Tony patted his chest, still shaken after narrowly escaping death.
However, because there was a suit of armor between his hand and his chest, the patting produced a series of metallic clang-clang sounds.
Hearing what Gao Ming called him, Tony instinctively retorted, “Huh? ‘Shit Big Guy’? Did you never go to college? You can’t even spell my name?”
Tony was mocking Gao Ming’s poor education, but Gao Ming did not care.
Instead, he reacted with exaggerated surprise.
“How did you know that I never went to college?”
Uh…
Tony was speechless.
Gao Ming and Tony continued trading barbs with each other.
Obadiah, standing in front of them, felt as though he were being completely ignored.
Furious, he shouted, “Enough!”
Faced with Obadiah’s angry roar, Gao Ming and Tony both ignored him.
Tony was deliberately pretending not to notice him in order to provoke Obadiah and look for an opportunity to counterattack.
Gao Ming, on the other hand, genuinely did not take Obadiah seriously.
There was no helping it.
Although Obadiah was wearing the Iron Monger armor, making him look huge, powerful, and intimidating, no matter how fierce and terrifying it appeared, it was still nothing more than a primitive steel armor with some improvements.
Compared with the various armor models Tony would invent later, it was simply not worth mentioning.
At best, it was 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 in a rage 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 courting death…
The scene of Gao Ming blowing the head off the terrorist leader with a single finger and instantly rendering an entire group of terrorists incapable of fighting was still vividly etched in Tony’s mind.
Another thought also crossed Tony’s mind.
Perhaps he could use Iron Monger to test Gao Ming’s strength.
Although Iron Monger was a primitive steel armor and its functions were not particularly advanced, Tony could still observe and estimate some data from the battle, which would help him create more advanced armor.
Tony, who relied on his armor for self-protection, had instantly developed a sense of crisis after witnessing the unfathomable abilities of Gao Ming.
The idea of researching ways to counter such armor had already planted a seed in his mind.
Tony watched Gao Ming intently, completely focused on his reaction.
And Gao Ming…
When he saw Iron Monger swinging a fist toward him—and aiming directly at his face—he immediately became angry.
Sure, I can heal myself, but don’t you know that hitting someone in the face is wrong?!
Just as Iron Monger’s powerful steel fist was about to smash into Gao Ming’s face, Gao Ming grabbed the mechanical arm and pulled hard.
Craash!
The mechanical arm attacking Gao Ming was torn straight off.
Obadiah’s arm was left exposed inside the armor.
Shocked and furious, he hurriedly tried to retract his exposed arm back into the armor.
Gao Ming casually tossed the mechanical arm aside as if he were throwing away garbage.
The electric light in his eyes intensified.
Under the blinding flashes of electricity, Obadiah seemed to see those indifferent eyes looking at him as though he were nothing more than an ant.
Obadiah became frightened.
He was afraid.
He wanted to run away.
But at the same time, he was unwilling to accept it.
Suppressing his anger, Obadiah softened his tone and said, “Why are you protecting Tony Stark, sir? Did he promise you something? Whatever he is paying you, name your price. I guarantee I can give you ten times, even a hundred times as much.”
Tony’s expression became even colder as he listened to Obadiah trying to negotiate with Gao Ming.
He had trusted Obadiah so deeply.
Yet Obadiah had secretly conducted weapons deals with various terrorists behind his back, tried to swallow up his company, and repeatedly attempted to kill him.
Not long ago, Obadiah had even used a device Tony himself had invented to electrocute and paralyze him in his own home.
Then, with the smug expression of a victor, he had ripped the arc reactor from Tony’s chest and watched as death slowly approached.
If Pepper had not returned the old reactor that Tony had discarded after turning it into a commemorative keepsake, allowing Tony to replace the reactor in his chest in time, he truly would have died!
Thinking about all of Obadiah’s crimes, Tony knew that no matter what happened today, he could not let Obadiah go.
Therefore, 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 capital do you have to negotiate with me?”
“Shut up!”
Tony’s words immediately enraged Obadiah.
“If it weren’t for you, Stark Industries would already be mine! Why the hell won’t you just obediently go and die?!”
The helmet visor opened upward, revealing Tony’s calm and composed face.
Tony raised a hand and rubbed his chin.
“Someone as young, talented, and wealthy as me—how could I possibly be this unlucky and die young? You, on the other hand, are getting on in years. Why don’t you learn from the old men in the park and spend your days walking dogs and feeding birds?”
Tony suddenly narrowed his eyes, his tone turning hostile.
“I hope you’ve already prepared a grave for yourself, so you can lie down and kick the bucket whenever the time comes.”
Tony Stark was simply like this.
His tongue was vicious, and he could always anger people with astonishing ease.
Obadiah was completely provoked by Tony.
Compromise, escape—he forgot all of it.
