“Oh, right, Chen Yu, Obadiah’s Iron Monger…”
Before Tony could finish, Chen Yu reacted like a startled wildcat, immediately backing away and saying to Tony, “The Iron Monger is mine! This is the spoils of war I won by defeating Obadiah! It’s perfectly legal and legitimate, and there’s no way I’m handing it over again!”
“No… I mean, the one on the Iron Monger…”
“The Arc Reactor on the Iron Monger is also mine! Same reason as above!”
Tony looked at Chen Yu, who seemed to be acting a bit unreasonably, and felt a little helpless.
Being a child had its advantages, and Chen Yu fully utilized his status to declare ownership of the Iron Monger and all its parts.
Faced with Chen Yu’s stubbornness, Tony didn’t have many options.
After all, Chen Yu was the one who captured him, and Tony still had to thank him, so he naturally couldn’t forcefully take the Arc Reactor.
For Chen Yu, the Arc Reactor was also a good thing; a small piece containing immense energy, enough to power the large villa in the Serenitea Pot for a very long time.
With the Arc Reactor, the large diesel generator sets used for power generation in the Serenitea Pot could honorably retire.
His clone had complained to him several times that the power in the villa would constantly cut out, and refueling was always a hassle.
Earlier, when Chen Yu was doing infrastructure work in the Serenitea Pot, he had wanted Tony to help him build a miniature reactor to power his buildings. Although Tony had verbally agreed, he never acted on it, citing that he was busy at the time and would get to it when he had time.
As a result, the Serenitea Pot’s infrastructure was already built, and Tony was still busy with his Iron Man career.
But now that the Arc Reactor was in his hands, it would be impossible for Tony to get it back without paying a price.
“Alright, alright, if you won it, it’s yours. Nobody’s trying to take it from you. But can I borrow it for a bit? This old reactor I have is almost out of power, and I don’t have time to build a new one right now. You wouldn’t want me to ‘die’ in front of you, would you?”
A rare look of pleading appeared on Tony’s face. The crude first-generation reactor installed in his chest, which he had made in the cave, had miraculously lasted this long, with only a little over one percent energy remaining.
Tony was a typical megalomaniac, craving flowers, applause, and building iconic structures to make his name seem exalted.
He would rather lick his wounds alone in the dark than show a vulnerable side to outsiders.
Tony knew that the Iron Man battle that had just taken place near Stark Industries must have been seen by everyone on the surrounding streets of the entire group.
The public wasn’t blind; the sound of gunfire and explosions was enough to make people realize that a shootout had occurred here.
A shootout near Stark Industries was big news.
Tony could guarantee that countless reporters were already lurking in corners around the industrial building, eager to get firsthand information.
Tony really didn’t want to collapse in front of everyone due to the reactor running out of power after escaping danger, and show a weak side to the reporters.
Although his gossip had already fed the entire New York gossip industry, it didn’t mean he had any fondness for reporters, beautiful women excluded.
Those unscrupulous reporters had no bottom line; they were best at fabricating stories, making up narratives from pictures, and inventing facts.
Chen Yu looked at Tony suspiciously: “You really didn’t make an extra reactor as a backup?”
“The cost of manufacturing a new Arc Reactor…”
Tony tried to explain the high cost of manufacturing a new Arc Reactor in terms of production time and technical difficulty, but seeing Chen Yu’s gaze that said, “Are you kidding me? Are you the kind of person who cares about cost?”, Tony finally gave up arguing and said helplessly, “I forgot, I really don’t have one. Next time for sure.”
With a triple denial, Chen Yu was also a bit speechless.
Well, for something so vital for survival, Tony hadn’t even made a few backups. One could only say that Tony Stark’s thought process was indeed out of the ordinary.
“Alright, your brain is really something sometimes!”
Chen Yu was also resigned to Tony. He pulled out the Serenitea Pot and released the Iron Monger that had been stored inside.
With a “bang!”, the huge Iron Monger once again crashed onto the rooftop, shaking the building.
Looking at the Arc Reactor embedded in the Iron Monger, Chen Yu tapped it with his hand; it was fitted very snugly.
Huh? Why was it a bit hot to the touch?
Chen Yu was a little puzzled.
“Actually, there are clasps behind the reactor. You just need to gently twist it a few times…”
Tony began to explain to Chen Yu how to remove the Arc Reactor from the Iron Monger. Obadiah, seeing that Chen Yu and Tony had relaxed their guard, thought this was a rare opportunity.
