"Iron Monger" Obadiah Stane

Under Tony's control, the Mark II's leg thrusters were at full power, propelling it rapidly into the sky.

Soon, Tony reached an altitude of 85,000 feet, the Gao Fei altitude record for a fighter jet set by the SR-71 Blackbird high-altitude high-speed strategic reconnaissance aircraft. But Tony did not stop there; instead, he continued to fly to even higher altitudes.

When the Mark II reached an altitude of 150,000 feet, seeing that Tony still showed no sign of stopping, Chen Mo couldn't help but roll his eyes and shouted sternly into the communicator.

"Tony!"

Tony Stark, who was immersed in the unparalleled thrill of pushing his limits, was brought back to his senses by Chen Mo's somewhat stern voice, and at the same time remembered Chen Mo's instructions before he set off.

"Okay, okay, I got it, Dad."

Tony reluctantly agreed.

Looking up at the sky, now clear of clouds and dust, and dotted with brilliant starlight amidst its pure blackness, Tony reluctantly stopped climbing. Only when the suit slowly slowed down under the influence of gravity and finally began to fall did he activate the thrusters again, turning around and plunging downwards.

The Mark II's test flight was perfect. Its performance far exceeded Tony Stark's expectations. It was already fully mature and required no further modifications. He had originally planned to conduct multiple modifications and tests, and possibly even major alterations, and to manufacture several suits before it could finally meet the requirements for actual combat.

But now, he easily got it done in one go, and he was so satisfied that he couldn't find a single fault. He knew that it was all thanks to Chen Mo. His participation and guidance not only saved him a lot of detours and a lot of time and energy, but also greatly improved the performance of the suit in all aspects with the enhancement of many high-end technologies he provided.

If it were him, he could probably fix those loopholes with enough time, but the technology Chen Mo provided was something he couldn't research in a short time, especially the thrusters that were crucial for the suit and provided power for flight.

The energy engine designed by Chen Mo is much stronger than the engine he originally designed, both in terms of energy conversion efficiency and thrust-to-weight ratio.

The most direct benefit was that the Mark II's maximum flight speed reached Mach 2, more than 2,400 kilometers per hour, while the Mark III, which was put into actual combat in the movie, could only barely break the speed of sound.

Tony Stark was very satisfied with the suit, but Chen Mo was not.

With Chen Mo's forward-thinking advice and the enhancements from HYDRA technology, the new Mark II is much more powerful than the Mark III, which was further improved in the movie. However, it still has two major problems.

One issue is that equipping the Iron Man suit is too cumbersome, requiring a specialized equipment platform and multiple fully automated robotic arms to assemble simultaneously, which still takes a considerable amount of time. This significantly reduces its ability to handle unexpected situations.

If the enemy comes to your doorstep, you can't expect them to stop and wait for you to put on your armor before attacking, can you?

The Laser-guided Tracking Rapid Deployment System used in the Avengers' Mark VII, which automatically flies in and wraps the suit directly from behind, or the modular deployment method used in Iron Man 3, where the Mark XLII is automatically assembled from separate parts, is much faster and more convenient. It is no longer limited by a bulky assembly platform and can be quickly deployed anywhere.

In addition, although the performance of the Mark II has been greatly improved with Chen Mo's help, it is still far from reaching its limit. Due to the insufficient output power of the Second-generation Arc Reactor, the Mark II's performance in terms of flight speed and attack power has not been fully utilized.

Although he was already quite satisfied with the current Mark II, Tony, tempted by the even more powerful suit described by Chen Mo, did not hesitate to choose to continue enhancing the suit.

Next, the two began to study the Third-generation Arc Reactor with a more powerful output and to improve the way their battle suits were worn.

Like the first generation, the Second-generation Arc Reactor has palladium metal embedded within it. It needs to be discarded after use and replaced with a new reactor. The third generation in the movie uses palladium metal plates, which can be directly replaced with new palladium metal plates after use. It is more convenient to use, has higher energy output efficiency, and a longer operating time.

While they continued to improve the Iron Man suit, Chen Mo received a message from HYDRA that Obadiah Stane had successfully obtained the Mark I prototype and its blueprints.

However, a small incident occurred. As Chen Mo had predicted, Obadiah did not intend to conduct the transaction honestly, but instead planned to double-cross him. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong target.

