Arc Reactor

Three days later, in the chairman's office of Rebirth Group, Andrew and Howard watched a live broadcast—the famous scene of Tony Stark going to the Middle East to sell Jericho Missiles, only to be blown away by his own missiles.

Fortunately, Tony was wearing specially made body armor, so he was not killed. He merely fell unconscious.

Andrew watched as the Magic Runes Light Screen gradually went dark and said, "Tony Stark's life has completely changed from this moment onward."

Unlike Andrew, Howard was extremely nervous. "Boss, Tony really won't die?"

"Relax, he won't die."

Andrew said, "By the way, remember to inform J. Jonah Jameson about Tony Stark being attacked in the Middle East. We're taking the headlines."

J. Jonah Jameson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, was the guy from the movies who blackened Spider-Man in the papers every day.

"Boss, I was wrong before. You're no different from other Demon Kings."

Howard complained. It was one thing not to save his son, but using news of his son being Severely Injured to boost newspaper sales? Did he have any humanity left?

"I was a Demon King to begin with."

Andrew shrugged. "What would you think if I told you I set up a company overseas and planned to profit from fluctuations in Stark Industries' stock price?"

"Boss, how could you do this?"

Howard was furious. "There was a chance to make money, and you didn't tell me? Right, we can also open betting pools in Las Vegas over this."

"You really are his biological father."

Andrew complained. "Forget that. By the way, how skilled are you with Artificial Intelligence? Can you create an Artificial Intelligence system like Tony's?"

Howard said confidently, "If I brush up on it, No Big Problem. More than half the things Tony developed were built on my foundations."

"That's good. My negotiations with Twitter haven't gone smoothly. They're unwilling to give up control."

Andrew said, "So I want to start a Short Video Company focused on mobile short videos. You'll be responsible for researching the software and algorithms. I'll use it to defeat Twitter and seize control of online discourse.

You don't need to worry about funding. Spend as much as you want. I will provide it unconditionally and without limit."

Howard agreed. "Although my main profession is manufacturing weapons, I can handle this too."

Andrew said, "There's no problem with you liking weapons research. Work at the company during the day, then return to Hell at night to research weapons."

Howard complained, "Working twenty-four hours a day? You really are a Demon King."

Tony Stark's disappearance in the Middle East quickly caused enormous upheaval. Although Stark Industries denied it immediately, its stock price still plummeted in response.

Susan looked at the news on her phone and sighed. Beside her, her new secretary Natasha asked, "Susan, did you buy Stark Industries stock?"

Yesterday, Susan had encountered a thief. Fortunately, Natasha had stepped in to help. After the two women talked, Natasha successfully became Susan's secretary.

"I didn't, but a friend of mine did. He has bad luck and always fails at investing. Looks like this time won't be an exception either."

Susan shook her head. Who could have imagined that the usually stable Stark Industries would suffer such a major incident?

"He really is unlucky."

Natasha looked toward the chairman's office and said, "Compared to him, our boss has much better luck. Someone even gave him shares for free."

Susan recalled what Andrew had once said and smiled. "Because he's God's Angel, Ghost Rider."

"God's Angel, Ghost Rider?"

Natasha was stunned. How had this turned from a spy drama into a mythology drama?

Tony Stark was an extremely resilient man. Though Severely Injured and imprisoned by Terrorists, he did not choose to give up. In a cave, using crude tools, he accomplished a miracle—miniaturizing the Arc Reactor.

The Arc Reactor was a controllable nuclear fusion reactor capable of releasing three billion joules of energy per second. The reason Andrew had cast magic on Tony was for this.

In Rebirth Hell, Andrew watched Tony Stark place the glowing Arc Reactor into his chest and asked Howard, "Howard, can you replicate it?"

Howard said, "Yes. I developed the Arc Reactor. All Tony did was miniaturize the reactor."

"Your Arc Reactor was merely an exhibit. Your son successfully turned that exhibit into an era-defining invention."

Trask sneered. "I have to admit, he really is a genius."

Howard said indignantly, "His reactor has a problem. It causes Palladium Poisoning. I once developed a new element to replace palladium. Not only is it more efficient, it has no side effects."

"Hurry up and create that new element. I want to use Arc Reactors to solve Hell's electricity problem."

Andrew said, "Trask, use the Arc Reactor as an energy source and manufacture robots for me."

"Boss, do you want robots, or powered armor like Tony Stark's?"

Trask asked. On the Light Screen, Tony Stark and Yinsen were researching how to make a suit of armor—Mark I.

Andrew said, "Robots, of course. I plan to have ghosts possess the robots and control them in battle."

Trask and Howard's eyes lit up at the same time. "Souls possessing robots? Can that be done?"

"Of course. You only need to construct Magic Runes inside the robots."

Andrew smiled. "In the future, souls who come to this Hell will begin their second lives as Mechanical Life."

Although Andrew was a Demon King, he did not like Demons at all, because Demons were filled with chaos and slaughter. Besides, they were too ugly.

"Mechanical Life?"

The two top scientists, Trask and Howard, were both quite interested. Dwarf Trask thought of something and sighed. "Mechanical Life will be fairer than flesh-and-blood life. At the very least, there will be no Dwarves and no congenital disabilities."

"We'll discuss that later. This is only the beginning."

Andrew shook his head. "Manufacture a batch of robots as soon as possible. We'll be able to use them very soon."

Trask said excitedly, "No Big Problem. I'll make myself a powerful body, at least three meters tall."

"With a body, armor suits me better."

Howard said, "I plan to personally design a suit of armor, the most advanced suit possible. I'll use it to let Tony know that his old man will always be his old man."

Andrew smiled. "You can also let him know that you don't like men."

Howard's face was full of Black Lines. This embarrassing history could never be washed away, could it?

Several days later, Tony Stark escaped the Terrorists' nest wearing the crude Mark I. His friend Yinsen died in a hail of Terrorist gunfire to buy him time.

Before dying, Yinsen told Tony to cherish his life. Tony agreed through tears. At that moment, the superhero Iron Man was officially born.