Iron Monger

"Analyzing Swift Feather Boots... complete"

"Skill acquired... Swift Feather"

"Partial elf attributes acquired"

"Received a baptism of pure energy. Agility greatly increased, Charisma slightly increased, magical talent, magical affinity, and nature communication slightly increased."

"Nature elemental resistance increased."

"Advanced branch unlocked: Elf Species"

So good!!

Jiang Rui opened his status panel—

Mana: 536/536

Constitution: 2.6

Strength: 1.3

Agility: 5 (11.1)

Spirit: 5 (5.6)

Charisma: 4.1

His Agility had increased by 10 points!

Jiang Rui closed his personal panel and pondered.

Though it looked like he had lost 10 attribute points, it was still worth it overall.

Most importantly, the equipment really did contain energy or certain supernatural traits...

In other words, every piece of equipment truly existed.

Or perhaps the Paradise could consume materials and replicate equipment like he could? Impossible. He quickly dismissed that thought.

The cost would be too great. It simply would not be worth it.

"Great Sage, can equipment be brought back to reality?"

"Answer: Some equipment can be brought back to the main world."

"All items from the main world can be brought into the derivative worlds of Supernatural Paradise."

"Then what about the Swift Feather Boots?"

They should be able to be brought back, right? After all, he could absorb them...

"No."

Huh? Jiang Rui scratched his head in frustration. What kind of setting was this supposed to be?!

The information one person could obtain was still far too limited.

He sighed and comforted himself.

At least he could turn equipment into strength and bring that back to the main world, and he would not lack advanced attributes.

Jiang Rui stretched out his arms, leaned backward, and flopped onto the bed.

Forget it. I'm clearly a lazy Slime. Why am I always thinking so much?

He raised one slender arm before his eyes.

Why did I transmigrate into this world? What coincidences and arrangements of fate lay behind it?

A famous saying from his previous life surfaced in his mind: "Every gift from fate has already had its price secretly marked."

Then another sentence suddenly appeared: "Then what is the price?"

He felt that his conspiracy-theory brain was truly beyond saving.

He pulled his thoughts back from that strange direction. I should just relax. Even if I'm being used as a chess piece, I don't have the power to resist right now anyway.

I should just enjoy it. Come to think of it, I'm hungry...

That bastard Tony didn't bring me any food either...

Okay, time to go find something to eat!

A while later, Jiang Rui passed through the living room with a faint smile, looking at the various Xia Country snacks that were obviously from Chinatown...

He blinked, as if he could see Tony Stark staring at the snack stalls with a disgusted expression. "How could she possibly like eating this stuff?!"

See? This feeling was pretty nice.

Tony's test had been a huge success. Well, that was what he said.

Anyway, when Jiang Rui saw him turn into an ice pop the moment he encountered low temperatures due to a materials issue, she laughed until tears came out.

Then Pepper saw a silver metal man wrestling with a blue-haired girl crackling with electricity.

Jiang Rui and Tony Stark's daily bickering and sniping did not last long.

Pepper soon discovered Obadiah Stane's conspiracy, and Tony Stark had his energy source taken away!

Jiang Rui did not interfere much with this part of the plot, aside from protecting Little Pepper and preventing her from being captured.

First, Obadiah Stane's power was largely tied to the trust Little Pepper and Tony had placed in him. Jiang Rui's relationship with Tony had not reached the point where he would suspect his father's friend and the uncle he respected most just because she said a word.

Second, Jiang Rui felt that Tony Stark needed to go through this in order to become Iron Man.

Tragedy could be avoided, but there was no need to interfere with necessary trials.

Third, she was lazy.

After learning the truth and nearly dying, Tony immediately put on the newly developed Mark III to settle the score with Bald Uncle.

But Jiang Rui was troubled.

She might have talked big while bickering with him, but the problem was that she had never actually flown before.

Wouldn't eating, drinking, and sleeping be nice? Why develop abilities when there was nothing else to do?

Jiang Rui had never thought that way, but that was exactly what she had done!!

Who the hell knew how electric current could create magnetism?!

But it did not matter.

Great Sage knew.

So after worrying for a while with no solution, Jiang Rui reluctantly entered Sage Mode...

Then she floated after Iron Man at a leisurely pace, looking a little like Electro.

She swore that she would definitely obtain a more practical flying ability! One that was not this complicated!

When Jiang Rui finally arrived, the situation was clearly not looking good. Broken walls were scattered everywhere, and exposed rebar had snapped cleanly, its sharp edges occasionally catching the light in a blinding gleam. In the distance, towering but ruined buildings teetered on the verge of collapse. A massive chunk of broken wall suddenly fell like a boulder.

There was a deep human-shaped trench in the ground. Jiang Rui could not imagine how much force it would take to create such an effect on such hard ground.

If the Iron Man of the future was all about technological flair, then Bald Uncle's Iron Monger could be summed up in two simple words: raw power.

It was enormous and somewhat cumbersome because of its size, but the steel armor shining with silver light also displayed unparalleled defense and immense strength, radiating overwhelming pressure.

As for Tony Stark, he was half lying on the ground. His battered steel suit was covered in dirt, making it obvious that he had just endured a powerful attack.

Jiang Rui clicked her tongue, stopped in front of Tony Stark, gathered a large amount of lightning in her palm, and hurled it out.

"Looks like you're in quite a sorry state."

Light flared from the joints of Tony Stark's suit, propelling him back to his feet before he slowly rose into the air.

At the same time, the lightning struck Iron Monger, sparking arcs of electricity that quickly vanished.

"No effect?" Jiang Rui raised an eyebrow and teased, "Tony Stark, don't tell me you've already secretly designed an Anti-Rimuru Armor!"

Lightning was the nemesis of most technology-based weapons powered by electricity, but that did not mean lightning-powered superhumans could ignore the technological side.

In fact, the opposite was true. The more something was countered, the more the other side would develop measures against it.

Lightning-resistant shields, anti-magnetic vibration devices, and armor made from rare inert alloys that did not conduct electricity could all directly give technological units two words: lightning resistance!

Clearly, Iron Monger had such a mechanism. Jiang Rui did not remember the Iron Monger from the original story having this function.

Then again, the other side had stolen the armor design data from Tony Stark.

And thinking of the more than five hundred models of steel suits Tony Stark would have in the future, including that idiotic thing called the Anti-Hulk Armor...

Heh. Men.

Ignoring Tony Stark's reaction after he had just stood up, Jiang Rui's golden eyes turned crimson again. Facing the iron fist gleaming with silver light, countless droplets of water rapidly condensed and climbed onto the joints of the steel arm. Then lightning exploded!

Iron Monger's mechanical arm paused slightly. As currents crackled and raced across it, Jiang Rui transformed into lightning and darted away, while Tony Stark rose into the air once more.

After a brief stutter, the iron fist smashed viciously into the ground, sending dust flying.

What a pain.

Jiang Rui curled a lock of hair in frustration...

She had thought she was just coming over to make an appearance and steal a kill, but what was with this upgraded Iron Monger?!

The lightning could clearly only paralyze the mechanical joints. Since it used an internal reactor, dreaming about short-circuiting it was pointless.

And the key was that it was nonconductive?!! What kind of black technology could make steel nonconductive?!

That damned Tony Stark!