Stark's Review

"I am Iron Man!"

Tony Stark's single sentence shook the entire media world. It also rendered all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prior preparations to conceal his identity useless. James Rhodes's stunned expression, Phil Coulson and the others' helpless faces, and the reporters' initial shock followed by ecstatic revelry formed a striking group portrait.

Yet Tony Stark did not care in the slightest about the storm he had unleashed. He only wanted to deal with this mess as quickly as possible so he could free up time for something important.

Like a technical review?

Upon returning to his California villa, Tony headed straight for his messy Underground Laboratory without stopping.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony called as he walked down the stairs.

"At your service," J.A.R.V.I.S.'s male voice replied.

"Import the data from Mark II into the Database and run a review." Tony spread his hands, pulling up screen after screen of Virtual Projection before the workbench. Mark II, Iron Monger, and Snoke's Black and White Mechanical Armor appeared on the displays.

"First, remove Iron Monger's data." Tony grabbed Iron Monger's screen, crumpled it into a ball as though it were paper, then tossed it into a trash can that appeared out of thin air.

"Analyze the data on this Black and White Mechanical Armor. Break down its structure," Tony ordered.

The black-and-white Mechanical Suit leaped from the screen at Tony's gesture, enlarging into a three-dimensional image. J.A.R.V.I.S. devoted vast computing power to breaking down and replicating the Parts and structural design of the Black and White Mechanical Armor. The progress bar crept forward bit by bit as the armor's Parts came apart on-screen. Yet once it reached the middle, both the three-dimensional disassembly and the progress bar turned red.

The word "Failure" appeared on the screen.

Tony cursed under his breath.

"Fast-forward last night's combat footage to the first time the other side appeared," Tony ordered, changing tactics.

The Virtual Holographic Projection instantly updated, switching to footage from last night's battle. Since it was recorded from Mark II's Database and point of view, much of it was not a full battlefield view but a replay through Tony's own perspective inside Mark II. Thus, the first appearance of the Black and White Mechanical Armor was a scene of Iron Monger firing a missile at it.

And because Tony had been moving at high speed, the footage was somewhat blurry and shaky.

"Enhance and stabilize the footage," Tony ordered.

J.A.R.V.I.S. carried out Tony's command without hesitation. Using the image-processing program Tony had specially created for him and devoting tremendous computing power to it, the blurry, unsteady footage became increasingly clear and smooth at a visible rate.

"Stop!" Tony called out as the footage reached a certain frame.

The image froze. Before Tony was the moment Iron Monger's laser-guided missile was about to reach its target, while the Black and White Mechanical Armor unfurled its black curtain. On-screen, it looked as though a chunk had been cut out of the entire image—an expanse of pitch black that obscured the Black and White Mechanical Armor as well.

"Play." Tony spoke again, then quickly interrupted, firing off orders at a rapid pace. "Stop. This frame. Extract the frame we paused earlier and place it beside the current one."

J.A.R.V.I.S. faithfully carried out Tony's orders, swiftly displaying the two images before him.

In one, the Black and White Mechanical Armor had spread its black curtain. In the other, it held a missile that had failed to fire and become a dud.

"Does Mark II's Database contain any additional Data Information scanned at the time?" Tony asked thoughtfully, one arm folded across his chest and the other supporting his chin as he stared at the images.

"Detected a powerful energy reaction when the unknown Iron Armor deployed the black curtain," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported.

"An electromagnetic pulse?" Tony first offered a hypothesis, then immediately rejected it as he looked at the footage. "No, it isn't. The Mark Armor and the electronic equipment around it weren't affected. Some kind of new weapon I don't understand?" Tony mused.

"It is a barrier formed by an unknown energy reaction," J.A.R.V.I.S. could only provide an answer based on the available data.

"Continue the playback." Tony frowned in thought for a moment, then had J.A.R.V.I.S. resume the footage.

The next paused image was split into four parts. The first showed Iron Monger's massive steel body charging toward the Black and White Mechanical Armor and throwing a vicious punch with the force of its momentum. The second showed the structural transformation of the Black and White Mechanical Armor's foot components. The third showed the Black and White Mechanical Armor standing firm beneath Iron Monger's punch. The fourth showed energy flowing like veins through the metal patterns on the unknown body as it threw a punch that bent Iron Monger and sent it flying backward.

