Chapter 95.
"Tony, why aren't you worried? Even if you're protected by your armor, they might be carrying heavy weapons like missiles. Aren't you afraid of the danger to others?" Colonel Rhodes looked at Tony and the others, who remained unbothered, and felt a sense of bewilderment. He couldn't understand how they could be so calm in the face of an imminent threat.
"Calm down, Rhodes. You can stay here for now, I'll handle this little issue," Tony replied, pouring the rest of his red wine into his mouth before slowly standing and stretching. –As he did so, a small, triangular device appeared from seemingly nowhere, floating gracefully through the air towards him. Tony took it in his hand.
"This is my latest armor," Tony announced with a grin, holding up the device. "Today is its first public appearance. Let me show you all something incredible." The device, a transparent triangle, began to fill with energy from the Ark reactor, radiating a soft white light.
"Stark, don't you forget that we haven't loaded the weapon system into this armor yet? Are you sure you want to go out and fight an enemy with hot weapons like this?" Banner called out, a note of concern in his voice. He reminded Tony that while the nano materials could successfully form a full-body warframe capable of flight and close-quarters combat, the various weapon systems and advanced combat modes designed by Felix had not yet been fully installed. Banner was worried, knowing that whoever was attacking them must be bold and powerful to act so brazenly, even with the army providing protection.
Tony shrugged off Banner's concerns with confidence.
"Relax, I'm not brain-damaged. I would never do something I wasn't sure about! Don't forget what happened today. I have another, more convenient means of attack."
Banner suddenly remembered the superpower ability Tony had awakened.
"Okay, I almost forgot that you're not the same person you were yesterday. Still, it's better to be careful, just in case they have a special plan." With the new nano armor and his newfound abilities, Tony was practically invincible.
"Everyone, get ready to watch me perform," Tony said, pressing the triangular device on his chest twice with his right hand. The device sprang to life, and a liquid-like metal material rapidly spread across his body. It was divided into several layers, with a dark red shell on the outermost layer, making the armor look gorgeous and stylish.
In less than five seconds, Tony was fully transformed from a man in a tuxedo suit to Iron Man. The nano warframe seamlessly enveloped his entire body, leaving no gaps. While it looked less mechanical than his previous armors, it was far more practical and undeniably cooler.
Felix, who had seen online theories that Tony's nano warframe was composed of five layers of nano-materials, was now witnessing the process firsthand. He found the reality was uncannily similar to the online speculation, with the only difference being that this was real, not a special effect from a movie.
"Tony, how did you do that? It's so cool!" Rhodes exclaimed in awe, his shock palpable.
"Rhodes, please stop acting like you've never seen the world. I don't want people to think I know you," Tony quipped.
"Now, watch me do the rest!" Tony looked back at everyone, his helmet's two silver-white lights gleaming, before he took off through the window and out of the villa.
Tony's appearance in the steel suit caused a massive stir among the crowd at the banquet. Screams and cheers erupted, threatening to drown out all other sounds.
"Thank you all for coming! I hope you all have a wonderful time tonight!" Tony shouted, hovering in the air in his bright red armor, basking in the adoration of the crowd. He then waved and flew towards the sea, in the direction of the approaching helicopters.
"Jarvis, full speed. I don't want these uninvited guests disturbing our distinguished guests. Burying themselves in the sea is their only option." Tony commanded Jarvis. The armor instantly accelerated and sped toward the ocean. Because Jarvis had detected them in time and the helicopters were much slower than his armor, the enemy was still some distance away. Within seconds, however, Tony could see them with his naked eye.
"Get closer. I want them to experience my latest skills!" In any other armor, Tony would have been met with a volley of missiles. But with this new armor, he was undeterred.
"Boss, an unknown object has been spotted ahead, approaching us! It's probably Iron Man," a man in one of the helicopters reported.
"What are you waiting for? Light him up!" A bald, fierce-looking man shouted orders. "And have two of the helicopters separate and bypass Iron Man. Our main goal is –to cause chaos!"
The six helicopters split, with two flying left and right. The remaining four helicopters fired a total of eight missiles at Tony.
"Oh, whoever you are, if you dare to mess with the Tony Stark, you'd better be ready for what's coming," Tony said to himself, completely unfazed. He stopped mid-air, hovered above the sea, and slowly raised his right hand in a strange gesture, waiting for the missiles to hit.
The gangsters in the helicopters were baffled.
"Is the famous Tony Stark an idiot? Why isn't he dodging so many missiles?" they wondered aloud. They couldn't comprehend why he would just stand there, as if a hand gesture could stop a missile.
