Help Me, 200 Million!

"Remaining power: 2%. Activating emergency backup power."

Unable to move after stalling out, Iron Monger, encased in a thick shell of ice, plummeted toward the brightly lit city of New York in the distance.

The flames around Tony's hands and feet suddenly died out, and the heavy weight of the steel armor dragged Tony Stark down as well...

The difference was that Tony still had some backup power. Once he reached a certain speed, he could briefly activate the thrusters to cushion his fall.

By the time Tony neared the rooftop of the Stark Research Workshop, his power could no longer provide any more cushioning.

Clang~

After tripping over an iron pipe, Tony crashed miserably onto the roof—face-planting yet again.

Su Ming, whose gaze had remained fixed on Tony, watched him descend in fits and starts before lightly landing on a nearby rooftop ledge.

Seeing Tony wipe out again, he greeted him with a smile.

"Tony~ How did that feel?"

Tony casually waved a hand, and the armor on his hand fell away. He was preparing to remove this low-power suit.

Whew~ After falling from that height, Obie was probably dead for sure!

After letting out a long breath, he said, "Mr. Crimson Silver Baron, looks like I can handle everything just fine without your help..."

Su Ming's Spider-Sense had already detected Iron Monger climbing up the building beneath them. He shook his head with an amused laugh.

"Tony, don't celebrate too soon~

Like I said, you can still get a 1% discount if you place an order now~"

Tony, who thought he had taken care of Iron Monger, grumbled inwardly.

A 1% discount counts as what kind of deal? And you've got the nerve to say it.

I need to find a chance to ask what exactly he's thinking. Why is Obie's price higher than mine?

"Place an order? Impossible! Not in this lifetime..."

Before Tony could finish speaking, a massive figure suddenly appeared behind him. A steel fist howled straight toward his face...

Tony spun around quickly and froze when he saw Iron Monger—this guy was actually still alive??

His faceplate dropped away. He crouched low, dodging the heavy punch while raising his palm to fire a repulsor blast in return.

Then he realized his left hand had no armor at all—he had just taken it off.

Kicked away, Tony used the armor's dwindling propulsion to leap high into the air and drove a heavy right punch into Iron Monger's helmet.

He had no choice but to use his right fist. If he used his left—he would break it.

Iron Monger, which had suffered no damage even after falling from ten thousand meters in the air, naturally did not care about such a feeble punch.

It locked both arms around Tony, crushing him tightly against its chest.

Feeling the immense pressure around his waist, Tony's eyes bulged as he struggled to breathe. He tried activating the armor's other functions, only to receive JARVIS's merciless report.

"Repulsors offline... Missiles offline..."

Inside Iron Monger's helmet, Obadiah revealed a victorious smile...

Tony felt as though his chest was about to burst. His mind raced, and he suddenly thought of something. He shouted, "Tracer rounds!!!!"

At Tony's command, hundreds of tiny bullets suddenly burst from the armor's chest, flashing with fiery arcs as they scattered everywhere.

The massive number of tracer rounds struck both suits of armor with a constant chorus of clanging.

Su Ming, watching from nearby, brightened and offered heartfelt praise.

"What a huge firework!"

Tracer rounds, also called flash rounds, had little offensive power, but they proved useful now.

Obadiah's eyes were stung by the blinding flashes, and he let out a pained groan. The strength in his hands naturally weakened, allowing Tony to break free from Iron Monger's passionate embrace.

He hid in a concealed spot and began thinking of a solution.

The armor no longer had any energy to support further combat. The possibility of defeating Obadiah head-on was infinitely close to zero.

At that moment, Tony came up with a plan: have Pepper Potts go to the massive reactor below and deliberately overload it through the controls.

Then he would lure Obadiah above the reactor. The enormous energy unleashed by the overloaded reactor would turn everything above it into fragments.

There was only one flaw in this plan—he would die.

Ever since awakening the softness buried deep in his heart, Tony could no longer ignore the lives and deaths of ordinary people as he once had, indulging himself in luxury and pleasure.

His trip to Afghanistan had opened a new door for Tony, the tycoon and genius. The feeling of saving people from misery had elevated his soul.

If Obadiah killed him here today, then Stark Industries would undoubtedly become a world-class arms dealer next. The number of people caught up in and killed by wars would increase exponentially.

"I absolutely... won't allow that to happen..."

Just as Tony's gaze gradually hardened and he prepared to carry out that plan of mutual destruction,

an utterly out-of-place figure entered his view, jolting him awake.

It was Su Ming.

After eating and drinking his fill, Su Ming had not expected to enjoy such a thrilling battle. Even without joining it himself, the trip had still been worthwhile.

As the battle was about to reach its conclusion, Su Ming, having been rejected three times in a row, gave up on trying to solicit business any further.

No one begged to do business!

"Whether he dies or not..."

Su Ming yawned. He was getting a little sleepy.

Just as Su Ming was debating whether to watch Tony's battle through to the end, his phone began to vibrate.

Naturally, the upscale restaurant that only allowed entry to those wearing formal attire would not tolerate customers' ringtones going off one after another.

After leaving the restaurant, Su Ming had forgotten to turn his ringtone back on, so his phone had remained in vibrate mode.

Curiously picking up the phone and looking at the caller ID, Su Ming smiled—it was Tony Stark.

He looked up at Tony, who was sneakily hiding in a dark corner in the distance. Su Ming could not understand why the kid was calling him in the middle of a battle. Had he come around?

"Hello, Mr. Silver Duke..."

Tony's deliberately lowered voice carried a trace of exhaustion through the phone.

Su Ming watched Tony wave at him from the corner in the distance.

"Hey, Tony~ Spacing out in the middle of a fight is hardly gentlemanly. What do you need me for?"

Tony forced a bitter smile after Su Ming casually mocked him.

Damn it, if there were a better way right now, who would want to make this call to you?

"Let's make a deal! One hundred million! Take care of him for me!"

While secretly watching Iron Monger search for him everywhere, Tony quietly named his price.

So what if his price is higher than mine... At a time like this, only an idiot would care about such irrelevant things...

Hearing Tony's offer, Su Ming's eyes showed a hint of surprise—had this kid finally wised up?

He remembered that just moments ago, someone had vowed that he would never place an order.

"Tony, I still prefer your proud and unruly look. Why don't you go back to that?"

Tony cursed inwardly.

Fuck~!! This damn bounty hunter is way too harsh with his insults...

But as he watched Obadiah draw closer, looking menacing and with plenty of power left in his armor, Tony no longer had any grounds to maintain his pride.

"Two hundred million! Help me!..."

His deliberately lowered voice was slightly hoarse with urgency.

Now that's a sincere offer~

A satisfied smile appeared on Su Ming's lips, and he became warm and friendly.

"Happy to be of service, my esteemed employer!"

Obadiah had not expected Tony to use that armor, whose combat ability was far inferior to his own, to slip around in his grasp like a loach.

But after fighting for a while, it was clear that Tony had nearly exhausted all his tricks.

Thinking that his wish of many years was about to come true, Obadiah felt utterly exhilarated.

"Very clever, Tony, but you won't escape death today~!"

Bang!—

At that moment, a deafening crash rang out!

Before Obadiah could react to what had happened, Iron Monger's bulky body was blasted into the sky by an immense force, rising even faster than its limit when it had been chasing Tony earlier...

Bounty hunter Su Ming was on the clock.