Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life...

The moment Tony heard Sherlock's next words, his expression instantly became tense again.

"Jarvis, attempt to recover the database!"

With Sherlock's order, Jarvis fell into a long silence, and Tony's forehead even began to bead with cold sweat.

After a while, Jarvis's voice rang out again.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sherlock, the database recovery attempt failed. The operator wiped it very cleanly."

As Jarvis's voice rang out, Tony visibly breathed a sigh of relief, but when he looked down, he saw Sherlock's expression was almost identical to Anya's when she looked at him.

"You deleted it so cleanly, my dear genius, the great Lord Stark! I just wonder if what you're holding is a whip or a pair of underwear?"

It can only be said that Anya truly deserves to be called the goddess of the meme world. Under Sherlock's identical expression, Tony completely broke down. After hurriedly throwing out a vague remark, he turned around and left without any hesitation.

"You're talking nonsense! You little bastard! I'm not wearing anything!"

As Tony fled in disarray, Sherlock's laughter rang out again from behind Tony, even more unrestrained than before, until he collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach and rolling around laughing.

As for why Sherlock reacted this way, the reason is quite simple: when he was making his Zanpakuto, he made quite a few 'little gadgets' out of his own wicked sense of humor.

Among them were the two transformation devices Tony mentioned.

Of course, while these two transformation devices perfectly replicate the abilities of the original work, and in some ways are even more powerful, the original work itself is not a very serious story, so naturally the transformed appearance is not very serious either.

That's right, Sherlock created the transformation device for the main female character Tina Hiiragi and the second female character Kiki Arakawa in "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha"!

Anyone who has watched this anime should know just how terrible their outfits are after they transform.

(If you haven't read it, please go to the cloud drive to read the original novel; it's hilarious!)

Whenever Sherlock thinks of Tony wearing Arakawa Kisei's panties or Hiiragi Tina's sexy queen outfit, he stands bewildered in the garage, not knowing what to do.

Then, when he was forced to frantically operate the computer to delete Jarvis's database while wearing clothing that was extremely shameful for both men and women, Sherlock couldn't control his mouth and burst into a violent laugh.

It's worth noting that Sherlock had a rather wicked sense of humor when he added a setting to the transformation device that prevented the transformation from being reversed for fifteen minutes after it was activated.

It's hard to imagine what kind of mental state Tony was in when he carried out this series of operations.

Sherlock was already regretting his decision to go back to take a shower. If he had turned around and seen Tony like this, Sherlock swore he would eat Tony alive for the rest of his life for this embarrassing moment.

Honestly, if Tony hadn't broken down and blurted it out unconsciously, Sherlock probably wouldn't have known about Tony's dark past, much less have imagined that the thing he casually created to satisfy his perverse tastes actually had a user.

This user is none other than Iron Man, the famous figure in the Marvel universe!

Sherlock found it increasingly amusing and laughed for a while. When he finally managed to control his laughter and re-enter the garage of the mansion, he was met with Tony's murderous gaze.

"Sherlock, I advise you to keep this a secret. If a third person besides you and me finds out, you're as good as dead!"

Despite Tony's blatant threat, Sherlock paid no attention, stepped forward and put his arm around Tony's shoulder before speaking in a cheeky tone.

"Don't worry, Tony, I will never tell anyone. But in return, you must keep the alchemical items I make here a complete secret."

When faced with Sherlock's proposed deal, Tony only thought about it for a moment before agreeing. After all, it would be foolish for Tony to disagree under such conditions.

To Tony's utter surprise, after he nodded, Sherlock's smile became even more sly as he continued speaking to Tony.

"Don't worry, Tony. If only you were dressed like this, it would be considered a disaster, but if everyone wears it together, it will just be a joke."

"???"

Tony was filled with questions at Sherlock's statement, but no matter how much he pressed Sherlock, Sherlock wouldn't reveal what he wanted to do. He just smiled more and more slyly and became more and more mysterious.

Ignoring Tony's questions, Sherlock threw himself into his work for the day, trying to create as many alchemical tools as possible. After all, these things would become his 'power' in the future, and Sherlock wouldn't let such a good opportunity pass him by.

As for Tony, seeing that Sherlock didn't answer him, he could only silently begin his work.

With neither side disturbing the other, the whole day passed quickly.

Because Pepper Potts' outburst yesterday taught Tony and Sherlock a lesson, neither of them had any intention of working overtime tonight.

To Sherlock's utter surprise, just as he was about to leave the garage, Tony called him back again, albeit hesitantly.

"Sherlock, um, there's something I'd like to ask you for a favor, it's just... that..."

Seeing Tony's awkwardness, a huge question mark gradually appeared above Sherlock's head. As Sherlock's expression grew increasingly strange, Tony could only grit his teeth and continue speaking to Sherlock.

"Hey, could I borrow your two transformation devices for one night?"

