him up, so he'll stop flirting around. Even if I don't have a husband, I won't have to worry about getting cuckolded. If we can't be husband and wife, we can still be sisters, right, Artoria?"
Pepper's sudden words made Artoria stunned for a moment, and then a hint of 'egg pain' appeared on her face. Oh no! It was gone, but Artoria felt that her brother, who had been missing for many years, was sending her phantom limb pain messages. This made Artoria feel a chill in her legs. She uncomfortably crossed her long, fair legs, truly scared to the point of having psychological trauma by Pepper's words. Brother! What on Earth did you do to make Pepper want to castrate you so badly?
As soon as she thought of this, Artoria's face twitched involuntarily. It seemed that Tony's playboy lifestyle back then had brought him far more negative consequences than imagined. Even Pepper, in her prenatal depression, amplified this matter infinitely. She didn't know what Pepper was imagining, but she seemed to feel that only by removing the 'root cause' could she feel at ease. This incident made Artoria understand that the consequence of being a playboy might be the direct loss of her brother.
"Tony, take care of yourself!"
Artoria glanced at Pepper, who was sitting up and peeling fruit with a fruit knife. Looking at Pepper's hand holding the fruit knife, Artoria imagined it replaced with a hatchet, and instantly felt goosebumps. She said to her brother inwardly that Artoria decided to let nature take its course! The more she interfered, the messier things might get. Only they could solve their own problems to live a harmonious life. If not, then someone would definitely get hurt in the middle. It might just be a single cut, and Artoria's brother would be gone, replaced by a sister.
"The new hero who just appeared seems so weak~!"
Artoria felt that this type of topic couldn't continue. She happened to see a robbery case where a guy in green was beaten into a big pig's head. Wasn't it Kick-Ass? Although she felt a bit sorry for Kick-Ass, in order to change the subject, Artoria still brought up Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass's appearance meant that Big Daddy and the violent loli had also appeared. Should she find a time to contact them? Artoria thought that the loli with a strong killing intent was indeed very cute, but she was also a thorny Little guy. Contact with caution.
"Beaten up like this, it seems he won't be active for a while!"
With the topic diverted by Artoria, Pepper also looked at the TV. The bruised and swollen guy who looked like a pig's head instantly made Pepper both laugh and cry. A superhero being beaten up like that, it was touching yet funny. After all, he was injured protecting ordinary citizens, proving he was very kind. Despite his lack of strength, daring to act showed he was too reckless.
"Don't underestimate him, you might be surprised."
Facing Pepper's evaluation, Artoria smiled mysteriously. Others might not know, but anyone who had seen 'Kick-Ass' knew that this guy's luck was actually pretty good. His body's recovery ability was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person's, but he was as popular with the public as Spider-Man, because he was just an ordinary person, with no heaven-defying superpowers, only the half-baked fighting skills trained by Big Daddy. But in the future, he would be very famous, because he was 'down-to-Earth'! After a brief look, the lack of videos of the loli Hit-Girl disappointed Artoria, but she also understood the media's approach. This loli was synonymous with blood and violence; her opponents' bodies were probably not even complete, too bloody.
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