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As a salaried employee, Henry would have loved nothing more than to hide in Sydney, Australia for the rest of his life—collecting paychecks without working.

He had even acted on a whim and secretly taken some time to visit the hidden residence of those two Eternals, intending to provide some after-sales service. Perhaps the Eternals still had some mysterious pickling stones or a favored kitchen cleaver lying around.

But after arriving, he discovered that Gilgamesh and Thena had already left.

And they had been gone for quite some time—it clearly wasn't because they were deliberately avoiding him.

Perhaps Kingo knew where they had gone.

But Henry wasn't about to make an international call just to ask something like that.

---

In April, Henry prepared to fly back to Los Angeles because someone he hadn't heard from in a long time had contacted him, saying they wanted to meet at Stark Pictures.

Jack Reacher, Captain of the U.S. Army Military Police Special Investigations Unit.

The last time Henry had seen him was about a year and a half ago. Back then, he had only been a lieutenant.

During the time since, Reacher had contacted Henry only once through the covert communication channel Henry had given him—to request operational funds.

Judging by the amount and delivery method, it was probably money used to buy someone off.

Henry hadn't asked too many questions.

He simply followed Reacher's instructions and placed $100,000 in a suitcase at the designated drop point.

That had been around the middle of last year.

Only now was there finally some result.

The reason there had been no updates until now was because Henry himself had requested it:

No unnecessary progress reports.

Fewer contacts.

Less exposure.

After all, both of them knew full well they were investigating something dangerous enough to get people killed.

Leaving as few traces as possible was the best protection for everyone involved.

Besides, Henry honestly wasn't that invested in the matter.

This should have been something Tony Stark handled personally—the people who died had been his family.

Yet somehow the whole matter had landed on Henry's shoulders.

Wasn't he only supposed to be the guy who offered bad ideas?

---

Given Henry's attitude toward responsibilities that actually fell within the scope of his salary, expecting him to be enthusiastic about unpaid extra work was wishful thinking.

As for whether Jack Reacher had taken public funds and spent them enjoying himself, or skimmed something off the top—

Neither Henry nor Tony Stark particularly cared.

Reacher's secret investigation had always been a speculative move.

Even if it produced nothing, that would have been expected.

When disappointment has piled up enough times, getting no result hardly feels disappointing anymore.

But now Reacher had proactively requested a meeting.

Could it be that he had truly uncovered something?

---

In terms of urgency, Reacher's matter deserved top priority.

So Henry didn't hesitate.

After informing Charlize Theron and the Stark Pictures team, he boarded a flight back to Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, fate had terrible timing.

While Henry sat on the plane, an alarm device he himself had distributed began emitting a signal audible only to him.

The direct flight from Sydney to Los Angeles took nearly fourteen hours.

Only two hours had passed.

They hadn't even crossed the equator yet.

If he waited until landing, whoever triggered the alarm would probably be dead by then.

Should he go into the bathroom, phase through the aircraft hull using his powers, and rush off to the rescue?

Unfortunately, this flight happened to be packed—likely with a tour group.

If he occupied the restroom too long, a flight attendant would probably open the door to check.

Looks like it was finally time for the prototype to see real combat.

---

Seated in first class, Henry pulled a specially made glasses case from his carry-on bag.

Inside were not only a pair of glasses, but also ten custom-made rings.

He put them on all ten fingers in a precise order.

The glasses projected a retinal display showing a distant location in California:

One of Henry's secret bases—

Sheep Cave Valley Laboratory.

Within his field of vision, his pet wasn't roaming wildly across the wilderness.

Instead, it lay quietly not far from the lab, with the starry sky behind it, radiating utter laziness.

Just as Henry tapped together the rings on his thumbs and index fingers to activate the remote-control system, it seemed to attract Kitty's attention.

The tiger raised its head and looked over.

---

A ventilation hatch on the outer shell of the container lab automatically opened.

The prototype support unit codenamed Little Duck detached from its charging dock, activated its hovering system, and floated out.

Borrowing from Kree technology, an anti-gravity device powered by one microliter of gravitonium allowed the box-shaped machine—with two multifunction mechanical claws—to levitate.

On its front were three lenses:

one for close focus

one for long range

one for special functions

The claws flexed experimentally.

The lenses each ran a quick test. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Then the speaker emitted Henry's voice, simulated through brainwave control.

"Kitty, time to head out. Come get suited up."

---

Kitty: It's nighttime. Rest hours.

Damn it, Henry thought. This thing even understands work-life balance?

Left with no choice, he said:

"One tiger meal. Premium."

Kitty: Which suit?

With a low growl, Kitty leapt down from where it had been resting and padded toward the lab.

---

On the airplane, Henry tapped the ten rings together in another sequence.

The lower section of the container shell opened into the tiger-armoring access tunnel.

Already familiar with the process, Kitty walked right inside.

Within was a special platform.

Mechanical arms attached armor pieces onto Kitty's body one by one.

When it emerged, Kitty had grown to more than double its original size—

Nearly the size of a cow.

But…

It no longer resembled a tiger.

Instead, it looked like a leopard.

With yellow plating and black spots, the armor made Kitty resemble a metal panther.

At the shoulder blades was a clear recessed slot—

Perfectly sized for Little Duck to fit into.

The support unit's claws now acted like clasps and connectors, locking tightly into the armor.

Only the upper camera lenses protruded outside.

---

"Duck-Panther Armor Prototype—equipped!"

"At a moment like this, we really need epic battle BGM. Maybe I should add a few tracks to the music library."

Kitty: If there's something to do, hurry up. If not, I'm taking this off.

Kitty roared and shook its head dramatically, as if trying to fling the armor off.

To be fair, the earliest prototype actually would have flown apart if it did that.

Even if it stayed intact, the machine would've malfunctioned from the violent vibration.

Honestly, people who train dogs and cats to wear clothes were incredible.

It had taken nearly a full year of revisions before the tiger armor reached its current state.

Unfortunately, even if Henry wanted to show off, there was no audience to applaud.

The only living being present was a tiger.

Better not perform music to cattle.

---

Remembering the person still waiting for rescue, Henry abandoned his self-congratulatory mood.

No point in having the grand entrance ready—

Only to arrive and find the target already dead.

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