However, what happened next was completely unexpected. The missiles' speed slowed to a crawl, hovering less than ten meters away from Tony. Despite their flames still burning, the missiles were unable to advance.
A chill ran down the bald man's spine.
"No, everyone retreat!" He quickly ordered the pilot to turn the helicopter around and escape.
"Oh, now you want to run? It's too late!" Tony said with a smirk. "Thanks for the missiles, but unfortunately, I don't need them. So, allow me to return them to you." He extended his right hand, spread his fingers, and slowly changed the direction of the missiles. As Tony relaxed his control, the missiles regained their speed and flew straight back towards the helicopters.
"What the hell is going on? How can –our own missiles suddenly change targets and attack us? You have to control them! Otherwise, we're all dead!" the bald man shouted, firing his machine gun at Tony and the missiles.
"Boss, our system has no problems! There are no signs of a breach!" the pilot replied helplessly. The display showed nothing out of the ordinary, and he couldn't regain control of the missiles no matter what he did.
"Fuck! You said it's not controlled? Then what's happening? If we don't regain control, we're all finished!" the bald man cursed. He couldn't believe this was happening. Missiles had special guidance systems, they couldn't just attack unintended targets. It had to be the damn Iron Man, but how? He couldn't have known that Tony wasn't hacking the system, but using his new superpower to directly control the metal in the missiles.
Although the bald man had ordered a retreat, the helicopters couldn't outrun the missiles. Within a few seconds, the missiles caught up, and a series of explosions rocked the sky.
"What was that?" a voice asked. The explosions were heard all the way at Tony's villa, and everyone looked out to see flashes of fire on the horizon.
Pepper, who was in the middle of a business discussion, excused herself and rushed outside. "Jarvis, what the hell is going on? What did Tony just do in that armor?" she asked, demanding an explanation.
"Miss Potts, sir told me to tell you he will explain everything later and not to worry," Jarvis replied, unable to connect her directly to Tony.
"Okay, then tell Tony to come see me as soon as he gets back!" she said, her voice full of concern.
Meanwhile, Tony looked at his handiwork with a satisfied smile. He suddenly noticed a helicopter explode in a fireball and a figure fall towards the sea. According to his armor's sensors, the figure was still alive.
"Oh? Not bad, a live one! I can ask him who sent them," Tony said, his eyes lighting up. He had been so focused on using his new power that he had forgotten to keep someone alive for questioning. Now, to his surprise, he had found someone.
"Jarvis, fly over," Tony commanded, and the armor shot towards the falling figure.
The bald man, the very person who had been falling, felt a mix of feelings. He had been prepared to die, but not from his own missiles. As the missile was about to hit his helicopter, he had jumped out, hoping for a slim chance of survival in the sea below.
He closed his eyes, bracing for impact with the water, but after dozens of seconds, he still hadn't hit it. Instead, he heard a voice. "Hey, buddy, you can open your eyes. You've been saved."
"What's going on? Damn you Stark, what did you do?" he asked, subconsciously opening his eyes to see Tony in his red armor. The bald man was familiar with his target, but he was floating in the air, a mere two meters above the sea.
"Is that how you talk to your savior? If it weren't for me, you would've already hit the water, and your chances of survival would have been very slim," Tony said. He couldn't directly control a human body, but he had sensed several metal objects on the man's clothes, which allowed him to prevent the fall.
"So, in light of me saving your life, I hope you'll tell me honestly why you came to attack me," Tony continued, his voice light but his words full of threat. "Otherwise, I'll have to hand you over to the military. I'm sure they'll get you to talk, but you'll have to suffer a lot of pain first."
"I'll talk!" the bald man said, seemingly resigned to his fate. But just as Tony thought he had compromised, the man reached into his clothes, pulled out a glass vial, and injected the liquid into his body before Tony could react.
"Why would you do that? Do you think you can escape me by injecting a special potion? Do you think you're injecting the same super-powered potion as me?" Tony asked, not particularly worried. He didn't think the man's potion could cause much trouble. But he was shocked to see the man's body begin to react just a few seconds later. A yellow light, like a flame, emanated from him, quickly turning a deep red.
"Ah! Ah! Ah..." the man screamed in agony.
"Oh, buddy, are you going to explode?" Tony asked, his voice laced with curiosity. And then, with a deafening boom, the man did explode.
"The hell! He really blew up! What the hell did you inject? The effect is insane!" Tony exclaimed. A searing shockwave swept over Tony, but his new armor shielded him completely from any harm.
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