A Challenge

Without school, Kraft moved directly into his studio to live, just like when he was engrossed in research in the past. If Alice hadn't promised Martin Lee that she would take him out to walk the cat and dog every day, Kraft absolutely would not have stepped out of the laboratory.

Even when going out to walk the pets, Kraft would first fill himself with a lot of dream knowledge before letting Quinn lead him around aimlessly. It was less like he was walking Quinn and Bea with Alice, and more like Alice was walking the three of them.

Although the arsenal had been shrunk down, the manufacturing speed hadn't increased much. At most, it was only in aspects like transportation that things could be made bigger and carried by hand. Otherwise, it would still take the same amount of time.

Moreover, for some "unscientific" machines, Kraft couldn't completely hand them over to Angela and Haro for production; he had to pilot an SCV and participate himself.

Of course, this hands-on involvement wasn't a hardship for Kraft. He was happy to get some practice to further familiarize himself with the knowledge he had recently absorbed.

"An unidentified flying object has appeared over New York."

Just as Kraft was happily working in his miniature arsenal piloting an SCV, Red Queen suddenly sent a message and switched the view to the screen inside the SCV.

A silver-white tin man was flying around in the sky over New York in a... well... somewhat feminine pose. Besides its hands and feet spewing white light, the most eye-catching feature was the circular LED light on its chest.

"What is this thing? Did I fall asleep?"

Kraft, who was no longer the same as he used to be, could immediately tell the technological sophistication of the tin man in the video. In fact, even without the black technology knowledge, anyone with a halfway decent mind would know that this thing couldn't be made casually. Its advanced nature gave Kraft the illusion that he was watching those big shots conduct experiments in his dreams.

"Is this a secret weapon of the military? When did they start developing exoskeleton armor?"

"According to the information tracked from the video, this tin man flew out of Tony Stark's seaside villa. And judging by its size, after accounting for the thickness of the exoskeleton armor, it roughly matches Tony Stark himself."

Angela explained while releasing corresponding data.

"Tony Stark?" Kraft blinked. "Didn't he die in a terrorist attack in the Middle East?"

Having been engrossed in building his miniature arsenal recently, Kraft hadn't paid any attention to outside news. Otherwise, he wouldn't have missed the bombshell news of Stark's survival and Stark Industries halting arms sales.

The buzz from these news items hadn't died down yet, and Angela could easily find a few related pieces of information online and send them to Kraft to watch.

"This... alright..."

Kraft scratched his head. That playboy had pretty good luck to escape from the terrorists. However...

"Didn't he say he was going to shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing? Then what is this thing?"

Kraft pointed at the tin man in the video, which was crashing through the sky over New York like a missile. He felt that Stark's words at the press conference were all nonsense. This thing was much more dangerous than the weapons he used to sell!

"Perhaps he doesn't intend to sell it externally."

Angela replied casually, then asked with a hint of eagerness, "Should I hack into this tin man's system?"

"...You really like fighting Jarvis, don't you..."

Kraft, who had climbed out of the SCV, looked speechlessly at Angela's phantom beside him.

"Interacting with other artificial intelligences can accelerate the evolution of my behavioral logic."

Angela replied with a serious expression.

"So that's what you call interaction..."

Kraft twitched his mouth, then thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I'll take this opportunity to test the equipment I've made these past few days. Angela, go deliver a challenge to Stark."

"Understood!"

Angela excitedly gave a military salute and then dissipated into points of light.

Her behavioral logic had indeed improved a lot, becoming more and more human-like...

It's just that she's a bit warlike.

"Woohoo~"

Tony Stark, piloting the Mark II, had just emerged from an ice crisis. The intense thrill made him unable to help but let out a shout.

"Unidentified intrusion detected! Unidentified intrusion detected!"

Flashing red lights and urgent alarms interrupted Tony Stark, who was enjoying the pleasure of flight.

"It can actually infiltrate the Mark II?" Tony Stark was stunned for a moment, then quickly remembered the artificial intelligence he had encountered before going to the Middle East. "Red Queen?"

"Hello, Mr. Stark."

On the screen inside the Mark II, a line of text appeared before Stark.

"Long time no see. If you're looking for Jarvis, you can come directly to my place. See, I'm busy right now."

Discovering the intruder, who was an old acquaintance, Tony Stark felt a little relieved. However, he was still in mid-air, so he maintained his vigilance. He responded to Red Queen with witty remarks while controlling the Mark II to descend.

"Do you want to test the combat capabilities of this tin can of yours?"

Angela relayed Kraft's message.

"This is... a challenge?"

Tony Stark raised an eyebrow and readily agreed. After all, even if Red Queen hadn't come looking for him, he had intended to test the combat capabilities of his Iron Man suit, and he was very curious about the person who created Red Queen.

"I agree. Time and place."

The other side quickly replied and provided a marker on the map.

Isn't this right near my house?

Stark raised his eyebrows again. It seemed the other party harbored no ill will, only interest in his invention, much like he was interested in them.

"No problem, I'll wait for you over there."

Having readily accepted Red Queen's invitation, Stark piloted Mark II towards his seaside villa.

Kraft didn't keep him waiting long. Shortly after Tony Stark landed by the coast, he received a report from Jarvis.

"There's an unidentified flying object above you, sir."

Stark looked up. "But I don't see anything, Jarvis."

"The other party seems to be using some kind of advanced stealth camouflage."

Jarvis switched the screen inside Mark II to a thermal imaging display. Only then, through the heat signature from the thrusters, could Tony Stark vaguely detect the presence of some kind of aircraft above him.

It was just...

"Isn't the size of this aircraft a bit small?"

Was it meant for filming?

As Stark pondered, a small black dot leaped out from the cloaked aircraft. It then expanded to about two meters in height in mid-air, landing before him in a kneeling posture.

The figure then slowly stood up, revealing its true appearance.

It was wearing a dark gray military helmet and a combat vest of the same color, predominantly orange with several large brown spots, looking like a cross between a rat and a dog...

"A puppet?"

Tony Stark was dumbfounded, staring blankly as the strange "creature" before him raised a hand to wave at him and, with great presence, let out a cry—

"FUMO!"