Tony's speech at the press conference caused Stark Industries' stock, which had rebounded after his return, to plummet again, making many shareholders wish they could kill him.
Li Yue next saw Tony a few days later when Tony sent his personal driver, Happy, to pick Li Yue up at Tony's beach villa. As for how Tony found Li Yue, it was simple for him.
Upon Li Yue's arrival at the villa, he was greeted by Tony's assistant, Pepper Potts. After they introduced themselves, Pepper led Li Yue to the underground garage, which was Tony's lab, where Tony and Yinsen were busy at work.
"Yinsen, look, our hero is here," Tony said to Yinsen, setting down his work. Then, seeing Li Yue looking around since he entered the villa, Tony felt incredibly proud. "Li Yue, what do you think? My villa is beautiful, isn't it? Do you want me to give you one?"
Li Yue couldn't help it; this was his first time seeing such a luxurious villa. He had only seen Tony's villa in movies and was incredibly envious then. Now that he was inside, he realized that what the movie showed was only the tip of the iceberg. Li Yue had seen over a dozen rooms on his way in, and upon reaching the garage, he saw rows of sports cars neatly lined up—dozens of them, all limited editions. The cheapest cost several million US dollars, and the most expensive were over ten million.
Li Yue couldn't help but exclaim that Tony was truly rich. "Damn capitalism!" Li Yue could only curse in his heart.
"Li Yue, let me introduce you to a new friend, my AI butler, Jarvis. Jarvis, come out and meet Li Yue, and grant him Level 1 access to the villa. All rooms in the villa are open to him," Tony clapped his hands and said to the air.
"Certainly, sir. But have you forgotten? The first thing you did upon your return was to have me search for Mr. Li Yue's information. You also asked me to supplement and complete his missing information. Mr. Li Yue is now a legal citizen. So I already know Mr. Li Yue, it's just that I haven't…"
"Alright, Jarvis, don't say any more. Just do as I say." Tony was embarrassed. He had indeed looked up Li Yue's information the moment he returned. He couldn't help it; Li Yue was too mysterious, suddenly appearing before him, which made him curious. However, he found nothing in the information Jarvis found, only that Li Yue had suddenly appeared in Las Vegas three months ago, with no prior information at all. He even suspected that it had been covered up, and even after infiltrating various intelligence agencies, he found no information on Li Yue.
Tony couldn't help but wonder, "Did he come from another world?" But what he did know was that no matter where Li Yue came from, he had saved him when he was in danger, and not just once. If Li Yue had any ill will towards him, he certainly wouldn't be alive and back now. As for Li Yue's purpose, Tony was confident that he would find out sooner or later.
Putting his doubts aside, Tony didn't forget to have Jarvis supplement Li Yue's information. If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't discover that Li Yue's identity was problematic.
"I'm sorry, Li Yue, I…" "It's okay, Tony. If anything, I should thank you. For the past three months, I haven't dared to wander around on the streets, fearing I'd be arrested by the police. You've done me a great favor." Li Yue interrupted Tony's apology. He knew Tony's character. Since Tony didn't have him arrested immediately and even helped cover up his information, it meant Tony trusted him. So he had nothing to blame Tony for; instead, he should thank him.
"Li Yue, as long as you don't harm me or my loved ones, you will always be my friend," Tony said, looking at Li Yue with sincere eyes.
"Tony, I haven't figured out how to tell you about my origins yet, but rest assured, I won't do anything to harm you. I'm also very happy to be your friend," Li Yue met Tony's gaze without flinching and made a promise to him.
"Good, it's settled then!"
"Come, Li Yue, Yinsen and I did something big while you were away. Do you remember the iron armor I used in the cave? I named it Mark I. Now, Yinsen and I are improving it, preparing to build Mark II. And we've already finished the leg armor and are about to test it. You've come at just the right time. Come and see our results." Tony was now like a child showing off a treasure to an adult.
In the underground garage, Tony was wearing a pair of metal shoes that emitted a silver metallic luster. This was the flight device Tony had made. He held a controller in his hands, and next to him was a smart robot, Dummy, aiming its mechanical arm at Tony, ready to put out any fires at any time.
In front of Tony, Yinsen was holding a camera and filming, while Li Yue stood by, waiting for Tony's next move.
"Jarvis, activate manual control. Let's try 10% energy first," Tony stretched his body, preparing to begin the test.
"Tony, I think it's better to be cautious for the first test. I feel 10% is a bit too much," Li Yue kindly reminded him. He had seen the movie and naturally knew the outcome of this test.
"Jarvis, don't listen to Li Yue. I trust my judgment. Get ready to start the first test. Three! Two! One!"
Seeing that Tony didn't accept his suggestion, Li Yue could only secretly think, "You deserve to make a fool of yourself."
"Bang!" "Ah!" As expected, Tony was propelled upwards by a strong force from his feet, directly hitting the ceiling, then falling down. Dummy immediately sprayed him wildly.
"Haha, Tony, we have an old saying in China: 'He who does not listen to the elder's words will suffer in the end,'" Li Yue said, laughing, as he watched Tony, drenched by Dummy, struggle to get up from the floor.
In his previous life, Li Yue only found this scene amusing when watching Tony build the Mark II in the movie, but now that he was personally involved, he realized how much the movie had omitted.
During this time, Tony basically holed up in the underground lab. Tony was not only a genius, but he also worked tirelessly, even somewhat madly. Sometimes, to fix a part, he would go days without sleep.
Finally, after more than a month, the Mark II was completed, and tonight was its debut.
Li Yue and Yinsen watched Tony, fully armored and standing there, completely covered in metal, with no skin exposed. The unpainted Mark II exuded a captivating silver metallic sheen. Li Yue couldn't help but marvel, "This is the charm of technology! Tony truly is the most brilliant inventor of this century."
"Initiate armor self-check, check weather conditions and air traffic control, monitor ground control information. Ready, three! Two! One!" Tony instructed Jarvis.
Tony's feet shot out dazzling white streams of light, and he lifted off the ground by more than a foot. With his palms facing downwards, like a little fairy, he then leaned forward, accelerated abruptly, and instantly flew out of the garage exit, soaring straight into the sky.
"Oh yeah!" With only a joyful exclamation, Tony rapidly flew out of the villa under the gaze of Li Yue and Yinsen.
"Let's go outside and see how capable Tony's armor is," Li Yue reached out and grabbed Yinsen, then vanished from the underground garage, reappearing outside the villa.
Li Yue and Yinsen looked up at the sky together, seeing a streak of light, like a meteor, flying at an extremely fast speed into the distance and disappearing. After a while, it flew back again, appearing above the villa in the blink of an eye, then suddenly changed direction and shot straight into the high altitude.
Tony was having a blast; he was like a child who had found his favorite toy. He was very satisfied with the armor's performance. It had already exceeded the speed of sound during rapid flight, and this wasn't even its full flight potential.
Then he remembered Li Yue's suggestion to be careful about high-altitude icing, and he had already replaced the armor material with the gold-titanium alloy used in the Seraphim satellite. He wondered how it would fare.
Tony always acted on his thoughts. He immediately changed direction and flew towards the sky, determined to break the highest flight record.
Yinsen watched Tony fly towards the high altitude and said to Li Yue, "You understand Tony best. You knew that, given his personality, he would definitely want to break the highest flight record, and you warned him about the possibility of high-altitude icing beforehand. Now it seems Tony is indeed doing just that."