Tony Stark was never a patient man.
Especially when a brilliant idea popped into his head—like now, as he stared at the gruesome demonic armor on the holographic projection, his eyes gleaming with a mad light.
"Jarvis! Activate all robotic arms! I want to wear it within 24 hours!"
"Sir, according to calculations, the manufacturing difficulty of Mark-2 - Devil Edition far exceeds the original Mark-2, and the estimated completion time is at least 3 times that of the Mark-2."
"Then connect the coffee machine to an IV drip!" Tony waved his hand without looking up.
Thus, Chen Tian and Ethan were coercively confined to the laboratory by Tony.
The next day.
"Chen Tian! Summon Diablo again! I need him to confirm the Hellfire's energy output parameters!"
Chen Tian sprawled on the sofa, looking utterly lifeless: "Tony, this is already the third time today…"
"Come on! Science requires sacrifice!" Tony pulled him up, "Think about it, this is the first suit of armor in history to incorporate Hell technology!"
Ethan silently raised a cross nearby: "…I think I need to go to church."
The third day.
"No! Why did it fail again?" Tony frantically clutched his hair.
Not far away, in a crude suit of armor, Chen Tian opened his faceplate.
"Tony, although I'm younger than you, if you don't adjust the thruster's energy output properly, I'll use my knife to cut off your little Tony!"
The fourth day… the fifth day…
Until the fifteenth day after Diablo was first summoned in the laboratory…
The laboratory was a mess.
Coffee cups were piled into small mountains, empty energy drink cans rolled everywhere, Tony's hair was as messy as if struck by lightning, and Chen Tian and Ethan were slumped in a corner, their eyes vacant.
But—
Two suits of armor stood silently in the center of the laboratory.
On the left was the original Mark-2, a streamlined gold and red armor, elegant and precise.
On the right was the Mark-2 - Devil Edition—dark red scales covered its entire body, the demonic horns on its helmet curved menacingly, lava-like patterns encircled the arc reactor on its chest, and its mechanical wings slightly unfurled, as if ready to tear through the air at any moment.
Tony stood before them, his face beaming with pride: "Look!!! Tony Stark's genius masterpiece!"
Chen Tian weakly raised his hand: "…Can I go to sleep now?"
"Sleep?" Tony raised an eyebrow, "No, no, no, now it's testing time!" He strode towards the demonic armor, "Jarvis, initiate donning protocol!"
The robotic arms immediately went to work, and the armor components clicked into place on Tony's body one by one. As the final faceplate closed, the armor's eyes suddenly glowed scarlet, and fire flowed out like liquid.
"System activated, Sir." Jarvis's voice emanated from within the armor, "Hellfire thrusters are ready, sulfur smoke generators are fully charged."
Tony moved his arms, and the armor's scales slightly opened and closed with his movements, emitting a metallic grinding sound: "Perfect! Now—"
He raised his hand, and the palm repulsor charged, dark red energy gathering: "Let's test the firepower!"
"Tony! Not in the lab—" Chen Tian's words were cut short.
Boom!!!
A dark red energy beam directly blasted through the laboratory wall, taking the outdoor swimming pool with it into the sky.
Alarm bells instantly blared throughout the entire Villa.
Pepper's scream came from upstairs: "Tony Stark!!!"
Tony in the armor was silent for two seconds: "…Jarvis, activate flight mode."
"Activated, Sir."
The demonic armor's back thrusters spewed sulfurous flames, and Tony shot out of the large hole in the wall with a whoosh, leaving a trail of charred marks behind him.
Chen Tian and Ethan stood in the ruins, exchanging glances.
"…Did we create a monster?"
Ethan silently pulled out a cross: "Is it too late for me to resign now?"
From the communicator in the laboratory, Tony's wild laughter mixed with the roar of the thrusters:
"This thing is awesome!!!"
Chen Tian and Ethan exchanged another glance. Ethan sighed and patted Chen Tian's shoulder.
"It's up to you, young man, I can't take it anymore." With that, he ignored Chen Tian and quickly ran out of the laboratory, at a speed that, tsk tsk tsk, could probably qualify him for the Olympics.
Chen Tian watched Ethan run off, then looked at the broken ceiling of the laboratory and the scattered ruins on the floor.
