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Tony knew that his father still saw him as a child, believing he wasn't capable enough, just like before. He would always look down on him and hide the truth, all in the name of misguided protection.
"Tony... it was a car accident..."
Howard hesitated for a moment but still didn't tell Tony the truth. He could describe the appearance of the attacker and was confident that his talented son could investigate the leads.
But at the same time, because of how capable Tony was, Howard felt uneasy. Tony was consumed by anger, and if he acted recklessly... he didn't want to lose his son, too, after already losing his wife.
Howard's thoughts were destined to be beyond Tony's understanding.
He stared at his father intensely, feeling for the first time a deep sense of disappointment towards the man he had always viewed as an immovable mountain.
"Even with Mom dead, are you planning to just let it go, Howard?"
The moment Tony addressed his father by his first name, their relationship hit rock bottom. Yet, despite everything, Howard still refused to offer any clues, continuing to insist that it was just a car accident, just an unfortunate incident.
Sigh...
Gradually realizing that he wouldn't get any answers here, Tony took a deep breath and switched tactics.
"Then at least tell me... who the hell saved your sorry ass?"
Tony knew that someone must have found the gravely injured Howard and rushed him to the hospital. Since Howard was unwilling to reveal the truth, Tony decided to go after another witness.
This time, Howard's resolve was noticeably weaker.
He had looked at Alfred's file.
The man was kind, just, learned, and wise. Perhaps Alfred could get through to Tony in a way that Howard, the incompetent father, never could.
"He's a gentleman worthy of respect, Alfred Pennyworth. He's in Gotham."
With that answer, Tony no longer wanted to spend a single second longer with Howard. He turned on his heel and left the room without a word.
Maria's body was in the morgue, but Tony did not go to see his mother right away.
He had heard that her face had been severely disfigured, to the point where it was unrecognizable. The mortician would soon begin the process of restoring her appearance. Tony thought it best to focus on finding the killer first. Once he caught the person responsible and avenged his mother, he would return to see her restored body.
Only then would Tony's heart find a sliver of comfort.
Gotham City.
Reid, who had not yet drawn the "Dr. Manhattan" character card, naturally had no idea of the Stark family's inner turmoil. In fact, the issues surrounding Wayne Enterprises left him no time to dwell on such matters.
At this point, Reid was beginning to feel that his system wasn't so much a golden finger as it was the root cause of his predicament. He had crossed over and was now working for the system, not the other way around.
In his previous life, when characters in novels drew similar environment cards, they received both the environment and the characters within it, and those characters would follow the protagonist's orders.
But things were different for him.
Everyone in Gotham had their own lives, their own thoughts. If someone was meant to oppose him, they would.
Take Earle, for instance, an executive at Wayne Enterprises and a partial shareholder. He had been spreading rumors about Bruce Wayne's death, hoping to push Wayne Enterprises to go public. His goal was not only to profit from the company's listing but also to force the Wayne family out of Wayne Enterprises entirely.
"....."