Ten days later, Tony finished assembling all the components.
The prototype of a first-generation Arc Reactor had finally taken shape in the cave full of scrap metal. It was palm-sized, silver-white throughout, and intricately constructed.
Tony stared at his creation, breathing slightly hard, and said to Yinsen:
"This is my heart."
Yinsen looked at the miraculous creation born from such desperate circumstances, his eyes filled with shock.
"Unbelievable... A pile of old missile parts, and you made a miniature nuclear fusion reactor."
Watching from the other side of the surveillance feed, Wenwu murmured with burning eyes, "This is what the Ten Rings Empire needs to rise!"
Soon afterward, Wenwu returned to Salia Base and immediately ordered his team of scientists to replicate the Arc Reactor.
Three days later, however, Wenwu was speechless as he looked at the "masterpiece" the top scientists had placed on the table.
The rotation speed of this so-called Arc Reactor was too low, and its power output was inferior even to the prototype Tony had hammered together from scrap in the cave. Its stability was even more appalling; the slightest mistake could cause an overload.
He gripped the fist-sized piece of junk, his face so dark it looked as though water might drip from it. His voice was icy. "This is the Arc Reactor you replicated? It isn't even as good as the one Stark hammered together from scrap in the desert!"
The five scientists bowed their heads, trembling. One of them explained in a quavering voice, "My lord, we followed the surveillance footage exactly, copying everything piece by piece, but there were too many internal details we couldn't see clearly. We could only... only make this defective product. We kept trying to improve it, but we just couldn't!"
"Useless! Can you at least make a big one to power the base?!"
Wenwu demanded.
"Y-yes!"
The five scientists immediately assured him that while they couldn't manage a small one, they could still make a big one!
Wenwu casually slammed the reactor onto the table.
He could hardly believe that these people were all renowned scientists in the outside world, yet they couldn't produce a complete Arc Reactor even with the footage to follow!
He didn't know whether Tony Stark had a protagonist's halo or whether these people's skills really were so flawed that they fell far short of Tony's.
If it was a problem with their skills, wouldn't the Ten Rings only be able to churn out defective products when they tried to mass-produce Iron Man Armor in the future?
Wenwu's gaze shifted slightly as Whiplash-Ivan Vanko-immediately came to mind.
Using only the incomplete early Arc Reactor plans left by his father, Anton, the man had likewise hammered together a stable, working miniature Arc Reactor by hand in a rundown Moscow apartment, using old parts and recycled palladium.
Although his was far inferior to Tony Stark's, if Wenwu had him brought here by force, he could definitely replicate the technology perfectly.
He immediately instructed Ching-Lin to send people to Moscow to find the Vanko father and son.
A few days later, the scientists worked together to piece together an Arc Reactor larger than a car. At last, it could operate stably and provide power for the entire base.
Wenwu also sent Razor Fist to recruit more scientists in the military industry. If they refused to come, he was to abduct them along with their families.
Now that they had a power source, various energy weapons and aircraft also had to be put on the agenda.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, Tony Stark had begun secretly building his armor after completing the Arc Reactor.
Wenwu specifically instructed his men to make their act convincing and give Tony a strong sense of danger from time to time. Only then could they force out his potential.
Ten days later.
Snow fell heavily in the bitter cold outside an old Soviet-style panel apartment building, constructed in the fifties or sixties, in the old district along the Moscow River.
The building was low-rise, its walls mottled. Inside a cramped old two-bedroom apartment, the heating was inadequate, and the damp cold was bone-chilling.
In the bedroom, his father, Anton Vanko, lay bedridden with illness.
Ivan Vanko took a swig of cheap liquor and played with the parrot on his shoulder. Then he looked down at his father, tormented by illness, and fell into a deathly silence.
Knock, knock, knock!
Several dull knocks suddenly came from outside the door.
Ivan frowned, got up, and opened it.
Several Asian men stood outside, dressed in black suits, their postures upright and their gazes sharp.
"Who are you?" Ivan waved the bottle in his hand and asked impatiently.
"Ivan Vanko, our organization would like to invite you and your father to join us. Could we discuss it?" The man in the lead extended the invitation expressionlessly, his stiff tone sounding like a threat.
"Heh, I don't care what organization you're from. Get lost! Or I'll throw you into the icy river..."
"Uh... well, I suppose we can discuss it!"
Looking at the gun barrels pressed directly against his head, Ivan Vanko promptly raised both hands in surrender.
After entering the apartment, the leader looked at Anton, who lay weakly in bed, and got straight to the point. "Anton Vanko, Stark has already miniaturized the Arc Reactor. If you and your son join us and replicate it, we can ease your suffering and extend your life. Your son will also have immense wealth and status!"
With that, he turned to Ivan. "You and your father can discuss it. We'll wait outside."
He said they would wait, but the men showed no sign of withdrawing the dark gun barrels in their hands.
Ivan Vanko's gaze instantly turned cold.
After a long discussion with Anton, Ivan Vanko finally compromised and agreed.
A day later, Ivan and his father were brought to Salia Base.
Along the way, Ivan Vanko had actually regretted his decision somewhat. He felt they were just a local armed group-how much money could they possibly have to support his revenge against Stark?
But once they were brought into the base, that thought vanished. Although it was remote, the base was built to extremely high specifications and had abundant resources.
"You're Ivan Vanko?"
On the throne in the great hall, Wenwu looked down at him, his voice full of authority.
He did not rise to greet him or put on a show of being eager to recruit talent.
"That's me. You're the leader of the Ten Rings?" Ivan held a toothpick between his lips, his expression calm, as though he paid Wenwu no regard at all.
Wenwu didn't mind. As long as the man worked for him and didn't stab him in the back, he wouldn't have any desire to kill him. Still, the man was rebellious by nature, so Wenwu would have to keep a closer eye on him.
"I assume your father has already told you about your grudge against the Stark Family. As long as you make what I need, I'll give you status and wealth, and do everything I can to treat your father. Even if he can't be cured, I can still ease his pain." Wenwu looked at him as he spoke mildly.
"Fine. But where's my workshop?" Ivan asked, showing no excitement as he merely shrugged.
Wenwu's gaze hardened slightly. He knew Ivan was treating him like a sucker, just like Justin Hammer, and only wanted to use the Ten Rings as a stepping stone!
Unfortunately for him, from the moment he stepped into the Ten Rings, he could forget about ever escaping.
Wenwu personally brought him to the top-of-the-line workshop prepared for him.
When Ivan saw the miniature Arc Reactor Tony had made displayed on the computer on the desk, his gaze sharpened abruptly.
He had obtained his father's blueprints and studied them on the way here. He hadn't expected Tony Stark to be able to make one in such a rudimentary cave.
In an instant, a strong sense of defiance welled up inside him.
Seeing the solemn, unwilling-to-lose look on his face, Wenwu smiled faintly.
He left Ivan there to watch the video of Tony, then went to the door and summoned the five scientists who had previously been responsible for replicating the reactor.
"From now on, you'll be Ivan's assistants. Get to the bottom of every problem you couldn't figure out! If you still can't make a complete replica in the future, I'll bury you in the desert!"
Wenwu's face was dark as he issued the warning.
"Y-yes... My lord, we'll study hard!" The five scientists shuddered all over and hastily swore they would. They didn't want to die!
Standing inside the room, Ivan Vanko heard Wenwu's lecture, and a mocking sneer curled his lips.
It was unclear whether he was mocking Wenwu's cruelty, feeling contempt for the five scientists' incompetence, or both.