Leo looked at the large pile of scattered clutter in front of him—the old film reels, the mysterious notebook—and then at Tony with a look of genuine confusion.
"Are you absolutely sure, Tony, that you want me to tell you directly what the gift your father specifically left for you is? Isn't figuring out his final mystery the point of this whole, dramatic presentation?"
Tony glanced down at the old cassette tape and the notebook filled with Howard's familiar, yet distant handwriting.
In his mind, his father had always been cold, calculating, and emotionally distant—a man who had never said he loved him or even genuinely liked him.
However, it was undeniable that his father had taught him a massive amount of knowledge and was, at one point, the person he had most looked up to.
He still carried the deep regret of that final day they left; he hadn't given either of his parents a proper hug or simply told them, "I love you."
He remembered that day clearly. It was Christmas, and Howard, in his typical sarcastic way, had told him, "Some people say that the more sarcastic you are, the more potential you have. If that's true, maybe you'll finally achieve something great in the future."
Even if it was laced with classic Howard sarcasm, Tony preferred to believe it was the closest thing his father could manage to a genuine compliment.
He carried all the materials down to the now-wrecked basement workshop himself and sat down, carefully opening the old notebooks.
Leo quietly sat down next to him. "S.H.I.E.L.D. must have seen these files when they collected the box, but they obviously didn't discover this specific secret. So, are you confident you're smarter than the world's leading spy agency?"
"I'm confident I'm smarter than my father wanted them to be," Tony corrected, firing up the antique film projector and casting the content onto a blank section of the damaged wall.
They watched the flickering video while Tony rapidly flipped through the notebook, which was densely packed with strange formulas and inexplicable symbols.
Tony's genius quickly absorbed the key points and filtered out the noise. Often, Leo had only managed to read the first two lines of a complex equation when Tony had already processed it and turned to the next page.
The video footage initially seemed useless—mostly just boring behind-the-scenes recordings of the 1974 Stark Industries Expo. Tony had even included some of that year's footage in this year's opening ceremony.
All their attention was focused on the complex notebook in their hands.
In the video, Howard was recording the clip over and over again, with the architectural plans of the 1974 World's Fair laid out on a table in the background.
Leo, unlike Tony, seemed to find the video quite interesting, watching the whole environment closely.
Suddenly, a tiny, four-year-old Tony appeared in the scene, his mischievous little hands reaching for a model building from the Expo diorama.
Howard saw the boy and yelled, "Tony, what are you doing? Put that back!"
Tony, who was focused on his laptop and the equations, looked up, startled by the sound of his father's voice echoing from the screen, calling his name across four decades.
"Put it back, put it exactly where it was, son! Maria, where is your mother?"
The subsequent video footage was all randomly edited—behind-the-scenes clips, scenery shots, brief flashes, and long stretches of black screen.
Tony looked away from the flickering screen and continued to skim the complicated notebook, but after only halfway through, the pages became completely blank.
He tossed the useless notebook aside and rubbed his head, looking deeply troubled.
"Leo, I've reviewed all the materials. There's nothing related to any new element. No formula, no name, no blueprint. Are you truly certain about this, or were you just lying to Nick Fury for fun?"
"If it's not in the notebook, then the answer must be in the video, Mr. Stark. You weren't watching the right things," Leo replied calmly, still staring intently at the wall.
The video abruptly switched from a black screen to a final, perfect shot of Howard, standing next to the architectural drawings of the Expo.
Howard faced the camera as if he were looking directly at Tony, staring at the person watching the video.
"Tony."
Howard's voice was clear, sincere, and filled with a paternal love Tony had never known. "You're too young to understand this right now, so I'll film this final part for you first, for when you need it most."
Tony gripped the ceramic coffee cup in his hand so tightly that his knuckles went white. He was looking at the figure on the screen, feeling like the two of them were having a genuine conversation across time and space, face to face.
Howard pointed to the massive architectural plans spread behind him. "This entire Expo, this vision of the City of Tomorrow, was all built for you, my son."
"One day you will finally realize that this represents not only a monumental human invention, but also the crowning achievement of my entire life's work."