Brock Rumlow was not the original bald leader, and his men were not those rabble of terrorists. When Obadiah secretly took out a nerve paralysis device and approached Brock Rumlow to assassinate him, he was easily subdued by the ever-vigilant Brock.

Normally, he would have killed Obadiah outright, but the mission given by HYDRA had to be completed, so Obadiah was lucky to survive. However, as punishment, Brock Rumlow cut off his left hand, which was holding the nerve paralysis device.

Having paid double the price and lost his left hand to save his life and obtain what he wanted, Obadiah emerged from the tent with a ferocious expression, ready to gather his men for revenge. However, he discovered that the numerous elite bodyguards he had left outside, who should have already taken control of the situation, were all lying on the ground.

The tent flap was lifted again, and Brock Rumlow, who followed him out, couldn't help but curl a mocking smile at the sight.

"It seems you'll have to transport them back yourself."

When Chen Mo and Tony Stark successfully improved the Arc Reactor and created the Third-generation Arc Reactor, which used palladium metal plates that could be easily replaced and had greater energy output and endurance, Obadiah, with the help of his other subordinates, returned to New York from Afghanistan with the Mark I.

Back when Tony Stark had just returned and announced the dissolution of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division at a press conference, Obadiah, as CEO of Stark Industries, took advantage of the sharp drop in stock price to persuade the board of directors to limit Tony Stark's power, allowing him to wield absolute control within Stark Industries.

Obadiah paid a huge price to obtain the prototype of the Iron Man suit. After returning to Stark Industries, before he could even go to the hospital to treat his severed hand, he impatiently ordered the gathering of researchers to study the blueprints and prototype.

With readily available blueprints and the Mark I prototype, the research on the Iron Man suit progressed smoothly. The Iron Man suit, codenamed "Iron Monger," was quickly designed and began to be manufactured. However, the problem of the energy source to power the Iron Man suit remained unsolved.

His research team had long been studying the large Arc Reactor at Stark Industries, hoping to create a miniaturized Arc Reactor like Tony Stark's. However, despite the passage of time, they had made no progress whatsoever.

Obadiah couldn't help but turn his gaze back to Tony Stark.

Because Chen Mo and his two companions had eliminated all the terrorists who kidnapped Tony, and left Crossbones Brock Rumlow to lead the Special Operations Team to wipe out the remaining terrorists in the vicinity, the scene in the movie where Yinsen's hometown was attacked by terrorists did not happen.

Tony was so engrossed in developing the new Iron Man suit that he had no interest in the company's affairs.

Therefore, Tony was completely unaware of Obadiah's series of actions within Stark Industries.

However, Chen Mo was fully aware of Obadiah Stan's actions, and it was time for Tony to find out his true colors.

That evening, Agent Coulson arrived at Tony Stark's seaside villa, bringing with him photos of Stark Industries selling large quantities of weapons to terrorists and anti-government forces, including even the latest Jericho Missile.

When was this filmed?

After looking at the photos, Tony Stark asked with a serious expression.

"Yesterday."

Phil Coulson answered calmly.

"I did not approve any transactions."

Tony Stark shook his head, speaking with some uncertainty.

"But your company approved it."

Coulson looked at Tony and spoke slowly.

Upon hearing this, Tony Stark couldn't help but think of the time when the board of directors restricted his power and suspended his work, and said somewhat angrily.

"My company and I are two completely different things!"

Agent Coulson glanced at Tony Stark, said nothing more, left the documents, and turned to leave.

Tony Stark watched his retreating figure, lost in thought. In Stark Industries, besides himself, there was only one other person capable of doing all this, Obadiah's face involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

The company is now completely under his control, so this matter must be related to him.

With that thought in mind, Tony Stark dialed Obadiah's number with a grim face.

The conversation was unpleasant. When Tony discovered his behind-the-scenes dealings and questioned him, Obadiah, who was in the hospital treating his severed hand, angrily admitted that he had petitioned the board to suspend Tony's employment.

Now that Tony Stark has been sidelined and completely stripped of his power within Stark Industries, he poses no threat to Stark. Furthermore, with the Iron Man suit now a powerful weapon, there's no need for him to pretend to be a kind elder in front of Tony anymore.

After hanging up the phone, Tony Stark was somewhat dazed. He had always treated Obadiah like family, but he never expected that in the end, it was Obadiah who had plotted against him and taken away his power in the company.

The feeling of being betrayed by someone close to him was extremely painful for him.