Tony paid little attention to Leo. He adjusted the camera's position and walked onto the test platform.
"The starting point is set half a meter behind the center!" Holding the activation device in both hands, he took a deep breath.
"Little Dummy, be smart and pay attention to putting out the fire later!" he said to the intelligent mechanical hands nearby.
"All right, begin manual control." Tony raised his butt slightly, doing his best to keep his center of gravity steady.
Leo moved farther away and watched Tony's first test from the side.
"Let's see how you handle ten percent axial-load capacity. Ready? Three..."
"Wait, Mr. Stark. I think you're underestimating this load. How about starting at one percent instead?" Leo called out to stop Tony.
Tony wasn't in the habit of listening to Leo. He continued, "Three, two, one," and pressed the buttons in his hands.
A tremendous force surged up from the soles of his feet. His center of gravity shifted backward at once, and he shot rapidly toward the wall behind him.
Ten meters away, Leo spread his right hand. The shoes, still spewing flames, were instantly fixed in midair, as if the tremendous force had completely vanished.
Only then did Tony react. He hurriedly released the launch buttons in his hands.
Leo curled his five fingers and used the components beneath Tony's feet and the pair of control rings in his hands to pull Tony steadily back, returning him to the black test platform.
Tony couldn't recover from the sudden impact. Only after he was standing firmly on the test platform did he stare at Leo without looking away.
That impact should have left him seriously injured, but he was completely unharmed.
"Mr. Stark, I think you need to rest. It's already six-thirty in the morning!"