Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Should I keep Chapter 173 as a souvenir? (Update 2/3)

When Obadiah finally managed to shake off the dizziness from the emergency dodge, he found that all the screens in front of him had turned into static.

His Iron Monument went blind.

The continuous explosions of light grenades made him afraid to open the cover over his head.

Unable to see, with the explosion right in his face, Obadiah's anger was largely extinguished by fear. He abandoned his long-planned scheme and began to try to escape.

However, without any external awareness, Obadiah's escape became a pointless exercise, a waste of energy.

As he took off recklessly, he was hit by a grenade from Xia Zuo and crashed into the grass beside the highway like a meteor.

Obadiah frantically shook the joystick and pounded on the buttons on the control panel, but the Iron Monger, half-buried in the ground and upside down, couldn't find a point of leverage for any of its movements.

Like a turtle that has been overturned, it flails its limbs in vain, but can't change anything.

Xia Zuo said regretfully, "Damn it, I haven't even used my dual-purpose machine gun yet, and all that ammunition I brought along—"

"An amateur is an amateur. A pure bloodsucker capitalist, why doesn't he just stick to his schemes and get involved in the fight himself?"

"Look, I haven't even used any force yet, and you've already collapsed."

With his energy depleted, Tony Stark, who was sitting on the ground, heard Shazor's words and quietly pulled his visor down again to hide his embarrassment.

If Obadiah was an amateur, then Stark, who was beaten to a pulp by him, was certainly an even more amateurish one.

After struggling for a long time, Obadiah finally despaired. He opened the hatch of the Iron Monger, but was blocked by the mud in the crater and could only squeeze out through the gap with difficulty.

Obadiah, covered in dust and dirt, was filled with resentment. Even when he saw Shazo handling the huge anti-aircraft machine gun, he felt no fear whatsoever.

He clenched his fist and charged at Xia Zuo, shouting, "Why are you stopping me? Why is everyone against me?"

"My plans don't interfere with yours!"

With a helicopter broadcasting live overhead, Shaza really felt embarrassed to use a machine gun to smash Obadiah, who was unarmed.

If it frightens the children watching the screen, that would be a terrible mistake.

He took two steps forward, then casually threw a punch, easily deflecting Obadiah's fists and striking him in the chest.

The explosive force shook his internal organs and affected his spine, leaving Obadiah paralyzed and unable to move, kneeling on the ground.

But he could still breathe, and he could still ask, unwillingly, "Why, why did you stop me?"

Obadiah seemed to think he was doomed and began to ramble on about his hardships and how much he had sacrificed for Stark Industries.

Tony Stark listened with a somber expression, filled with remorse, but he didn't feel he had done anything wrong.

Obadiah became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and he even elaborated on his plan:

The first step is to obtain the Iron Man suit.

He obtained the remains of Marco I through the Ten Rings Gang and created an even better Iron Monger.

The second step is to eliminate Tony Stark, the inventor of the Iron Man suit, and seize control of the Iron Man technology.

As a result, when they were just one step away from success, they were thwarted by Xia Zuo and suffered a crushing defeat.

The third step is to monopolize the technology of the Iron Man suit and reap huge profits in the ensuing arms race.

Obadiah has absolute confidence in the third step, which is what he has been doing since he started the company with Howard.

He firmly believed that as long as he mastered the technology of the Iron Man suit, he could make everyone forget that he killed Tony Stark.

He will surely become the new king of war with his steel armor.

Thinking about his failed plan, Obadiah grew increasingly resentful and unleashed a torrent of anger on Shazo.

But to be honest, the foundation of English is really too shallow. The swear words are just a few phrases, such as "motherfucker," "must eat," and "stool."

Xia Zuo was already immune to this. He asked casually, "Obadai, this Iron Monger is nice, but did you make it yourself?"

Obadiah was taken aback. Of course, he didn't make the Iron Monger himself, but the engineers he hired made it, so wasn't it the same Iron Monger he made?

Among so many large companies, how many CEOs are actually able to make samples by hand?

