Jet Glider

"Welcome home, Master Leon. I'm so glad you're safe."

After entering with facial recognition, JARVIS immediately greeted Leon. His tone carried a hint of excitement, as though he had already developed some degree of human emotion.

"JARVIS, how long has it been since Tony's accident?"

"Master Leon, it is now the eighty-fifth night."

"What?"

"It has already been eighty-five days!"

Leon immediately felt the pressure of time.

In the original story, roughly three months passed between Tony's kidnapping and escape. But the movie never made it clear whether it was a little over three months or just under three.

The Ten Rings had accepted Obadiah's commission to assassinate Tony, but they changed their minds at the last minute. They wanted Tony to build Jericho Missiles for them so they could fulfill their ambition of ruling the world.

The Ten Rings secretly saved Tony, who had been incredibly fortunate not to die in the missile blast, then imprisoned him in a cave.

They gave him only seven days to build a Jericho Missile using the raw materials provided by the Ten Rings.

But Tony openly built a road while secretly crossing the river, using the materials supplied by the Ten Rings to cobble together the Iron Man Mark One Armor, "Mark One," and successfully escape.

Only Ho Yinsen, the scientist who had saved Tony, remained in that cave forever in order to cover Tony while he put on the armor.

This was the beginning of the movie Iron Man 1, the film that brought Marvel back from the dead.

Yinsen's sacrifice

created the future Iron Man.

Though Tony theoretically wasn't likely to die yet, people died when they were killed.

After all, an anomaly like Leon had already appeared. There was no telling whether the plot might develop other uncontrollable variables.

And Leon wanted to save Yinsen as well—the man who could be called Tony's life mentor, the one who had turned him back from the wrong path.

With him assisting Tony, Leon figured his own life would become much more comfortable. He would not have to worry about anything and could devote himself wholeheartedly to the education business.

After unlocking the door with his fingerprint and password, Leon took the elevator down to the laboratory and parking garage where Tony usually tinkered with machinery. Leon jokingly called the place "Tony's Wonderful Workshop."

He looked around but failed to find his target, so he asked, "JARVIS, can the Jet Glider move now?"

"Master Leon, the Jet Glider has remained on standby. However, its design is incomplete, and it places enormous strain on its rider. Without Mr. Stark's permission, I cannot activate it for you."

"Come on, JARVIS. At a time like this, you need to be a little flexible about principles. You have to know how to adapt."

"Master Leon, I am not human. I am merely an artificial intelligence created by Mr. Stark, and I can only operate according to the programs he set."

"But in my eyes, you're family."

"..."

JARVIS fell silent for a moment. Beside Leon, a hidden elevator leading to the underground test garage slowly opened from within the wall.

Seeing that, Leon curled his lips into a smile and took the elevator deeper underground. But when he stepped out, he was blocked by an incredibly thick blastproof alloy door, the same kind used for bank vaults.

"Master Leon, this is as far as I can help you."

"Without Mr. Stark present, I cannot open this door."

"It's fine, JARVIS. You've already helped a lot."

Boom—

Leon grinned.

A fully charged punch slammed into the metal door. He found that it could only leave a tiny dent, while the surrounding walls shook twice and flecks of debris fell onto his shoulders.

If he had more time, Leon figured he could probably blow the door apart with his bare hands. But that would be too slow.

The Chest Cannon might be able to blast it apart in a short time, but the resulting damage could destroy what was inside—or even the entire villa.

"According to Mr. Stark, this metal door can fully withstand the impact of a nuclear explosion. It would be difficult to destroy it through physical means."

The moment JARVIS finished speaking,

a deafening bang rang out as Leon used the shield in his hand to smash through the reinforced concrete wall beside the metal door, which was a full meter thick.

"..."

JARVIS instantly fell silent.

Leon shook the shield in his hand and laughed. "This damn door is tougher than the wall. Doesn't that make the wall the door instead? Big bro still isn't professional enough."

"JARVIS, this is what I meant by adapting."

