After a short wait, Obadiah opened the armor and slowly walked out.
"What happened to him?" Tony landed right beside Luke and watched Obadiah walk out. "Did you hypnotize him?"
"I don't have the time to waste hypnotizing him. Just watch and you'll understand," Luke said with a smile.
A ninja sword was held against Obadiah's neck, moving forward as Obadiah slowly walked ahead. When Obadiah had completely left Iron Monger, a Ninja Soldier fully emerged from the shadows.
"Those men of yours really do come and go like ghosts." Tony lowered his hands and breathed a sigh of relief.
Luke shrugged. "What can I say? They're just that good. All right, what do we do with Obadiah?"
"How about leaving him to us?" Coulson walked over from the side.
"Who are you?" Tony frowned at the men in suits. "Why should I hand Obadiah over to you?"
Coulson took out his credentials. "We're with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. The man beside you is our security consultant."
Tony looked at Luke. He really had said earlier that he belonged to this whatever-it-was division.
But Luke gave him a meaningful look. "Don't worry. My security consultant position basically makes me a mercenary. I'm not really one of them."
Not expecting Luke to undermine him like that, Coulson's expression changed. He continued, "In fact, we're a government agency specializing in handling unusual incidents like this."
But with Luke's assurance, Tony said dismissively, "I thought this was something for the FIB to handle."
Looking at Iron Monger behind Obadiah, Tony turned and asked, "I have no problem handing Obadiah over to you, as long as he never shows up in front of me again. But you're taking this armor too?"
"Of course," Coulson said, smiling with narrowed eyes.
"That won't do," Tony said seriously. "This armor has sustained irreparable damage. Moving it carelessly could cause an explosion! I can't let you take it away like this."
Tony strode forward, retrieved his reactor, then turned back and said, "There we go. I've dealt with the hazard. You can take the armor now. No need to thank me."
A rough look at the armor's structure was enough for Tony to tell that it had been developed from the suit he had abandoned in the desert. Its technology wasn't all that impressive either. As long as he removed the all-important reactor, he had no objection to whatever they did with it.
Besides, with the reactor removed, this whatever-it-was division probably wouldn't even be able to get the armor running. He didn't mind giving it to them.
Coulson and the others knew nothing about that. As far as they were concerned, as long as they brought the armor and its owner back, S.H.I.E.L.D. could reverse-engineer it and produce more Iron Monger suits.
They had all just seen the armor's power. If they could reverse-engineer it, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strength would jump several levels!
Watching the agents call in a tow truck to take Obadiah and Iron Monger away, Tony found a case and put the reactor inside.
Just then, Rhodey, who had been watching the whole time, ran over as well.
Looking at Tony's armor, Rhodey said incredulously, "This is the car you were driving a while ago?"
Tony looked at Rhodey and struck a few poses in his armor. "Well? Pretty nice new ride, right?"
"Impressive. How much for a suit?" Rhodey asked with a smile.
"This suit alone costs over a hundred million dollars. A lot more expensive than your F-22s," Tony said, showing off.
"That's expensive, but this armor really is powerful. Maybe I can convince the Department of Defense to buy a few suits," Rhodey said with a nod. He was an arms procurement officer for the Department of Defense, after all. His professional instincts had kicked in.
"No, no, no." Tony hurriedly refused. "Stark Industries has shut down its weapons division. We won't be selling any more weapons!"
"Are you sure?" Rhodey frowned. "Those people won't tolerate a company outside the arms industry possessing a weapon like this. Besides, if Stark Industries isn't selling weapons, what will you sell?"
"I will never sell weapons again, and I won't let anyone take my armor!" Tony said firmly. "If they try, believe me, I'll leave the country!"
"As for Stark Industries' main business going forward, I think it'll be this." Tony showed Rhodey the reactor in his hand, its light turning Rhodey's dark face blue.
"That's not bad," Luke said with a nod. "As long as you don't start selling burgers."
"No, I can sell energy and burgers at the same time," Tony said with a smile.
Early the next morning, Luke got out of bed and took a portal to a restroom at Stark Industries. When he walked out, he saw that the hall was packed with reporters, and Tony was walking up to the podium in a suit.
Luke smiled. He had arrived right on time. Rather than competing with the reporters for a spot, he greeted Happy, the bodyguard, and sat right in front of the podium. Under the astonished gazes of the other reporters with their hefty cameras, he took out his portable camera.
Tony, who had been rather unenthusiastic, immediately perked up when he saw Luke. Watching Luke pat the camera in his hand, Tony shook his head helplessly and began the day's press conference.
As Tony denied his involvement in last night's incident with one remark after another, the female reporter who had once spent a night with him raised her hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Tony Stark, do you really think we'll believe that two of your bodyguards just happened to show up and stop a Stark Industries robot that had gone berserk?"
"I know what you mean," Tony interrupted her.
"It's fine to question the official statement, but you shouldn't make wild assumptions, uh, and paint me as some kind of superhero."
"I never said you were a superhero," the female reporter said with a smile. She smiled as she looked at Tony. Now he had walked into the trap.
Tony froze for a moment, then argued, "Good, because that would be absurd. Completely ridiculous."
Tony lowered his head. "I... I'm not cut out to be a superhero, because, clearly, I have far too many character flaws and have done a lot of bad things that had very negative consequences."
Rhodey leaned over from beside him and reminded Tony to stick to the notes, but Tony caught sight of Luke crouching in front of the stage.
Luke smiled at him and raised his camera.
Tony nodded and glanced at the notes in his hand. He paused, then looked at Luke. Meeting Luke's gaze, Tony raised his head.
"I am Iron Man."
Luke captured the historic moment, looking at Tony's resolute gaze in the picture. Behind him, countless reporters sprang to their feet, trying to squeeze forward to ask Tony questions.
Luke smiled and took two more photos, ready to leave, but the same female reporter asked another question. "Then what about the man who was with you? Is he your bodyguard?"
Luke froze, a bad feeling coming over him. When he looked up, he saw a mischievous expression on Tony's face.
"Of course he isn't my bodyguard. You can think of him as my sidekick. He's also a superhero, but I'm sorry, I can't reveal his name. And I'm very happy to introduce him to you here-the Shadow Lord!"
The excitement in the room rose even higher. Tony smiled at Luke, then calmly left, surrounded by his bodyguards.
Before you continue