Though Pepper was stunned by the shout and didn't know what was happening, out of her years of trust in Tony, she grabbed the red and silver suitcase from the back seat and handed it out the window.
"Tony, that's for emergencies—"
"It's an emergency right now! A very big one!!"
Tony grabbed the suitcase, placed it on the ground, and stomped on it hard with his toe.
Click—Hum!
The suitcase unfolded instantly, mechanical structures interlocking layer by layer as they climbed up his legs.
Tony thrust his hands into the slots and jerked them up to his chest.
Red and silver armor plates quickly covered his entire body like scales.
This was the Mark 5, the portable armor.
Mark 5
Although its defense and firepower were far inferior to conventional models, its advantage lay in how quickly it could be equipped.
In just five seconds.
Clang!
As the Faceplate snapped shut, the arrogant playboy vanished.
In his place stood Iron Man, eyes glowing with light.
Mark 5
"Whew..." Tony finally regained a bit of a sense of security after donning the armor.
Jarvis's warning was still echoing in his ears.
He didn't dare be careless, raising his right arm as the iconic light of the Palm Repulsor locked onto the innocent-looking Reze.
A humming sound vibrated through the air.
"Alright, mysterious lady."
Tony's voice had a cold, metallic edge: "I don't know who you are, or why you've got Jarvis so spooked, but I suggest you turn around right now and leave my lawn. Otherwise, I'll have to use force to evict you."
Facing the dark muzzle of the Palm Repulsor, Reze didn't retreat. Instead, she did something Tony didn't expect.
Mimicking Tony, she slowly raised her right arm, palm forward, and aimed it at Iron Man.
It was a perfect imitation; even the forward tilt of her body was identical.
But her hand was empty—no thruster, just a fair and tender palm.
Tony froze for a moment, his tense nerves relaxing slightly as he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Huh? Are you a fan of mine? Is this an impression? It's cute, really."
"It might look a bit more convincing if you were holding a flashlight—"
Truth be told, Su Modie, who was currently lying on a broken bed in Hells Kitchen munching on cheap biscuits, really had been a die-hard fan of Tony Stark before she transmigrated.
Once upon a time, she had cried her eyes out watching that figure snap his fingers.
But now... Su Modie chewed up the last piece of biscuit: "Idol, it's not too much to ask for some gold coins from your die-hard fan, is it?"
"Tony! What are you doing?!" Pepper in the car finally reacted. She unbuckled her seatbelt in a panic, poked her head out, and screamed at Tony, "She's just a girl! Have you gone mad? You'll kill her! Put that thing down!"
In Pepper's eyes, the scene was utterly absurd—a fully armed Iron Man pointing a weapon of mass destruction at an unarmed young girl who looked like she was still in high school.
This is simply Carnage!
"I know it's ridiculous, but..." Tony was also confused. He didn't know what was wrong with Jarvis, let alone how to explain it.
"I didn't expect to be found out..." A soft, sweet voice suddenly interrupted him.
Tony looked back and saw that Reze's hand was no longer aimed at him, but was slowly curling.
Her index finger gently hooked into the metal pull ring on the black collar around her neck.
She tilted her head, a hint of playfulness flashing in her emerald eyes.
"The power of technology really is fearsome, Mr. Stark."
The next second.
Reze's finger, hooked into the pull ring, gave a violent tug!
Click.
A crisp metallic click rang out.
Tony's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks: "Shit—"
BOOM—!!!
Without any warning.
Reze's once delicate and cute head exploded violently in an instant!
Terrifying flames and the Impact suddenly swallowed the distance between them!
"What the—"
Bang! The once-majestic Iron Man was sent flying like a kicked soda can.
He drew a pathetic arc in the air before crashing heavily into a flowerbed over ten meters away, kicking up a cloud of dirt.
[villainess value +23]
"Ahhh!!" Pepper screamed in terror, ducking into the car and covering her ears.
In the flowerbed, Tony struggled to climb out.
The Mark 5 was, after all, a light armor. Although the blow hadn't penetrated, it made his chest feel tight, and warning alarms were blaring incessantly.
