The Birth of Iron Man

Since Harry was already here, he certainly wasn't going to let Obadiah get back up and then let Stark blow up his own reactor.

He was about to take a controlling stake in Stark Industries—a dip was good for his entry price, but any further drop would make investors question Harry's decision-making.

Thud.

Harry tossed the drained Tony onto the ground, holding a strange rod in his hand as he inserted it into a gap in Obadiah's armor.

"What's that?" Tony asked.

Jarvis told him it was a material he'd never seen before.

Completing the New York City Power Grid quest had given Harry two rewards: one was Leining, and the other was a superconducting material.

This rod was the Conductive Rod Harry had made using that superconducting material.

"Remember the Lunge Mine that blew you up? This thing could be called a 'Lunge Mine' too."

Click.

Obadiah seemed to have been waiting for just such an opportunity, raising his hand to grab Harry—but in an instant, electricity surged into his armor, destroying every circuit inside the suit!

"How is this possible..." Obadiah's face was full of disbelief. If any random stun gun could disable his armor, then what had he even been building?

A simple stun gun naturally couldn't disable the armor, but a living Electric Lifeform could.

There was another reason Harry used Leining to disable the suit: he needed Leining to copy the armor's internal structure, preparing for his own suit upgrade.

After all, Tony wasn't about to hand over the Iron Man suit's technology.

Now, this suit had become an iron coffin.

"Nice suit. Let's see how many years this gets you." Harry withdrew the electric rod.

"Done." Harry pulled back the rod. "You can have someone deal with him now, but I suggest you keep this thing safe."

"You don't have to tell me that." After a moment's hesitation, Tony continued. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I'm about to take a controlling stake in Stark Industries anyway—just giving you a heads-up."

"What?" Tony was stunned.

Obadiah's crimes this time were no small matter—selling weapons to militants, privately developing high-lethality weapons and using them in the city, causing massive economic damage, and so on.

And he had plenty of accomplices.

If Tony had solved this problem alone, he would have taken full control of Stark Industries, just like in the movie.

But now Harry had shown up halfway through.

Harry wasn't some nobody. With this incident, plenty of people would support him taking a controlling stake in Stark Industries.

"Don't worry, it's just temporary control." Harry patted Tony's armor. "If I wanted, I could even start acquiring Stark Industries outright. As long as I nod to take over the military contracts you're vacating, they'd agree."

"But under normal circumstances, I won't interfere with your company or your affairs."

As for the controlling stake, it was only relative control. Once Tony returned to Stark Industries' management and dealt with Obadiah's mess, he could still achieve absolute control over the company.

All Harry wanted was to get a foot in the door at Stark Industries—driving Tony away wouldn't do him any good.

"Overall, it's pretty much the same as your relationship with Obadiah before, except I basically won't meddle in your business."

As he spoke, Harry pulled out an Arc Reactor, identical in specs to the one in Tony's chest.

Tony didn't take the reactor Harry handed him right away. Instead, he stared straight into Harry's eyes, refusing to accept the item even as discomfort spread through his chest.

The discomfort in his chest eventually turned into a crushing pressure. His face grew pale, and he seemed utterly powerless before Harry.

After a moment—perhaps he'd heard some other news, or maybe he'd just thought it through—Tony looked away and took the reactor.

"I'm starting to get a clearer picture of what you're thinking." Tony turned his back to swap in the reactor. "You want to be the driver, but I'll be watching you. The moment I sense something wrong, I'll grab your steering wheel."

Harry smiled. As long as Tony relented, this incident was a massive win for him.

If this had been Tony a few years down the line, he wouldn't have been so easy to handle.

After all, the two leaders who sparked the Civil War were both a bit paranoid in their own ways.

"Of course, oversight is welcome. Don't forget the AI you promised to hand over."

"Not staying for a meal? By the way, why didn't your secretary come with you?"

"Don't you dare go after her!"

Ignoring Tony's invitation, Harry flew straight into the night sky.

"Eighteen years old... I feel like he's fifty-eight." Tony sat down on the rubble.

"Sir, based on these few interactions, Mr. Osborn's psychological age is indeed well beyond eighteen," Jarvis said.

"Tony!"

It was Pepper, who had found the place with her people.

Looking at the Power Armor behind Pepper, with the Osborn Group logo clearly displayed, Tony sighed.

The whole incident ended with Tony's classic declaration:

"I am Iron Man."

The event came to a perfect close.

But this time, there was still one unsolved mystery surrounding Iron Man's first public appearance.

Some witnesses claimed there was another participant on the scene, one who flew much faster than Iron Man and Obadiah. Many speculated that this person played a crucial role in the incident.

In response, Tony's pride drove him to suppress Harry's involvement, and Harry, of course, wasn't about to step forward and argue.

"Actually, that was just a method I used to... subdue the counterfeit."

"Some say it was Harry Osborn. Do you agree with that claim?"

"That 18-year-old kid? He's smart, but do you really think their clunky Power Armor can compare to this?" Tony tapped his phone, projecting an image of Iron Man in all his glory. "His Power Armor can't even fly!"

"Still, he's got potential. I heard his father is running for Governor..."

On the television, Tony held court before a forest of microphones and cameras.

"How did you convince him? What exactly did you do?" Heli pestered Harry every day like a curious child.

She seemed to have already accepted that Harry would occasionally ride the Green Goblin glider to do things.

After all, when Harry came back, he hadn't even broken a sweat, still full of energy—nothing about him suggested he'd been in any danger.

"Just did a little bit of work. Besides, geniuses naturally appreciate each other. Don't overreact."

"I just took the glider to observe Stark Industries' latest tech, gave some pointers to the local Power Armor unit, and that's really all I did."

Unlike Tony, who loved being the center of attention, Harry preferred the feeling of being shrouded in mystery.

Yes, it was obvious he was the one behind it, but he just wouldn't say it, wouldn't admit it.

Just for fun.

And lately, Harry had found that Heli's puffed-cheek glare was rather cute. Compared to Western faces, Harry felt Heli's more Eastern features were far more appealing.

"How's the election going?"

Heli, still sulking, could only return to work mode.

"You could say it's already over."

A mere gubernatorial election—the result was a landslide.

Both officials and the public wanted Norman Osborn in office.

He even ranked first in the survey asking, "Who would you vote for as the next president?" with Tony Stark in second.

Somewhat absurd, but that was the reality.

Norman would officially take office next week. He needed to take another look at his grand blueprint.