Hanging up the phone, Tony Stark looked at the Mark 42 armor, its power display showing only 1.12% remaining.
He knew that no matter how urgent the situation was, he wouldn't be able to use the armor anytime soon.
"Kid, that pile of electronic junk in the garage, does it have any electronic components containing palladium?"
Harley Keener tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said, "During the packaging process of certain chips, materials containing palladium are used for lead frames or packaging solder."
"Also, high-performance multi-layer ceramic capacitors use electrode materials containing palladium. But the palladium content in these electronic components is extremely scarce."
"Wait, you're not planning to assemble a miniature Palladium Arc Reactor, are you?"
Tony Stark nodded, stating as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Looks like you're pretty smart. The only way to quickly solve the armor's power shortage is to reassemble a Mark I miniature Arc Reactor."
"Since you know which components contain palladium, let's work together, go all out, and start extracting the palladium immediately!"
"Wait, Mr. Stark." Harley Keener thought he was truly crazy.
"Is the energy output of the Mark I reactor really suitable for an armor that has been upgraded for so many generations?"
"Even if it is barely compatible, can we really extract palladium and assemble a miniature Arc Reactor in this kind of crude environment?"
Tony Stark stared seriously at the child, whose eyes were full of doubt.
"I once assembled the world's very first miniature Mark I Arc Reactor in a cave in the Middle Eastern desert using a bunch of scrap materials."
"The environment back then was even worse than it is now, but I still succeeded."
"Therefore, as long as you have the firm conviction to overcome all difficulties, coupled with my super brain, no problem can stump me."
Although Tony Stark's words seemed incredibly arrogant, he had the capital to be proud.
Infected by Tony's confident words, Harley Keener said with a face full of excitement, "I believe you, Mr. Stark. Then let's start working right now."
Following that, a noisy clatter of clinking and clanking echoed through the house.
Six hours passed.
On the crude, oil-stained workbench, an Arc Reactor radiating a brilliant white light made its grand debut.
Tony Stark's face was full of pride. "I told you this job was easy!"
Beside him, Harley Keener, who had participated in the entire manufacturing process, watched as the high-energy reactor—representing the pinnacle of human technological achievement—was successfully assembled by his own hands.
He was so excited his cheeks were flushed red. Leaning close to the workbench and staring at the miniature reactor, he said, "This is amazing! I've learned how to build an Arc Reactor too!"
Hearing this, Tony Stark's expression froze, and his tone turned stern.
"You actually memorized the entire manufacturing process just by watching it once?"
Harley Keener nodded as if it were a matter of course.
Seeing this, Tony said with a harsh tone, "Listen to me, kid, you absolutely cannot leak the fact that you possess the technology for the miniature Arc Reactor, otherwise a ton of trouble will come knocking at your door."
The little boy patted his chest and promised, "Mr. Stark, don't worry. I won't easily hand over this precious technology to anyone else."
"You'd better keep that promise." Tony Stark felt a vague sense of regret. Why did he have to drag this teenage kid into helping him build the Arc Reactor?
However, time was tight right now. After giving the little boy a few precautions regarding the reactor's construction...
Tony Stark inserted the Mark I Arc Reactor into the chest power unit of the Mark 42 armor.
He then restarted the armor's intelligent control system.
Next, he extended his left arm, activating the remote telepathic armor equipping function.
The Mark 42 lying flat on the workbench swiftly disassembled into individual armor pieces, which jetted toward Tony Stark with faint white exhaust trails.
"Clank, clank, clank..."
After a rapid succession of metallic clanking sounds as the pieces locked into place.
The battle-scarred Mark 42 armor was fully equipped!
The exterior of this armor featured a streamlined design to reduce air resistance, coupled with pale gold and dark red paint.
This gave the armor a unique aesthetic—low-profile yet undeniably luxurious.
"That is so cool!"
Seeing the badass scene of the armor automatically equipping itself, Harley Keener's small eyes were filled with envy.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, little potato. But now the adult has to go beat up the bad guys. Hurry up and get some rest. I hope you get a good night's sleep tonight!"
With that, Tony Stark activated the flight system. The thrusters under his feet blasted a fierce stream of white exhaust.
With a swoosh, he shot high into the sky.
He quickly disappeared into the starry night sky.
The little boy, Harley Keener, kept his head tilted up until he could no longer see any trace of the gold-and-red armor.
His small face suddenly froze.
Then, his entire body underwent an incredibly bizarre, rapid growth. From a tender young boy, he transformed into a handsome man standing 1.7 meters tall.
In reality, the little boy from Tennessee named Harley Keener was merely Harvey disguised using a Transfiguration potion.
By taking Polyjuice Potion, he had assumed this child's identity a day in advance.
Now, having easily acquired the Mark I Arc Reactor technology, Harvey was extremely satisfied.
"The miniature Arc Reactor is one of the game-breaking technologies of the Marvel Universe. Even though it took a whole day, obtaining this technology makes the trip completely worth it."
In truth, the Arc Reactor technology didn't have much practical use for Harvey.
The reason he spent time acquiring this technology was because of a deal made two days ago.
Two days ago, Harvey went to the war-torn Middle East and found the lair of the notorious terrorist organization, the Ten Rings.
He met with the leader of the Ten Rings—the old monster Xu Wenwu, who had lived for hundreds of years.
And engaged in a "friendly spar" with him where they pulled their punches.
The ultimate result was a draw.
Of course, this was because Harvey wasn't fighting with his full strength.
However, during that spar, Wenwu only used two of the abilities from the Ten Rings.
In the end, both sides realized the other wasn't to be trifled with, so they sat down for a highly hypocritical negotiation.
Taking advantage of the situation, Harvey proposed a trade.
He offered the miniature Arc Reactor technology in exchange for the Matter Rearranger Ring and the Spectral Ring from the Ten Rings.
Wenwu had always harbored dreams of world domination. If he possessed the miniature Arc Reactor technology, his dream would be highly likely to come true.
Therefore, the two scheming bastards, each harboring their own ulterior motives, very amicably agreed to this trade.
Only, in Harvey's mind, he definitely had no intention of engaging in an honest transaction.
If I can take the Ten Rings by force using my own abilities, why should I use precious technology to trade for them?
Isn't that just having a brain full of water?
Moreover, he firmly believed Wenwu was definitely thinking the exact same thing.
As for who would successfully double-cross the other and become the final victor, Harvey was confident that person would absolutely be himself.
"The bargaining chip is in hand. Time to go back and rest for a few days. After watching the farce of Iron Man battling the suicide-bomber Killian, I can go 'borrow' the Ten Rings to play with."