He Looked Really Furious

"How dare you kill him!"

Tony was consumed with rage.

For some time now, he had upheld justice as Iron Man.

He had saved many people.

Normally, he would never have paid attention to people like them, but ever since surviving that ordeal, he had come to understand the preciousness of life.

Yet this monster before him had actually murdered someone right in front of him!

"How dare you!"

His face twisted with fury as he looked at Ben, and the faces of those terrorists seemed to appear in his eyes again.

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Ben shot back.

"You think he was a good person?" Ben sneered.

If Dennis Carradine had truly been a good man, Ben would not have found that name in the Police Station's records.

In truth, Dennis had always been a gang member with a long list of crimes to his name.

Robbery, theft...

He had been arrested by the police countless times, not to mention all the crimes he had gotten away with. He had also taken part in gang fights, so his hands were hardly clean.

Besides, even if Dennis had originally been a good man, Ben would not have let him go.

To Ben, family was what mattered most.

Ben knew full well that what he had done was nowhere close to justice.

He also knew that Uncle Ben and Aunt May would never want him to do such a thing, but he did not want to see the day when his own "mercy" got Uncle Ben or Aunt May killed.

As long as he could protect his family, he would not hesitate even if his hands had to be stained with blood.

"And you, Tony Stark? How are you any better than me?" Ben asked.

"What?"

"Do you have fewer lives on your hands than I do?"

"I only killed terrorists!" Tony said.

"You know that's not what I mean." Ben shook his head. "Isn't Stark Industries' prosperity built on selling weapons?"

"Or do you think it only counts as killing if you do it with your own hands?"

Tony fell silent at once.

Selling weapons was the greatest mistake he had ever made. In fact, he had already been trying to make up for it.

Shutting down the weapons division, fighting terrorists...

He was doing everything he could to repay that debt.

"I never intended to sell weapons to terrorists. I didn't know about that..."

"You didn't know, or you just didn't care?" Ben sneered.

He had to admit that the future Tony Stark was a great hero. Ben had liked him a lot when he watched the movies before.

But he also had to admit that before becoming Iron Man, Tony had been an asshole.

Failing to manage his own company and letting Obadiah control it was no excuse.

Not to mention that even if Obadiah had not sold weapons to terrorists, Stark Industries had still worked directly with the government.

Was every war started by the United States a just war?

What a joke.

Think of all those Gazans who had been killed!

Did they truly deserve it?

"When you made weapons, did you never think they would be used to invade other countries and kill innocent children?" Ben asked.

"You didn't not know. You just didn't care."

Ben's words struck straight at the heart of the matter.

What else could weapons do besides kill?

Tony naturally knew what kind of mess this country was. Under the banner of being the world's police, it stirred up trouble everywhere. How many wars had they started?

He knew that perfectly well.

It was just that until a missile had actually exploded near him, Tony had never cared.

What did it have to do with him if people far away died?

Would homeless children wandering the streets affect his ability to pop champagne and sleep with beautiful women?

No!

If anything, the larger the war and the more people who died, the more Stark Industries earned, and the more luxurious a life he could enjoy.

Every dollar Stark made had been bought with human lives!

"That's why I shut down the weapons factories," Tony said in a low voice.

But sins could not simply cancel each other out.

And shutting down the factories did not count as redemption. It only meant he would not keep doing it in the future.

Like a school bully who stopped bullying others—it did not mean he had become a good person.

Nor did it mean the people he had hurt had to forgive him.

Why did good people have to endure countless lifetimes of hardship to become saints, while evil people only needed to put down their knives?

Tony could not really refute Ben's words, because he knew Ben was right.

Only when he had nearly died in the Middle East had he truly understood how terrifying war and weapons were. He also understood that no matter how much he did now, it would be hard to make amends.

No matter how many people he saved, the living had no right to forgive him on behalf of the dead.

In truth, Tony felt deeply guilty and remorseful about his past ignorance. That was why the man Captain America had called selfish had ultimately given up his life and snapped his fingers.

But feeling guilty was one thing; having someone else see through his heart was another.

Especially when he knew nothing about the monster in front of him. No matter what, Tony could not let him go just because of Stark Industries' past.

"I'll say it one more time. Hands up and surrender!"

Ben was not surprised when Tony emerged from his guilt. Someone as self-centered as Tony would not lose his will because of a few words.

At that moment, Ben did raise his hands.

But he held out his palm instead. "I'll take you down in three minutes!"

The moment he said that, Ben moved. He was so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen!

In an instant, he leaped high into the air and kicked Tony squarely in the Arc Reactor on his chest.

Before Tony could react, Ben used Tony's body as a springboard, twisted his waist astonishingly in midair, and his black tail immediately lashed Tony across the left side of his head like a whip!

Clang!

Tony Stark and his armor were sent flying, smashing through the factory wall!

Although XLR8 had no particularly powerful attack methods, speed was power. A Velociraptor-sized monster crashing into him at several hundred kilometers per hour had only failed to shatter Iron Man's armor because Ben had held back!

Not to mention that he had followed it up with a tail strike.

If Tony had not been wearing the armor, that blow would have burst his head like a watermelon!

In fact, even with the armor on, Tony's brain rang for quite a while. Even now, he was still dizzy, with his ears ringing.

"Sir, that is a mild concussion," Jarvis said helpfully.

Tony ignored him.

"You asked for it, kid!"

He was absolutely furious!

The armor's thrusters activated at full power!

Tony charged in again. Clearly, before he even spoke, the Repulsor Ray had already fired!

Boom!

But Ben had been prepared.

"You're too slow, Tony," Ben mocked.

Honestly, the instant Tony raised his hand, it had already been impossible for him to hit Ben.

"Congratulations, sir. Someone has finally called you slow."

Jarvis offered his sincere congratulations.

Tony: ...