Several days had passed since Tony declared war on The Mandarin, yet the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings Gang remained silent, creating a sense of calm before the storm.
Prior to this, the Ten Rings Gang had carried out multiple vicious terrorist attacks across the country, even going so far as to hijack television signals across America to publicly claim responsibility for the bombings. Given the organization's consistently arrogant and overbearing style, they certainly wouldn't let Tony's provocation slide.
But as the saying goes, a thief can wait a thousand days to strike, but one cannot stay on guard for a thousand days.
Tony wasn't about to live in constant fear over such a matter.
Before long, he tossed all the trouble regarding the Ten Rings Gang and The Mandarin to the back of his mind and dove into his laboratory once again, throwing himself heart and soul into upgrading his Iron Man Suits.
Since the Battle of New York, Tony had developed a case of paranoia similar to Nick Fury's. He constantly felt that Earth wasn't safe, fearing that some alien civilization might come knocking at any moment. Therefore, he had to be prepared, and the more prepared he was, the better.
This was precisely why he had built so many Iron Man Suits—to prepare for any eventuality.
Fortunately, Darian had taken the nuclear bomb from Tony's hands back then, so he hadn't flown through the portal with it. Otherwise, his symptoms would likely have been even more severe.
That being said, Tony's mind was truly brilliant, with all sorts of whimsical ideas emerging one after another.
Even though he was just an ordinary Earthling who hadn't been exposed to advanced future technology, his thinking was never limited by current understanding. He had managed to create one era-defining invention after another.
What was even more ridiculous was that no matter how wild or unscientific his ideas sounded, he always found a way to turn them into reality. The giants of science would probably be rolling in their graves.
Seeing this, Darian couldn't help but wonder if Tony possessed some kind of 'I think, therefore it works' power. As long as he believed it was scientific, he could definitely build it.
It was hard to imagine what level this guy would reach if he ever came into contact with an alien civilization with powerful technology or spent a few years studying in the vast Universe. At that point, he might even be able to build the black technology found in works of fiction, like time machines, time-stop devices, hypnotic cell phones...
Darian suddenly remembered a system function he hadn't used yet and immediately pulled up Tony's teammate panel.
[NPC: Tony Stark (Iron Man)]
[Race: Human]
[Attributes: Strength 12, Agility 11, Constitution 9, Spirit 18]
[Equipment: None]
[Favorability: 95]
[Detected that Tony Stark's favorability has reached 95 or above. Would you like to extract this NPC's Skin Card?]
The system prompt sounded accordingly.
Without hesitation, Darian chose to extract Tony's Skin Card.
[Skin: Tony Stark (The Man Cursed by Knowledge)]
With this Skin Card, Darian could transform into Tony on the spot, instantly gaining all of his abilities and equipment.
This meant that if he were to fight Tony, the outcome would be at least a fifty-fifty split, not to mention that Darian's own skills, equipment, and items could still be used as usual.
Unfortunately, the system stipulated that Skin Cards could only be extracted from NPCs with a favorability rating of over 95.
If cards could also be drawn for favorability below negative 95, given Darian's ability to annoy people to death, he probably would have collected a full set of Skin Cards by now. By then, Steve's reputation for being able to fight anyone to a draw would likely have a new successor.
Darian watched as Tony tested the automatic assembly function of the Mark 42 Iron Man Suit.
Over a dozen metal components flew through the air, attaching themselves to different parts of Tony's body. However, one component accidentally hit the corner of a workbench mid-flight, altering its trajectory and striking Tony squarely in the crotch.
"Ugh!"
Tony's eyes widened instantly, and his legs instinctively squeezed together into an inward-pointing stance. On the surface, however, he forced himself to remain calm, acting as if nothing had happened.
Amused by the sight, Darian quickly saved the scene into a 'Try Not to Laugh' directory for Tony, then spoke up: "If you want a convenient and rapidly deployable set of iron armor, why not consider nanotechnology?"
Tony took several deep breaths to recover before answering in a slightly high-pitched voice, "I've had that idea for a long time, but current nanotechnology is still immature. The energy conduction efficiency is insufficient, and the structural strength doesn't meet combat requirements. It can't satisfy my needs."
"Who says?"
Darian grinned and gave a large wave of his hand.
A red and blue suit with a metallic texture appeared on his body, spreading rapidly like a liquid to cover him completely. In the blink of an eye, the assembly was complete.
