"Tony could build an Arc Reactor out of junk in a cave. What gives you the right to say you can't even replicate it?!" Obadiah stared at the huddled engineers before him, his roar deafening.
The lead engineer stammered, "Sir, we're not Tony. He's a genius..."
"Shut up! I want results, not excuses!"
Obadiah's anger kept mounting. He was ready to fire the chief engineer on the spot.
"Mr. Obadiah, looks like I arrived just in time." A voice came from the laboratory entrance.
Obadiah whipped around and saw Fu Haoran enter with a disheveled middle-aged man.
The man had tousled blond hair, oil-stained work pants, and a contemptuous, appraising look in his eyes.
"Who is he?" Seeing the group Fu Haoran had brought with him, Obadiah forced down his temper and asked.
Fu Haoran ignored Obadiah's resentful little stare, stepped aside, and introduced him. "You should know him. One of the founders of Stark Industries, and the son of Anton Vanko—Ivan Vanko."
Obadiah's confusion gave way to shock.
He was an old hand at Stark Industries. He knew all too well what the name "Vanko" meant.
Howard Stark's partner, co-designer of the Arc Reactor, later expelled from the country as a... traitor?
Obadiah stared at Ivan. "You can really build one?"
Ivan gave a crooked smile, a toothpick clenched between his teeth. Then he pulled out an object: an Arc Reactor.
The moment Obadiah saw the Arc Reactor in Ivan's hand, his eyes lit up frighteningly.
Power Armour could help him take down Tony, but the Arc Reactor could let him control the entire new-energy market. Its commercial value was greater than that of ten thousand suits of armour.
He fought the urge to rush forward and snatch it, his gaze fixed on Ivan with naked greed.
Fu Haoran walked up to Ivan and studied the reactor for a few seconds. "Your reactor technology is decent, but its cycle rate per second is too low. Double the speed, and you can increase the energy output by sixty percent."
Ivan froze. He was about to argue, but quickly ran the calculations in his head. His expression changed at once, and he clenched the toothpick between his teeth.
He had to admit that Fu Haoran was right.
At the same time, he grew even warier of Fu Haoran.
He spotted the core flaw at a glance? Either this Asian man's technical skills are far superior to mine, or he's been watching my every move!
Both possibilities sent a chill down Ivan's spine.
Ivan didn't know that Fu Haoran had merely borrowed Tony's line from the original story to point out the problem.
Fu Haoran stopped paying attention to him and turned to Obadiah. "Mr. Stane, the sample is finished as agreed. You can arrange to test it. If there's nothing else, we have work to do."
"Work?" Ivan frowned, his tone displeased. "Shouldn't we go settle the score with Tony now?"
Fu Haoran looked up at him as if he were an idiot. "And how do you plan to do that? Walk up to Tony, show him your weapons, and challenge him to a duel?"
"Beat him up and embarrass him? That all?"
"Believe me, you'll just end up behind bars." Fu Haoran's tone was calm. "Then Tony will smile and say, 'Nice knockoff. Where'd you steal the technology?'"
"If that's the revenge you want, I can have Mr. Stane take you there right now."
Ivan's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
That was exactly what he had planned: find a public place and challenge Tony to a duel.
If he defeated Tony, he could prove he was the better man.
But after Fu Haoran pointed out the flaw in his plan, he wasn't so sure anymore.
"What do you suggest, then?" Ivan asked through clenched teeth.
"If you're going to win, make it count." Fu Haoran spoke with confidence.
"Given Tony's personality, he'll definitely be working on a new suit before long. Then he'll show it off during a test."
"When he screws up, we'll beat him to the announcement: you, Ivan Vanko, are the real Iron Man."
"He'll come looking for you. Then you can beat him head-on in front of the public."
Fu Haoran paused, then uttered five words: "To kill, strike at the heart."
Ivan's eyes lit up.
"Exactly! Whoever wins gets to be Iron Man!"
He knew Tony too well. Dragging that playboy off his pedestal in front of the whole world would hurt more than killing him.
"Fine." Ivan nodded, vengeance burning in his eyes.
Fu Haoran turned to Obadiah and gave him instructions. "Mr. Stane, I need you to go to Tony's house and get one of Howard Stark's belongings."
"A city-planning model."