"Is this book called 'Marvel: Starting by Helping Tony Stark Become Invincible'? By the way, is Tony still Iron Man when he wears this armor? Iron Demon would be more fitting!"
—
Tony Stark piloted the Mark-2 - Devil Edition into the sky, the Hellfire thrusters tracing a dark red trajectory across the night sky. Sulfurous smoke trailed behind him like a demon's cloak.
"Jarvis, report status!" Tony's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"All systems are operating normally, Sir. Hellfire thruster output has reached 147% of the design value." Jarvis responded calmly, "However, I must warn you, this speed has exceeded the human body's tolerance limit…"
"Shut up, Jarvis!" Tony laughed, rolling in the air, "This is real flight!"
He suddenly dove down, his demonic wings fully spread, pulling up sharply less than a hundred meters from the ground. The sulfurous smoke spewed from the thrusters left a charred mark on the ground.
"Test weapon systems!" Tony raised his arm, and as the palm repulsor charged, dark red runes flowed along the armor's surface.
"Boom!"
A lava-like energy beam struck a distant abandoned factory, instantly engulfing it in flames. The Impact of the explosion even shattered windows within a one-kilometer radius.
"Holy shit!" Tony whistled, "This power is even more than I imagined…"
He continued to ascend, quickly breaking through the stratosphere. The scales on the armor's surface trembled slightly in the thin atmosphere, and the Hellfire thrusters continued to burn steadily in the vacuum.
"Sir, I recommend returning to Base." Jarvis reminded, "Although the armor's performance exceeds expectations, prolonged exposure to Hell energy may affect your physiological indicators."
Tony looked at the data displayed on his faceplate; indeed, several indicators were starting to turn red. He clicked his tongue: "Alright, that's enough for today."
On the return trip, Tony deliberately slowed down, allowing the armor to gently descend onto the Malibu Villa's helipad. The robotic arms automatically disarmed, and the armor components detached from Tony's body one by one.
When the final faceplate opened, Tony's face still held a lingering smile: "Perfect! It's simply ten times stronger than the Mark-2 I designed before!"
He turned and walked towards the laboratory, finding Chen Tian and Ethan already asleep on the sofa. Tony shrugged, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the two suits of armor silently standing under the moonlight.
"Jarvis, record this." He took a sip of his drink, "Mark-2 - Devil Edition, maiden flight test—100% successful."
In the distance, the destroyed swimming pool was still emitting black smoke. Tony pretended not to see it and whistled his way back to the bedroom.
—
Late at night, in the underground laboratory of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane stood before a pile of scattered parts, his face terribly grim.
"This is your half-month's work?" He picked up a twisted metal plate and slammed it hard on the ground, "A pile of scrap metal?!"
The engineers in the laboratory were silent, no one daring to look up.
"Sir, we have been trying our best to replicate Tony's design." The chief engineer stammered, "But the Arc Reactor technology is too complex, we…"
"I don't want excuses!" Obadiah grabbed the engineer by the collar, dragging him to the giant prototype, "Tony built one by himself in a cave, and you—" He pointed at the clumsy, three-meter-tall armor, "You built me this walking iron coffin?!"
The prototype's exterior was rough, its joints connected by thick hydraulic rods, and its power source was not a miniature reactor, but a dense tangle of wires connected to a dozen car batteries.
"At least… at least it moves…" The engineer mumbled defensively.
As if to prove this point, the prototype suddenly emitted a harsh mechanical sound, its right arm twitched as it lifted—then with a "bang," the elbow joint directly exploded, smoking black as it drooped down.
Obadiah's Sun temples throbbed.
"Useless! All useless!" He furiously kicked over a workbench, parts clattering to the floor, "Justin Hammer's team is stronger than you!"
In the corner, a bespectacled technician bravely spoke up: "Sir, perhaps the problem lies with the energy. Without the Arc Reactor, we can never…"
"Then steal it!" Obadiah suddenly lowered his voice, hissing like a viper, "Tony's Villa, his laboratory, there must be blueprints or samples…"
The technicians exchanged terrified glances. Obadiah's expression grew darker, and he decided to take matters into his own hands.
—
"Chen Tian! Ethan! Wake up! I have a brilliant idea!"
Tony Stark's voice boomed like thunder in the laboratory. He held a coffee cup in one hand and frantically swiped on the holographic projection with the other, modifying the design of the Mark-2 - Devil Edition.