"When he gets back, remember to remind him to replace the wall material too. It's way too brittle. Who could it stop?"

After showing off a little, Leon bent down and passed through the "door" he had smashed open, entering the "garage" Tony had specially built for him.

The interior was not large, roughly shaped like a section of a cylinder. Various manufacturing and modification tools hung from the curved walls.

The floor was covered in metal plates, occupying an area of around one hundred square meters and standing four meters high. It seemed as if this entire space had been forcibly carved out of the rock wall.

The most eye-catching thing was the enormous motorcycle-like machine parked quietly in the center of the garage. It was even larger than an ordinary family sedan.

It was an idea Leon had once dreamed of, and afterward he had relentlessly pestered Tony, that Doraemon-like genius, to use his earth-shattering intellect to recreate it.

"Hehehe~"

Leon lovingly stroked the cold metal shell of the enormous motorcycle called the "Jet Sliger," while JARVIS began its introduction.

"Based on Master Leon's wildly imaginative dream design, Mr. Stark equipped the Jet Sliger with multiple prototype Arc Reactor thrusters on both sides of its body and at its rear."

"Combined with the omnidirectional wheel hubs Mr. Stark specifically developed for this motorcycle, the Jet Sliger possesses maneuverability far beyond that of conventional motorcycles."

"It can perform all kinds of unconventional maneuvers, including but not limited to self-rotation, lateral drifting, and low-altitude hovering."

"At the same time, Mr. Stark also installed an additional diving module, truly allowing it to operate across sea, land, and air."

"Its maximum underwater speed is one hundred kilometers per hour, its maximum surface speed is six hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, its maximum land speed is one thousand three hundred kilometers per hour, and its maximum air speed is two thousand five hundred kilometers per hour."

"The entire motorcycle is electrically powered. Its energy cell is a Medium Arc Reactor. Without accounting for mechanical component wear or engine heat dissipation, it can cruise continuously at maximum power for one week on a full charge."

"Wait, a Medium Arc Reactor?" Leon raised a brow and cursed with a grin. "Tony, that damned liar!"

"I asked him before to shrink the Arc Reactor down and use it as a power source. He kept saying things like, 'It can't be done. No matter how I think about it, it can't be done. That technology is far too advanced.' So he had already finished it."

"Master Leon, Mr. Stark completed the design and manufacture of the Medium Arc Reactor the day after you proposed the concept of 'shrinking the Arc Reactor.'"

JARVIS reminded him.

Leon fell silent at once. He would be lying if he said he wasn't moved.

Tony truly was a damned genius.

"JARVIS, start it."

Leon stored the shield back into the system space, then sat atop the Jet Sliger.

JARVIS said nothing about the shield equipped on Leon's arm vanishing into thin air. Instead, he repeatedly warned him:

"Master Leon, the Jet Sliger's design is incomplete. The pressure exerted on its rider during acceleration and turns is more than three times that experienced by a fighter pilot. An ordinary person simply cannot withstand it."

"Do I look ordinary to you?"

"Hurry up!"

Leon urged him. Time waited for no one.

"As you wish, Master Leon."

Seeing that Leon had made up his mind—and remembering the superhuman physical display of Leon smashing apart a wall with one shield strike—JARVIS stopped trying to persuade him.

Accompanied by a roar like a fighter jet taking off, the Jet Sliger's display and engine started simultaneously.

The metal floor beneath it separated into a circular section six meters in diameter. Carrying the Jet Sliger, it slowly rotated downward and entered the launch track.

At the same time.

Somewhere beneath the cliff that formed the foundation of the Seaside Villa.

Rumble!

The rock wall split open to both sides.

A glowing metal track filled with futuristic flair was immediately revealed behind it.

Whoosh—

A pitch-black rocket invisible to the naked eye shot out from within, streaking at extreme speed through the air above the Pacific Ocean toward Afghanistan.

It was the Jet Sliger carrying Leon.

"JARVIS, I'll leave the driving and customs issues to you."

"It is my honor to serve you, Master Leon."