Obadiah frowned. "What use is that piece of junk?"
"It contains the core supplementary technology for the Arc Reactor," Fu Haoran explained. "Howard couldn't build it back then because he didn't have the right materials."
Hearing that it was connected to the Arc Reactor, Obadiah agreed without hesitation.
Over the next few days, everything proceeded according to plan.
Ivan stopped making sarcastic remarks and devoted himself to modifying the armour. The structural improvements he suggested were all highly constructive.
"We should install AI systems in all the suits to improve control efficiency." Ivan held up a blueprint and spoke to Fu Haoran. "Machines are more reliable than people."
"No." Fu Haoran rejected the idea outright, crossing out the AI module on the drawing with his fingertip.
"Why?" Ivan frowned.
"I don't trust AI. I trust my own flesh and blood more." Fu Haoran said it with a straight face, though he knew that in the original story, Ivan had used AI to control all the robots. That was a pitfall they couldn't afford to fall into.
Of course, Fu Haoran wasn't too worried about the control of a certain Blue Bird.
After all, didn't the T'au next door use AI just fine?
Thinking of that, Fu Haoran relented a little. "We can have an AI-assisted system, but it can only handle data calculations. It can't make decisions."
Ivan wanted to argue, but seeing that Fu Haoran wouldn't budge, he had to let it go.
Before long, an assistant entered the laboratory carrying an exquisite city model. "Mr. Stane, Mr. Fu, I got it."
"What use could a toy like that be?" Ivan came over, curiosity written all over his face.
Fu Haoran didn't explain. He gestured for his men to put the model on the scanning platform.
A laser swept over the model. Data raced across the computer screen, eventually coalescing into an entirely new element structure, its light pure and stable.
The toothpick fell from Ivan's mouth and hit the floor. His eyes widened as he stared at the screen in a daze. "Th-this is a new element? It's more than ten times as stable as palladium!"
"Did Howard discover it?" he asked, turning to Fu Haoran.
"No." Fu Haoran shook his head. "He copied it."
Disdain immediately showed on Ivan's face. "Figures. He was a plagiarist through and through."
"Mr. Ivan, we need to use this New Element to build a new Arc Reactor," Fu Haoran ordered. "Its output has to be powerful enough to run all the laser weapon systems in the armour."
The new work moved forward at a breakneck pace. On the surface, the three parties worked together seamlessly, but each had their own agenda.
Obadiah stood to the side, watching the two reach an agreement. A faint, knowing smile played at the corners of his mouth.
To him, Ivan was the blade he'd use against Tony, and Fu Haoran was the craftsman forging it. Once Tony was dead and Obadiah controlled Stark Industries, neither man would be of any use. Then all the results would belong to him.
"I need you to make sure they're watched. Back up every technical drawing!" He leaned toward his assistant and murmured the order, his eyes glinting darkly.
Ivan Vanko slumped in his chair, exhaustion replaced by a pathological excitement.
"Defeating Tony is only the first step. I want to erase the name Stark from its pedestal in front of the whole world and replace it with Vanko."
"Tony's suffering and the shame of the Stark Family will be the finest offering to my father."
Fu Haoran took in both men's expressions, feeling nothing.
Fu Haoran gestured toward the hovering Servo-Skull. It flickered faintly and spoke in a hushed electronic voice. "Core data backed up, including the New Element structure and armour optimization parameters."
Fu Haoran was doing all this simply to use Obadiah's resources and Ivan's expertise to complete the core data for the Arc Reactor and Power Armour.
"Phase one is to use Stark Industries' platform to master the core technology of the Arc Reactor and Power Armour, then package it all up and take it back to the Warhammer World. At the same time, I'll profit from the chaos and maximize my gains."
"Every piece of technology I master here gives me one more chance to survive when I return."
"But this alone won't change the worldline by much. I can't set my sights on just one Iron Suit. I need a far more ambitious goal."
Suddenly, Fu Haoran saw a news story on his phone about the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division increasing its budget. A bold, crazy plan sprang to mind.
"If I can steal those three Helicarriers, will the Reincarnator world give me an even greater reward?!"
Thinking of that, Fu Haoran couldn't help looking toward Obadiah.
"Looks like it's time for this generous partner to contribute a little more toward my real goal."
Before you continue