Stark's New Armor

The dark-skinned Nick Fury, after a series of maneuvers, arranged for Level 7 Agent Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, to be stationed near Little Pepper, Pepper.

It wasn't that he didn't want to assign someone to Stark's side, but rather that the playboy had been holed up at home recently, tinkering with who-knows-what, giving him no opportunity to get close to him. So, this was the best he could do for now.

As for Alexander Pierce, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of Hydra's leaders, upon learning of Nick Fury's actions, he ceased any further unnecessary endeavors. After all, if Fury uncovered intelligence, he would share it anyway, so why bother expending extra effort?

Unaware that he was being watched, Tony Stark was at home upgrading his Iron Man suit.

To be precise, he was replacing it with a new one.

The Mark III's first problem to solve was naturally the high-altitude freezing issue, which wasn't difficult for Stark to handle.

Next was the firepower problem, which was also not an issue for former arms dealer Tony Stark.

Then came the soundproofing problem that made his head buzz. Stark first had Jarvis install a layer of sound-dampening cotton inside the suit. After calculations, it was still expected to be somewhat noisy, so as a precaution, he added another layer of shock-absorbing material.

However, due to the addition of these two layers, the Mark III's appearance became considerably bulkier. While not as cumbersome as the Mark I, it was still a large suit. If these layers were only added to the helmet, it would result in a strange appearance with a disproportionately large head.

"Hmm... this is a bit different from what I imagined..."

Compared to this bulky design, Tony Stark preferred the streamlined, form-fitting design of the Mark II.

After much consideration, Stark removed the relatively thick sound-dampening cotton, deciding to develop a separate "anti-brat" armor later, which would then incorporate the sound-dampening cotton design.

"Sir, I think you could try Vibranium."

Jarvis suddenly interjected.

"Oh! Right!"

Stark slapped his forehead. He had forgotten about Wakanda. Although Vibranium was expensive, it wasn't much for Tony Stark.

"Do we have any in stock?"

"You bought some for experiments previously, and there's a little left," Jarvis replied matter-of-factly. "It's not enough to make the entire Iron Man suit, but I think you could incorporate it into the helmet, sir."

"Buy him another ton or two, and we'll see if that's enough,"

The extravagant Tony Stark waved his hand, happily instructing Jarvis to place the order.

"Apologies, sir, Vibranium from Wakanda is sold in limited quantities. However, it can be purchased from smugglers, but the quantity is currently uncertain."

"Then buy as much as possible, whatever we can get."

Stark didn't mind; as long as it was enough for him to build the armor.

As for the Mark III, Vibranium could only be incorporated into some of the more critical parts. For other areas, titanium alloy would have to suffice. Stark planned to start working on the Mark IV once the new Vibranium arrived.

He, Tony Stark, had no shortage of money.

The design work continued.

The next issue to address was close-quarters combat. Tony Stark not only inputted a vast amount of combat technique data into the Mark III but also equipped its limbs with small, adjustable thrusters to enhance the power of each movement.

"Let's add an electric shock device!"

Recalling the peculiar power emanating from Botakun's soft fists, Tony Stark snapped his fingers and said to Jarvis.

Finally, it was time to paint the armor. The "low-key" Tony Stark, inspired by his classic car, chose a "simple" red and gold color scheme for the Mark III.

"Alright, this should take about five hours."

Once the design was complete, Jarvis provided the manufacturing time. At this moment, Stark saw a report on television about a reception he was hosting, though he had no idea about it.

Hearing the reporter say, "No one expects him to show up,"

Stark decided to make a last-minute appearance at this mysterious reception.

However, when he arrived at the reception with great enthusiasm, he received news that greatly annoyed him: Stark Industries was still selling weapons, and the buyers were the very terrorists who had attacked him in the Middle East.

Returning to his mansion, Stark decided to put on the Mark III and personally head to the Middle East to eliminate those terrorists.

"Kraft, Stark's appeared again."

After beating Tony Stark up, Kraft had put a special watch on his tin man. So, the moment the Iron Man suit appeared over New York, Angela reported it to Kraft.

"Hoo... hoo... Wh-what's going on?"

Kraft, who was currently confined to the Shatter the Cauldrons Treadmill as part of his training regimen, asked breathlessly.

"Can't confirm for now," Angela switched to radar footage, projecting it onto the wall in front of Kraft. "Initial estimates suggest his target is Gemira Town in the Middle East."

As Angela spoke, she played recent news reports about Gemira Town for Kraft.

"S-so... he's going to... pant pant... fight terror, is-is-is he..."

Kraft, gasping for air, leaned on the cage bars, sweat pouring down his face.

"By the way, Angela, can you... can you turn this thing off for me first... pant pant... I'll make up for it later..."

"Apologies, Kraft, your treadmill is not connected to the internet, so I cannot control it. Also, you only need to endure for another four minutes and thirty-seven seconds to finish."

Kraft: "Damn it!"

I must have been out of my mind to create such a inhumane treadmill!

Four minutes later, an exhausted Kraft crawled out of the Shatter the Cauldrons Treadmill.

"Replenish energy, replenish energy."

Haro thoughtfully brought him a can of energy drink.

After resting on the ground for a while, Kraft got up. He slowly paced around the laboratory while drinking the energy drink Haro had brought him.

"Where is Stark now?"

"The target has already left American territory," Angela switched the radar display back on. A small dot was moving towards the Mediterranean Sea at a visible speed. "If my estimation is correct, he should reach his destination in about 3 hours."

"He's quite fast."

Kraft took a swig of the energy drink. When he fought Stark before, he hadn't shown such high-speed movement. But then again, with Stark's arrogant personality, running away wasn't his style.

"So, is he planning to get revenge on those who kidnapped him?"

Kraft didn't think Tony Stark, wearing his Iron Man suit and flying to the Middle East in the middle of the night, was going to introduce new equipment to those so-called freedom fighters or provide any after-sales service…

No, maybe this could also be considered after-sales service?

After all, they were "online friends" who had agreed to a fight. Kraft raised the energy drink in his hand towards the small dot on the screen.

"Good luck."

In the movie, Black Widow was assigned to Stark in the second installment. But as mentioned before, S.H.I.E.L.D. had noticed Stark early, so Black Widow's assignment would naturally have to be moved up.

There were no specific data for the Mark III's speed, but in the movie, he didn't outrun the F-22, yet he was slightly faster than the F-22. So, I calculated it at approximately Mach 3.

The phrase "Good luck" probably only exists in Japanese, but it seems to have been derived from ancient Chinese texts. I used this phrase because it sounds more impactful, and Kraft's character is set as a language master anyway.