In front of the monitor surveilling the cave, a member of the Ten Rings was closely watching every move of Tony and the other two.
"What's he doing?'' the fat man sitting behind asked.
"Working,'' the Ten Rings member replied, resting his chin on his hand.
......
Inside the cave, Yinsen was using tongs to lift a container from the furnace. Inside the container was the 1.6 grams of palladium that had just been melted.
Yinsen carefully walked toward the table.
"Be careful, take it easy. We only have this one batch!'' Tony nervously reminded him.
Yinsen twisted his neck, stretching it, and said, "Don't worry, my hands are steady! Otherwise, do you think you'd still be alive?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the container slipped from his hands, and their hearts leaped into their throats.
"Whoosh!"
A hand suddenly reached out from the side and caught the container. Both of them let out a sigh of relief.
Tony glared at Yinsen, "Didn't you say your hands were steady?"
"Didn't you see the container just slipped? It went 'whoosh' and fell! I didn't even loosen my grip!" Yinsen defended himself.
"Whoosh' my ass! Didn't you see it slipping from my hand? Hurry up and take it, it's hot!" Raiden roared.
Yinsen quickly grabbed another pair of tongs—emphasis on another.
When he picked up the container, Raiden left palm was already severely burned, the flesh mangled.
"Raiden, are you okay? Quick, let me bandage it for you,'" Tony said, grabbing Raiden left hand.
"'It's fine, go back to work. I can handle it myself,'" Raiden said with a smile, pushing Tony away.
Something miraculous soon happened before Tony eyes. He saw the wound on Raiden left hand slowly healing, visibly mending. It was slow, but it was undeniably healing.
"This…'' Tony was about to ask something, disbelief in his voice.
But Raiden interrupted him, pushing him on the shoulder with his uninjured hand, "Go back to work! Surviving is what matters now!"
Tony looked back at Raiden face and didn't say anything more. He buried his confusion deep inside.
Indeed, this playboy, who was still preoccupied with women and scientific research, truly knew nothing about these things.
Raiden began to understand why Tony Stark, the son of the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the world's largest weapons manufacturer, was completely clueless about magic.
He had always lived in his own world.
...
"Wow—"
Raiden and Yinsen walked over.
On the table, as Tony adjusted it, a circular object began to emit a white light. As the light grew stronger and stabilized, the electricity in the cave became chaotic, and the lights flickered incessantly."
"Whoa, this doesn't look like a Jericho missile," Yinsen said, walking over to Tony with a puzzled expression.
A look of astonishment also appeared on Raiden face. Although he knew what this was, seeing it with his own eyes for the first time still left him in awe. Tony Stark truly was a genius, a one-of-a-kind genius.
He really could create something so unparalleled in this cave. This was the pinnacle of mortal craftsmanship, a masterpiece of art.
"'This is a miniature arc reactor. There's a larger one in my factory. This should be able to stop the shrapnel from reaching my heart,'" Tony said calmly as he fiddled with the reactor in his hand, but beneath that calmness was excitement and pride.
"'But how much energy does it have?' Yinsen asked.
Tony placed the reactor on the table and said, "'If I haven't miscalculated—and I never have—it's 3 joules per second.'"
"OMG!'' Raiden suddenly exclaimed.
Both men turned to look at Raiden.
"'Alright, maybe I shouldn't have spoken. 3 joules per second… how much is that?'' Raiden asked nonchalantly, tilting his head.
"'That could keep his heart beating for fifty lifetimes,'" Yinsen explained.
"'Exactly, or power something big for fifty minutes,'" Tony added, his head down as he tinkered with something else.
Something big? Wow, Raiden smiled as he looked at Tony. That must be something impressive.
"'By the way, Raiden, could you help me install this thing?'" Tony said as he lay down nearby.
"What! Are you kidding me, man?'' Raiden looked at the reactor in Tony hand, then at the gaping hole in his chest, asking in disbelief.
"I no longer trust Yinsen steady hands. It's simple, just like a surgery."
"Surgery?!"
"No, no, just a simple game."
''Alright, alright, but I'm already feeling a bit nauseous," Raiden said with a grimace as he walked over, took the reactor from Tony, and asked what he should do.
"You just need to reach in, gently pull out the wire inside, gently," Tony reiterated.
"Okay, okay, gently… ugh—so gross! What is this stuff, it's all sticky!" Raiden said with a look of disgust, his face all scrunched up.
"I hate science!"
"That's just protoplasm. Don't worry, it's from the machine, definitely not from my body. And whatever you do, don't touch it…"
"BZzz—"
Before Tony could finish, Raiden had already done what he was about to warn against.
A strange, sticky liquid shot out from the hole in Tony chest, splattering all over Raiden face…
"Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!"
Who knows who said that Fuck.
With the Arc Reactor installed, Tony felt completely revitalized, as if his body was brimming with energy, a stark contrast to his previous state.
But Raiden, on the other hand, looked quite weak, his face pale, perhaps because he had… thrown up quite a bit earlier.
"'Come, come over here, take a look at the treasure I've crafted for our escape from this cage,'" Tony called out to Raiden and Yinsen.
Tony then overlapped several so-called Jericho missile blueprints and showed them to Yinsen and the others. A faint outline of what seemed to be a massive suit of armor appeared on the paper.
"'What is this?' Yinsen asked, puzzled.
"The Mark 1 suit."
Tony turned and placed the blueprint under a light, causing the pattern on the paper to become clearly visible. Only then could Raiden and Yinsen get a clear view of the armor.
"Incredible, absolutely incredible! So that thing on your chest… it's meant to power this giant thing!" Yinsen exclaimed in awe.
"Looks like I might finally get a chance to shave,'' Raiden said, his eyes fixed on the blueprint as he patted Yinsen on the shoulder.
Yinsen turned his head, looking at Raiden with a smile but said nothing. His eyes were slightly red, and the corners were moist. He affectionately touched the beard on Raiden face, then patted Raiden shoulder and nodded firmly.
........
Over the next few days, the three of them worked daily on crafting the components and wiring of the armor. During their breaks, they would sit together, chat, and play dice.
Coincidentally, the rules of the dice game were identical to a game Raiden had played in his previous life. Over the endless years, Raiden had often used it to pass the time, with a little help from his abilities…
Wait, no—Raiden had actually used it to train his abilities, which resulted in him winning every single game, leaving Tony and Yinsen utterly defeated.
"Tony, you owe me $17 million now. Figure it out yourself when we get out! Yinsen… I know you don't have that kind of money, so just stick with me after we're out! I'll pay you like a presidential bodyguard—$500,000 a month. At that rate, it'll only take you 20 years to pay it off!'' Raiden declared grandly, waving his hand at the two.
"'Enough, enough! Let's get back to work!'" Yinsen said, pushing Tony.
"'No way, I don't believe it!'"
Tony was utterly frustrated.
"'Stop, stop! If we keep playing, I'll be stuck here for the rest of my life!'" Yinsen quickly grabbed Tony.
Tony, with his genius brain, managed to win a couple of games. Yinsen… never won. He never won against anyone.
Under their daily efforts and careful concealment, the components of the armor—aside from the outer shell—were completed one by one.
All of this was carried out right under the noses of their captors, yet everything proceeded smoothly.
The fake Jericho missile, made from scraps and useless materials, seemed to have genuinely fooled the guards who had been monitoring the three of them all along.