Mark 7

The man who had stormed onto the track was none other than Ivan Vanko, "Whiplash."

After entering the track, he first threw away his helmet, then tore open his shirt, revealing the crude armor beneath it to the entire world watching the live broadcast.

Then, he spread his arms and unleashed the energy whips connected to the armor.

As the armor activated, his shirt immediately burned away, and lightning-like currents wrapped around the energy whips, revealing the armor's complete form.

Neither the spectators at the scene nor those watching the live broadcast knew who he was.

But everyone could see one thing: his armor was powered by an Arc Reactor as well.

The moment Roy saw Ivan Vanko on the screen, he used Body Flicker without hesitation and left the pit area.

Because of him, Tony's armor development had progressed much faster than it had in the movies.

In the movies, Tony had only developed Mark 5 by this point and was still suffering from Palladium poisoning.

But now, Tony had not only synthesized the New Element to replace Palladium months ago and built a Third-Generation Arc Reactor, but had also created Mark 7.

After the Senate hearing, Roy had found time to visit Tony's seaside mansion and indulge Tony's desire to show off Mark 7.

Compared to Mark VI, which had adopted the Laser-Guided Tracking Deployment System ahead of time, Mark 7 was not too different from its movie counterpart.

First, its firepower had been greatly improved, with additions such as high-temperature laser cutting beams, more powerful anti-armor missiles, and miniature missiles with tracking and guidance capabilities.

Second, its defensive strength and mobility had been enhanced. New impact-beam thrusters had been added to areas such as the back, sides of the legs, and both ribs.

Finally, Mark 7 had been equipped with several new auxiliary systems, such as a medical diagnostic system.

Moreover, Mark 7's weapons system used a modular design, allowing the missile types in its weapon bays to be quickly adjusted as needed, or replaced with other equipment entirely.

Simply put, Mark 7 greatly enhanced Mark VI's ability and means to handle large-scale warfare on its own, perfectly combining portability and combat power.

If Mark VI represented a complete upgrade of the energy system,

then Mark 7 marked the beginning of modular expansion and modification for the weapons system.

Although Tony had made many upgrades to Mark 7, it had not given Roy any particularly eye-opening surprise.

For someone who had seen armors such as Mark 42, the Hulkbuster Armor, Mark 50, and Mark 85 in the movies before his transmigration, Mark 7's upgrades were merely decent and nowhere near enough to amaze him.

Even so, he still praised Mark 7's upgrades in front of Tony, leaving Tony happy for days.

Kids needed to be humored, after all!

Besides, it cost nothing—just a few words of praise!

After proving to the entire world through the live broadcast that the Arc Reactor was no longer Tony's exclusive product, Ivan Vanko, a toothpick dangling from his mouth, raised his right hand and swung the energy whip in it.

The energy whip lashed precisely against the front of an F1 race car, displaying astonishing cutting power as it sliced the nose off at an angle.

The out-of-control race car rolled from inertia and crashed heavily into the guardrail.

Tony did not witness this scene himself.

But after hearing the team's report through his earpiece, he slammed on the brakes.

With braking power far beyond that of an ordinary car, it took less than three seconds to bring the race car, which had been speeding along at over two hundred kilometers per hour, to a complete stop.

He was currently in last place, so even such an abrupt stop posed no risk of being rear-ended.

After stopping the race car, Tony immediately removed the steering wheel and tossed it aside.

He then took off his helmet, unfastened his seat belt, and climbed out of the car.

Without any hesitation, he unzipped his racing suit, took out a palm computer the size of a phone with a screen as transparent as glass, and activated Mark 7, which was stored in the trunk of the Rolls-Royce.

Happy was currently driving the Rolls-Royce against traffic toward him at high speed, completely unaware that Tony had already activated Mark 7.

The moment it received the activation command, Mark 7 ignited its thrusters. The trunk lid opened at the same time, and it flew toward Tony like a missile.

The noise Mark 7 made upon activation startled Happy.

The next second, he saw Mark 7 streak past overhead at tremendous speed.

Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to drive toward Pepper.

As Tony's personal bodyguard, his foremost duty was to protect Tony.

His second duty was to protect Pepper.

He did not know who Ivan Vanko was, but he knew that Mark 7's activation meant Tony no longer needed his protection.

Since Tony did not need him, his only remaining responsibility was to protect Pepper.

A few seconds later, Mark 7 arrived above Tony.

The Laser-Guided Tracking Deployment System immediately locked onto Tony's posture. As it descended, it began transforming and covered Tony with flawless precision.

As the image of Mark 7 locking onto Tony and autonomously deploying onto him was broadcast around the world, it also drew the attention of the nearby spectators.

The evacuating spectators stopped in their tracks upon seeing this and erupted into excited cheers.

The moment he finished putting on Mark 7, Tony saw Ivan Vanko appear around the street corner and immediately frowned.

He had never seen Ivan Vanko before.

Yet the moment he saw him—or, more precisely, the moment he saw the Arc Reactor in his armor's chest—he recognized him.

After retrieving Howard's belongings from S.H.I.E.L.D., he had learned that Howard had not designed the Arc Reactor alone.

Ivan Vanko's father, Anton Vanko, had also participated in the Arc Reactor's initial design.

However, Anton Vanko had no interest in the super-energy Howard spoke of. He only wanted to use the Arc Reactor to make a fortune.

So Howard expelled Anton Vanko from the country and sent him back to the Soviet Union.

Tony had JARVIS briefly investigate Anton Vanko's experiences after returning to the Soviet Union and discovered that he had not lived well there at all.

Anton Vanko had participated in the Arc Reactor's initial design, but he lacked the ability to actually build one, let alone miniaturize it.

After discovering that he was useless, the Soviets exiled him to Siberia to dig potatoes.

For the next twenty years, Anton Vanko lived a life of alcoholism and bitterness.

JARVIS had not found any recent information on Anton Vanko, but it had discovered that Anton Vanko had a son, Ivan Vanko.

In the stands.

Roy held a bucket of popcorn and watched Tony and Ivan Vanko walk toward one another with a calm expression.

Although the outcome of the battle had been decided the moment Tony put on Mark 7, it did not affect Roy's mood of enjoying the spectacle from the front row.

Before long, Tony and Ivan Vanko began fighting.

Ivan Vanko stared coldly at Tony and decisively swung the energy whip in his hand, lashing it toward him.

Tony raised both hands and fired repulsor blasts at Ivan Vanko.

The battle ended quickly.

Tony first used the repulsor blasts in his palms to knock aside the incoming energy whip.

Then, he activated the thrusters in his feet, flew in front of Ivan Vanko, and used the fighting techniques he had learned from Happy to beat him to the ground.

Finally, he planted a foot on Ivan Vanko's chest to keep him from getting up and forcibly removed the Arc Reactor from his chest.

The arriving police officers quickly stepped forward and dragged Ivan Vanko away.

"You lost, Stark!"

"Hahahaha, you lost!"

Ivan Vanko did not struggle. He spat the blood in his mouth at Tony and laughed loudly.

Tony ignored him and had the armor system scan the Arc Reactor in his hand.

After obtaining the data, he gave a slight squeeze with his right hand and crushed the Arc Reactor Ivan Vanko had made.