As night fell, in the underground research lab of Stark Industries, Obadiah looked at the three-meter-tall Iron Giant before him, a satisfied smile on his face.
The Iron Giant was built according to the Iron Monger fragments the Ten Rings had sent him. The Ten Rings told him that Tony Stark had escaped thanks to the power of the Iron Giant.
After learning this, Obadiah and others studied those fragments for a long time and finally developed an Iron Monger that was taller and more powerful than the original Iron Giant!
Obadiah gave the name "Iron Monger" to this Iron Giant, which exuded a cold aura. He knew that after tonight, Tony Stark would be gone forever, and Stark Industries, the world's most powerful tech company, would be under his sole control. He would no longer have to look after that little genius who would never grow up.
Obadiah felt a bit regretful. Tony Stark's talent was no less than that of his father, Howard Stark. Originally, he didn't want to kill Tony Stark, but what could he do when his secret was discovered by Tony's little lover, Pepper Potts?
However, the frustrating thing was that the Iron Monger required an enormous amount of energy. Ordinary energy simply couldn't power it up. So, Obadiah directly used force to take the Arc Reactor from Tony's chest to activate the Iron Monger.
'This is Tony Stark's last valuable golden egg...'
Looking at the continuously glowing Arc Reactor in his hand, Obadiah smiled cruelly, then installed the Arc Reactor into the Iron Monger's chest. He walked over to a nearby computer and directly activated the Iron Monger.
The Iron Monger's activation time wasn't long, and Obadiah was patiently waiting. Just then, he suddenly heard footsteps from outside, dense and numerous, probably nearly ten people.
Obadiah's eyes sharpened. He knew that little slut Pepper must have called the police after discovering that he had sent people to kill Tony Stark. These people outside must be the ones Pepper found to arrest him, right?
Looking at the 100% progress displayed on the computer, Obadiah's lips curled into a smile, and then he walked straight towards the Iron Monger.
A slaughter was about to begin!
...Meanwhile, at the Freedom City Villa on Black Coast, Tony, temporarily paralyzed, was struggling to crawl to the basement, where he found the Mark I Arc Reactor Pepper had kept as a souvenir for him.
Before this, Obadiah had come here, paralyzed him with a sonic weapon, and then directly took the Mark II Arc Reactor from his chest, intending to kill him.
But what Obadiah hadn't expected was that he had taken the Mark II Arc Reactor, but there was also the Mark I Arc Reactor that Pepper had removed for him a long time ago!
Tony felt very lucky. Fortunately, Pepper hadn't thrown away the Mark I Arc Reactor but had made it into a souvenir and returned it to him. And although the Mark I Arc Reactor had been replaced, it still stored some energy, enough to sustain his life.
Most importantly, Tony had been careful when doing this; no one knew about it except Pepper.
"Obadiah, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm a man with a second life!"
After installing the Mark I Arc Reactor into his chest, Tony finally felt the tearing sensation in his heart disappear. He was finally alive.
"Tony? Where are you?" At this moment, Tony's good friend from the Department of Defense, the African-American officer James Rhodes, also arrived at the Freedom City Villa and found Tony in the basement.
Seeing Tony slumped on the ground, Rhodey quickly ran over and helped him up, asking anxiously, "Tony, are you alright?"
"Rhodey, where's Pepper? Where is she?" Upon seeing Rhodey, Tony's first thought was Pepper's safety. He had sent Pepper to investigate Obadiah earlier, and then Obadiah had directly come and taken his Arc Reactor. At this moment, Pepper must be in danger.
Understanding Tony's concern, Rhodey quickly replied, "She's fine. She's currently with five S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, preparing to arrest Obadiah, who attacked you..."
"Arrest Obadiah? This isn't good..." Recalling Obadiah's arrogant demeanor, Tony knew it wouldn't be simple. He struggled to his feet and walked towards a certain spot, putting on the Iron Man suit that he had dyed red and revised again—the Mark III!
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Colonel Rhodes exclaimed sincerely as he looked at the Iron Man suit on Tony.
"Tony, is there anything else you need me to do?" Rhodey asked, seeing Tony completely encased in the iron suit.
"Clear the skies!" Jarvis, built into the Mark III, answered Rhodey for Tony. The next moment, the Mark III soared into the air, instantly flying into the sky.
The Mark III was incredibly fast, reaching speeds of 1,800 kilometers per hour, faster than the speed of sound. Even though Tony's Freedom City Villa was very far from New York, he could still reach New York very quickly.
On the way, Tony also called Pepper and learned that Obadiah had also developed an armored suit and was hunting down the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were trying to arrest him.
Tony talked to Pepper on the phone, and after arriving in New York, he immediately ordered Jarvis to scan the area around Stark Industries and found Pepper standing in an open space.
Just then, Tony also saw a huge Iron Giant, over three meters tall, appear not far behind Pepper, preparing to blast Pepper with a cannon.
"Obadiah, stop!" Seeing the glowing chest of the Iron Giant, Tony understood that Obadiah must be hidden inside the Iron Giant's body. So he immediately had Jarvis loudly stop Obadiah, then controlled the Mark III to charge towards Obadiah.
The Mark III was incredibly powerful. In an instant, the red Mark III directly slammed the bulky Iron Giant over a hundred meters away, crashing it onto another street outside the Stark Industries building, where it fell heavily to the ground.
The result of this collision was that Tony lost. The Iron Monger seemed unaffected by the impact, while Tony felt a bit dizzy due to the previous effects of the sonic weapon.
Obadiah inside the Iron Monger seized this opportunity, directly grabbing Tony's Mark III by the foot and smashing it against a house by the roadside, causing Tony, who had not yet recovered from his dizziness, to temporarily lose his ability to move.
"Since your father died, I'm the one who made Stark Industries strong these past thirty years. Nothing will stop me from continuing to control Stark Industries, especially not you—Tony!"
After a series of throws, Obadiah directly controlled the Iron Monger to stomp heavily on Tony's Mark III. At the same time, Obadiah vented years of dissatisfaction to Tony, planning to kill Tony directly after he had finished expressing his grievances!
But what no one expected was that on a building not far from Obadiah and Tony, a guy with a camera was frantically taking pictures of the Iron Monger and the Mark II, recording everything that was happening from beginning to end.