Battle

"Remember, just hold him off as long as you can. Once you pass through the portal, leave the rest to me."

On the way, Feeney explained the plan to Tony. If the other side equipped the armor, Tony would take the lead while he opened a portal from behind. Once they teleported to the battlefield, the real fight would begin.

"You have so little faith in me!?" Tony was somewhat dissatisfied with Feeney's arrangement. He didn't think he was inferior to Obadiah, but after considering their safety, he ultimately agreed to the plan. Still, he refused to admit defeat. "The creator of the Iron Armor is on your side, you know."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Feeney responded perfunctorily. In truth, given Tony's current condition, he really had the strength to fight Iron Monger. Although his Arc Reactor was only a first-generation model, it had still been fully charged during the time they had spent at home.

With the Mark II's advantages in agility and technology, Tony might not be able to crush Iron Monger, but holding his own against him shouldn't be a problem.

The two barged their way into the facility. There wasn't much difference between opening doors with an access card and having Tony smash straight through them, so there was no need to hide.

Just as they had expected, after obtaining the Arc Reactor, Obadiah hadn't immediately had anyone study and replicate its technology. Instead, he had first gone to test whether it was suitable for Iron Monger.

After all, the Arc Reactor's technology already existed. It only needed to be miniaturized. But making it suitable for the Iron Man Armor was the most important thing.

Thus, as soon as they entered the factory, they immediately saw Iron Monger, several times taller than the Mark II and looking somewhat bloated.

"Ugly!"

To Tony, Iron Monger was like a toy stolen from a child. He grumbled under his breath, "It's insulting my technology. Even my Mark I looks several times better than it."

"Stop it. He modified it based on the Mark I's blueprints, okay?" Feeney ruthlessly exposed him from the side.

"That just means he removed all the good parts."

When it came to talking tough, Tony rarely admitted defeat.

Now that they had finally found their target, both of them relaxed. They even had the leisure to joke around.

Their bickering also alerted Obadiah, who was testing the armor. His arrogant voice rang out from within the enormous armor. "Tony, I didn't expect you to still be alive. Did Pepper save you? Actually, you should have stayed there and found release. Look at this—it's far stronger than your little toy."

"No. Aside from being much uglier than me, you're probably inferior in every other aspect!" Tony's personality meant he would never follow the rules. He had actually started arguing with Obadiah.

Fortunately, Obadiah wasn't that incompetent. Facing Feeney and Tony, he clearly knew they hadn't come to chat.

"Tony, you shouldn't have appeared here. Is this the helper you found?" Obadiah glanced at the silent Feeney and continued, "Tony, today I'll teach you that you can't be the best at everything."

"You improved your technology, and I improved mine. I'm stronger than you, and I'm more powerful."

With that, he charged over in huge strides, leaving Tony to complain to Feeney, "He improved my technology too, you know. And he completely weakened it."

"Stop talking. He's coming."

Although Possessed by Evil Spirit focused on defense, Feeney had no interest in taking hits. The moment Obadiah approached, he used Soaring Skill to rise into the air and retreat, preparing to open a portal.

"It's already past quitting time. There shouldn't be anyone here. Let me compare myself with him first. Open your little fire door afterward."

Tony was indeed still Tony Stark. His arrogant personality had disrupted Feeney's battle plan. He insisted on comparing himself with Obadiah, perhaps to prove that he was still the best.

Feeney gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Tony, who had also charged forward, then reluctantly lowered his hands.

He still wasn't skilled enough with portals to control their positions freely. Given Iron Monger's size, opening a large enough portal was already troublesome. Without Tony holding him back, getting Iron Monger to jump into it wouldn't be easy.

Looking down at the battle between the two Iron Men, Feeney felt somewhat bored. He wondered whether he should join in, but after agonizing over it for a while, he gave up on the idea.

At the same time, he secretly decided that he would never fight alongside Tony again.

If it weren't for farming more experience and getting all eighty-five sets of the Mark Series armor in the future, why would I keep making myself available at a moment's notice? Feeney thought silently.

As time passed, the battle intensified, and the commotion grew louder. After all, they were both using modern weapons. Bombs, machine guns, and Energy Cannons—none of them had low destructive power.

That was also why Feeney didn't want to join in. It was easier to dodge when only one person was fighting, but with two people involved, it was easy to get hit by mistake.

"Tony!"

Seeing the battle grow more and more intense, Feeney frowned and shouted at Tony, warning him that they couldn't continue like this.

Hearing Feeney's call, and realizing that he still hadn't taken down Iron Monger, Tony stopped being stubborn. He turned and prepared to return to Feeney's side so they could proceed according to plan.

Obadiah, however, misunderstood Tony's actions. He thought Tony was trying to escape. After the battle just now, he had to admit that his carefully improved Iron Monger wasn't much stronger than Tony. At the very least, it was inferior in agility.

This put Obadiah in a terrible mood. He regretted not killing Tony outright earlier, and his resolve not to let Tony escape grew even stronger.

"Tony, I built this company from nothing. I absolutely can't stand by and watch you destroy it. You must die here today."

Obadiah fired every weapon mounted on his body. Bombs of all kinds shot toward Tony, making Feeney's scalp prickle. Without a word, he quickly rose into the air and retreated from the area.

Faced with such a barrage, Tony was clearly startled as well. Seeing Feeney abandon his teammate without hesitation, he cursed him inwardly. With no time to think, he hurriedly searched for cover.

"Boom!"

Flames shot into the sky. The explosion was so violent that it nearly shook all of New York, let alone the bustling district of Manhattan.

There was never any shortage of people who courted death in this world. And when the person involved was the hugely newsworthy Stark, the reporters stationed nearby quickly noticed the commotion and rushed over without a second thought.

The protective zone, already damaged by the two of them, could no longer stop these resourceful reporters. As a result, they discovered Tony and Obadiah locked in a fierce battle.

When ordinary people saw a battlefield filled with explosions, their first thought was generally to run away. But how many reporters were ordinary people? Their first reaction was excitement at having found a huge scoop.

Because they were wearing armor, the two of them weren't recognized. That didn't stop the reporters from realizing that they definitely belonged to Stark Industries. They also believed this would bring Stark Industries—whose recent popularity had begun to fade—back to the headlines.

For money and the news, the reporters actually began a live broadcast right there, leaving Feeney dumbfounded when he returned to the battlefield.

"Seriously..."

Feeney didn't know how to judge them. Should he call them dedicated, or would saying they had no regard for their lives be more appropriate?

Before arriving, Feeney had thought that with his involvement this time, perhaps Tony's identity wouldn't be exposed. But plans could never keep up with changes. Who could have expected things to turn out like this?

Or perhaps, given Tony's flashy personality, it had always only been a matter of time before the public learned that he was Iron Man?