Where there’s life, there’s hope.
Obadiah began to quietly leave, trying not to make any sound.
Tony personally demonstrated the operation, preparing to teach Chen Yu how to dismantle the Arc Reactor.
However, as soon as his hand touched the reactor, it felt like he was touching a red-hot branding iron instead of a reactor.
“Holy cow! Chen Yu, what did you do? Why is the Iron Monger so hot?!”
Not just the reactor, the entire Iron Monger was now very hot, so hot that Tony kept waving his hands.
This metal glove had already been damaged during the fight with the Iron Monger.
Tony instinctively put his bare hand on the metal, which Norbert had been breathing fire on for a while. It would be strange if it wasn’t hot!
When Chen Yu heard Tony yelling about the heat, he glanced inside the Serenitea Pot.
He realized he had just thrown the Iron Monger into Norbert’s usual stomping ground.
Inside the Serenitea Pot, Norbert was staring wide-eyed, scanning his surroundings with his big mouth closed, seemingly curious why the iron lump had suddenly appeared and then disappeared.
Looking at the sticky residue on the Iron Monger armor, he guessed that Norbert had not only burned it with fire but also used it to grind his teeth in the Serenitea Pot!
Otherwise, his drool wouldn’t have been left on the Iron Monger.
Oh no, the new toy he just got was ruined by the “troublemaker” at home!
Looking at the Iron Monger, Chen Yu felt heartbroken over his oversight.
How could he forget about Norbert, the troublemaker, in the Serenitea Pot?
Next time he put things into the Serenitea Pot, he would have to be more careful and make sure Norbert didn’t ruin them again.
Fortunately, the Iron Monger was sturdy; it could still be used after a Cleaning Charm.
Looking at Tony, who was yelling in pain, Chen Yu could only awkwardly explain, “I wasn’t paying attention when I put it in the pot, and Norbert burned it with fire.”
“Norbert?”
Many question marks appeared in Tony’s mind. Who was Norbert?
Why did he burn the Iron Monger with fire?
Seeing Tony’s questioning look, Chen Yu remembered that Tony was also interested in fire dragons, so he might as well show him.
He snapped his fingers.
A dark figure surged out of the Serenitea Pot.
It rapidly expanded on the rooftop, instantly becoming as large as a house.
Norbert roared deafeningly to the sky. Hearing Chen Yu’s summons, he was clearly excited to be able to go out and scout.
“┗|｀O′|┛ Roar~~~!!!”
After Norbert finished roaring, Chen Yu solemnly introduced him to Tony: “Here, this is Norbert, the dragon I wanted to raise before. He’s grown this big now! How about it, doesn’t he look good?!”
There was a hint of showing off in his demeanor.
“Not… not bad… Do dragons grow that fast?”
Looking at the slender, spiky-backed, large, house-sized Norwegian Ridgeback, covered in scales and with wings, even Tony, who had read “raising dragons for fun and profit,” was a little bewildered.
Obadiah, who was quietly trying to leave, had only taken a dozen steps when he was startled by the sudden dragon roar behind him.
What the hell was that noise?
He looked back and saw a ferocious-looking monster standing not far behind him, eyeing him menacingly.
His mind instantly went blank.
Then he watched as the ferocious monster opened its gaping maw and lunged at him.
Just as Obadiah felt he was doomed, the monster extended its large tongue and gave Obadiah’s face a vigorous licking.
The drool that flowed out essentially gave Obadiah a shampoo.
“Don’t worry, Norbert is very obedient. I’ve already trained him well. Now, besides being a bit mischievous, he basically doesn’t bite people…”
Looking at Obadiah, who had collapsed on the ground, rolling his eyes, Chen Yu shrugged and continued to say to Tony, “It’s just that your Uncle Obadiah has poor psychological resilience. He fainted after just one lick from Norbert! With such a fragile psyche, how can he be a villain boss?”
His teasing clearly hit a nerve with Tony, who immediately began to retort, “What are you talking about? What he did today is enough for us to completely cut ties. He no longer deserves to be my uncle!”
“Alright then, since you don’t care… Come on, Norbert, show us some fire-breathing!”
Looking at Norbert, who was still licking Obadiah’s bald head like a lollipop, Tony immediately stopped him: “Don’t…”
Admit it, Tony, tsundere is out of style now. Even though you constantly deny it, you still care about your uncle in your heart.
