A Minor Situation

Stark Industries, office building.

When Pepper nervously arrived at the building entrance, she happened to run into the president’s secretary, who was heading home. She was startled, thinking Stanny would discover where she had been, but to her surprise, she learned a piece of reversed news from the secretary.

Godfather Kyle had just visited the Stark office building and removed Stanny from his position as president…

That was so cool and domineering!

Pepper was deeply moved. As expected of Tony’s godfather, she thought to herself, then hurried into the elevator in her high heels and swiped her card to enter the president’s office on the sixty-eighth floor.

Among the computer files Stanny had not had time to delete, Pepper followed Tony’s instructions and found the list of secret transactions. To her shock, she also discovered emails and videos exchanged between Stanny and terrorists in the Middle East.

Without thinking further, Pepper immediately made a call. When she found Tony’s phone unreachable, she relayed the criminal information to the military liaison, Colonel Rhodes, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison, Agent Coulson.

Rhodes was Tony’s friend, and he immediately said he would rush to Tony’s villa to confirm his safety. Coulson brought several agents to meet up with Pepper so they could track down and arrest Stanny together.

All of this happened precisely while Tony had his new core removed and lay on the floor of his home’s living room waiting to die.

"Tony, are you all right?!"

Ignoring every traffic law as he raced over, Rhodes, dressed in casual clothes, hurried to the villa. The moment he stepped into the brightly lit first-floor hall, he anxiously shouted inside.

There was no response from Tony. Instead, a calm, steady voice came from the sofa. "Soldier. What are you shouting about?"

"Hm?"

Rhodes was greatly startled and instinctively placed his right hand on the gun at his waist. But when his sharp gaze fell upon the silver-haired young man on the sofa, the tension on his dark face immediately gave way to respect. He snapped into a military salute. "Major General Kyle!"

"What major general? I publicly retired over sixty years ago." Kyle calmly glanced at him. Sitting on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, he raised a glass of crimson wine and took another gentle sip.

"I know, but you’ve been my idol since I was little, so…" Rhodes trailed off, remembering that now was not the time to meet his idol. He hurriedly changed the subject. "Where’s Tony? Where is he now?"

"He’s in the basement. He should be preparing to leave." Kyle spoke calmly. At a moment when everyone else was anxious and grave, he remained remarkably relaxed.

It was as if what was about to happen had nothing to do with him, yet also as if everything was under his control.

"Then I’ll head down first. I’ll pay you another visit next time."

Rhodes tossed out those words and rushed downstairs. As soon as he reached the basement, he heard the clanging sounds of various mechanical mechanisms.

Following the sound, he saw Tony standing upright on the workbench. The core in his chest glowed brightly as mechanical arms fitted him into the close-fitting Iron Man Armor—the Mark II, coated in red and gold paint and treated with anti-icing materials.

The mechanical armor merged perfectly with the human body, gradually taking the shape of a cool humanoid battle suit. Rhodes was so captivated that he blurted out, "Tony, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen."

"Rhodes, you’re here. Where’s Pepper now?" Tony asked in a low voice.

"She’s at Stark Industries with several agents, preparing to arrest Stanny," Rhodes answered quickly.

"They’re nowhere near enough on their own. I’m going there now." As Tony spoke, the Iron Man Armor had already fully equipped him, transforming him into a mechanical iron man. Blinding white light appeared in the steel chest plate and eye sockets of the mask.

"Need my help?" Rhodes asked, his eyes fixed on another suit beside the workbench, an unpainted original prototype armor.

"Clear the skies for me!"

The moment Tony’s words fell, his hands dropped to his sides. The engines beneath his feet and in his palms roared, accelerating fiercely with blasts of white light as he smashed through the basement ceiling and walls and shot away.

"It’s about time."

A voice came from the stairs behind him. Rhodes turned around and saw Kyle descending with his wineglass, his expression calm.

"Mr. Kyle, aren’t you worried at all?" Rhodes could not help asking curiously.

"Worried about what?"

Kyle’s question made Rhodes pause slightly before he broke into a bitter smile.

Stanny’s matter really did seem like nothing more than a minor scuffle to the Symbol of Peace who had once ended World War II alone.

Rhodes suddenly remembered something. "Right. Mr. Kyle, ever since your return, there’s been a general who really wants to meet you. He says he has something he’d like to ask your help with. The military is preparing to deal with a monster, and he says you’re the only one in the world who might be able to handle it."

"A monster?" Kyle considered it, then said coldly, "I have no desire to get involved with the U.S. military again. But if the monster you’re dealing with is worth my intervention, I’ll consider it."

"Then it’s settled." Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief and pointed at the sports car in the basement. "I’m heading to Stark Industries now. Do you want to come take a look?"

"Iron Man’s first battle is certainly worth watching. But there’s no need to take your car." Kyle set down his glass and walked beneath the open hole in the ceiling as Rhodes watched in confusion.

"A sports car is too slow."

Kyle tossed out the disdainful remark. Then dark wings unfolded behind him, and the powerful gust generated by a light flap sent everything in the basement flying.

Like a streak of black light, he shot into the sky, made a sharp ninety-degree turn above the villa, and blasted toward the distance like a bullet.

Rhodes stood there dumbfounded. If Tony’s Iron Man Armor could still barely be explained in principle, then Kyle’s winged Supersonic Flight could not possibly be explained by science.

"This is another world," Rhodes murmured. He reluctantly gave the prototype armor one last look before dejectedly running off to drive the sports car.

Meanwhile, at the manufacturing factory of Stark Industries.

Dented bullets littered the ground. Three or four agents in suits lay unconscious, while others lay dead on the floor. The machinery and flooring everywhere looked as though they had been ravaged by a violent storm.

Pepper was fleeing for her life in panic, pursued by an Iron Machine three or four meters tall. Its thick, crude armor and heavy weapons made the steel suit ugly and enormous.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every step it took carried several tons of weight, leaving deep dents in the factory floor as the distance between it and Pepper continued to shrink.

"Ah!" Pepper cried out as the heel of her left high-heeled shoe snapped, sending her tumbling forward onto the ground.

"Ahahahaha!"

The Iron Machine stopped before her, its shadow covering Pepper’s curled-up body. Stanny’s mad laughter came from inside the armor, followed by his savage, icy words. "Pepper, you can go meet Tony in heaven!"

The Iron Machine raised its steel left hand. A Gatling weapon was mounted at its wrist, its row of hollow barrels aimed at her. Pepper braced herself against the floor with both hands and closed her eyes in despair.

At that critical instant, an invisible force swept through the area. It passed over Pepper without causing her any harm.

But when it struck the Iron Machine, its multi-ton armored body was violently blasted away. It flew more than ten meters, smashing through several walls before scraping sparks and rolling onto the main road beside the factory.

Pepper opened her eyes in confusion. In front of her, where the Iron Machine had originally stood, was an exceptionally beautiful black-haired woman.

Yutong held her hands outstretched as the silver light faded from her beautiful eyes. She smiled faintly. "The boss said to make sure his big nephew’s woman stays safe."