When Obadiah saw a foot wearing slippers appear in front of him, and followed the leg hair upward to Tony's face, his shock was no less than when Takumi saw Natsuki sitting in someone else's BMW!
"Tony, how could you... how could this be..."
"How could you possibly come back, you damned traitor!" Tony sneered and kicked Obadiah in the chest.
Obadiah instantly let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered!
This startled Tony, who turned to Ethan beside him and asked:
"Are we just too resilient to take a beating, or is this guy really that weak? We weren't even screaming this badly when we were being kicked around in the cave—what's this guy yelling about here?"
Ethan, who had some medical knowledge, noticed something was wrong with Obadiah. He adjusted his glasses, crouched down, and took a closer look:
"No, the reason he screamed so badly wasn't because of your kick; it's because he already had serious injuries to his sternum and ribs."
"Look, it's dented in there..."
Upon hearing this, Tony couldn't help but look at Lock Parker, who was sitting on the sofa as if nothing had happened.
To this, Lock Parker shrugged: "You only said you wanted him alive, not intact. He's bound to get bumped around during transport, isn't he?"
Hmm, that actually makes a pretty good point!
Tony was speechless for a moment, then stopped worrying about whether the 'goods' he wanted were intact.
Since they were disposable anyway, they would be destroyed after use—so who cared if they were intact!
Tony used his toe to flip Obadiah, who was still lying on the ground screaming, over and said coldly:
"Stop yelling, Stan. You only have a fractured sternum and a few broken ribs. Compared to what you've done to me, that's nothing!"
As he spoke, Tony unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a large hole in his chest with a makeshift arc reactor embedded in it!
However, Obadiah's attention was not on the gaping wound, but on the miniature reactor itself!
His shock was even greater than Takumi seeing Natsuki not only in someone else's car—but that man driving his own AE86!
That's absolutely insane!
Obadiah swallowed hard, momentarily forgetting the pain in his chest, his breathing becoming rapid.
"This is an arc reactor? You actually succeeded! You've taken a huge step forward—beyond what Howard achieved in thirty years..."
Now that Tony had miniaturized the Arc Reactor to this level, it meant it could be used commercially—its potential value was immeasurable!
Obadiah gasped at the astronomical profits in his mind, then quickly changed his expression to one of sorrow:
"Oh, Tony, I think you've misunderstood something. I am your father Howard's closest friend—your uncle. How could I possibly harm you!"
"You've been missing for two months, and I've been more anxious than anyone trying to find you!"
"I've been calling the military every day to pressure them!"
"If I didn't need to protect Stark Industries, I would've gone to Afghanistan myself!"
"Believe me, no one in this world loves you more than I do. I've always treated you like my own son!"
Even now, Obadiah maintained a sincere expression.
If Tony hadn't seen the video Lock Parker gave him, he might have believed it.
Unfortunately—facts speak louder than lies.
Tony snapped his fingers:
"Jarvis, show him."
[Yes, sir.]
A blue holographic projection appeared in front of Obadiah.
The video showed Tony tied to a chair, while the Ten Rings threatened Obadiah.
They accused him of deception—of hiding that the target was Tony Stark.
"If we had known, the price would have been much higher!"
Thus, they extorted more weapons from Stark Industries.
But in the end, they betrayed him—taking the weapons without killing Tony.
Obadiah's face turned ugly.
He knew he could no longer deny it.
"I shouldn't have trusted those terrorists—they're all untrustworthy bastards!!!"
Hearing this, Tony stepped on his chest and sneered:
"Ha. What right do you have to say that?"
"Aren't you the same? A hypocrite who betrays everyone for your own gain?"
"A traitor can betray anyone."
"Now I ask, you answer. Understood?"
Obadiah endured the pain and sneered back:
"After all these years, Tony… you're still as naive as when you were 21."
"So naive it's pathetic."
"What makes you think I'll tell you anything?"
"So go to hell—you'll get nothing from me!"
"And you… you'll die too. Even worse than me! Hahahaha!"
Finally, he pointed at Tony's arc reactor and laughed madly.
As Stark Industries' second-in-command, Obadiah was no fool.
He knew exactly what powered the Arc Reactor: palladium.
And palladium… was poison.
By embedding the reactor into his chest, Tony had essentially implanted a slow-acting toxin.
Over time, the poison would spread—until it killed him.
Thus, the Arc Reactor was both:
✔ A life-saving device
✔ And a ticking death sentence
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