Chen Tian struggled to lift his face from the sofa, two heavy dark circles under his eyes: "Tony… it's six in the morning…"
"To be precise, it's five forty-seven in the morning." Ethan corrected weakly, trying to block the glaring Sun with a cross, "And we only went to sleep at three last night…"
"Sleep is for ordinary people!" Tony excitedly slapped the table, "Listen, last night's test was absolutely perfect! The Hellfire thruster's efficiency is 47% higher than expected, and the palm repulsor's power is enough to level a military Base!"
He took a big gulp of coffee, his eyes shining: "But! I discovered a small problem—the sulfur smoke is too conspicuous, it's practically telling the enemy 'Hey, I'm here!' So, I plan to add a stealth mode to it!"
Chen Tian and Ethan exchanged glances, sighing simultaneously.
"Tony," Chen Tian rubbed his temples, "Are you sure we shouldn't fix the swimming pool first? Pepper's expression when she saw that big hole last night was like she wanted to stuff you into a reactor…"
Tony waved his hand: "The swimming pool can wait! But technology cannot!" He pulled up a new design, "Look, I plan to cover the armor's surface with a nano-coating that can absorb specific wavelengths of light, combined with the Hell energy's distortion effect—"
"Wait," Ethan suddenly interrupted him, "Did you just say 'Hell energy's distortion effect'?"
"Yeah!" Tony said as if it were obvious, "During last night's test, I noticed a slight spatial distortion around the armor, like heat waves deforming the air. If we can control this effect, theoretically we can achieve optical stealth!"
Chen Tian slowly sat upright: "Tony… are you sure this is just 'technology'? This sounds more like…"
"magic?" Ethan finished, gripping the cross in his hand tighter.
"Pfft!" Tony rolled his eyes, "This is just an unexplained scientific application of energy. Chen Tian, you have to summon Diablo again today; I need to measure the spatial fluctuation parameters when he releases energy."
Chen Tian's face instantly fell: "Summon again?! Tony, do you know how embarrassing it is for me to say those summoning lines every time I summon?"
"Science requires sacrifice!" Tony patted his shoulder and turned to walk to the workbench, "Jarvis, prepare experimental protocol number 37. Oh, right," he added, looking back, "Remember to remind me to buy some tranquilizers. Pepper said if I blow up the house again, she'll stuff me into a Rocket and launch me into space."
Ethan silently pulled out his phone: "I'm booking a flight to Nepal…"
Chen Tian slumped back onto the sofa, gazing at the unpatched hole in the ceiling, muttering: "Why on Earth did I transmigrate to this World…"
Just as Chen Tian and Ethan were being exploited by the excited Tony, the television in the laboratory suddenly began reporting on Terrorists activities in the Middle East.
The trio's movements immediately ceased.
The images on the television kept changing, and the narrator's commentary informed everyone that in the Middle East, Terrorists had once again appeared, massacring villagers. These Terrorists called themselves the Ten Rings Gang.
When the announcer mentioned the Ten Rings Gang, a photo appeared on the screen; it wasn't the bald man from the original plot, but Abu, the bearded man.
"Jarvis, activate Mark-2 - Devil Edition's full weapon system." Tony suddenly threw down his wrench, the metal tool hitting the ground with a harsh clang. The laboratory instantly became quiet enough to hear the reactor's hum.
Chen Tian noticed the bulging veins on Tony's Sun temple: "You're not going to…"
"Exactly what you're thinking." Tony had already walked to the demonic armor, and the robotic arms began automatic assembly, "How many villages has the Ten Rings Gang massacred with my weapons? Now it's their turn to taste being hunted by a demon."
Ethan abruptly stood up, his cross pendant swaying: "Are you crazy? Appearing in the Middle East wearing this armor? Others will mistake you for a new Terrorists!"
Tony didn't answer Ethan's words. Instead, he waited until the armor was fully donned before speaking.
"I don't care. I just want to tell these damn guys that God might not punish them. But!"
The demonic faceplate covered Tony's face, and scarlet light flashed in the eyes on the faceplate, with crimson flames erupting.
Tony's voice emanated from within the armor, sounding like a demon god roaring from Hell.
"But, a demon will!"
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