Let's rewind to five minutes ago.
West Coast Villa.
Tony Stark walked out of his office, sporting two large dark circles under his eyes.
Though arrogant and self-important, he possessed an exceptional mind.
After a brief exchange with Rimuru, he had gained a solid understanding of Rimuru's Fengshen—especially the new element reactor, which greatly broadened Tony Stark's horizons.
Naturally, this also triggered an unprecedented sense of crisis in Tony. The energy output and efficiency of the new element reactor completely outclassed his palladium reactor.
If Rimuru could develop a new element reactor, then her Wind God II was definitely not to be underestimated.
He might just lose this challenge again.
And that was something Tony Stark absolutely could not tolerate.
So he dove into his lab again, performing a full transformation and upgrade of the Mark IV, which was fresh out of development and not yet publicly revealed.
The modifications took almost half a month, but the results were extremely satisfying. The upgraded Mark IV had its overall capabilities optimized from top to bottom.
Unless new materials were discovered or a new wave of technological revolution arrived, his Mark IV would not become obsolete anytime soon.
Tony Stark was very confident in that.
Now, he couldn't wait to have another showdown with Rimuru's Fengshen.
As for the rumors of Fengshen defeating the Mark series, Tony had already dismissed them—he wanted Rimuru to swallow those words whole.
Jarvis: "Sir, an incident has occurred at Gebang College. Rimuru, piloting Fengshen, is currently fighting Hulk. I assume you would be very interested?"
"Hulk? Rimuru is fighting Hulk in Fengshen?"
Instantly, Tony Stark's interest was piqued.
Hulk wasn't a complete mystery to Tony; he had some understanding of Hulk's destructive potential.
And Rimuru and Fengshen were his greatest rivals.
"Jarvis, hack into the military satellite, adjust the frame rate, and transmit the footage to me!"
"As you wish, Sir."
Within a few seconds, the real-time footage of Gebang College appeared before Tony.
"Cool!"
As a mech enthusiast, the moment Tony laid eyes on Rimuru's Wind God II, his eyes lit up.
The contours of Wind God II were sleek and fluid. The construction and module arrangement were naturally flawless. Its golden-ratio coordination and aesthetic were enough to make Tony utterly captivated.
An average person might simply think Wind God II looked cool or impressive, but to an expert like Tony Stark, what he saw was Rimuru's genius in mech design—her incredibly refined craftsmanship bordering on perfection.
"Although Rimuru's personality is abhorrent and she has zero integrity, I have to admit—her talent in mech design is extraordinary, almost catching up to mine!"
Jarvis: "Sir, your generosity is admirable. If outsiders heard this, your friendship might become legendary."
Seeing Hulk charge at Fengshen, and Rimuru choosing to clash head-on instead of kiting, Tony slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned.
Was this foolish? Stupid? Or just plain suicidal?
That big guy Hulk could tear a helicopter apart like a toy.
After one heavy impact, the gold-titanium alloy would deform, Fengshen would suffer severe damage, and its performance would plummet.
"Damn it, why isn't Rimuru using energy cannons? She can't possibly not have energy weapons, right?!"
But the next second, Tony's eyes practically flew out of their sockets.
"This is unscientific!"
Rimuru's Wind God II armor was made from materials extorted from him. No one knew better than Tony how much force Fengshen's armor could withstand.
And yet, despite the terrifying kinetic energy from that collision—equivalent to a TNT explosion—Fengshen's armor wasn't even dented.
Tony's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, as though the coffin lids of countless scientists were popping open in protest.
"How is this possible? This is completely illogical!"
"To create a shockwave like that, the impact force had to reach at least (Newtons). Under that kind of force, gold-titanium alloy shouldn't survive intact. How did Fengshen endure that? This makes no sense!"
Tony raked his hand through his hair—only to find a handful of strands coming off.
Great. As a middle-aged man already struggling with hair loss, this made his eyelids twitch violently.
Damn it—were the laws of physics simply invalid when it came to Rimuru?
Next, Tony watched Rimuru pilot Fengshen with incredible agility, shifting just a few steps to dodge Hulk's heavy punches and appear at Hulk's flank.
"What?"
He dodged Hulk's charge in just a few steps?
Tony suddenly felt his throat dry. Both were mechs—so why was Rimuru's performance so ridiculously superior?
Why did his own mech require such large movements to operate?
Did he develop a fake mech?!
Then Tony nearly choked when Rimuru appeared beside Hulk, stepped in, and delivered a vicious hand-knife strike straight into Hulk's kidney.
Ow!
The strike was fast, precise, and merciless. Even Hulk, with his monstrous defense, let out a sharp cry.
Tony wiped the sweat off his forehead, feeling a sharp pain in his own kidney for some reason.
Who just directly stabs someone's kidney in a fight?
That was insanely vicious!
Tony Stark now had a brand-new understanding of Rimuru's definition of integrity.
On screen, the world-level battle raged on.
Hulk, his kidney freshly assaulted, exploded in rage.
Yes, Hulk was young and a bit dim-witted, but he was still a man—instinctively enraged when attacked in such a humiliating spot.
"Hulk!"
Hulk grabbed a large tree beside him, exerted strength with both arms, and uprooted it with a roar.
Tony's eyes bulged. Damn—Hulk used weapons?!
That was new.
Then he witnessed something even more unbelievable: Hulk swung the massive tree, but Rimuru—swift as wind—dodged every swing by the tiniest margins.
If it happened once or twice, Tony could accept it—but every single time?
This was too abnormal.
Was this what people called footwork?
Tony suddenly recalled the Chinese kung fu movies he watched as a kid. Back then he watched out of curiosity, not fondness.
All that qinggong, wall-running, water-walking—it was too fake.
None of it conformed to physics.
But now, Tony felt his worldview wobble. Could the mysterious East really have secret qinggong techniques?
Just then, the battle changed again.
Rimuru seized an opening and slammed Hulk to the ground—Hulk and tree both pinned.
Rimuru straddled Hulk and began punching Hulk's face repeatedly with her small fists, chanting, "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep!"
Seeing Rimuru's flashy combo, Tony Stark's eyebrows shot upward.
This entire sequence was incredibly satisfying—even as a mere spectator, Tony felt his pores open in exhilaration.
His only frustration was that this magnificent move wasn't done by him.
There was no greater regret in life than that.
Truly infuriating.