Xia Zuo sneered, "In the end, you didn't make anything yourself. You just took advantage of Stark's trust in you, stole Tony Stark's ideas, and used Stark Industries' engineers and materials to modify this behemoth."

"To be honest, I don't see any reason why you should exist in the entire manufacturing process."

"If you were replaced by any manager under Stark, Rockefeller, DuPont, or Lehman, or even a pig, as long as the engineers were paid enough, it wouldn't affect the birth of the Iron Monger."

"Tony Stark is irreplaceable; he is the only indispensable starting point."

"Many people know this, so I came, and I'm not the only one who came."

Xia Zuo looked around at the darkness and pointed to several locations: "Look, so many people have come. They're all here to stop you and protect Tony."

Following Xia Zuo's instructions, some people quickly disappeared into the darkness, seemingly implying that their identities were not to be revealed.

Some people remained unmoved, continuing to observe with impunity from the shadows; they were probably agents from some government department.

Then a man strode out and walked confidently into the light. It was Captain America, fully dressed in his battle gear, a man born to stand in the light.

The man in the tight-fitting suit walked step by step to Tony Stark's side, suppressing a laugh, and said, "It seems I wasn't needed here; Tony is already safe."

Tony Stark gave an awkward laugh. "No, I need help. Please help me get rid of this big metal shell, thank you."

At this point, the Iron Man suit was so low on power that it could no longer automatically dearm itself.

As a result, the Iron Man suit became a burden of over 200 kilograms, weighing Tony Stark down so much that he couldn't lift his arms or even sit up; he could only lie on the ground and turn his head.

Upon hearing Tony's plea, the captain finally couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, what should I do? Is there a manual release button?"

Tony Stark was speechless. He was a new generation of scientists, accustomed to automated machinery, and had never, like the previous generation of scientists, habitually reserved manual control structures.

Before today, he had never encountered a power shortage, and since creating the Arc Reactor in the cave, he had completely forgotten about the possibility of energy shortages.

But when Captain America asked him this question today, Tony realized that he hadn't made a backup for the Iron Man suit, and that he couldn't deactivate the suit when it ran out of power.

"Or are you saying—" Rogers saw Tony's bewildered expression, raised his shield, and asked, "You want me to use this shield to smash this metal shell of yours bit by bit?"

Tony chuckled helplessly, "Heh, is your shield really that sturdy?"

"Forget it. Even if your shield is Captain America's shield and can shatter my Iron Man suit, I'll break before the suit does."

Xia Zuo, unable to suppress his laughter, walked over and said with a smile, "That shield can really do it. After all, he's Captain America, and the shield is an original."

Tony Stark looked at Shazor in surprise: "What? This pretty boy is Captain America?"

Captain Steve's face darkened, and he raised his shield slightly, seemingly wanting to teach this foul-mouthed guy a lesson.

Shazo chuckled lightly: "Stark, this is Captain Rogers Steve, your father's close comrade-in-arms and your Aunt Carter's lover."

"You're going to get beaten up for calling your elders gigolos like that."

Tony Stark was exhausted after the fierce battle, his whole body was limp, but his mouth was absolutely not going to back down.

"Haha, I'm not even afraid of old Howard, why would I be afraid of his friends?"

Shazam said "Oh," and deliberately said to Captain America, "Captain, it seems Mr. Stark doesn't need our rescue. Should we leave?"

"Anyway, at most a few reporters will surround him, take a few photos, and ask a few questions. There's no danger at all."

When Tony heard about reporters and taking pictures, he immediately thought of his current state and imagined his disheveled appearance making headlines, and his mouth immediately softened.

Tony Stark pleaded earnestly, "No, I desperately need help. Please get me out of here."

Rogers Steve, both amused and exasperated, pleaded, "Mr. Dawson, please help him. Do you need my help?"

Xia Zuo nodded politely: "Okay, rescuing Tony doesn't require such a drastic method."

"Mr. Stark, I'm transferring some energy to you. Hurry up and deactivate your equipment mode."

He placed his hand on the Iron Man suit, activating his magnetic ability to convert it into an electric current that flowed into the suit.

