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"Want my technology? Then come and get it!"
Seeing Tony Stark's wild and uninhibited demeanor on TV, Rimuru couldn't help but admire him.
Iron Man was still Iron Man; no matter how many setbacks he faced, he was always so confident and flamboyant!
Honestly, if their positions were swapped, Rimuru truly didn't think he could do better than Tony.
The reason Tony repeatedly stumbled against Rimuru wasn't due to a lack of intelligence on Tony's part, but rather because a pay-to-win player lost to a cheater.
That was all!
The cards in Tony's hand were almost transparent to Rimuru.
But Tony would never know how many trump cards Rimuru held.
Not only that, but almost all the cards in Rimuru's hand were effectively "Royal Flushes," so how could Tony possibly compete?
That "luck can't be changed by non-action, fate can't be changed by Krypton Gold" saying—did you think it was just an old legend?
The Stark Industries Expo was canceled and replaced by a "World's Strongest Martial Arts Tournament," with the latest mech as the prize.
This move was incredibly brilliant; Tony truly dared to think big!
To be honest, Rimuru felt a little antsy.
Rimuru had no particular desire for the Mark Five's technology.
But the thought of winning it back from Tony made the meaning extraordinarily special.
Placing the Mark Five in the "wardrobe" would be far more impressive than "Mark losing to Fengshen, writing a big 'surrender' character"!
Tony saying this in front of all the media was essentially declaring war on Rimuru!
After all, the two strongest mechs universally recognized in the world were Fengshen and Mark.
And now, the public and media generally believed Fengshen was stronger than Mark, so Tony clearly wanted to prove through this martial arts tournament that his Mark was the strongest!
Rimuru naturally wouldn't allow such a thing, because fighting Tony was endlessly entertaining!
Mark Five—what new technologies did Tony use?
Rimuru was very curious!
In the original timeline, the Mark Five was a suitcase armor, and for portability, it almost sacrificed most of the armor's functions.
So, in this timeline, what would the magic-modified Mark Five look like?
As the saying goes, the one who understands you best is often your enemy.
Although Rimuru and Tony weren't enemies, when it came to battle suits, they were true competitors.
If anyone was most likely to reverse-engineer the Mark Five's performance parameters, it was Rimuru!
According to Tony's iterative mech upgrade ideas in his previous life, each generation of Tony's mechs was summarized and improved based on previous combat experience.
For example, the Mark II had an icing problem, so the Mark III was changed to a gold-titanium alloy;
After the Mark III's major battle, the mech's outer shell deformed and was easily locked, making "undressing" very inconvenient, so the Mark IV improved the Mark III's connection device and bolt design.
Looking at Tony's various battles in this world—
His "Gundam race" with Rimuru; his big battle with Iron Monger; and his recent big battle with Abomination.
After the competition with Fengshen One, Tony deeply felt that the Mark II lacked mobility, which spurred the early birth of the Mark III's high mobility, with thrusters on the back and ribs.
In the original work, this was a design only seen in the Mark VII. Tony relied on this suit of armor to carry a nuclear bomb into the sky.
In the battle with Iron Monger, the Mark III performed poorly. Although the main reason was the unsuitable energy core, it still exposed the Mark III's weaknesses of insufficient firepower and lack of armor-piercing capability.
Therefore, the Mark IV in this timeline clearly increased its firepower, especially with the emergence of the new element reactor, which further enabled Tony to use high-power energy weapons.
The repulsor rays in the palms and chest had greater power, longer firing duration, and stronger destructive force;
Added laser-cutting ray emitters for cutting steel armor; small anti-armor missiles; and retractable arm-mounted ablative missiles.
These three weapons were all designed for armor penetration, absorbing lessons from the battle with Iron Monger.
Especially the retractable arm-mounted ablative missiles, which utilized the principle of armor-piercing deflagration, making them almost foolproof for close-range anti-armor combat.
If the Mark IV and Iron Monger were to battle again, Iron Monger would be reduced to scrap metal in minutes.
Then, there was Tony's most significant battle with Abomination.
Abomination was massive, incredibly strong, and had extremely exaggerated defenses, making the Mark IV appear very weak in front of him.
The magic-modified Mark Five in this timeline would definitely learn from this lesson.
It would enhance the output of the mechanical exoskeleton's robotic arms, increase the Mark Five's striking power, and strengthen its close-combat capabilities.
But this was clearly not enough; to directly confront a ridiculously strong behemoth like Abomination, adding auxiliary thrusters for high-power striking force would be an inevitable choice.
Also, Abomination jumped and bounced too much, so a powerful restraint method was also an expected choice. Emergency containment field? Restrainers?
Wait…
This World's Strongest Martial Arts Tournament was a declaration of war on Rimuru!
While countering large targets like Abomination, it must also possess anti-Fengshen characteristics, and high mobility was indispensable.
Could it be a thick layer of armor over the mech?
No matter how you think about it, it sounds like the Hulkbuster armor design?!
No way—could Tony really develop the Hulkbuster armor so quickly?
The Hulkbuster armor had quite a few technical hurdles to overcome.
For example, the Mark 42's automatic assembly technology was a significant technological revolution. Nearly every part had its own independent power and control system.
This was inherited quite perfectly in the Hulkbuster armor, Mark 44!
Technological breakthroughs don't happen overnight; in such a short time, Tony shouldn't be able to overcome so many technical difficulties, right?!
But he was Tony Stark, one of Marvel's biggest cheaters!
Even the quantum tunnel for time travel—Tony fiddled with it a few times and just cobbled it together. So even if Tony overcame so many difficulties, it wasn't impossible!
Wait!
Rimuru thought of another possibility, and that was crazy "material stacking"!
Tony was not only a genius but also an invincible money-wielder! What if he used materials like Vibranium and Adamantium?
Oh my God!
Thinking about it that way, it really wasn't impossible.
Rimuru now had Adamantium, so forging the strongest spear was no problem at all.
Could this World's Strongest Martial Arts Tournament be a clash between the strongest spear (Adamantium) and the strongest shield (Vibranium)?
Which was stronger, the spear or the shield?
At this thought, all the cells in Rimuru's body suddenly felt a sense of joyous excitement.
It seemed it was time to give his Fengshen a comprehensive technological upgrade!
Just as Rimuru was extremely interested in the "World's Strongest Martial Arts Tournament" that Tony had organized, various news media outlets were already in an uproar.
Never overestimate the integrity of various media. Although Tony didn't explicitly state it, "The Battle for the World's Strongest Mech" and "Fengshen VS Mark: Who is Stronger or Weaker?" were already rampant.
The military, being people of action rather than words, directly gathered a large number of scientists and strategists to discuss countermeasures.
Meanwhile, in a low, cold civilian house in Moscow, a new arc reactor glowed brightly.
At S.H.I.E.L.D., after a secret meeting among several HYDRA high-ranking officials, a top-secret box was opened.
And in this box lay an incredibly mysterious red ruby!
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