Hearing Tony's words, Sherlock, sensing that Tony wasn't up to anything, left Tony with a single word before turning and leaving.

"roll!"

Seeing Sherlock turn and leave, Tony, standing in the garage, pouted in annoyance and muttered under his breath as he watched Sherlock's retreating figure.

"Fine, I won't lend it! I'm rich, I can customize things for people! Let me think, what are Pepper's measurements again?"

Chapter 33 Sherlock's Investigation

After learning about Tony's dark past, Sherlock used it as leverage to stay in Tony's studio for three more days. During those three days, Tony was practically running around non-stop.

On one hand, he needs to improve the production of his own armor, and on the other hand, he needs to constantly meet Sherlock's various requirements regarding the mechanical arm.

Fortunately, on the third day, Sherlock finally managed to shove that damned mechanical arm back onto his own arm.

Honestly, Tony almost cried when he saw this scene. It was the first time in his life that he had been "bullied" like this. The most important thing was that the person who "bullied" him was his legally recognized eldest son.

This also earned Sherlock a new nickname from Tony: the rebellious son!

Of course, because of his dark past, Tony didn't dare to call Sherlock that in front of him at all, but that didn't stop Tony from venting his anger by calling him a rebellious son after Sherlock left.

That's why Sherlock didn't know. If Sherlock knew about his new nickname, he would definitely sneer and tell Tony to save the nickname for his own armor.

After all, not everyone can pull off the feat of creating a suit of armor specifically designed to counter their own abilities.

After spending about half a day having Tony make some minor adjustments to his mechanical arm, Sherlock used alchemy to revitalize it before finally getting satisfied and driving Tony's modified Raptor away from Tony's mansion.

Sherlock had promised the original owner of this body that he would investigate the truth behind his parents' deaths, and having made that promise, Sherlock would never break his word.

As for Sherlock's investigation method, it was very simple. After leaving Tony's villa, Sherlock said goodbye to Pepper Potts, rented a house in Los Angeles for a short period of time, and then took the Stark Industries offer given to him by Pepper Potts and went to work for Stark Industries under the alias Shire.

The reason for doing this is quite simple: Sherlock needs to get close to Obadiah to find out the secrets he is hiding, and before joining the company, Sherlock had also done a brief investigation of this old fox, Obadiah.

Obadiah is in charge of business operations at Stark Industries, making him a master of both sales and external business. In addition, he was a business partner with Tony's father, Howard Stark, which gives him considerable influence within Stark's group.

Moreover, his responsibilities for sales and international business are the lifeblood of the entire Tony Stark Group.

However, getting close to Obadiah and obtaining his information under such circumstances is by no means an easy task. Therefore, Sherlock decides to take a daring step, which is to join the business and sales department in charge of Obadiah!

Sherlock's past life as a corporate slave taught him one thing: sometimes, secrets that a leader thinks they've kept well hidden are actually no secrets at all within their department.

Or to put it more bluntly, it's an 'open secret' if you want to find out.

Of course, this is on the premise that you have truly integrated into the group.

As for whether Pepper Potts' offer would arouse the suspicion of Obadiah's men, Sherlock was not worried at all.

The reason is simple: Little Pepper has issued countless offers like this in a year, which are distributed across various departments of Stark Industries.

After all, even a behemoth like Stark Industries is not immune to nepotism. Don't assume that foreigners don't engage in nepotism; in fact, nepotism is even more prevalent in foreign countries. Just look at how popular recommendation letters are in the US to know this.

Especially within Obadiah's Ministry of Commerce, it was perfectly normal for anyone with any background to appear without attracting any attention.

What's more, there's Sherlock, the 'rich second generation' who drives a heavily modified 6x6 Raptor pickup truck.

Of course, even though there are so-called 'nepotism' connections, being proficient in a foreign language is still a necessary condition for getting a job in the business department. Otherwise, even with so-called 'nepotism' connections, a rich kid wouldn't be able to get it.

Fortunately, in addition to English, Sherlock also knew the rabbit's language, so he passed the interview in a flash. He even 'arrogantly' pointed out more than ten grammatical errors in the Chinese document used for translation to the interviewer.

And so, almost without attracting anyone's attention, Sherlock actually entered Obadiah's Department of Commerce, specifically the department responsible for rabbit relations and import/export trade.

In less than three days, Sherlock successfully integrated into the department by leveraging his past life's accumulated work experience, money, and the persona of a rich second-generation heir.

However, despite the integration, the so-called 'intelligence' that could be obtained was of no use other than letting Sherlock know that Obadiah, that old man, was even more extravagant in private than Tony was before he went to the Middle East.

Not only that, Sherlock couldn't find anything wrong with the daily work of the entire business and sales departments. The sales of weapons and the quantity of imported and exported parts all matched up.

It can be said that Obadiah is a saint-like figure here!

However, this is a normal phenomenon. After all, if Obadiah could not have such a 'saintly' image, he probably would not have been able to gain such a good impression from Tony, so much so that Tony has never doubted Obadiah over the years.

