Before the Final Battle

Genius was merely the threshold for seeing Tony's level. That had never been an empty phrase. Even the Mark One that Tony had considered junk and discarded in the Middle East desert was practically an incomprehensible tome to Obadiah's experts.

All they could do was repair and refine Tony's original technology as much as possible. At best, they could only replace the original parts with better materials and components.

As for changing it, apart from adding some externally mounted weapons, there were basically no major alterations. They had even forcibly enlarged the armor from a one-man size to Hulk's size.

Bulky and slow were the defining traits of the mech these people had butchered together. If it had any praiseworthy advantage, it was probably the defense they had accidentally created by mindlessly piling on materials.

But that was not what left them most despairing. What truly drove them to despair was that, even now, they had been unable to solve the energy problem.

Tony's Arc Reactor might have only been a downsized version of the standard model, but for these people, even with Obadiah throwing them the Arc Reactor blueprints, they still could not shrink it.

At the same time, Tony had completed the test flight of his armor. After discovering the icing issue, he made improvements, and the official Mark Two appeared in Tony's garage.

To test the Mark Two's capabilities, Tony flew to the Middle East for some real combat, and while he was at it, he went to see Yinsen.

Naturally, the part where he was chased by fighter jets like a stray dog was not left out either. Rhodes chewed Tony out over the phone afterward and made him compensate for two brand-new F-35 fighter jets.

Such a huge commotion naturally did not escape the notice of those at the top, nor did it escape Pepper's eyes.

Watching Tony stand on the work platform in a suit of steel armor while mechanical arms helped remove it, Pepper finally understood what Tony had been busy with lately.

Pepper was furious and gave Tony a thorough scolding.

All she wanted was peace and stability, and Tony's attempt to play hero had made her worry.

Of course, Pepper ultimately let Tony off after hearing what he had to say. As Tony himself put it, wearing the armor was about taking responsibility, and that did not conflict with giving Pepper a stable life.

Their relationship warmed once again at that moment. Only Doro was exceptionally curious about Tony's armor. Once Tony removed it, Doro crawled straight into the hollow suit and scurried around inside.

As a result, the originally mighty and imposing armor put on a bizarre dance in front of Tony and Pepper because Doro was crawling around inside it.

Pepper laughed so hard she could barely contain herself. One second ago, she had watched Tony remove the armor; the next, this armor that had just returned from the battlefield began dancing in such strange and hilarious steps. Nobody could have kept a straight face.

Tony was the complete opposite. Watching Doro turn his armor into a comedic prop through sheer mischief, Tony said to JARVIS with a nearly black face.

"JARVIS, have the mechanical arms restrain the armor. And make a note: the next generation of armor must have an authentication process. If anyone other than me operates it, the armor locks down immediately!"

"Yes, sir."

JARVIS responded and controlled the mechanical arms in an attempt to restrain the dancing armor. Yet somehow, within that normally cold and emotionless mechanical voice, there always seemed to be a trace of schadenfreude.

That only made Pepper laugh even harder.

After a round of fooling around, Pepper was ultimately the one who stopped Doro from causing chaos everywhere. Laughing, she took Doro away to bathe and rest.

Just after Pepper left, a pink door appeared before Tony. Naturally, Tony recognized whose door it was, since Pepper had one exactly like it.

Sure enough, Sherlock stepped out through the door the next second.

"Why are you back?"

The moment Tony saw Sherlock, he asked in a somewhat stiff tone.

Hearing that, Sherlock was a little speechless. Clearly, this tsundere was still hung up over their previous argument about Obadiah.

More importantly, damn it, you already made a move against Obadiah yourself, so what are you putting on an act with me for?

Sherlock nearly rolled his eyes into the sky. Irritated, he tossed the things he had gathered into Tony's arms and told Tony to look through them himself, while Sherlock ran over to inspect Tony's completed Mark Two.

Honestly, the Mark armor had already looked incredibly cool in the movie, but seeing the real thing with his own eyes made Sherlock's collector's instincts stir.

His desire to add it to his collection was practically bursting at the seams.

The more Tony read the documents, the deeper his frown became. When he inadvertently looked up at Sherlock, he found him staring at his armor and practically drooling. Tony immediately grumbled irritably.

"Stop staring at my armor! If you like it, I can give you the prototype!"

Hearing that, Sherlock immediately turned toward Tony, his eyes sparkling.

"Deal!"

Tony helplessly shook his head at Sherlock's response and returned his attention to the documents in his hands. After a long while, he finally closed them and asked Sherlock.

"Sherlock, can you guarantee that these documents are authentic?"

Sherlock nodded without the slightest hesitation and said to Tony.

"Of course. The facts prove that Obadiah was the murderer of my parents! Tony, for your sake, I have not made a move against Obadiah immediately.

"But likewise, if Obadiah disregards your friendship and makes a move against you, I will kill Obadiah without hesitation. I hope you will not step forward to stop me then!"

Tony fell silent after hearing Sherlock's words, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Sherlock did not care about Tony's expression. He simply tossed Tony something that looked like a button and said.

"A distress beacon. You should carry it with you."

Perhaps the distress beacon in his hand shifted Tony's thoughts. He directly skipped over the subject of Obadiah, put on an arrogant expression, and pointed at the armor behind Sherlock.

"You think I'll need this thing?"

But Sherlock merely glanced at Tony before heading upstairs to check on Doro. As for Tony's retort, Sherlock answered as if he were casually speaking without much thought.

"Who knows? I just have a feeling Obadiah will make a move against you very soon."

As Sherlock's words fell, he disappeared from the underground garage, leaving Tony alone staring at the distress beacon in his hand, unsure what to say.