Flight Race

A few weeks later.

"Another director agreed to our terms," Heli reported from the side.

"Very good. What percentage of shares are we expected to hold?" Harry asked as he adjusted the Green Goblin glider. "Has that guy named Obadiah made no move?"

"Once the deal is complete, we're expected to hold 19%. A few weeks ago, some directors also expressed their intention to sell, but then there was no further news. I'm guessing this Obadiah you mentioned is behind it."

Naturally.

Stark Industries' Board of Directors had held a meeting not long ago, and that guy had proposed a resolution to remove Tony from management.

The purpose behind everything he had done was originally for his own benefit, so it was only natural for him to stabilize the directors.

This had caused Harry to spend far more on the matter than he had budgeted.

Still, the outcome was fairly gratifying. This was already no small stake.

However, as his holdings increased, it became increasingly difficult to acquire more shares. It was time to stop.

Boom.

The Green Goblin glider floated up on its own and rapidly circled the basement again and again. The new intelligent control system was functioning well.

"Harry! You're not actually thinking of trying that thing, are you? It's too dangerous!"

"Yes." Harry set down the tool in his hand. "Don't try to talk me out of it. This was my father's proudest invention. It's only natural that I should be the one to use it."

"Besides, there are safety measures this time."

As he spoke, Harry put on an unreleased version of the Powered Exoskeleton. It was coated with the best Cermet Material Harry currently had on hand, designed with an emphasis on adapting to high-altitude, high-speed flight. Small thrusters had also been added to the legs to increase vector control and improve maneuverability.

Without an artificial intelligence as powerful as Tony's to assist him, Harry only equipped himself with a simple mask rather than a helmet.

In appearance, he really did resemble the Little Green Goblin from several movies.

What a coincidence.

Before Heli could say anything else, Harry flipped onto the rapidly flying glider. The Power Armor on his feet locked tightly to the glider through magnetism.

Now, it was time for a test!

"Woohoo!"

Harry shot straight into the sky, soaring into the heavens like a Rocket!

Having successfully taken off, Harry suddenly noticed what seemed to be another flying object in the sky!

Harry grinned and increased the glider's power!

"Sir, a high-speed flying object is approaching from behind."

"What? High-speed? How high-speed—" Before Tony, who had no idea what was going on, could figure out what it was, Harry had already caught up with him!

"Good evening, Mr. Iron Man. Are you out for a spin too? Want to see who's faster?"

"What? And who are you?" Tony looked utterly baffled.

"What's wrong? Don't have confidence in your armor?" Harry's glider circled Tony, brazenly showing off its speed!

"You think I'd lose?" Tony didn't think Harry meant any harm, and his attention shifted to Harry's challenge. "First one to Lake George wins!"

"No problem!" As he spoke, Harry instantly pushed the glider's power to maximum. A tremendous roar echoed through the outskirts of New York!

The sonic boom threw Tony off course, even blowing him into several rolls through the air.

"Jarvis, activate supersonic flight mode!"

"But sir, the calibration has not yet—"

"I said activate it!"

Boom!

A second sonic boom rang out as Tony chased after him, refusing to be outdone!

"Jarvis, I want to talk to him!"

"Yes, sir. A radio signal has been detected. Connected."

"Who are you? I've never heard of anyone having this kind of technology!" Tony's voice came through Harry's communicator.

"I've never heard of anyone building flying steel armor either, Mr. Iron Man. Don't tell me you're worried about losing, so you're deliberately trying to interfere with me?"

"This isn't even my maximum power—"

Before Tony could finish, Harry increased the power again!

"Neither is this mine!" Harry laughed as he once again overtook Tony.

"Damn it! Jarvis, I want to catch that kid!"

"But sir, the other party's speed seems to exceed the safety limit you set—"

"Accelerate!"

But Tony discovered that he really seemed unable to catch Harry!

In terms of speed, he really couldn't match this kid who had appeared out of nowhere!

"Greenie, I think we should change the direction of the competition..."

"What? You're admitting defeat?"

"I mean we should change directions! Let's see who can fly higher!"

Harry laughed—judging by Tony's excited expression, this had to be his first test flight. He still hadn't solved the icing problem!

"Then I'll win this round, the second round!" With a boom, Harry shot into the sky.

Watching Harry fly upward, Tony shouted, "That was a false start!"

After flying for a while, a thick layer of ice formed over Harry first, but his armor had long been prepared for it!

His Flying Vehicle had been prepared as well. Its outer armor plating began spinning at high speed, grinding away the ice on its surface as a burst of hot air vented from within, easily resolving the icing issue!

Tony, on the other hand, was not doing so well. His flight path gradually turned into a free fall—

"Jarvis? We need to deploy the auxiliary wings. Jarvis?"

"Second round, Mr. Iron Man. You lost again." Harry tapped the metal can, producing a crisp clang.

Since both of them had slowed down, Harry no longer communicated over the radio—after all, the Mark armor had stopped functioning too.

Harry circled Tony a few times, even spreading his hands before tapping Tony's tin-can helmet to show that the ice had not affected him in the slightest.

Tony inside the can seemed to be saying something, but Harry couldn't hear him. He waved at him, then turned and flew back home.

The contest in the outskirts of New York ended with Harry's victory, and naturally, he was in an excellent mood.

As for Tony, although losing did not feel great, seeing someone else in the sky gave him the strange feeling that he had found a kindred spirit.

Landing on his luxury car, he smiled and shook his head amid the dry powder sprayed by the robotic arm, Little Dumb. Maybe the TV had been right—perhaps he really did have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bang.

Harry jumped off the Flying Vehicle and saw Heli still standing where she was, arms folded as she paced back and forth.

But before Heli could say anything, Harry carried her into the bedroom amid her screams.

"Today really was a wonderful day. I'm sure you won't say anything, right?"

"We should go on vacation or something."

Lying in bed, Harry suddenly said this.

There was nothing much going on right now anyway, so he might as well take Heli somewhere to relax for a few days.

"Obadiah invited you to a fundraising event where Tony Stark will present a grant to the Firefighters' Home."

Harry looked at Heli until she found it a little strange.

"What is it? Are you going or not?"

"I'm going... but could you not talk about work in this kind of atmosphere? It's not conducive to the harmonious development of male-female relations."

"Huh?"

Heli found Harry's way of thinking rather hard to understand—in her view, work was very important.