Just as Alvin silently prayed to the Emperor Lord not to blame him, he had no idea that the drunk Tony had made a bold decision.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., prepare for a flight test." Fully suited up, Tony staggered down from the assembly platform and waved his hand.
"I'm so sorry for the trouble, sir, but I've detected that you're currently intoxicated. The likelihood of an accident is over 95%, so I strongly advise against conducting a flight test in your current state."
As an intelligent butler, J.A.R.V.I.S. could only sincerely warn Stark not to risk his life.
"Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S., have you ever heard this saying?"
Tony paid no heed, speaking casually. "Before you learn to walk, you have to learn to run."
Seeing that there was no talking him out of it, J.A.R.V.I.S. could only turn to Alvin beside them and pin his hopes on him. "Mr. Valshus, could you please try to persuade Mr. Stark?"
In Tony's current state, he could barely walk in a straight line. If he really took the armor into the sky, who knew what might happen?
If he crashed into the Empire State Building and 9/11 happened all over again, that would be pretty absurd.
Unfortunately, before Alvin could even speak, Tony impatiently activated the Energy Backpack on his back.
Boom!
Four scorching nozzles blasted out deep blue energy.
The next moment, Tony piloted the Mark II like a heavy bomber, smashing straight through the obstacles in his path.
In the blink of an eye, he had vanished from Alvin's sight.
"Uh, you were a little late with that warning." Rubbing his brow with a headache, Alvin clicked his tongue. "Now all we can do is pray nothing happens to the guy."
Humanity's greatest dream was to soar through the sky like a bird!
To that end, humanity had created planes and rockets to explore the unknown beyond. Flight had always symbolized the thirst for knowledge and the courage to explore the future!
And now, Tony had escaped the bulky confines of planes, rockets, and other vehicles, experiencing firsthand the thrill of soaring high above the ground!
With the Energy Backpack boosting it, the silver humanoid armor had even broken the sound barrier!
Boom!
A deafening sonic boom left a ring-shaped cloud in the sky!
He flew into the clouds, heading toward the moon that seemed almost within reach, his face alight with uncontrollable joy.
Under the influence of the alcohol, wave after wave of exhilaration nearly overwhelmed Tony. He couldn't help letting out an excited whoop. "Woo-hoo! Did you see that, Alvin? I've conquered the sky! I'm flying! This feels so damn good!"
"Ahem, sorry to interrupt."
Alvin's voice came through the faceplate. "I can see that you're still climbing straight up. Just out of curiosity, did you prepare for the freezing temperatures at high altitude?"
Tony, who had been shouting excitedly just moments before, suddenly fell silent.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"I'm sorry, sir. Your preset plans don't include any measures for dealing with freezing temperatures at high altitude."
Within two and a half seconds of hearing those words, Tony glanced at the vertical altitude displayed on the left side of his faceplate.
He had already surpassed the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft's altitude record, reaching an astonishing 86,000 feet. But now, instead of excitement, he was filled with sheer terror!
"Sir, the engine nozzles are freezing!"
As soon as J.A.R.V.I.S. said this, the armor lost power, and its systems temporarily shut down along with it.
Well, there he went, falling right back down!
Seeing Tony's communications cut off, Alvin was speechless. He swore he'd warned him quickly. Who could've guessed Tony would climb so fast?
"AAAAAHHH!"
What did it feel like to experience free fall from 86,000 feet?
Tony's answer: terrifying. His heart was about to stop!
"J.A.R.V.I.S., deploy the ailerons!"
Unfortunately, the armor's systems had already shut down because of the ice.
"Oh, shit!" As he plummeted, the airflow made it impossible for Tony to keep himself steady. He spun like a top, streaking through the night sky at tremendous speed.
The good news was that, at the last moment, he managed to deploy the ailerons manually.
The ice coating the armor shattered, and as soon as the systems rebooted, he managed to regain a little power.
The bad news was that Tony glanced at the ground and realized there was no way he could take off again. All he could do was try to slow his fall as much as possible.
Then he chose the most comfortable position he could manage and plunged headfirst toward the ground, plowing into it.
BOOM!!!
Fortunately, there was no one around. It seemed to be an abandoned industrial area.
Thanks to the armor's excellent shock-absorption system and its tough alloy, Tony smashed through the industrial site's railing and plowed dozens of meters before finally coming to a stop.
"How was your bungee-jumping experience from 86,000 feet?"
Alvin's teasing laughter came through the faceplate.
"Th-that was exciting! I'd do it again!"
Though Tony had been so scared his heart had nearly stopped, he still refused to back down. "Hey, I just broke the human flight altitude record! Give me a round of applause!"
"Uh, sorry. Am I interrupting you two?"
Tony limped along, using the wall for support. But as soon as he got to his feet, he saw two people standing nearby.
One wore a red-and-blue skintight suit, with an upside-down spider emblem on his chest. He looked like a crime-fighting "Zorro," though his taste in clothes was frankly questionable.
As for the other one, Tony fell silent for half a second, then wore a complicated, shocked expression. "J.A.R.V.I.S., am I drunk out of my mind? Why do I see a... lizard?"
"Sir, environmental data indicates that you are not hallucinating."
J.A.R.V.I.S. scanned the lizard through the armor and replied matter-of-factly, "The target appears to be a mutant with lizard genes. Judging by the traces of battle nearby, there's a high probability that he's hostile, sir."
"Hey, Spider-Kid, is that guy your enemy?" Tony turned to look at the apparent "hero."
"Wait, can you explain why you fell out of the sky?!"
Spider-Man's eyes widened in disbelief. He clutched his head and cried out, "Oh my God, I really want to know—how did you fall from tens of thousands of feet without turning into a puddle of gore?"
He was a top student at a prestigious university, after all, and he excelled in applied physics.
Even if that Tin Man had slowed down several times on the way, he shouldn't have walked away without a scratch after falling from tens of thousands of feet!
What kind of shock-absorbing material could possibly be that effective?
"Probably because I designed a pretty impressive shock-absorption system."
Tony made no attempt to hide his self-praise, beaming with pride. "Luckily, I anticipated that I might crash, so I designed a separate shock-absorption system!"
"Uh, sorry to interrupt you two, but the lizard mutant over there is gone."
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came through the armor and into their ears.
"Where is he?!"
Spider-Man whirled around, his whole body stiffening.
The Lizardman he'd chased for so long had already escaped without a trace!
"Looks like he escaped through the sewers." Tony glanced at the manhole cover that had been knocked aside and shrugged, a little sheepishly. "Can't blame me for that. You weren't paying attention."
Even with his face covered, Tony could clearly feel the intense resentment in the other man's eyes.
"Ahem, listen, Spider-Kid. This was an accident."
Tony coughed twice and put on an innocent expression. "If you don't mind, maybe I could buy you a drink?"
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