But this was not good news for Sherlock. He could only contact Pepper after get off work and ask her to help him stage a clumsy play where 'a conflict between colleagues is seen by the boss'.

Using the pretext of handling colleague relationships, Little Chili directly "demoted" Sherlock to the records management department.

For someone in the workplace, such a punishment is practically a fixed punishment. For a "rich second generation" like Sherlock, the so-called file management department is no different from exile.

At the same time, thanks to Pepper Potts' impatience and slightly disgusted attitude in dealing with Sherlock's affairs, no one in the company, from top to bottom, or even Obadiah, doubted Sherlock's identity.

After all, such things have happened far too many times here, so many that they've lost count.

This was exactly the result Sherlock wanted. In the archives department, Sherlock began searching for everything about Obadiah almost without stopping.

However, the results of the search made Sherlock gasp in shock.

Chapter 34 Obadiah's Past and the Mysteries Surrounding Sherlock's Parents' Deaths

Although the archives do not store specific information about Obadiah, they do contain all of Obadiah's administrative orders since he joined Stark Industries.

From these decisions, Sherlock almost clearly pieced together a living, real-life Obadiah.

It's true that Obadiah co-founded Stark Industries with Howard, but Howard has always kept a firm grip on both the technology and the company's decision-making.

During this period, Obadiah dealt with matters that Howard did not want to handle.

Or to put it more bluntly, Obadiah during this period was actually Howard's black glove, handling all the tasks that Howard couldn't handle himself and that would offend people.

It's no exaggeration to say that at this time, Obadiah was definitely the most unpopular person in the entire Stark Industries, but also one of Howard's best partners.

Everything changed after Howard's death.

At that time, Tony was too young and had no concept of company management at all. It was Obadiah who stepped forward.

Leveraging his status as Howard's partner, coupled with the 'prestige' he'd built up over the years as the Black Glove, Obadiah successfully 'stood by Tony's side' and became the new Stark's right-hand man.

At the same time, he shed his identity as the "black glove" and began to stand in the spotlight again. He and Tony addressed each other as uncle and nephew, a relationship that continues to this day. Based on Tony's trust in him, he even directly took charge of the business and sales departments.

Among this vast amount of information, Sherlock also saw his parents' names and roughly deduced a conclusion.

At the time, his parents were undoubtedly among the most opposed to Tony and Obadiah getting too close within the entire Stark Group, and even among the people who hated Obadiah the most.

This can be seen from the signatures on the frequently changing government orders during that period.

After his parents died, Obadiah clearly succeeded in carrying out all his plans and seized power within Stark Industries.

Nevertheless, these can only be considered as 'reasons' for Obadiah to kill his parents, not as evidence.

Sherlock had neither found out how Obadiah smuggled Stark Industries' weapons nor found any evidence that he had murdered his parents. Three days of working tirelessly to sort through intelligence had left Sherlock extremely exhausted.

Having gained nothing, he simply resigned from his job at Stark Industries and drove back to Tony's mansion.

By this time, Tony had completed most of the Mark I armor. He was extremely welcoming to Sherlock, who had been working for almost half a month, and his first words to him were...

"Welcome home, my dear Mr. Charles!"

Unfortunately, Sherlock had no interest in joking with Tony. He sat silently on the living room sofa, rubbed his temples wearily, and then asked Tony a question.

"Tony, let's get down to business. Tell me everything you know about my parents' murder, okay?"

With Tony's intelligence, coupled with Sherlock's recent actions, Tony almost immediately deduced who Sherlock suspected.

"Are you doubting Obadiah?"

Sherlock did not deny Tony's question, but stared at Tony silently for a while before rubbing his throbbing temples and speaking to Tony.

"Yes, not only that, I suspect that Obadiah is also behind the arms smuggling in the Middle East."

"Impossible! I've checked almost all the processes and raw materials in the department under Obadiah's control, and I haven't found any evidence of Obadiah smuggling!"

Tony dismissed Sherlock's conjecture almost instantly, but seeing that Sherlock clearly didn't want to talk to him, Tony quickly fell silent again.

After a long while, Tony sighed helplessly and began to tell Sherlock about what had happened in the past.

Obadiah and his father Howard Stark founded Stark Industries. Sherlock's parents were among the first employees, and Tony's father Howard was also an extremely family-oriented person.

That's why Tony often saw Howard having meetings at home with Obadiah and Sherlock's parents.

To Sherlock's surprise, Tony had a good relationship with the people who often came to his house for meetings, and among them, Sherlock's parents were the closest.

In particular, Sherlock's father, although not much older than Tony, always made Tony feel a kind of inexplicable fatherly love, or rather, the care from an older brother, when he and Sherlock's mother were together with Tony.

Obadiah is Tony's favorite uncle, he has been since he was a child, because Obadiah always gives Tony some of his favorite things whenever they see each other.