However, with a suit of armor between his hand and chest, the patting produced only the metallic clang-clang of metal striking metal.
Hearing the way Gao Ming addressed him, Tony instinctively retorted, “Huh? ‘Shit Big Particle’? Did you never go to college? You can’t even spell my name correctly?”
Tony was mocking Gao Ming’s lack of education, but Gao Ming didn’t care in the slightest.
Instead, he reacted with exaggerated surprise.
“How did you know I never went to college?”
Uh…
Tony was speechless.
Gao Ming and Tony continued trading barbs back and forth.
Up ahead, Obadiah felt as though he was being completely ignored.
Furious, he shouted,
“Enough!”
Faced with Obadiah’s angry roar, meant to remind them of his presence, neither Gao Ming nor Tony paid him any attention.
Tony was deliberately pretending to ignore him in order to provoke Obadiah and look for an opportunity to counterattack.
As for Gao Ming, he genuinely didn’t take Obadiah seriously.
There was nothing he could do about it.
Although Obadiah was wearing the Iron Monger armor, making him look huge, powerful, and threatening, no matter how fierce and terrifying it appeared, it was still nothing more than a primitive steel suit with some improvements.
Compared with all the different models of armor Tony would invent later in the movies, it was simply insignificant.
At best, it could only be considered a toy.
And compared with the Abomination, the Chitauri army, Ultron, and the others who would appear later, Iron Monger was complete trash.
Gao Ming had absolutely no interest in him.
Seeing that both of them were ignoring him, Obadiah charged over furiously and swung his massive steel fist straight at Gao Ming’s face!
Tony had just jumped out of the bus when he saw Obadiah attacking Gao Ming.
A trace of pity flashed through Tony’s eyes.
Obadiah was simply asking to die…
The scene of Gao Ming blowing the head off the terrorist leader with a single finger, and instantly rendering a whole group of terrorists incapable of fighting, was still vivid in Tony’s mind.
Tony also had another thought.
Perhaps he could use Iron Monger to test Gao Ming’s strength.
Although Iron Monger was a primitive steel suit and its capabilities weren’t particularly advanced, Tony could still observe and estimate its data from the side, then use that information to create more advanced armor.
Tony, who relied on his armor for self-protection, had instantly developed a sense of danger after witnessing the unfathomable abilities of Gao Ming.
The idea of researching armor specifically designed to counter superpowered individuals had already taken root in his mind.
Tony watched Gao Ming’s every reaction with complete concentration.
As for Gao Ming, when he saw Iron Monger swinging a punch at him—and aiming straight for his face—he immediately became angry.
Sure, I can regenerate, but don’t you know that hitting someone in the face is wrong?!
Just as Iron Monger’s steel fist was about to smash into Gao Ming’s face, Gao Ming grabbed the mechanical arm with one hand and pulled hard!
Riiip!
The mechanical arm Iron Monger had attacked with was ripped clean off.
Obadiah’s arm was exposed inside the armor, and he was both shocked and furious.
He hurriedly tried to pull his exposed arm back inside the suit.
Gao Ming casually tossed the torn-off mechanical arm aside like a piece of garbage.
The electric arcs in his eyes grew even more intense.
Under the dazzling electric light, Obadiah seemed to see that indifferent gaze treating him as nothing more than an ant.
Obadiah became timid.
He was afraid.
He wanted to run.
But at the same time, he was unwilling to accept it.
Why should Tony have someone come to his rescue?!
“Why are you protecting Tony Stark, sir? Did he promise you something? Just name your price. Whatever he’s paying you, I guarantee I’ll give you ten times, even a hundred times as much. How about it?”
Tony’s expression grew even colder as he listened to Obadiah trying to negotiate with Gao Ming.
Tony had trusted Obadiah so much.
Yet Obadiah had secretly conducted weapons deals with various terrorists, tried to take over his company, and repeatedly attempted to have him killed.
Not long ago, Obadiah had even used an electrical device in Tony’s own home to paralyze him, leaving him unable to move.
Then, wearing the smug expression of a victor, he had stolen the reactor from Tony’s chest and made him feel death approaching step by step.
If Pepper hadn’t taken the old reactor Tony had thrown away and turned it into a keepsake before returning it to him, allowing Tony to replace the reactor in his chest in time, he really would have died!
Thinking of all the vile things Obadiah had done, Tony knew that no matter what happened today, he could not let Obadiah go.
So when he heard Obadiah promising Gao Ming various benefits, Tony immediately stepped forward and said calmly,
“Obadiah, don’t forget that Stark Industries belongs to me. What qualifications do you have to negotiate?”
“Shut up!”
Tony’s words instantly enraged Obadiah.
“If it weren’t for you, Stark Industries would already be mine! Why the hell won’t you just obediently die?!”
The armor’s faceplate opened upward, revealing Tony’s calm and composed expression.
Tony raised a hand and stroked his chin.
“Someone as young, successful, and loaded as me couldn’t possibly be this unlucky and die young, could I? As for you, you’re already so old. Why don’t you learn from the old people in the park? Walk your dog, feed some birds, do something productive.”
Tony suddenly narrowed his eyes, his tone turning hostile.
