Moreover, this project was about regenerating lost limbs. If successful, it would immediately open up a market worth countless trillions—a truly monumental opportunity.
Whether it was from the perspective of increasing humanity's combat capability, developing limb regeneration technology to benefit mankind, or profiting immensely from this technology, the potential was enormous—even Tony Stark himself was tempted.
But soon he finally understood why he had ended up alone on this oil tanker. It turned out Dr. Kilian had kidnapped Pepper Potts.
"Damn it!"
Tony Stark, who had been maintaining a semblance of calm, suddenly lost all composure. Even knowing this was something from the future, from another timeline, seeing Pepper blasted away made it impossible to contain the anger boiling inside him.
He could confirm one thing: Kilian was targeting him—at least partially targeting him.
Otherwise, there would be no way Pepper Potts would have been taken!
No wonder Lin Feng had said that being close to a superhero was even more dangerous.
On the screen, Tony Stark, clad in armor, found Pepper trapped beneath a pile of debris. He tried to lift the steel beams to free her, but all it did was cause her unbearable pain.
"Stop! Put it down, put it down!"
Tony could only lower the rubble, muttering a playful line: "This is what happens when you mess around with my ex-girlfriend!"
"You're such a jerk!"
Pepper scolded him.
"Alright, we'll discuss this over dinner!" Tony quickly replied. "Come on, baby, closer!"
But before anything else, disaster struck—a crimson-red arm shot out, directly ripping the energy core from Tony's armor.
Everyone focused, and it was none other than Dr. Kilian. At this moment, his entire body glowed a strange, eerie red.
Kilian looked a bit disheveled, breathing heavily, but still tried to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor as he addressed Pepper: "Was he bothering you?"
Tony Stark, struck with a sudden blow, felt dizzy. He attempted to get up, only to be pressed down by Kilian, who extended a single finger toward Tony's chest plate. Incredible heat erupted from it, slowly melting the armor—threatening to pierce straight through him.
"Feeling hot?"
"Blocked, huh? Hot enough for you?"
"Like a little turtle being roasted alive in its shell?"
Everyone's expression shifted slightly. Tony's armor was top-notch; designed for supersonic flight in the atmosphere, it had specialized heat shielding and could withstand extreme temperatures. Yet here it was, being melted through.
The amount of heat Kilian could generate was unimaginable.
And to think this was even humanly possible—or achievable through human modifications?
If Tony hadn't been wearing his armor, he would have been pierced instantly, making the Mark armor seem flimsy.
"I see—the problem is heat," Tony quickly deduced. "I know where Kilian's modification fails. It's high temperature. The human body is made of flesh and blood cells; if the temperature gets too high, it can't handle it. This might be the biggest side effect of his modifications."
For someone as brilliant as Tony, just a glance allowed him to deduce a great deal.
"This kind of heat will only cause massive explosions. If Kilian has already started experimenting, there should be related explosion incidents. That means, Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. can investigate unexplained explosions from this angle." Tony continued.
"Not just that," Nick Fury said immediately. "Since these modifications can help regenerate limbs, check whether there have been any disappearances of people with missing or disabled limbs."
Life as a homeless person in America isn't as easy as people think. Food, shelter—these are rare luxuries. One could be robbed, assaulted, or worse: abducted for human experiments, organ harvesting, or other bizarre experiments.
On screen, in the nick of time, Tony launched his blades, severing Kilian's arm and breaking free from the armor.
But during this, Pepper fell.
Seeing her about to fall to her death, Tony frantically chased her. He tried to suit up to save her, but Obstacle Soldiers kept blocking him along the way.
Finally, he reached Pepper.
"Pepper, I'm here! Relax, I've got you! Just look at me!" Tony shouted. "My hand can only reach so far—you have to let go. I'll catch you, I promise!"
But just as he spoke, she plunged into the fire below.
Everyone watching froze.
Pepper Potts… dead?
"No! This stupid future is unacceptable!" Tony's face drained of color. Fear surged through him.
All traces of composure were gone. Tony looked like a man desperate to grasp the last straw.
For the first time, everyone realized just how important Pepper was to Tony—Kilian had chosen his target wisely.
Tony's anger surged, overwhelming everything else. Only now did he truly confront his feelings.
Pepper wasn't just an assistant. She wasn't just family, as he had deluded himself into believing.
This was… love.
All the fleeting flings before her didn't compare.
Previously, their relationship had been a delicate ambiguity—friends but not lovers. Neither side had broken the barrier between them.
But seeing her die before his eyes unleashed Tony's love, flooding over him.
This made him hate Kilian even more, wanting to end him immediately.
At this moment, Kilian reappeared, alive, his body glowing an unnatural red. His severed arm, previously cut off by Tony, had regenerated.
As they suspected, these modifications could indeed regenerate limbs.
They could make someone extremely powerful, but the biggest risk was self-destruction.
This technology, just as Tony thought, had a bright future—a market worth trillions, possibly tens of trillions.
"Pathetic. If it were me, I'd have held onto her!" Kilian mocked, seeing Tony's agony.
Seeing the so-called genius, rich playboy in such pain brought him delight.
The two clashed, but Tony's Mark armor was no match for Kilian. It was destroyed effortlessly.
In front of Kilian, the Mark armor seemed flimsy, almost fake. Clearly, Kilian's modifications far surpassed the Obstacle Soldiers.
The armor worked against ordinary humans, but against Kilian, it was useless.
Tony reached the brink of despair—then Mark XLII appeared.
A message from Lin Feng flashed on screen:
[Iconic moment: Mark XLII, Anti-Tony Armor. You always research anti-series armors, now it's backfired on you! (manual dog emoji)]
Everyone was confused—they had no idea what "Anti-Tony Armor" meant.
But Tony realized: he had developed up to Mark XLII in the future. Even if each generation was only incrementally stronger than the previous, 42 iterations should result in an incredibly powerful suit.
Bang!
Soon, everyone saw how absurd Mark XLII was. On its first flight back, it crashed into a railing midair and was smashed to pieces.
This…
Everyone was dumbfounded.
At the most critical moment, this "Anti-Tony Armor" had sabotaged Tony's hopes.
"Forget it!" Tony muttered. From development, this armor had been prone to mishaps—and now this twist came at the worst possible time.
Kilian, seeing this, finally relaxed. Tony was truly helpless. He sneered: "You're not worthy of her, Tony."
"It's such a pity. I was so close to perfection!" Kilian lamented. He was just a hair's breadth away from achieving his ideal of perfection with her.
-----------------------
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