After some maneuvering, the charcoal-headed Nick Fury arranged for Level 7 Agent Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, to stay by Little Pepper Pepper's side.
It was not that he did not want to place someone near Stark, but the playboy had been holed up at home lately, tinkering with who knew what. There had been no chance to get close to him, so this was the only option for now.
As the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of Hydra's leaders, Alexander Pierce stopped doing anything unnecessary after learning of Nick Fury's actions. Whatever intelligence Fury uncovered, he could share anyway, so why waste the effort?
Unaware that someone had set their sights on him, Tony Stark was at home upgrading his Iron Man suit.
More precisely, he was making a new one.
The first issue Mark III had to solve was high-altitude freezing, something that was not difficult for Stark.
Then came firepower, which was hardly a problem for former arms dealer Tony Stark either.
Next was the sound-filtering issue that had been making his head buzz. Stark first had J.A.R.V.I.S. add a layer of soundproofing cotton inside the armor. Calculations showed it might still be noisy, so to be safe, he added another layer of shock-absorbing cushioning material.
However, those two layers made Mark III look much bulkier. Though it was not as bloated as Mark I, it was still a big brute. If they were added only inside the helmet, it would turn into a strange design with an especially oversized head.
"Hmm... This is a little different from what I had in mind..."
Compared to this bulky look, Tony Stark preferred the sleek, form-fitting design of Mark II.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Stark removed the relatively thick soundproofing cotton. He decided to develop a separate Anti-Brat Armor later and add the soundproofing design to that one.
"Sir, I think you could try Vibranium."
J.A.R.V.I.S. suddenly reminded him.
"Oh! Right!"
Stark slapped his forehead. He had forgotten about Wakanda. Vibranium was expensive, but that was nothing to Tony Stark.
"Do we have any in stock?"
"You previously bought some for experiments. There is still a little left," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied in his usual measured tone. "It is not enough to make an entire Iron Man suit, but I think you could incorporate it into the helmet alone, sir."
"Go buy another ton or two first. If it isn't enough, we'll talk then."
Tony Stark, the filthy rich tycoon, waved his hand grandly and happily had J.A.R.V.I.S. place the order.
"Sorry, sir. Wakandan Vibranium is sold in limited quantities. It can also be bought from smugglers, but the amount available is currently uncertain."
"Then buy as much as you can. However much you can get."
Stark did not mind. As long as there was enough for him to build armor, that was fine.
As for Mark III, he could only incorporate Vibranium into some of the more critical parts for now, while making do with titanium alloy elsewhere. Stark planned to start on Mark IV once the new Vibranium arrived.
He, Tony Stark, was not short on money.
The design work continued.
He still needed to address close-quarters combat. Tony Stark not only loaded Mark III with a mountain of martial arts data, but also equipped its limbs with small adjustable thrusters to increase the power behind every movement.
"Add an electric shock device too!"
Thinking of the strange power carried by Botai-kun's soft, weak punches, Tony Stark snapped his fingers and spoke to J.A.R.V.I.S.
Finally came the paint job. "Low-key" Tony Stark drew inspiration from his vintage car and chose a "plain" red-and-gold color scheme for Mark III.
"Very well. It should take approximately five hours."
Once all the designs were complete, J.A.R.V.I.S. gave him the manufacturing time. At that moment, Stark saw a report on television about a cocktail party supposedly hosted by him, one he himself knew nothing about.
He heard the reporter say, "No one expects him to attend."
So Stark decided to make a last-minute appearance at this cocktail party, whatever it was supposed to be.
However, when he arrived at the party in high spirits, he received news that put him in a foul mood—Stark Industries was still selling weapons abroad, and the buyers were the very terrorists who had attacked him in the Middle East.
After returning to his mansion, Stark decided to put on Mark III and personally head to the Middle East to deal with those terrorists.
"Kraft, Stark has appeared again."
After Kraft had beaten Tony Stark up, he had set a special alert for his tin man. So the moment the Iron Man suit appeared over New York, Angela reported it to Kraft.
"Huff... huff... Wh-what's going on?"
Kraft asked between ragged breaths as he followed his training plan and locked himself inside the Break the Cauldrons and Sink the Boats Treadmill.
"Unable to determine for now." Angela switched to the radar display and projected the screen onto the wall in front of Kraft. "Preliminary analysis suggests that his destination should be Gemila Town in the Middle East."
As she spoke, Angela played recent news reports about Gemila Town for Kraft.
"S-so... he's going to... huff... fight the terror-terrorists...?"
Kraft was running so hard he could barely catch his breath. His hands braced against the cage bars, sweat covered his face.
"By the way, Angela, can you... can you turn this thing off for me first... huff... I'll make it up later..."
"Sorry, Kraft. Your treadmill is not connected to the internet, so I cannot control it. Also, you only need to hold on for another four minutes and thirty-seven seconds."
Kraft: "Damn it!"
I must have had water in my brain when I made such an inhuman treadmill!
Four minutes later, the utterly exhausted Kraft crawled out of the Break the Cauldrons and Sink the Boats Treadmill.
"Energy replenishment! Energy replenishment!"
Haro thoughtfully ran over to him carrying a can of energy drink.
After resting on the floor for a while, Kraft got back up. He drank the energy drink Haro had brought him while slowly pacing around the laboratory.
"Where is Stark now?"
"The target has already left America." Angela switched back to the radar display. A small dot was speeding toward the Mediterranean at a rate visible to the naked eye. "If the estimate is correct, he should reach his destination in approximately three hours."
"He's pretty fast."
Kraft took a swig of his energy drink. When he had fought Stark before, Stark had not shown such rapid movement. Then again, with Stark's prideful personality, constantly running away was not his style.
"So he's planning to get revenge on the people who kidnapped him?"
Kraft did not think Tony Stark had flown to the Middle East in an Iron Man suit in the middle of the night to introduce new equipment to those so-called freedom fighters, or to provide after-sales service...
No, maybe that counted as after-sales service too?
Since they were "online friends" who had at least arranged a fight, Kraft raised his energy drink toward the small dot on the screen.
"May victory be yours."
Before you continue