“I hope you’ve already prepared a grave for yourself, so you can kick the bucket and lie down in it at any time.”
Tony Stark was simply like that—sharp-tongued, and always capable of angering people with astonishing ease.
Obadiah was completely provoked by Tony.
Compromise and escape were both forgotten.
The anti-tank launcher mounted on the armor’s shoulder rose into position and fired the only remaining missile at Gao Ming and Tony!
This time, Tony was prepared.
He immediately raised both hands and fired his repulsor blasts.
The blasts struck the missile, detonating it between the two sides.
The explosion sent both Iron Monger and Iron Man flying backward.
Only Gao Ming remained completely unaffected by the blast.
He stood firmly in place, allowing the exploding flames to crash directly into him!
“Hmm. Melvin really did make a high-quality suit.”
Gao Ming looked over his uniform.
He was practically unharmed.
The only damage caused by the midair missile explosion was to the golden lightning patterns on his clothes.
Those patterns had been made from sturdy metal shaped like lightning bolts and then painted gold.
Now, quite a bit of the paint had been scraped off.
Well, that couldn’t really be helped.
Looking at Tony’s red-and-gold armor, it was covered in spots after every battle as well.
The paint on the armor would be scratched and battered by all kinds of attacks, completely ruining its handsome appearance from before deployment and leaving it looking rather miserable.
Compared with that, Gao Ming had only lost some of the color on the golden patterns of his uniform.
Its overall appearance remained unchanged, still giving off a mysterious aura.
As for a little paint loss, Gao Ming wasn’t bothered.
He only needed to use the power of restoration to fix it.
After all, the Horse Talisman possessed not only healing and purification abilities, but also the power of restoration.
It could return an object to its original state, somewhat like reversing time.
Therefore, Gao Ming could easily restore his uniform to its original condition.
There was no rush, though.
He could simply restore it after returning home.
After the explosion, sparks scattered across the ground.
When they saw Gao Ming standing there completely unharmed, both of their eyes revealed wariness.
Obadiah became increasingly terrified of Gao Ming, feeling that he was unlikely to survive today.
Tony, meanwhile, gained an even deeper understanding of Gao Ming’s strength.
Until he had enough trump cards, Tony was already considering how he could get on Gao Ming’s good side.
Someone this powerful was not someone he wanted as an enemy.
Leaving aside the thoughts of Obadiah and Tony, Gao Ming inspected all the lightning patterns on his uniform.
After discovering that every single one had suffered some degree of paint loss, he sighed.
He wasn’t angry, though.
Looking at Iron Monger, he said casually,
“Are you finished? If you haven’t had enough, feel free to bark a few more times. After today, you won’t have the chance anymore.”
Hearing the firmness in Gao Ming’s voice, Obadiah understood that there was absolutely no room for negotiation.
He completely lost hope.
All of his emotions erupted at once as he screamed hysterically,
“Why?! Why do I have to accept my fate and wait for death?! I’m the one in control of Stark Industries! Tony Stark is nothing more than a useless clown who does nothing but eat and wait to die!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
Tony was extremely displeased by Obadiah’s ravings.
“Don’t slander me.
How am I someone who does nothing but eat and wait to die?
If it weren’t for a weapons genius like me, how could Stark Industries have achieved such glorious success?
“And that armor you’re wearing—don’t think it becomes yours just because you modified it a little. I invented that too!”
Obadiah completely ignored Tony’s rebuttal.
He merely continued roaring furiously,
“Shut up!
Shut up!
If I hadn’t stepped forward and managed everything for you, constantly expanding Stark Industries, this company would have been destroyed in the hands of a wastrel like you long ago!
“Stark Industries has achieved what it has today because of me! Obadiah Stane! I spent half my life building this company! Stark Industries naturally belongs to me! No one can take it away!”
Obadiah had completely lost his mind.
He began laughing maniacally.
“Very soon, Stark Industries—no, it should be Stane Industries—will become even stronger under my control! The entire world will tremble before me, Obadiah Stane!”
Seeing Obadiah behaving like a complete lunatic, Tony also felt that it was pointless.
There was no meaning in arguing with a madman.
It was better to simply take action.
Tony raised his arm and aimed his palm at Iron Monger before firing a repulsor blast.
Pew—
The repulsor blast was one of the standard offensive weapons of Tony’s armor.
Although it could not compare with the weapons of his later suits, its power was still considerable.
Unfortunately, against the enormous and heavily armored Iron Monger, it had virtually no effect.
So Tony wanted to use his strongest attack at the moment—the chest-mounted concentrated beam.
He would gather the energy from the reactor in his chest and release it all at once.
He had already managed to damage Iron Monger with it earlier.
However, accompanied by a series of urgent beeps, JARVIS’s voice sounded.
“Sir, energy remaining: 15%. I do not recommend using a high-energy attack.”
Uh…
That was damn awkward.
The great Tony Stark had actually reached the point where he couldn’t spend energy as freely as he wanted.
Just as Tony was debating whether to activate the emergency backup power, add another five percent of energy, and indulge himself a little—
Obadiah, who had taken Tony’s attack as a provocation, roared and charged forward!
“Die, Tony!”