"Jack, would you hand Tony over to me?" Obadiah stood some distance away without coming any closer, intending to achieve his goal through his eloquence.
As he spoke, he also operated Iron Monger, calibrating its weapons and locking onto Chen Changsheng. Reusing the same trick was quite reasonable.
"Tony?" Chen Changsheng put on an awkward expression and pointed toward where Iron Man lay. "Hand him over to you? That'll be difficult. Considering the relationship between the two of us, I won't hand him over just because you say so."
"Hm?" Obadiah was puzzled. What relationship could the two of you possibly have? "Jack, do you think I don't know what you've been doing behind the scenes? You bought shares in so many industries. Surely you're not only after the dividends. As long as you hand Tony over to me, Stark Industries will have a place for you."
As Stark Industries' Executive Director, Obadiah was nothing like Tony, the hands-off owner. He had studied Stark Industries' equity and stock transactions. With Chen Changsheng buying and selling on such a large scale, anyone who paid attention would have noticed.
This was a little awkward. Chen Changsheng had secretly bought Stark Industries' shares simply to earn some money for Dr. Otto's research into Nuclear Fusion.
He had originally wanted to avoid Tony so that his friend wouldn't discover what he was doing and leave them both in an awkward position. But Obadiah had brazenly exposed it. This was truly embarrassing.
"Obadiah, I think you've misunderstood. Tony and I hit it off at first sight and regard each other as kindred spirits. We're closer than brothers, with the exception of sharing a wife. Nothing between us will fracture over such a trivial matter." Although he felt awkward, Chen Changsheng still argued his case.
"Give me a break, Jack. I know exactly what you want. What relationship in this world can compare with money? If there is one, it's only more money. Do you really care about your relationship with Tony?" Obadiah was practically speechless at Chen Changsheng's words. You've only known Tony for a few days, and you're already talking about feelings? I raised Tony from childhood. Wouldn't that make us as close as father and son?
"No, no, no, Obadiah, you've misunderstood. Tony is my beloved friend, my brother, my sworn comrade. You want me to give him up... then pay more." Obadiah's words prompted Chen Changsheng to deliver a shameless line without thinking. He had no idea whether Obadiah would recognize the reference.
Obadiah's face visibly twitched. He truly had not expected Chen Changsheng to say something like that. Did "beloved friend, brother, sworn comrade" really amount to nothing more than "pay more"? There really was no room for trust between people.
"Jack, leave now and I'll give you five percent of the shares. You'll become the largest shareholder after me." As he spoke, Obadiah was already preparing to launch an attack.
Obadiah did not know Chen Changsheng well, but in the end, he had no intention of giving Chen Changsheng anything. He was merely humoring him. All Obadiah wanted was to deal with Tony first.
Just as Chen Changsheng was about to continue their war of words, a faint sound came from inside Tony's Iron Man Armor behind him.
"Loading complete. Self-defense mode will begin shortly." It was Jarvis's voice prompt after completing its self-check.
From Jarvis's voice, Chen Changsheng judged the state of the Iron Man Armor. He then slowly backed away to avoid being accidentally injured by Jarvis.
Chen Changsheng's movement exposed Tony Stark, who was wearing the Iron Man Armor.
Chen Changsheng wanted to see what one hundred percent of the Iron Man Armor's combat power looked like under the control of an artificial intelligence like Jarvis.
Chen Changsheng did not fully approve of Tony Stark stuffing himself into the Iron Man Armor. Aside from looking cool, Tony seemed to be reducing the armor's combat power. Still, if Chen Changsheng had one, he would wear it too. There was no other reason—it looked cool enough.
Chen Changsheng's retreat made Obadiah think his offer had moved him. The finger he had kept poised over the firing button also moved away.
Obadiah operated Iron Monger and walked step by step toward Tony Stark on the ground. Seeing Chen Changsheng still standing there and waiting without moving, Obadiah sneered inwardly. Still, this is fine. Once Tony is dealt with, it'll be his turn.
When he reached Tony Stark, Obadiah reached out, gripped the Iron Man Armor's helmet, and lifted him up. He shook him hard, but the Iron Man Armor still showed no response. At that point, Obadiah was certain Tony was dead.
Looking at Tony Stark, who remained completely motionless in his hand, Obadiah became sad for a moment. After all, he had watched Tony grow up. Although Obadiah had always wanted Tony dead, when the day finally came, he still found himself reluctant.
Before he could lament for long, the Iron Man Armor's helmet began flashing red. To anyone, it was clearly a bad sign.
Obadiah was no exception. Seeing the threatening red light, he tried to throw Tony Stark in his hand away as quickly as possible.
But before he could move, flames burst from the rocket nozzles beneath Iron Man's feet, and a repulsor blast shot from his palm.
The blast struck Iron Monger's faceplate, temporarily blinding Obadiah.
