Chapter 96
Tony: Genius is just the threshold to meeting me! You think you can use scrap metal as a
"Be careful!"
Accompanied by a distorted scream, the white streak of light did not make a superhero-like landing.
Instead, it crashed diagonally onto the terrace in an almost devastating manner.
Sizzle!!
The ear-piercing sound of metal scraping against metal made one's teeth ache.
The lump of iron sculpted two charred furrows in the marble floor, sparks flying as it crashed into and overturned two tables laden with champagne.
The crisp sound of the crystal glass shattering became the accompaniment to this disaster.
Finally, the machine, billowing black smoke, came to a stop a few meters in front of Rhodes after a violent shudder.
Only a few meters.
"Cough cough cough..."
The cockpit popped open, and a hand covered in engine oil reached out, pushing hard a few times before flipping over the irregular steel plate.
A young Black girl with fluffy curly hair peeked out from inside.
Lily Williams.
She wore a pair of heavy goggles, and her face was smeared with oil.
"Phew... The landing system has a minor flaw, but it's not important."
Lily took off her goggles, revealing her wild eyes.
She first glanced curiously at the Thor's Hammer armor in front of her, and subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch the armor plate.
"Wow, this big guy looks alright, but it's just too bulky."
Click.
Rhodes maneuvered the Thor's Hammer armor back half a step, accidentally crushing a floor tile and producing a crisp warning sound.
Although his mask wasn't turned off, his gesture clearly conveyed two words: disgust.
Lily pursed her lips and withdrew her hand.
She clumsily climbed out of the cockpit, stood amidst the mess, and straightened her not-so-broad back.
Her gaze swept past the fully armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, past the Avengers watching the spectacle with wine glasses in hand, and locked onto the man in the center of the crowd, dressed in a flashy suit.
Tony Stark.
"Finally, I've met you, Stark."
Lily patted her oil-stained work pants, her eyes burning with an eager ambition to prove herself.
Li Ang raised an eyebrow slightly from a distance.
"Is this what they call the butterfly effect?"
He was internally ranting and raving.
"System, you're flapping your wings a bit too much. Why is Iron Heart showing up at this time?"
[The host's rampant sale of artifacts and abilities from various realms has stimulated the technology tree of this world, causing some geniuses to awaken prematurely. This is a normal phenomenon.]
"Normal my foot." Li Ang rolled his eyes, tossed a shrimp chip into his mouth, and said, "But it seems this show is getting more and more interesting."
At this moment, in the center of the hall.
Lily was completely unaware of the strange atmosphere around her.
She kicked away the parts that had fallen from her own mech, pointed at the white mech behind her that was still sparking with electricity, and shouted.
"Look at this, Mr. Stark!"
Her voice was high-pitched, carrying the recklessness of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.
"Compared to those idiots at Hammer Industries who only know how to build metal coffins, this is the true future of individual armored soldiers!"
"I call it, Heart of Steel!"
Lily proudly patted the mecha's chest.
What should have been the location of a reactor is now a makeshift energy storage unit.
As she patted it, the light flickered twice due to poor contact.
"I don't need the charity of a second-rate company like Hammer; only you can understand its value."
Lily strode toward Tony, completely ignoring the s.H.I.E.L.D. agents around her who were looking at her like she was an idiot.
The agents wore mass-produced yet sophisticated knight belts around their waists, and their uniforms were well-tailored.
Rhodes's Thor's Hammer armor is a perfect example of industrial brutality aesthetics.
In contrast, Lily's armor, with its visible welds, looked like a pile of junk forcibly shoved together and then displayed as scrap art.
"Give me a $50 million investment."
Lily stood three meters in front of Tony, chin raised, extending one palm.
"I don't need your technology, just the funding. I can make Iron Heart surpass your Mark series!"
"Admit it, Stark."
A confident smile appeared on Lily's face, showing no sign that she had said anything inappropriate.
"Although you are a pioneer, young people are the future."
"And I am the genius destined to surpass you."
An extremely awkward silence fell over the entire hall.
Only the crisp sound of Li Ang chewing shrimp chips in the distance seemed particularly abrupt.
"Pfft."
A barely suppressed snicker broke the silence.
It came from inside Thor's hammer armor.
Looking at the arrogant little girl in front of him, and then at the pile of scrap metal, Rod couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Rhodes raised the mechanical hand, his tone dripping with sarcasm, though it was an apology.
"I just suddenly remembered that idiot Hammer, he said something like that before."
Lily's face darkened, and she was about to retort.
Tony Stark moved.
He wasn't angry, and there wasn't even a hint of anger on his face.
He merely frowned slightly, scrutinizing Lily and the Steel Heart with the gaze one would give a juvenile ape.
He extended a long, slender finger and gently stroked the still-smoking breastplate.
Black engine oil stained his fingertips.
Tony disgustedly pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and vigorously wiped his fingers.
"genius?"
"If piling up trash at a recycling center is considered genius, then New York sanitation workers should be Nobel Prize winners."
Tony casually tossed the soiled handkerchief into the trash can, his voice cold and sarcastic—the arrogance of a top engineer.
Tony casually ripped off a hydraulic hose that was dangling from the surface of the machine.
It was just a gentle pull.
collapse!
The pipe snapped, spraying black hydraulic oil all over the ground.
"This is your power system? Which scrapped tractor did you take it from?"
"The hydraulic delay appears to be over 3 seconds, which is enough to kill you ten times over on the battlefield."
As Tony walked around the mech, every word he uttered felt like a nail piercing Lily's heart.
"The distribution of the center of gravity is simply a disaster."
Tony pointed to the mech's bulky legs.
"Top-heavy and unsteady, if this thing runs at a speed of more than 20 kilometers per hour, you will fall face-first to your death like a drunkard."
Finally, Tony's finger stopped on the shimmering chest core.
Knock knock.
He knocked twice, producing a hollow echo.
"And this so-called reactor..."
Tony shook his head, a look of physical discomfort on his face.
"The energy conversion efficiency is shockingly low, and the heat dissipation system is practically non-existent."
"Are you planning to roast yourself medium-rare, sprinkle some black pepper on you, and serve it to the Chitauri as a midnight snack?"
Tony turned around, looked at Lily's flushed face, and shrugged.
"Fifty million? If you need brain surgery, I can write you a check."
"you!!"
"Stop with the 'you' and 'me' talk. 'Genius' is just the threshold for meeting me; as for you, you haven't reached that standard yet!"