"Tony, didn't we say we were going to Las Vegas together? What are you doing?"
Easily crushing the glass container holding the Mark 1 reactor, casually handing it to Tony, Corin looked a bit surprised at the sight of Tony Stark lying on the ground in such a sorry state.
'This old guy Obadiah sure moves fast.'
He looked at the mechanical arm already moving on the side.
'This is the piece Tony made when he was 17 and won an award at MIT, right? Look at that brain of his.'
Corin knew that even if he did not come, that mechanical arm Tony built back in college would automatically hand him the reactor.
Then he looked at Tony again. His face was haggard and pale, his hair a mess, and the blood that had flowed from both ears had already dried and turned black.
The high-end brand T-shirt he usually wore, the one on him now had a big tear at the chest, dirty and ragged, forming a stark contrast to his usual polished appearance.
"Tsk! Tsk! Nust've taken a lot out of you to crawl over here."
Corin shook his head slightly. He had actually seen with his own eyes one of those rare times when Iron Man was on the brink.
Really, getting here early isn't as good as getting here at the right time.
Down at the foot of the hill, he had hesitated a few minutes and finally decided to just fly straight up. Since he was already here anyway.
There had also been a helicopter taking off from here just now. Thinking about it now, that had to be Obadiah.
Tony was not going to make a fuss about him showing up uninvited.
'Then again, hang on a second~'
'Since when did I start caring about Tony's feelings?'
'Bro, back then you only spared him because of the money, remember?'
"Showing courtesy to someone you already beat, am I being too nice?", Corin realized that his interest in the armor seemed to be affecting his attitude toward Tony, which was not good.
After all, he was just a cold, emotionless bounty hunter, and Tony was just one of many clients.
If he had anything special about him, it was only that he had more money than most.
Thinking this, the Tony Stark in Corin's eyes was no longer that awe-inspiring Iron Man.
He was a walking wallet, waiting to be slowly emptied.
Tony's trembling hands finally managed to slot the Mark 1 reactor into his chest. He let out a long breath, lying on the floor for quite a while before he recovered.
Recognizing Corin's voice and knowing it was him who had saved him, he said weakly, "Thanks~ Crimson… Silver Duke, huff~ huff~"
"As you can see, I'm not doing anything. I've been done."
———
"Tony! Tony!"
Suddenly, a grown man's anxious shout came from nearby, and then James Rhodes came running over, panting hard.
Seeing Tony lying on the ground and the suspicious man in formal wear standing next to him, Colonel Rhodes instantly pulled out his pistol and aimed at Corin, "Who are you? What did you do to Tony? Tony! Tony!"
Corin did not speak. He lightly shot Tony a "you handle this" look and stood there as still as a pine tree.
Click!
"Talk!"
The gun was cocked. Rhodes stared at Corin with a serious face.
"Listen to me, man… he's not an enemy," Tony had finally recovered enough and spoke up to smooth things over.
Seeing Tony was back to himself, and out of his trust in him, Colonel Rhodes relaxed. The tension in his eyes instantly faded, and he casually tucked the gun back into the waistband at his back.
"Where's Pepper? Is she alright?", Tony suddenly grabbed Colonel Rhodes' arm, asking urgently.
When Obadiah had taken his reactor, he had said he would not let Pepper go. If Pepper got hurt because of this, Tony would never forgive himself.
"We just talked on the phone. She's fine. There are five agents with her, they're going to arrest Obadiah."
Colonel Rhodes described his phone call with Pepper just now.
As mentioned before, after getting the evidence, Ms. Pepper had run into Phil Coulson when she went downstairs.
As a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Phil Coulson had been assigned to help investigate the weapons smuggling at Stark Industries and happened to bump into Pepper Potts, who had the evidence in her hands.
Ms. Pepper turned around and filed a report on the spot, handing all the evidence over to Agent Phil. S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly confirmed that Obadiah was the main culprit behind the weapons smuggling.
