By the time Rorschach finally arrived outside Howard Stark's mansion, nearly two hours had passed.
He was a full hour late for their agreed meeting time.
"Howard Stark probably hasn't been stood up like this before," Rorschach thought with a hint of mischievous amusement.
Of course, the situation wasn't exactly his fault. No one could have predicted that William Stryker would suddenly send an assassination squad after him today.
Still, being late was being late.
Ding dong.
Rorschach pressed the doorbell outside the estate and waited.
After a short moment, the door opened and Jarvis appeared.
"Mr. Rorschach! You've finally arrived. Mr. Stark is still waiting for you," Jarvis said quickly as he opened the gate. His tone carried a noticeable sense of relief.
"I'm really sorry, Jarvis. Something urgent came up and delayed me," Rorschach replied casually while stepping inside the estate. "Mr. Stark didn't smash anything while waiting, did he?"
Jarvis paused for a moment as if thinking seriously about the question.
"Nothing was broken. There was no shouting either," he said calmly. "Considering the circumstances, I believe that counts as a very good outcome."
Rorschach fell silent.
"…Jarvis, I'm suddenly considering canceling this appointment. Is it still possible for me to run away now?"
Jarvis gave him a reassuring look.
"Mr. Rorschach, Mr. Stark will not eat you."
The two of them chatted while walking deeper into the estate until they entered the mansion itself.
Howard Stark was already standing inside.
The moment he saw Rorschach, the legendary playboy spread his hands in exaggerated frustration.
"Rorschach, I've met presidents, military commanders, and the most powerful businessmen in the world," Stark said dramatically. "But you are the first person who has ever made me wait this long."
Rorschach smiled helplessly.
"Well, I'm honored… and sorry. I had to deal with a sudden emergency."
"It's fine," Stark said with a dismissive wave. "I've already waited this long anyway. Besides, you did save my life."
He personally led Rorschach inside and called toward the hallway.
"Jarvis, inform the kitchen they can begin preparations."
The banquet had actually been prepared long ago. But when Rorschach didn't show up for a long time, Stark had ordered the staff to pause everything.
Now the preparations could begin again.
It was a small detail, but it perfectly illustrated one thing.
When rich people spent money, they truly didn't worry about consequences.
"Mr. Stark," Rorschach said with a grin as he followed him deeper into the mansion, "saving your life is a pretty big favor. Surely one dinner isn't enough to repay it."
He sounded half joking, half serious.
After all, it wasn't easy to make a man like Howard Stark owe you something.
One had to make full use of that opportunity.
"Haha, of course not," Stark replied with a laugh. "This dinner is just a small gesture of thanks."
Then he clapped his hands together enthusiastically.
"Come on. Before dinner is ready, I'll show you around my house."
"I'd love that," Rorschach replied immediately.
In both his previous life and his current one, he had never stepped inside the mansion of someone as rich as Howard Stark. Naturally, he was curious.
"Let's start with my storage room," Stark said proudly. "I keep plenty of interesting things there."
He led Rorschach into a luxurious room that practically screamed wealth.
Rorschach stepped inside and immediately felt stunned.
Two words appeared in his mind.
Outrageous wealth.
The room looked less like a storage space and more like a private museum.
Famous paintings, antique relics, vintage watches, and rare wines were scattered everywhere.
And they weren't displayed with careful reverence.
They were piled around casually, as if they were ordinary household items.
"That painting over there," Stark began, noticing where Rorschach's gaze landed, "is Giotto's The Kiss of Judas. It depicts the psychological confrontation between Jesus and Judas."
He shrugged.
"To be honest, I'm not very fond of it. The theme feels too heavy."
"But you know how it is," Stark continued. "Sometimes people give you gifts that you can't refuse. Even if you don't like them, you still have to pretend you do."
He then walked over to another item.
"Oh, this is the Great Sword of Scotland. Every man loves a good weapon, right?" Stark said with a grin. "I see you're interested too. Let's be honest—no man dislikes a sharp blade."
Rorschach nodded along as Stark enthusiastically introduced item after item.
"This antique here is the world's first bicycle," Stark said next. "It looks crude by modern standards, but at the time it was a remarkable invention."
Piece after piece, treasure after treasure.
Everything Stark showed him was incredibly rare.
Rorschach couldn't help feeling amazed.
"Alright, enough about the collection," Stark said after a while. "Let me show you my garage."
He looked especially excited as he led Rorschach to the next location.
When the garage doors opened, Rorschach immediately understood why.
Luxury cars filled the massive space.
Two long rows stretched across the garage, displaying vehicles of every style and color imaginable.
At first glance, the place looked less like a private garage and more like a car dealership showroom.
"Well?" Stark asked proudly. "These are the treasures I've collected over the past fifteen years."
His eyes sparkled as he began enthusiastically presenting the vehicles one by one.
"This one here is a Cadillac V16," he said while standing beside a bright red roadster. "Production stopped forty years ago. It was the first mass-produced car with a sixteen-cylinder engine. Took me a lot of effort to get my hands on it."
Stark clearly loved talking about his cars.
Rorschach listened politely.
But truthfully, he wasn't that impressed.
Because of the limitations of the era, the cars from this time looked rather outdated in his eyes.
Compared with modern vehicles, they felt clumsy and primitive.
Just as he was about to shift his attention elsewhere—
A sudden voice echoed inside his mind.
[Special energy source detected.]
Rorschach froze slightly.
At the same time, his vision changed.
The world in front of him transformed into something resembling a computerized scanning interface.
In that strange visual overlay, the Cadillac Stark had just introduced became highlighted by a digital projection.
A small red dot flashed within the vehicle.
Clearly, the "special energy source" the system had mentioned was located inside that Cadillac.
"Special energy source?" Rorschach wondered silently. "What does that mean?"
Unfortunately, the system didn't respond to his question.
It rarely explained anything.
Instead, another prompt appeared.
[Energy source analysis…]
[Energy value: 37 origin points.]
[Status: Unextractable.]
The notification confused Rorschach even more.
The energy value was being measured in origin points.
And the system had labeled it "unextractable."
Which implied something important.
If something could be unextractable, that meant there must also be situations where it could be extracted.
And if extraction were possible…
Could it replenish origin points directly?
Rorschach's eyes lit up instantly.
"That has to be it."
The logic seemed straightforward.
The only thing he couldn't understand yet was why this energy source was currently unextractable.
And more importantly—
Why was there some kind of mysterious energy hidden inside a car?
One thing Rorschach knew for certain was that the system definitely wasn't referring to gasoline.
If it were simply fuel energy, it would hardly qualify as "special."
After all, gasoline was everywhere.
There was nothing rare about it.
.....
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