"Mark II's feet have ground-gripping stabilizers. Can it do that?" The moment Tony finished speaking, J.A.R.V.I.S. switched to a moving image of the Mark II Tony controlled getting thrown around and pummeled by Iron Monger. Tony Stark could not bear to look, covering his eyes as he loudly ordered J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Good boy, turn it off! Turn it off! Turn it off now!"

"Pull up Iron Monger's blueprints." Tony Stark looked at Iron Monger's massive steel body, clearly designed for brute-force combat, then considered the output of his Second Generation Palladium Arc Reactor. He soon reached a conclusion.

"An alloy superior to TI-0450-ZT and TI-2217-FZ. Stronger protective capability, better shock absorption, and a certain ability to absorb kinetic energy. The overall body structure and shock-mitigation measures are also superior to Mark II." Tony Stark frowned. He was behind in nearly every aspect. Perhaps the other side's energy system was inferior to his Second Generation Arc Reactor? Or perhaps its Intelligent System was inferior to J.A.R.V.I.S.? Tony did his best to think of Mark II's advantages.

Making him admit he was inferior was harder than killing him. Especially since he had believed Iron Armor to be his unique technology, his greatest invention to date. Yet he had discovered that someone else's Iron Armor technology was more mature and more advanced than his. More terrifyingly, the controller of that unknown Mechanical Suit had saved him!

The footage continued. Tony followed J.A.R.V.I.S.'s data analysis through the review, and in the end, he had to admit that while the other side's energy technology might not surpass his Arc Reactor technology, it was not necessarily inferior either. In particular, the close-range Combat Techniques and agility displayed by the opponent's Mechanical Body in battle made it seem like a real person proficient in martial arts. This clearly proved that the other side's Intelligent Control System was also exceptional. At the very least, the fluidity it displayed was no worse than J.A.R.V.I.S., who assisted Tony in controlling the Mark Armor.

Even more frightening—and this was what Tony did not want to admit—was that the opponent's controlled body clearly reacted faster than he did, even with J.A.R.V.I.S.'s assistance. The difference was not great, but Tony knew full well that if it had been him, once the enemy got close, he would have ended up like Iron Monger, utterly suppressed by that slight edge in speed without any chance to fight back.

That was no longer merely a matter of human reaction speed. It was also a contest of Intelligent System computation!

Even if the difference was only slight, one was still one. If he could not match it, he could not match it.

A Mechanical Arm handed a glass of water to the somewhat dazed Tony. He took it and gulped it down, his competitive spirit fully ignited.

Admit defeat?

Impossible.

He would upgrade his Mark Armor. He would upgrade J.A.R.V.I.S.'s intelligent program. In Iron Armor technology, he would definitely surpass that unknown body!

PS: Sometimes it was truly frustrating. Yesterday's chapter was already very concise. I had not intended to pad it out, or I could have written the battle over several chapters. Though I am not good at writing combat, battle scenes do bring in more bookmarks.

Why did I not write Tony being shocked or whatever during the fight? Because I felt that would not make logical sense. Someone had beaten you half to death, then someone came to help you. Instead of going in to assist, you stand there saying, "This newcomer's moves are incredible?" Shouldn't you take advantage of your remaining energy and work together with your helper to take down the enemy first? That is what a good teammate does! At a time like that, if you still had the mind to worry about how impressive your helper's technology was, I do not think it would fit Tony's character. At that point, proud and foul-mouthed as he was, he would not act or speak like that in front of others.

So from the beginning, my plan was to show the armor's technology and combat ability as concisely as possible, move through it quickly, and then conduct the review to support this technical comparison. But some readers seem quite dissatisfied. If you do not like this approach, I will consider it next time.

That reporter scene yesterday was necessary as a transition, otherwise it would have felt fragmented. At least, that was what I thought. Writing novels is really difficult these days, so I hope everyone will offer more support. Suggestions are welcome, and the author will listen. But there is no need to crush my confidence.