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"Ten minutes?"
Lionel sat back on the sofa, pondering. He hadn't checked the time before, but he clearly remembered Tony Stark saying he had been waiting for him for half an hour when he first arrived. Even if Tony's statement was an exaggeration, it wouldn't be far off. Including the time he just spent talking with Tony Stark, it meant he had traveled back about forty minutes to an hour.
Makima tilted her head in confusion: "Time travel?"
"That should be it, roughly less than an hour of travel," Lionel nodded, having just explained his theory.
"This is highly unscientific. Even if you suddenly appeared with lightning like The Flash in the comics, I could barely accept it. No, I still couldn't accept it. It's all unscientific!"
Tony Stark analyzed Lionel's statement and found that, aside from explaining the current situation, no existing theory could prove he had actually traveled through time and space.
Lionel pointed to the folder on the table: "But that's the situation. I traveled. This contract is a share transfer agreement for 1% of Stark Industries, valued at 1.3 billion U.S. dollars. You told me that yourself."
Tony Stark was still not entirely convinced: "That doesn't prove anything. There are many ways to know this information, and it doesn't necessarily mean time travel. Although your sudden teleportation here also challenges my Worldview, can you tell me anything else we discussed later?"
Lionel had no other immediate clues, so he patiently explained to Tony Stark: "You also said you were going to enter the new energy industry and arrogantly declared that the light bulb on your chest would crush all energy in the World. You also predicted that Stark Industries' market value would triple or quadruple because of it."
"This…" Tony Stark began to believe him. The idea of entering the new energy industry was just a thought of his; he hadn't mentioned it to anyone, not even having a business plan. It only existed in his mind.
"Oh, and we also talked about your health issues. Your palladium poisoning is very severe, and you have no way to solve it.
However, you're very lucky to have met me. I have a solution. You were very happy at the time, and after discussion, you agreed to exchange 8% of Stark Industries' shares for some information and a solution."
Lionel deliberately said 8% instead of 6%, feeling that Tony Stark would surely agree.
Tony Stark fell silent for a long time upon hearing this. He was either accepting the fact of Lionel's time travel or was surprised by the news that Lionel actually had a way to solve his palladium poisoning. After dozens of seconds of silence, he finally spoke again:
"Alright, I'll temporarily believe your story, but I still have a question."
"What question?" Lionel asked.
Tony Stark crossed his arms over his chest and said: "You said you traveled from half an hour in the future to now. What about the you at this point in time? Is he still outside, or has he disappeared?"
"That's a good question."
Only after hearing this did Lionel realize the problem. Would another him still exist in this timeline? How could he verify if he still existed? Should he go outside and check?
Lionel pulled out his phone, wanting Makima to try calling him to see if his phone would ring.
"Hmm? This time…"
Lionel looked at the time displayed on his phone: 4:40 PM. He then looked up at the clock in the living room: 3:54 PM. His phone's time was forty-six minutes fast.
It's because I'm using local time and not network time. So, my phone also traveled with me.
"What's wrong?" Makima asked.
"My phone seems to have traveled with me too; it's forty-six minutes fast. Never mind that for now, Makima, call my phone. I want to see if it connects."
"Do you want to verify the existence of another you? It's not that complicated. You've signed a contract with me; I can sense that only one of you exists."
"Only one of me?"
Lionel felt a bit strange. The Avengers members in Avengers 4 could travel back and meet their past selves. Why did his past self disappear? Was it because of the Entry [Outsider]?
"Oh, right."
Lionel thought of something and took Annabelle out of his pocket. Since his phone traveled with him, did this evil spirit also travel?
"Hey, do you feel like you've time traveled?"
Seeing this, Tony Stark chuckled: "I didn't expect you, the beast master, to be a little princess. It's just your taste is really bad. If you like it, I'll send you a set of Barbies later."
"Achhoo!" Tony Stark suddenly sneezed, feeling the surrounding environment suddenly turn cold.
Ignoring Tony Stark's teasing, Lionel listened carefully to Annabelle's answer.
"I didn't feel time travel. I've been in your pocket the whole time."
"Is that so? You didn't travel, but my phone did. Is it only non-living things or things without consciousness that can travel with me? Or is it only things I carry that travel with me?" Lionel pondered.
Tony Stark, meanwhile, widened his eyes. This ugly doll could talk.
Lionel scratched his head, having no clear ideas. He didn't know why he traveled, nor if he would travel again.
He put Annabelle back in his arms. If he traveled again, he could verify if he could take her with him.
Lionel said: "The reason for the travel, the trigger mechanism, and whether I'll travel again are all unclear. However, the current situation is all normal, so…"
"So?" Tony Stark followed up.
"So let's not worry about things that have no impact for now. Let's continue discussing the transaction for solving your palladium poisoning."
Lionel sank into the sofa. He temporarily gave up on the time travel issue. Without other clues, thinking about it further was useless. If he traveled again later, he would just have to go find Sorcerer Supreme Ancient One.
He thought that he had been traveling for more than half a year, and Ancient One had never come to find him. Even when the Beast appeared last time, she didn't show up. It was truly strange.
Tony Stark didn't expect to hear such an answer. This was time travel, so valuable for research. He said:
"Then let's first, um, discuss the palladium poisoning problem. Afterwards, you can come to my laboratory. I have many instruments there, which might be able to detect the reason for your time travel. At least it would be more reliable than your guesses."
"Alright then. After we finish discussing the palladium poisoning problem, I'll go to your laboratory with you. Just wait for me a moment; I'm going to catch a cat."
After speaking, Lionel immediately got up and walked towards a room, followed by a voice that Tony Stark found somewhat familiar.
"Release King, release King! Lionel, what are you doing? King will walk himself!"
Soon, Lionel returned, holding the struggling Kuro.
Lionel smiled: "Forgive me, this cat doesn't listen to me very well."
Then he said to Makima:
"I trouble you, make this cat spit out the Space Stone energy block it hid!"