Obadiah hurriedly raised an arm to shield his head, and his grip on Iron Man loosened. This gave Jarvis, which controlled the armor, an opening. It instantly pulled away from Iron Monger.
Obadiah also used that interval to quickly close his own faceplate.
According to Jarvis's logic, creating distance from danger was the best option. But at that moment, Jarvis clearly had yet to understand the relationship between reality and theory.
After being forced back, Obadiah gradually recovered his vision inside Iron Monger. Seeing the Iron Man Armor flying again, he was utterly dumbfounded.
Who was the one lying there like a dead dog, completely motionless no matter how much he was poked? How did he revive at full health in just a moment?
Obadiah felt that his brief sadness had been completely wasted. Feeling deceived, he quickly raised his arm and began attacking from a distance with the weapons mounted on it.
Under the storm of bullets, Jarvis controlled the Iron Man Armor and reacted swiftly, narrowly dodging the incoming fire.
Because Tony and Obadiah had used laser weapons extensively in their earlier battle, the Arc Reactor inside the Iron Man Armor was now running low on energy.
After firing two repulsor blasts, Jarvis immediately changed tactics. It flew in a wide circle, then rapidly closed in on Iron Monger, intending to finish it in close combat.
By comparison, Iron Monger had the advantage in energy, but its external armor had suffered more damage than Iron Man's. As long as the right method was found, dismantling it would not be difficult.
Two Iron Man armors clashing head-on was far more entertaining than trading lasers and spraying bullets. Jarvis controlled the armor through a smooth, stylish, powerful combo, but the effect was somewhat underwhelming—like someone trying to scratch an itch through armor.
After the combo, Iron Monger was like a rock struck by a sledgehammer. It suffered no apparent damage. Fortunately, the blow had damaged the sensors in Iron Monger's helmet, causing it to lose its vision.
The armor controlled by Jarvis fared even worse. It ran out of energy and went offline...
The instant Jarvis drove the Iron Man Armor forward, Obadiah had also been startled, thinking Tony was going all out. In truth, that combo had still been effective. Iron Monger's shock absorption was not that powerful. Under the Iron Man Armor's forceful attacks, Jarvis had repeatedly struck Iron Monger's vulnerable areas.
Obadiah, inside Iron Monger, was now suffering terribly. After enduring that series of heavy blows, he felt certain he had suffered at least a mild concussion.
Obadiah opened Iron Monger's faceplate, and the instant his face was exposed, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Clearly, he had also suffered internal injuries.
Only after resting for a while did Obadiah have time to check Tony's condition. When he saw Tony still lying motionless on the ground, Obadiah fell silent. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and fired a grenade at Tony. Without the armor's assisted targeting, the grenade flew wildly off course.
A violent explosion erupted into flames not far from Tony Stark, while the energy-depleted Iron Man Armor remained completely unresponsive.
Having learned his lesson, Obadiah did not move closer. He continued preparing to bombard Tony Stark, who lay on the ground, with grenades.
Seeing Obadiah squint with one eye and begin aiming manually, Chen Changsheng no longer hesitated. The Iron Man Armor was completely out of energy, and Jarvis certainly could not record any more video. This
was the perfect moment for Chen Changsheng to show off without restraint.
He quickly transformed his arm into a whip and lashed it around Iron Monger's arm just as it was about to fire a grenade. With a hard pull, he made Obadiah miss once again.
The grenade once again skimmed past Iron Man and flew into the distance. Obadiah turned angrily, only to see Chen Changsheng watching him with an innocent expression.
But Obadiah was no fool. There were only three people here, counting Tony Stark, who was unconscious on the ground. What are you pretending for, Jack?
Without saying a word, Obadiah fired a shell directly at Chen Changsheng. This time, it did not miss and struck Chen Changsheng head-on.
As Chen Changsheng was engulfed in a ball of fire, Obadiah turned around stylishly and walked into the distance. Ignoring his large bald head, it truly looked like a cool exit.
When the flames dispersed, Chen Changsheng was still standing firmly in place. His ordinary clothes had transformed into high-strength biological armor. It lacked the technological feel of the Iron Man Armor, but the pitch-black chitinous armor was covered in mysterious patterns and faint, indistinct glimmers, giving it an air of mystery.
"Clank, clank." Obadiah, walking toward Tony Stark, failed to notice anything unusual behind him. Chen Changsheng rolled his shoulders, then charged toward Obadiah with great strides.
The noise of Chen Changsheng's movements immediately caught Obadiah's attention.
But there were only fifty meters between them, which Chen Changsheng could cross in just a few steps. When Obadiah turned to look, he saw a tall, dark figure rushing toward him. The inexplicable pressure left him frozen for a moment.
Once he recovered, Obadiah could only raise the grenade launcher mounted on his arm and fire several rounds at the charging figure.
But because he had no time to aim, most of the shells skimmed past Chen Changsheng. The few that happened to fly directly toward him were knocked away one by one by the great blade that Chen Changsheng formed from his arm.
Before you continue