"After I break even with you, I'll make a big score and then kill you!" However, while making a deal with Ivan, Obadiah had a thought cross his mind.
"Hmph! Do you really think I would believe you'd let me kill Tony Stark? How could you settle for making one fortune when you could make two? I've seen through your greed, but no matter, how could someone as foolish as you possibly control me?" At the same time, Ivan also had his own plans.
"As long as I can survive, the problem inside my body can naturally be resolved. Nanites, right? You have no idea how powerful a top genius can be. Once I solve the crisis within my body and use your money to build new armor, I'll kill both you and Tony Stark!"
Thus, two schemers began to cooperate. On the surface, things seemed to progress well, even outpacing Justin Hammer in terms of the speed of weapon and armor development.
This was one of the unique aspects of this world. Indeed, the value of a super genius outweighs that of a hundred scientists combined, even if those scientists also had access to the super genius's technology. They would find it very difficult to exactly replicate it.
Among the few scientists who could replicate this technology, all were well-known. They either became superheroes or super villains, which is why a genius like Tony Stark is so valuable…
Therefore, even though Hammer Industries already had similar equipment, their production of individual armor units was still extremely slow. Iron Man's armor was not just about the arc reactor, one piece of cutting-edge technology; Ivan was quickly able to understand and find the right modifications to create armor suited for himself, which Hammer Industries could not…
Of course, Ivan also had limitations. He needed to produce a batch of inferior weapons first to let Obadiah make some money to break even. Before breaking even, Obadiah was too strict with funds. Even though Obadiah didn't know the exact cost of the Iron Man armor, he himself didn't have much money.
Before Ivan started making armor, Obadiah thought of himself as wealthy, having profited so much from Stark Industries. But once Ivan began his work, Obadiah realized he was far from being truly wealthy!
For this reason, Obadiah was even more eager for Ivan to build the armor sooner, to further advance his own wealth. Ultimately, Obadiah continued to invest his limited wealth, sinking deeper…
On the other hand, Tony Stark's research on Robert's combat suit was not so easily completed. The nanotech armor Tony envisioned seemed similar to the capabilities shown by Robert's combat suit, but through recent interactions, Tony realized Robert's suit was not nanotech but something more advanced.
It's not just that Tony's current armor tech differed greatly from the combat suit tech; even the gap between the conceptual nanotech armor and the combat suit was as large as the gap from musket to laser gun.
Tony initially thought Robert's combat suit was designed by some genius scientist on Earth, but now he suspected it was alien technology!
Of course, Tony Stark, true to his name, despite such a huge gap in technological levels, was still able to draw plenty of inspiration. It seems the most significant flaw in the defense capability of nanotech armor might have been resolved!
These days, Robert also frequently visited Tony, and as a thank you, Tony had chefs flown in from around the world to cook for Robert, using ingredients also air-freighted in, offering a global culinary feast reminiscent of Bulma's yacht parties in the world of Dragon Ball...
"Saiyans! Saiyans!" That day, while enjoying the feast, Robert received a magical message from Constantine, sparking a gleam in his eyes.
"Found Mephisto? Or is it the Ghost Rider?" Robert hadn't forgotten about Mephisto, and indeed, the dimension-traveling Joker was also on his mind.
"Uh..." Hearing Robert's question, Constantine paused and then awkwardly responded, "It's neither Mephisto nor the Ghost Rider, but a Demon King, seemingly not from a hellish dimension. I don't know how he got here…"
"A Demon King is still a formidable opponent, right? It was Clare who discovered him. She didn't manage to beat him; he escaped…"
"Clare engaged with a Demon King?" A trace of surprise flickered across Robert's eyes. He was aware of Clare's abilities, considering her more versatile than Susan Strong and Lorna, though their combat strength was comparable.
Yet, Robert hadn't expected Clare to reach a level where she could confront a Demon King alone, knowing that Susan and Lorna could only tackle high-level demons as a team. The gap between them had suddenly widened so much.
Of course, Clare's power source was also extraordinary, being derived from a Heavenly Father-level angel and even touted as the strongest of the shadow hunter lineage.
Plus, Clare constantly developed her abilities, training even harder than Susan and Lorna, hence her quicker progress.
In Robert's small Z-Fighter team, perhaps only Peter Parker could match Clare's diligence; the others were a bit behind.
"There's still a gap, mainly because she informed us. The Demon King sensed the presence of the portal and fearing a trap, he fled. Oh, and Clare got injured..." Constantine glanced at Clare, who was slightly pale, and conveyed her condition.
"I'll come and take a look then. A Demon King level threat needs to be addressed, as they can cause significant harm on Earth," Robert nodded, not refusing Constantine's request nor downplaying the seriousness of the situation.
After all, for a Saiyan from the world of Dragon Ball, a powerful opponent is always welcome, but if the opponent isn't strong enough, one can always reduce their power to match and warm up.