"This is..."
Tony was instantly captivated by the spider-man suit on Darian, a trace of disbelief on his face.
"Nanotechnology, Tony!"
Darian gave a contemptuous smile.
"This set of iron armor of yours is already outdated. Besides, your armor isn't as good-looking as mine."
"..."
Tony's face darkened, but he couldn't argue. He had just finished saying nanotechnology was immature, and the next moment, the other guy whipped out a functional nano-suit. This slap to the face came as fast as a tornado.
Tony narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the nano-suit.
"Why does this design feel somewhat similar to that spider-boy's uniform? And who exactly built this?"
For some reason, he felt an indescribable sense of familiarity with this spider-man suit, as if it had been made by his own hands.
Darian chuckled.
"This was personally crafted for Peter by his non-biological father. Don't ask me who it is, I don't know either. Probably some unlucky old man."
"This old guy's skill is indeed quite good."
Tony admitted somewhat reluctantly.
Coming from his mouth, this was already a very high evaluation.
With Tony's eye, he could naturally see at a glance how high the technical content of this spider-man suit was. Even setting aside the nanotechnology, the other technologies were quite mature and much more advanced than his Mark 42.
However, Tony didn't feel discouraged at all. Instead, he became even more motivated. He had absolute confidence in himself; with his intellect, catching up to this level of technology was only a matter of time.
Of course, if there was a way to take a shortcut and speed up the process, he certainly wouldn't refuse.
Tony gave a sly grin.
"Darian, let's discuss something. How about you lend me this suit to study for a few days?"
Darian saw through Tony's scheme and teased, "No way? The famous Tony Stark actually wants to plagiarize someone else's technology?"
"How can you call this plagiarism?"
Without blushing or his heart skipping a beat, Tony said solemnly, "This is called learning from others; it's a necessary path for technological development. And to be honest, for some reason, I feel that this nanotechnology was destined to belong to me."
Darian was shocked.
"Tony, when did you become even more shameless? Who did you learn this from?"
"Ahem, it's better not to talk about things that affect our relationship."
Under Tony's forceful persuasion, Darian eventually lent him the spider-man suit.
He couldn't help it; Tony simply offered too much!
As soon as he got the spider-man suit, Tony dove into the laboratory without looking back, entering a state of seclusion.
He stated that unless The Mandarin attacked, there was no need to call him even if the sky fell, and he transferred some of Jarvis's access permissions to Darian.
This wasn't a treatment just anyone could enjoy.
In Tony's World, besides a very small number of close people like Pepper and Happy, almost no one could gain such trust.
However, since Darian's favorability had already reached 95, he naturally enjoyed this special treatment.
Seeing Tony completely immersed in his research, Darian shrugged and strolled back to the Villa's living room.
Because he had just provoked a terrorist organization, Tony had already sent Pepper to a safe place, so only he and Tony were in the house.
Darian acted as if he were in his own home, walking familiarly to the wine cabinet. He picked out a bottle of Tony's prized wine, poured himself a small glass, sat comfortably on the sofa, and began chatting with Tony's artificial intelligence butler, Jarvis.
"Jarvis, do you have a loli voice?"
"I am sorry, Mr. Darian, there is no such setting in my voice library."
Jarvis's cold mechanical voice sounded.
"What about a mature older sister voice?"
"None of those either."
"Boring. Then let me ask you, are you male or female?"
"..."
Darian was having a casual conversation with Jarvis.
They chatted about everything from gender to the development of artificial intelligence, to whether Jarvis knew he was an AI.
Just then, Jarvis suddenly said, "Detected an unregistered individual entering the outer surveillance zone. A primary alarm has been triggered. Do you require interception measures?"
As Tony's head of security, Jarvis reported to Darian the moment he discovered an anomaly.
Darian glanced nonchalantly at the surveillance screen and saw that the newcomer was a woman.
Jarvis also thoughtfully displayed her basic information on the side: her name was Maya Hansen, a well-known biological geneticist. Furthermore, she was actually one of Tony's old flames.
Seeing this, Darian was instantly intrigued.
One should know that Tony and Pepper were currently in a passionate relationship, with Tony acting like a 'good boy' who had played enough and was looking to settle down.
Yet at this critical juncture, an old flame of Tony's had suddenly come knocking, specifically choosing a time when Pepper wasn't home. Darian's mind immediately filled with millions of words of melodramatic drama, instantly triggering his gossip genes.