The anti-tank launcher mounted on the shoulder of the armor rose up, and the only remaining incendiary missile was fired toward Gao Ming and Tony!
This time, Tony was prepared.
He immediately raised both hands and fired his repulsors.
The repulsor blast struck the incendiary missile in midair, detonating it between the two sides.
The explosion sent Iron Monger and Iron Man flying backward.
Only Gao Ming remained completely unaffected.
He stood firmly in place, allowing the exploding flames to crash directly into him.
“Hmm. Clothes made by Melvin really are top quality.”
Gao Ming looked down at his uniform, which was virtually undamaged.
The only damage caused by the explosion from the colliding missiles was to the golden lightning patterns on his clothes.
Those patterns were made from sturdy metal shaped like lightning bolts and then painted gold.
Now, quite a bit of the paint had been scraped away.
Well, there was nothing that could be done about it.
Looking at Tony’s red-and-gold armor, even it was covered in marks after every battle.
The paint on the armor would be scratched and battered by all kinds of attacks, turning it from its handsome appearance when it first deployed into a rather sorry sight.
Compared to that, only some of the golden patterns on Gao Ming’s uniform had lost their color, while the overall appearance remained intact and full of mystery.
Besides, Gao Ming did not care about a little paint loss.
A single use of the Horse Talisman’s healing power would solve it.
After all, besides healing and purification, the Horse Talisman also possessed the ability to restore things to their original state, somewhat like reversing time.
Therefore, Gao Ming could easily restore his uniform to its original condition.
There was simply no need to do it now.
He could fix it after returning.
Iron Monger and Iron Man rose from the ground.
When they saw Gao Ming standing there completely unharmed, both of them showed wariness in their eyes.
Obadiah was becoming increasingly afraid of Gao Ming.
He felt that there was no way he would escape alive today.
Tony, meanwhile, had gained an even deeper understanding of Gao Ming’s strength.
Before he had enough trump cards, Tony was already considering how to build a good relationship with Gao Ming.
Someone this powerful should not be made into an enemy.
Ignoring the thoughts of Obadiah and Tony, Gao Ming checked all the lightning patterns on his uniform.
After discovering that every single one had suffered some degree of fading, he sighed.
He was not angry.
Looking at Iron Monger, he said casually,
“Are you finished? If you haven’t had enough, keep barking a few more times. After today, you won’t have the chance anymore.”
Hearing the firmness in Gao Ming’s words—and realizing that there was absolutely no room for negotiation—Obadiah finally gave up.
All of his emotions erupted at once.
“Why?! Why should I resign myself to waiting for death?! I am the one in charge of Stark Industries! Tony Stark is nothing but a clown who eats, drinks, and waits to die!”
“Hey, hey, hey.”
Tony was extremely unhappy at Obadiah’s words.
“Don’t slander me. How exactly am I just sitting around waiting to die? If it weren’t for a weapons genius like me, how could Stark Industries have achieved such glorious success? And the armor you’re wearing—don’t think that just because you modified it a few times, it became yours. I invented it too!”
Obadiah completely ignored Tony’s rebuttal.
He continued shouting furiously,
“Shut up! Shut up! If I hadn’t stepped forward and managed everything for you, constantly expanding Stark Industries, your company would have been destroyed by you, you wastrel!”
“Stark Industries has what it has today because of me! Obadiah Stane! I devoted half my life to making it what it is! Stark Industries rightfully belongs to me! No one can take it away!”
Obadiah had completely lost his reason.
He laughed maniacally.
“Very soon, Stark Industries—no, it should be called Stane Industries—will become even stronger in my hands! The entire world will tremble before me, Obadiah Stane!”
Seeing Obadiah acting like a complete lunatic, Tony also felt bored.
There was no point arguing with a madman.
He might as well fight.
Tony raised his arm, aiming his palm at Iron Monger, and fired a repulsor blast.
Piu—
The repulsor blast was one of the standard attacks of Tony’s armor.
Although it could not compare with the weapons of his later armor models, its power was still considerable.
However, against the enormous and heavily armored Iron Monger, it had virtually no effect.
Tony therefore wanted to unleash his strongest attack at the moment—the focused beam.
He would concentrate the energy from the arc reactor in his chest and fire it all at once.
It had already inflicted some damage on Iron Monger earlier.
However, accompanied by an urgent beep-beep warning, JARVIS’s voice sounded.
“Sir, energy remaining at 15%. I do not recommend using attacks with high energy consumption.”
Uh…
That was awkward.
The mighty Tony Stark had actually reached a point where he could not spend his energy recklessly.
Tony was hesitating over whether to activate the emergency backup power and add another 5% energy, just so he could indulge himself one more time, when Obadiah—who had interpreted Tony’s attack as a provocation—charged toward him with a roar.
“Die, Tony!”