"Tony, this… this entire model is the key to the future."
The camera panned across buildings that were specifically marked on the architectural plans, pausing on the layout.
"I am limited by the technology of this era, by the sheer power required to contain it," Howard confessed, his voice tinged with regret.
"But one day, you will understand all of this. And then you, my son, will change the world."
Tony stared intently at the figure on the screen. This was an attitude, a depth of emotion, and a level of encouragement from his father that he had never, ever seen before. It captivated him utterly.
Howard concluded with a final, profound smile: "My greatest creation will always be… you, Tony."
Tony was openly moved to tears; it was the first time Leo had ever seen the invincible Tony Stark truly break down.
"Mr. Stark, have you finally found the answer?" Leo asked softly, interrupting the silence.
Tony sniffled and wiped his eyes. "No, but I think I know where to look. I need to go see Pepper at Stark Industries, she might have the original set." He stood up, energized and desperate. "Do you want to come?"
"No need, Mr. Stark. But it would be even better if you could send a few more tons of gold-titanium alloy to the warehouse for me. I need to recharge my reserves."
"There are still five tons of the latest batch in the warehouse. Use them first. There are also three brand-new Arc Reactors in the secret vault; I think you can find them."
Tony sped off in his silver sports car, driving straight toward the Stark Industries headquarters. Leo, now with a clear mission, turned his gaze toward the warehouse, his eyes gleaming.
Leo quickly made his way to the warehouse and sat down cross-legged, placing the two palladium-depleted Arc Reactors he'd found in a dark cabinet on the floor.
The final, brand-new reactor from the vault he'd pulled out of thin air was fixed magnetically to his chest.
The five tons of metallic materials beside him—massive sheets and ingots of gold-titanium alloy—were pulled to his side as if they were flowing water.
The metal pieces stacked themselves one after another, quickly forming a huge, hollow metal dome that completely enveloped Leo.
The three reactors now attached to his body began to pump out massive amounts of electricity. The sheer surge instantly tore his shirt apart, reducing the fabric to charcoal and ash.
A powerful, visible electric current, enveloping his entire upper body, surged into him, stabilizing the initial input of energy.
At the same time, large, shimmering golden specks—the metallic essence being harvested—appeared in the dimly lit dome and rushed into Leo's body, attempting to fill the void of his depleted internal energy.
The golden light adhered entirely to the bones, causing them to shine so excessively that they seemed to emit a constant, steady internal radiance.
Even if someone were watching through an X-ray screen at this moment, they would see the bright, glowing bones directly through Leo's skin and flesh.
His Iron Bones enhancement level, fueled by this industrial-scale energy harvest, quickly increased to 51%. His base strength and defense stats simultaneously increased to 22 points.
The flow of gold dots was so fast that it looked as if many tiny golden lines were transferring from the surrounding metal directly into Leo's body.
The surrounding metallic dome slowly began to turn dull and gray. Several deep cracks appeared in the completely gray areas.
Like rotten wood that could no longer bear its own weight, the weakened metal cracked and broke into pieces that fell down around him.
The remaining metal was held firmly in place by Leo's power, continuing to supply energy.
The metal fragments fell and covered the ground around Leo, creating a dense ring of debris. The area within ten centimeters of Leo was like a psychic forbidden zone, impossible to breach.
A few hours later, Tony returned from Stark Industries, carefully carrying the original architectural models of the 1974 World's Fair—Pepper had been saving them.
The individual plastic pieces were brought into the workshop, assembled, and placed precisely on the workbench.
"Jarvis, where is Leo? Did the kid blow up the warehouse?"
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Leo is still in the warehouse. He hasn't come out for four hours. There is a powerful, localized energy field inside the warehouse that is currently blocking all my observation sensors."
"Never mind the kid for now, Jarvis. He's safe. Please make a digital model of this setup. I need a fully functioning, interactive projection screen over the model."
A beam of sharp blue light began scanning the entire diorama from one side of the workshop, mapping every tiny building.
"1974 Stark Industrial Exposition model, scan complete, sir. Digital projection activated."