With the energy boost, Tony quickly restarted his suit, summoned Jarvis to deactivate the equipment, and finally emerged from the Iron Man suit.

Just as Tony Stark stood up, preparing his usual sarcastic thank you...

Xia Zuo suddenly stepped forward, reached into his chest, and took the miniature arc reactor and electromagnetic coil in his hand.

Stark was terrified, his face pale. He covered the hole in his chest with both hands and stared wide-eyed at Shazo. He felt like he was going to die; he could even feel the shrapnel in his veins heading toward his heart.

Some distance away, Lu Dan, watching the scene through the security camera, was so terrified he jumped up from his chair, frantically spitting out "Fuck you!" before opening his communicator: "Captain, go save Tony!"

"He had shrapnel in the blood vessels in his chest, and the electromagnetic coil prevented it from flowing into his heart!"

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"Shazo Dawson pulled out the electromagnetic coil; Tony's heart is about to be pierced by shrapnel!"

Steve Rogers, who was handcuffing Obadiah, abandoned him without hesitation, grabbed his shield, and charged towards Shazo.

He took the first step and threw his shield.

Taking his second step, he crouched down, curled up, and lunged towards Xia Zuo, reaching out to grab the Ark Reactor and Electromagnetic Coil in Xia Zuo's right hand.

Then Captain America discovered that Shazor had moved his position at an incredible speed, from in front of Tony Stark to behind him.

Both the shield and Captain America missed their target. If Shazor hadn't kindly pulled him up, the pale-faced and swaying Tony would have fallen forward and collided with his Uncle Rogers.

Xia Zuo laid Tony down on the ground, looked at his pale, contorted face, and asked curiously, "Are you in a lot of pain?"

Tony Stark yelled, "My heart's going to burst! Of course it hurts!"

"I'm fucking dead, you fucking bastard!"

"You deserve to be ****ed!!"

"If I survive, I'll definitely catch you and sell you to a brothel!"

"I'll buy another hundred ***** and put them in the same cage as you!"

"I want you to be with me 24/7!"

Tony Stark's voice was loud and clear as he cursed, and as he became more emotional, his face, which had turned pale, became quite ruddy.

At this point, Rogers realized something was wrong and stopped his attack.

Meanwhile, Lu Dan's voice reached his ears: "Captain, things seem different from what I thought. Wait a bit before you act!"

Rogers nodded and replied, "Okay."

So he and Xia Zuo watched Tony Stark's swearing show.

As soon as he relaxed, this moral exemplar from 70 years ago frowned, even though he didn't understand much of Tony's swearing.

But that didn't stop Rogers from making his judgment: "How did Howard's son become a street thug?"

Xia Zuo chuckled and replied, "Because he lost his father when he was young."

"He was born with a willful personality, grew up without parents to care for him, and had money and status. Plus, he had a godfather with ulterior motives. No wonder he turned out like this."

Rogers shook his head: "Poor kid."

Tony Stark wasn't stupid; how could he not have realized something was wrong at this point?

He shut his foul mouth, touched his chest, and after carefully feeling it, found that he really didn't feel any pain.

A bewildered Stark asked blankly, "I'm not dead?"

Xia Zuo handed the Ark Reactor to his left hand, and opened his right hand to show him, revealing a dozen or so sharp, tiny shrapnel fragments in his palm.

"Would you like to keep this as a souvenir?"

Stark looked down at the shrapnel, then up at Shazo's face, then touched his bleeding chest, and repeated the process over and over again.

Finally, he completely relaxed and smiled happily.

That was a relieved laugh after narrowly escaping death.

With a smile, Stark took the shrapnel from Shazor, carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in his pocket.

He said earnestly, "I want to mount them in glass and place them in the most conspicuous spot."

"I see them every day. They remind me, warn me, and make me never forget just how destructive the weapons I've created really are."

Rogers Steve frowned as he listened. For a veteran who had fought his way through war, the greater the power of a weapon, the better.

Because weapons are neither inherently evil nor inherently good; the difference lies only in who controls them.

But in the end he didn't say anything.

It is already good enough that we can recognize the harm of war.