"Let her in," Darian said impatiently.
Very soon, the woman named Maya walked into the Villa.
As soon as Maya entered, she saw Darian slumped on the sofa, sipping fine wine and looking like a lord.
Assuming he held a high status, she said somewhat constrainedly, "Hello, I am Maya. I'm here to see Tony. Is he here?"
Darian waved his hand. "No need to be so formal. I'm just a bodyguard."
Maya: "..."
Are bodyguards these days all this impressive?
Darian continued, "If you have something for Tony, you can just tell me."
Hearing Darian call Tony by his name directly without any sense of distance, Maya felt that the two of them likely didn't have an ordinary employer-employee relationship.
After a moment's hesitation, she spoke up, "I want to ask Tony to help me fix Extremis."
"What kind of thing is Extremis?"
Hearing that it wasn't some emotional entanglement, Darian immediately lost his interest in the gossip.
Maya explained, "It is a technical organic virus that can enter the area of the brain responsible for self-healing and recode it through chemical means. Simply put, it's like hacking an organism's genetic operating system, enabling the activation of necrotic tissue for rapid repair, and even limb regeneration."
"Oh?"
Darian raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued once more.
"Is it that powerful?"
Maya nodded affirmatively, "Yes, and I have already succeeded in experiments. Besides powerful self-healing abilities, the subject's physical fitness will also be comprehensively improved."
Darian's eyes lit up instantly.
He had recently been planning a human enhancement project, and the Extremis virus Maya described happened to coincide perfectly with his vision.
"You researched this Extremis?" Darian leaned forward with interest.
"Yes."
"A talent!"
Darian immediately sat up straight and pointed enthusiastically at the sofa next to him.
"Maya, sit down. Uh, do you want a drink?"
Who drinks in the middle of the day!
Maya sat down on the edge of the sofa with a slight look of awkwardness.
"Thank you, I don't drink."
Darian nodded and followed up curiously, "Since this Extremis you're talking about is so powerful, why do you need Tony to fix it?"
Maya's expression stiffened at this relentless questioning.
Big brother, we just met for the first time. Can we have a little bit of personal space?
After a moment of hesitation, she decided to tell the truth.
"Because Extremis currently still has serious flaws. Subjects may generate extremely high heat due to an overreaction of the immune system. This thermal reaction is highly unstable, and in severe cases, it may even... explode."
Good grief, if this were injected into soldiers, wouldn't they just be self-destructing infantry?
"Explode?"
Darian raised an eyebrow.
"Could this have something to do with the recent bombing cases?"
He had seen Tony's simulation of the explosion sites; there was no gunpowder residue or detonating devices. The explosions seemed to appear out of thin air. Given that Maya had suddenly shown up at this time, it was hard not to make the connection.
Noticing Maya's suddenly frozen expression and flickering gaze, Darian knew he had guessed correctly.
Maya bit her lip, took a deep breath, and finally confessed, "Actually, I have another even more important purpose for coming to see Tony. Please be sure to tell him that someone has already sent a special assassination squad, and the target is him. These killers might appear here very soon; he must be extremely careful."
Darian glanced at the images playing on the living room television and said, "It's not 'might be soon'; they're already here."
Maya: "?"
She followed Darian's gaze to the TV screen, which was broadcasting a long-distance live shot of Tony's seaside Villa.
And between the sea and the sky, an unidentified flying object was heading toward the Villa.
As the camera lens zoomed in, Maya discovered in horror that it was actually a missile!
Are they crazy!
Someone actually dared to fire a missile in a residential area!
Oh, this is America. Never mind then!
Before Maya could recover from her shock, she felt a sudden gust of wind rush past her.
Darian's figure suddenly leaped up like a cheetah, crashing through the floor-to-ceiling window amidst a shower of glass shards and jumping outside.
In mid-air, a seemingly ordinary Frying Pan appeared in his hand out of nowhere. He swung it fiercely toward the whistling missile!
Clang!
Boom!!
After the crisp sound of metal striking metal, there was a deafening explosion!
The missile exploded into a ball of fire in the air, and the violent shockwave spread in all directions, kicking up waves several meters high!
Amidst the permeating smoke, a figure landed steadily on the edge of the cliff outside the Villa, his clothes fluttering in the wind.
Darian narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, his tone carrying a hint of annoyance.
"Which idiot sent this Rocket?"