"Just like now with Robert. In facing Hell Lords, he'd go all out in Great Ape Form: Rage; against top-tier hellish Demon Kings, he'd maintain his normal state; and for weaker foes, he could keep his current transformation to have a good fight.
Every power level has its own way of battling!
"You handle your research; I've got to step out..." After communicating with Constantine, Robert turned to Tony Stark, who was still immersed in his research on the combat suit, and spoke.
"Huh? What's up?" Tony, preoccupied with thoughts of combat suits and armor, asked subconsciously.
"There's a Demon King. I need to deal with it," Robert didn't hide it, knowing the battle might cause a big stir and that he might need Tony's help to manage the media.
Of course, with a clear power gap, Robert would control the extent of destruction, avoiding the level of destruction from his earlier days.
"Demon King?!" Tony's eyes lit up, filled with anticipation as he asked, "Is it like the last Demon King? Am I strong enough to fight it now?"
"Well, to be honest, I don't have a good grasp of your combat system," Robert spread his hands, looking at Tony, frowning.
Robert didn't really know how strong Tony was because they had never fought. Robert's prior encounters with armor-based fighters were with the weaker types, related to technology like androids, but Tony was clearly not in the android category.
However, according to Carol, the battle armor worn by Kryptonian squads in the universe could match Robert's normal combat strength. This might be similar to Tony's armor, but Tony's hadn't reached this level yet.
"My latest armor isn't developed yet, but the previous suit already had nuclear-level destructive power..." Hearing Robert, Tony hesitated slightly, wanting to know where his strength stood in a superhuman world.
"Nuclear-level destructive power?" Robert raised an eyebrow, surprised, then nodded, "If that's the case, you have the destructive power of a Demon King, but sustained combat strength might be different. Of course, even if you're not a match, you should be able to defend yourself. I'll take you with me..."
"Okay!" Tony's eyes sparkled, and a suit of armor instantly covered him. Before he could take off, an invisible light enveloped both Tony and Robert, and they vanished from Tony's house in an instant.
"Sir?"
"Sir?"
Seeing both Robert and Tony disappear, Jarvis's voice echoed in the villa, unanswered for a moment.
"I'm here!" After a while, Tony's voice connected with Jarvis from another location, filled with excitement, "Spatial teleportation technology! Jarvis, did you catch that?"
"Sorry, sir. I did not detect it. The energy involved did not match any recorded in my database..." Jarvis quickly responded, having searched his database extensively to no avail.
"Iron Man?" On the other side, at the magical base, Constantine looked surprised at Tony, who had arrived with Robert. He blinked; it wasn't his first encounter with Tony Stark. He had seen him live-streaming a previous battle against a hellish Demon King, but he had never interacted directly with Tony.
The main reason was that Constantine felt that Tony, who played with technology, and himself, a practitioner of magic, were not on the same wavelength. In Constantine's view, purely technological power, even if powerful, couldn't really be considered part of the superhuman world because fundamentally, technological power is hard to be exclusive to an individual unless it's about cyborgs…
"Right, it's me. So, that was magical power?" Tony's eyes gleamed as he asked Constantine, "How did you do that?"
"You said it's magic, how would I know?" Constantine spread his hands, replying irritably.
"I hate you magic types, no sense of exploration at all!" Tony muttered in disappointment.
Buzzing beside them, Robert didn't bother with Tony and Constantine's conversation. He
waved his hand, and a healing spell took effect on Clare, who he noticed was more injured than it seemed. Although not unconscious, she definitely lost her combat ability for a while.
"No need... ah!" Clare instinctively tried to refuse, but before she could finish, the healing spell had already cured her.
"Sorry, Saiyan, to have you pay such a price..." After recovering, Clare looked at Robert apologetically, "Don't worry, I'll find other strong beings to help repay the price!"
"No need, your injuries weren't that severe, no big cost was involved..." Robert suddenly felt bringing Tony might not have been the right decision, especially with Tony giving him a questioning look. But Robert kept his composure and continued to Clare, what else could he do but keep up the act? It's not like he could just come clean.
"Cost..." Tony, hearing Robert's words, his gaze flickering, also thought of what Robert had mentioned about angels and the shadow hunter lineage. Suddenly, Tony's look towards Robert became even more grateful, seemingly misunderstanding something.
"Alright, let's talk about the Demon King's trail. How did he suddenly appear? Weren't there any clues before?" Robert, a bit uncomfortable under Tony's gaze, waved his hand and turned to Constantine, "I remember, the last time that descending hellish Demon King needed some kind of human vessel for the Demon King, why doesn't this one? Or has he already succeeded?"
Subscribing to a crash and laggy story, thinking about moving the Super Saiyan timeline forward, but not quite feeling it...
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