Thinking back to what Obadiah had just said, he seemed to have built a suit of armor as well.
"Crap!"
A flash of cold light passed through Tony's eyes as he looked at Corin, "Five people won't be enough."
Corin seemed to read the meaning in Tony's eyes and instantly put on a professional smile, asking kindly, "Tony, need help? If you place an order now, you can enjoy a 10% discount~"
Colonel Rhodes stood to the side, totally confused.
'Place what order?'
'What are they doing?'
'How did the topic suddenly jump like that?'
Thinking back on Corin's methods, Tony stared straight at that handsome, heroic face of his.
'So this is what's under the Crimson Silver Duke's mask.'
'Damn~ I thought there'd be some flaw, got me hyped up for nothing.'
He narrowed his eyes slightly, then Tony said proudly and confidently, "No, I'll do it myself!"
———
Rhodes unconsciously took two steps forward, watching Tony stand on the arming platform as the streamlined armor gradually wrapped around his body, and said in awe, "This is definitely the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Corin, standing to the side, did not say anything, but he watched every second of Tony arming up without blinking and quietly sighed, "It really is cool!"
Tony, secretly watching the two of them, felt a hint of pride pass through his heart and pretended to be calm, "It's alright… ^_^"
"Getting ready to head out!"
Raising his hand, he blasted away the luxury sports car blocking his way, then took two steps forward and turned around.
Seeing this, Corin rolled his eyes and almost screamed that he could not handle it.
'Tony Stark, this guy… at a time like this, he still has to show off.'
'That little car was just sitting there minding its business, did it do anything to you? Why'd you have to knock it aside?'
'And also, other people might not know, but I sure do.'
'The power output of that Mark 1 reactor is nowhere near enough to handle that new suit you're wearing.'
'That blast was pure waste!'
'Just wait…'
Air Force Colonel James Rhodes took a faceful of how cool Tony looked in the armor and felt a little sour inside.
"Anything you need me to do?" (Rhodes)
With the sound of a mechanical jet firing up, Tony Stark, who feels physically unwell if he doesn't show off, had Iron Man's faceplate snap down.
A voice with that cyberpunk mechanical reverb rang out, "Clear the skies."
Clearly, almost getting blown up by the Air Force on his way back from Afganistan had left him with an unforgettable memory.
Fire blasted out from the mechanical hands and feet as he took off. With a huge boom, Iron Man disappeared in front of the two of them, sparks still spraying from the big hole in the ceiling.
Through the hole above their heads, a few stars could be seen twinkling in the far-off sky.
Corin had a feeling he might be getting another big order. Even if he did not, how could he not go watch such an awesome scene?
He gave Colonel Rhodes a slight nod, "Nice to meet you. See you around, Colonel Rhodes."
Then he flicked out a throwing knife, and his figure turned into a streak of light, shooting out cleanly through the hole Tony had just blasted.
"What the fack?"
Colonel Rhodes stared blankly at the two men who had taken off one after the other. Tony having a flying suit of armor was one thing, that was science.
'But this guy. Damn it! I still don't know what his name is.'
He had nothing, and just by swinging his arm, he flew off too? How was that scientific?
Rhodes subconsciously mimicked Corin's arm swing. Nothing happened. It just felt a bit awkward.
This gave his worldview quite a shock.
He looked at the luxury Audi R8 he had just driven over and suddenly felt it was not so great anymore.
"No matter how good a car is, it still can't fly."
Then he suddenly noticed the bare silver suit of armor hanging from the chains not far away, still unpainted yet. He was hard stunned for a full 5 seconds.
Colonel Rhodes' body swayed a little. His desire to put it on was so strong that he could not bring himself to take a single step toward the car for a long time.
Right now, he wished more than anything that he could also fly out of that big hole in the ceiling.
After hesitating again and again, he gritted his teeth, "Next time, I'm definitely putting you on, baby."
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