"I gave him a large sum of money, but he refused. Still, I forced it into his account. He said he wanted to go home and see if he could find his old life again." He paused.
"He is a good man. Without him, I wouldn't have survived until you came to find me."
Mavuika nodded without asking further questions.
He could understand Ethan's choice; some experiences change a person, making him need to return to the starting point to find his place again.
"Alright, let's not talk about that." Tony clapped his hands, returning to his excited state.
"Look here!"
He walked to the circular platform in the center of the laboratory, stood still, and spread his arms slightly.
"Jarvis," he said, his voice full of anticipation, "begin."
"Yes, sir," the AI's voice replied.
The next second, the laboratory came to life.
The mechanical arms on the ceiling began to descend, the panels on the walls slid open, and more mechanical devices extended from them.
The platform under Tony's feet vibrated slightly, dozens of small holes opened on its surface, and tiny probes extended to scan him rapidly.
"Mark 2, initial full system test," Jarvis reported.
"All modules ready, energy supply stable. Initiating suit-up sequence."
The mechanical arms began to dance.
The first arm brought the chest piece, a silver-white metal plate with complex patterns and miniature thruster nozzles on its surface.
The mechanical arm pressed it against Tony's chest, perfectly aligning it with the miniature arc reactor, and locked it with a click.
Next came the back plate, shoulder armor, arm armor, leg armor... Each piece of armor was precisely delivered to its position, quickly installed, locked, and tested by the mechanical arms.
The sound of metal colliding with metal was crisp and rhythmic, like a mechanical symphony.
Tony stood in the center of the platform, motionless, letting the mechanical arms work on him, but his eyes were frighteningly bright—the glow of a creator seeing their work come to life.
Mavuika watched with great interest.
As an Asgardian, he had seen exquisite magic armor and self-repairing artifacts forged by Dwarf King Eitri, but Tony's suit was a masterpiece in another sense: pure technology, pure human wisdom, and pure creation that transcended limits under finite conditions.
Thirty seconds later, the suit-up was complete.
Tony Stark had disappeared, replaced by a silver-white steel man.
The suit was about two meters tall, with sleek lines and a sense of power.
Every armor plate was seamlessly fitted, and the joints featured complex linkage structures to ensure flexibility.
The miniature arc reactor on his chest was now integrated into the center of the chest plate; through the transparent protective cover, one could see blue energy pulsing within it.
The helmet's faceplate had not yet been lowered, leaving Tony's face exposed, his smile as radiant as a child riding a bicycle for the first time.
"How is it?" Tony's voice came through the suit with a slight electronic echo, but his pride was still audible.
Mavuika walked closer and examined it carefully.
He reached out and touched the arm of the suit lightly; the metal was cold, but he could feel a subtle vibration underneath—the pulse of energy flowing through the conduits.
"Very interesting," he nodded, genuinely impressed.
Encouraged by Mavuika's approval, Tony's eyes brightened even more: "Right? I used a multi-layered shock absorption structure similar to car suspension, combined with an intelligent hydraulic system, which can offset impacts of up to 50G!"
"And this—" he tapped the chest plate: "Titanium-gold composite material. It's one-third the weight of steel but five times the strength. Of course, the cost is ridiculously high, but I can afford it anyway."
He moved his arm, and the suit responded smoothly to his movements without any lag.
"The flexibility is also good, right? I designed 117 independently driven micro-motors distributed across all major joints. The neural connection system captures my muscle signals, keeping the delay between the suit's movements and my intentions at under 0.03 seconds."
Mavuika smiled: "So this is... an enhanced exoskeleton?"
"More than that!" Tony had finally waited for those words, and he couldn't wait to demonstrate the next feature.
"Jarvis, activate flight stabilization system, 10% power output."
"Yes, sir."
The soles of the suit's feet and the palms suddenly lit up—not with fire, but with some kind of high-temperature plasma stream, emitting a blue-white light and a low hum.
Tony's body slowly lifted off the ground, hovering half a meter above the platform.
He spread his arms as if embracing the air, the suit hovering steadily without any wobbling.
"It can fly too?" Mavuika was genuinely surprised this time.
"Of course!" Tony's voice was full of pride.
"The soles are the main thrusters for vertical takeoff and high-speed flight, and the palms are auxiliary thrusters for attitude adjustment and aerial maneuvering. The power source is the reactor in my chest. Theoretically, it can support the suit for continuous flight..."
He paused: "Well, the exact time is still being tested, but at least a few hours is no problem."
He landed slowly, the soles of the suit making a faint metallic clinking sound as they touched the ground.
"How is it?" Tony asked again, this time more eagerly.
"Want to go for a spin in the sky? Just like when we first met, except this time the track is the entire sky!"
Mavuika looked at Tony. Through that silver-white armor, he could see the once proud and frivolous arms dealer who, after experiencing life and death and seeing the death he had created, had chosen a completely different path.
He did not sink, nor did he escape; instead, he responded in the way he knew best.
He nodded.
"Then let's go."
Tony's face beamed under the helmet. He walked to the wall on one side of the laboratory; it looked like a solid concrete wall, but as Tony approached, the wall suddenly split down the middle and slid to both sides, revealing the pitch-black night sky outside and the eighty-foot cliff below.
The Pacific night wind poured into the laboratory, blowing Mavuika's long hair.
He walked to Tony's side, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder at the edge of the cliff, with the black seawater and crashing waves beneath them.
"Jarvis, record all data," Tony said, the faceplate sliding down from above to cover his face.
Now he had completely transformed into that steel man, with only the eye positions emitting a soft blue light.
"Ready, sir."
Tony turned to Mavuika and made a "please" gesture.
Mavuika smiled, took a step forward, and stepped off the cliff.
He did not fall; golden-red flames rose from beneath his feet, lifting him and suspending him in the air.
He turned around and looked at Tony.
Tony took a deep breath, then activated the foot thrusters at full power.
A blue-white plasma stream erupted, drawing two dazzling streaks of light across the night sky.
The metal suit broke through the air, soaring into the night sky with a low whistle.
Mavuika followed closely, with golden-red flames trailing a warm ribbon of light behind him.
One after the other, the two traced two different colored trajectories across the Pacific night sky.