That explosion didn't just have the force of an Impact; it also carried terrifyingly high temperatures!
[Warning! Chest armor damaged! External coating melting! Energy source readings abnormal!]
"Dammit... what the hell is that thing?!" Tony stared ahead in horror through his dirt-covered Faceplate.
The smoke cleared.
The purple-haired girl from before had vanished.
In her place was a humanoid monster whose head had turned into a pitch-black bomb!
On that bomb head, there were two rows of teeth as sharp as saw blades.
"Damn... Pepper! Get inside! Lock down the Safe Room!"
Realizing things had gone south, Tony didn't have time to explain.
The Mark 5 was too fragile; it couldn't withstand the explosions generated by this monster.
He had to switch back to another model of armor, at least one that could fly, or he'd have absolutely no chance of winning!
Indeed, for the sake of being portable and foldable, the Mark 5's flight modules had been stripped. The only thing remotely useful was the Palm Repulsor, but it had been blasted into near-malfunction.
"Damn lightweight design! So unreliable!" Tony cursed.
Since he couldn't fly, he'd have to run on two legs!
He had to get back to the Villa's garage lab. The fully armed Mark 4 was there; he only stood a chance if he changed into that suit!
And so, the scene became comical.
The great Iron Man was now sprinting across his own lawn on two mechanical legs... No, it was more like a frantic trot.
Because the armor itself was heavy and the Mark 5's joints weren't flexible enough.
Even though he was sweating with anxiety, he couldn't actually run. He could only walk briskly, making heavy "clank, clank" metallic sounds with every step, his posture extremely awkward like a rusty tin man.
"Jarvis! Is the backup armor preheated yet?!" Tony shouted as he glanced back while power-walking.
That one glance nearly scared the soul out of him.
He saw that the bomb-headed monster wasn't in a hurry to kill him.
Like a cat playing with a mouse, she followed unhurriedly behind him, hands in her pockets as if she were taking a stroll.
"Mr. Stark, are you taking me to get the money?" Reze's two rows of serrated teeth parted slightly, as if she were smiling.
Tony didn't know if she really meant it or if she was mocking him.
He obviously leaned toward the latter, and he was so annoyed that he stumbled, his left foot tripping over his right, nearly face-planting.
Clang!
With a heavy metallic thud, the blast door to the garage was violently slammed open.
A silver and red figure, trailing black smoke, stumbled inside.
"Cough, cough... dammit!"
Tony Stark, the billionaire, was currently as pathetic as a tin can that had just escaped a scrapyard.
The Mark 5 was, after all, only a portable armor designed for emergencies, and it was now long past its breaking point.
The chest plate was dented, the joints were covered in scorch marks, and sparks were flying from the gaps.
"dummy! Hurry up! Stop spinning around and come help me take this off!"
Tony shouted while trying to crawl out of the severely deformed armor.
The mechanical arm heard its Master's call and rushed over, but the latches of the heavily damaged armor had been completely fused shut by the high temperatures.
dummy gave a hard tug, but instead of opening it, it made Tony cry out in pain: "Gently! Be gentle!"
Thus, the famous Iron Man was now like a turtle stuck in its shell.
He lay sprawled on the floor, his two mechanical legs kicking helplessly outside, while his upper body refused to budge.
He could only wriggle frantically on the ground like a giant metallic caterpillar.
"Dammit... it's stuck! Lubricant! Get me some lubricant! Not the fire extinguisher! You idiot!"
Tony's face turned beet red as he cursed his own artificial idiocy while struggling in despair.
Just then, a set of light footsteps approached.
Tap, tap, tap.
Tony stiffly stopped wriggling and strained to turn his neck toward the doorway..
He saw that the terrifying monster who had "blasted" him all the way home had now deactivated her transformation.
Reze had returned to her harmless purple-haired girl form. She was sitting leisurely on the hood of a limited-edition Audi R8, even sipping on a bottle of Coke she'd swiped from somewhere. "Oh my, Mr. Stark."
"Need some help?"
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn luffy1898