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Killian's gaze shifted toward the sky. "It seems Tony has finally arrived. I was just thinking about him. Meeting him again in a place like this... it really moves me."
Dozens of Iron Man armors hovered above the cargo ship. Tony's voice echoed from the sky.
"Killian, I'm here! Release Pepper, or I'll make sure you die without leaving a corpse behind!"
Pepper looked up at the sky and whispered softly, "Tony..."
"Pepper!" Tony's eyes lit up the moment he saw her. "I'm here. As long as I'm alive, no one will hurt you."
Killian looked up at Tony and smiled calmly.
"Tony, it's been a long time. The first thing you want to do after seeing me is kill me. But perhaps you should wait. Haven't you noticed that there's someone else here who's also planning to kill me?"
Following Killian's line of sight, Tony looked over. The moment he saw the figure floating in the air, his expression changed drastically.
"Jack!"
Jack smiled casually.
"Tony, long time no see. Meeting here... it really seems like fate."
Tony's eyes were filled with hatred.
"Jack... I'll tear you to pieces."
Jack glanced at Tony's mechanical arm and chuckled.
"It seems your severed arm has grown back. Last time in New York, I remember cutting it off."
Tony's voice turned cold.
"Thanks to Sir, I was able to recover it. You have no idea how powerful Sir is. If Sir truly wanted you dead, killing you would be effortless. He's only letting you live because he wants to play with you for a while."
Jack immediately put on an exaggerated frightened expression.
"Wow, that almost scared me enough to fly away."
Tony snorted.
"You underestimate people. Jarvis!"
At Tony's command, every Iron Man armor accelerated toward Jack under Jarvis' control.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Miniature missiles rained toward Jack from every direction.
Jack shook his head helplessly.
"Tony, attacking your father with this pile of scrap? You're really looking down on me."
Before any missile could reach him, they all froze in midair about a meter away, completely motionless.
The Iron Man armors raised both hands.
Boom!
Brilliant repulsor beams blasted toward Jack.
Jack merely looked at them indifferently.
"Even trash dares challenge your father?"
The repulsor beams suddenly stopped in front of him as if time itself had frozen. A second later, they reversed direction and shot back toward the Iron Man armors.
Boom!
The explosions erupted across the night sky.
After the smoke cleared, the armor remained completely intact.
Tony laughed confidently.
"Useless, Jack."
Jack nodded slightly.
"I can see your metal toys have become much sturdier."
The suspended missiles suddenly turned around as well.
Whoosh!
They flew back toward the Iron Man armors at even greater speed than before.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions lit up the entire sky. Flames rolled through the air like fireworks.
When everything settled, several armors had been blasted backward, but none suffered any significant damage.
Jack smiled.
"Not bad. They've become much stronger."
Then he shrugged.
"But remember... those missiles and energy blasts belong to your armor, not me. I simply returned them to their owner."
Tony narrowed his eyes.
"So you're saying you can destroy my armor whenever you want?"
He pointed at Jack.
"Then come and try."
Jack spread his hands.
"Fine. Let me show you the gap between us. No matter how much you upgrade your armor, that gap won't disappear."
The moment he finished speaking—
Jack vanished.
His figure disappeared so suddenly that even Jarvis failed to lock onto him.
The next instant, he appeared directly in front of one Iron Man armor.
Jack clenched his fist.
Without any fancy movement, he punched straight toward the Arc Reactor in the center of the armor's chest.
Crunch!
His fist pierced through the armor effortlessly.
It entered through the front and emerged from the back as though the armor were nothing but paper.
For a brief second...
Silence.
Sparks flickered across the armor.
Crack... crack...
The entire structure collapsed instantly.
Every joint separated.
Every plate fell apart.
Within seconds, the once-powerful Iron Man armor had become nothing more than a pile of scrap metal crashing into the sea below.
Tony stared blankly.
"Impossible..."
His voice trembled.
"I strengthened that armor more than ten times..."
He found it almost impossible to accept.
Every time he thought he had narrowed the gap between himself and Jack, reality cruelly reminded him that the difference was still unimaginably large.
Jack smiled faintly.
"Maybe this one was just an exception."
He looked toward Tony's remaining armors.
"You still have plenty of metal toys."
Tony glanced at the dozens of armors surrounding him.
His confidence slowly returned.
"That's right."
"I have an entire legion."
"No matter how strong you are, I'll still kill you."
Killian watched the scene with interest before smiling.
"Tony... it seems the gap between you and Mr. Jack is much larger than you imagined."
Tony turned toward him with icy eyes.
"I can kill you whenever I want."
Killian simply shook his head.
"Tony... do you still think I'm the pathetic cripple from thirteen years ago—the fool you treated like a dog?"
Tony answered without hesitation.
"Sorry."
"I honestly forgot whatever happened thirteen years ago."
Killian burst into laughter.
"Hahaha... Interesting."
"Very good."
"If you've forgotten, then I'll personally help you remember."
His smile gradually became darker.
He then looked toward Jack.
"Mr. Jack... have you considered the proposal I mentioned earlier?"
Jack looked at him as though he had heard the world's greatest joke.
"Consider it?"
"You actually think your father would consider such nonsense?"
"Even if Heaven itself wanted to destroy me, I'd shatter Heaven first."
"And you..."
Jack pointed directly at Killian.
"...actually think you can control me?"
"You're stupid beyond saving."
"My tolerance for fools has its limits."
"So congratulations."
"I've officially decided."
"I'm going to beat you into dust."
Killian's face darkened.
"So... there is no possibility of cooperation?"
Jack's voice became completely emotionless.
"Cooperation?"
"My Jack has never needed disobedient dogs."
"As for a dog like you..."
"I don't have the slightest interest."
Killian suddenly laughed again.
"Hahaha..."
"Mr. Jack... it seems you care about Pepper quite a bit."
"I wonder if she wants you to keep living."
Pepper immediately turned her face away and spoke coldly.
"I don't care."
"My life or death has nothing to do with him."
"Stop talking nonsense."
"I only hate that man."
Yet despite her words...
Her heart felt strangely uncomfortable.
He doesn't care whether I live or die...
Fine.
I don't care either.
I really don't care...
Then why...
Why does it hurt so much?
Tony couldn't help shouting.
"Killian! Watch your mouth!"
"Pepper could never like Jack!"
Killian smiled playfully.
"Oh?"
"Pepper really does have quite the charm."
"It seems Tony is very interested in you."
He looked between the two before continuing.
"But Tony..."
"I don't think you've realized what kind of feelings Pepper has toward Jack."
"It's probably... love mixed with hate."
Tony's face immediately stiffened.
"Love... and hate?"
"Impossible."
"Absolutely impossible."
He looked directly at Pepper.
"Pepper..."
"Tell me."
"Is that true?"
Before Pepper could answer, Jack spoke first.
"Tony."
"Why are you asking another man's woman how she feels?"
"If you want an answer, ask me instead."
Jack's smile disappeared as an overwhelming aura spread across the entire cargo ship.
"I'll make it perfectly clear."
"Pepper has always been your father's woman."
"From the beginning..."
"Until the end."
"Anyone who dares lay a finger on her..."
His cold gaze swept across everyone present.
"...will have only one ending."
"Death."