I Was Careless, I Didn't Dodge

Botai-kun, also known as BON-kun, is a super-miniature AS developed with the idea of a human-enhanced combat suit.

AS, with the full name "Armored mobile master-Slave system," commonly known as ARM SLAVE (Assault Machine Soldier), is a general term for relatively, well... unscientific humanoid robots that Kraft dreamed up in his dreams.

From a glimpse shown in his dream, Kraft learned that in that world, there were special humans called "Listeners" who could inexplicably master some black technology beyond their own cognitive scope.

Doesn't that sound a bit like Kraft's dreams?

Most of the manufacturing technology for AS, as well as the λ-DRIVER system mounted on it, which can convert the pilot's psychic energy into weapon energy, were developed from the black technology "heard" by the Listeners.

The absurdity of it is no less than Kraft's dreams.

Since Kraft could even build Botai-kun, ordinary AS naturally wouldn't be a problem. However, Tony Stark used an exoskeleton armor, so he couldn't use those large robots to bully people. Moreover, Kraft had stuffed some other dream technology into Botai-kun, so it wouldn't be afraid of those large mechs in a real fight.

Among inventions similar to exoskeleton armor, besides Botai-kun, Kraft had only built one Ultraman Armor. However, that thing would expose his body shape and required a very high physical condition. Those who wore such armor in the dream were either aliens or cyborgs.

Although with the assistance of Angela and Haro, Kraft could control it without much trouble, reaching the level shown in the dream was still quite difficult. Therefore, unless Kraft decided to take drastic measures on his own body, even if the armor was built, its true strength couldn't be fully utilized.

But then again, the appearance and design concept of the Ultraman Armor were actually quite similar to the one Tony Stark was wearing. It also had an LED light on the chest, but the facial design...

After a close look at the mask on Tony Stark's face, Kraft blurted out.

"Ben Boba?"

"FUMO FUMO?"

Kraft's muttering turned into this strange sound through Botai-kun's conversion.

Kraft couldn't do anything about this strange setting. Just like the illogical divine artifacts and technologies in his dreams, Botai-kun's voice device could only emit the sounds "FU" and "MO" no matter how Kraft tinkered with it. And as soon as the voice conversion was turned off, Botai-kun would crash.

Fortunately, Kraft had no desire to talk to Tony Stark, so he didn't care if he could speak or not.

However, Kraft might not care, but Tony Stark certainly did.

"Wait! You're going to test with this weird thing? Are you serious?"

Kraft drew the stun baton equipped by Botai-kun, got into a stance, and expressed his intention with his actions.

"Oh! Stop messing around! I don't have time to play house with a kid!"

However, Tony Stark had no intention of engaging. He shook his head, feeling a bit angry inside. He thought the inventor of Red Queen was toying with him.

Seeing that Tony Stark was about to leave, Kraft decided to act directly. He shouted as a warning, then controlled Botai-kun to charge forward, swinging the stun baton in his hand towards Tony Stark's head.

"FUMO (Take this)!"

"Watch out, sir!"

With the speed Botai-kun unleashed, Tony Stark had no time to react. Even though J.A.R.V.I.S. had warned him in time, Stark couldn't block Kraft's attack. He had only just raised his arm a little when the stun baton hit his head.

"Bang—!"

With a crisp metallic clang, Tony Stark was sent flying by Kraft's blow.

"FUMOFUMOFU (Don't underestimate me)!"

Kraft pointed the stun baton at the flying Tony Stark with one hand and made a throat-slitting gesture near his neck with the other.

"Alright, it seems I underestimated you..."

Stark shook his slightly dizzy head and got up from the ground.

That blow hadn't caused much damage to Stark, but the "bang" sound had made his head buzz.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., remember to remind me to optimize the sound filtering function of the Iron Man suit when I get back."

"Yes, sir."

"Now then, let's have some real fun, kid!"

Stark raised his palm towards Kraft and said through gritted teeth.

"Don't cry to your mommy if you lose!"

"FUMOFUMOMO (Who loses is not yet decided)!"

Kraft gave Stark the middle finger, but Botai-kun only had a round palm and no fingers, so he couldn't convey his meaning.

Of course, with Tony Stark's intelligence, he could easily guess what Kraft was trying to convey.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., set the output to 15%... no, 30% is better. Children need to be taught a good lesson."

Both Botai-kun's appearance and its somewhat childish actions indicated that the pilot's age was not very high, so Stark didn't plan to go all out.

The Mark II's palm flashed with white light, releasing an arc pulse towards Kraft.

Kraft reached behind him, pulled out a mini riot shield from Botai-kun's tactical vest, enlarged it with the amplification lamp attached to Botai-kun, and placed it in front of him to block Stark's arc pulse.

"Hey! Where did he pull that shield from?"

With Botai-kun's chubby hands blocking the view, Stark couldn't see how the riot shield appeared. Even the cameras on the Iron Man suit couldn't capture the specific details, but the enlargement process was recorded.

"It seems the opponent has a method to enlarge and shrink objects, sir."

"Enlarge and shrink objects? I think I've heard of this technology somewhere..."

Stark paused for a moment, but before he could recall, he saw the comically shaped plush toy charging at him, holding a baton in one hand and a shield in the other.

"What an impatient little kid."

Putting this matter aside for now, Stark controlled the Iron Man suit and flew up.

"Can you still hit me like this?"

On this floppy plush toy, Stark didn't see any thruster ports or similar devices. If the opponent couldn't fly, they would just be target practice.

A signature mischievous smile appeared on Tony Stark's face.

Unfortunately, he hadn't even smiled for two seconds before his expression froze. This was because the ridiculous plush robot had floated up effortlessly, without using any kind of jet device.

"Anti-gravity device?!"

Too shocked, Tony Stark momentarily forgot to dodge Kraft's attack. By the time he heard J.A.R.V.I.S.'s warning and tried to evade, the stun baton in Kraft's hand had already smashed into Tony Stark's head.

"Bong—"