Engine Room

Sizzle~

Although it was a projection screen, Kurumi unexpectedly heard the sound of electricity. The screen turned pitch black, and whether it was an illusion or something else before it went dark, she faintly heard a series of "ah ah ah" sounds.

The lukewarm water in her cup had cooled a bit, so Kurumi returned to the kitchen. She knew about the risk of the suit freezing, and Tony probably guessed it, too. But that was just his personality; the more you discouraged him, the more he wanted to do it.

"Ah ah ah!—"

The terrified screams of a man echoed in the sky over New York. However, apart from himself and Jarvis, no one else heard it because of the armour and airflow.

Maybe even Jarvis didn't hear it, as it couldn't communicate with Tony inside a "dead" machine.

In his screams of terror, he sounded like people on a roller coaster in an amusement park.

Getting closer and closer to the ground, the temperature rose, and the parts of the suit that had frozen began to recover gradually. Finally, at a height of about ten meters from the ground, it was fully restored!

It took a moment for her nerves to react, and just before Tony turned into minced meat, 'Mark' took off again!

Unfortunately, no one saw his heroic feat.

It was now well past two in the morning, and even in a city like New York, the streets were nearly empty.

Seeing 'Mark' was even rarer, and sometimes, when people blinked, the dark figure disappeared, and they thought it was just a hallucination from too much self-indulgence.

At over 25,000 meters, not even fifth-generation fighter jets could reach such heights. This was where the record was held. As for whether the record had been broken or not, Tony only cared a little. Despite his extreme excitement, there was still a hint of fear.

Of course, just a hint.

Falling from this height would ruin the suit, even if it was primarily made of titanium alloy. And for him inside 'Mark,' the consequences would certainly not be much better. Just the vibrations alone would be enough to kill him!

Leaving a complete corpse behind would be a best-case scenario. He had even thought of tomorrow's headlines...

"Brooks? Brooks, are you still there? I did it!"

"Oh," a cold voice came through the earpiece. The other person seemed unconcerned, and Tony's extreme excitement quickly subsided.

"You haven't finished the recording, have you?"

"Huh? Haven't I? Jarvis, tell Miss Brooks if we've broken the record."

"Sorry, sir. I fell asleep before the suit froze so that I couldn't continue the recording. But based on computer calculations... Mr. Stark, you're still far from the record."

"Far from it?"

"You've only ascended about halfway."

"Oh! Jarvis, that's not a good joke. Maybe your calculations are wrong."

"..."

"Well, let's go home first and make some improvements, then I'll show Miss Brooks her energy converter."

...

Bam!

Sssss~

Pffft~

Three consecutive noises.

The first sound: Tony, controlling 'Mark,' tried to make an excellent landing on the balcony, but the result... was another big hole in the villa! It was quite a coincidence; the path of destruction led directly to the laboratory, conveniently destroying a rather expensive-looking supercar on the way.

The klutzy bot spun its wheels quickly, holding a fire extinguisher and spraying it at Tony!

It was good that he was in 'Mark,' or Tony might have sent it for a "complete overhaul."

The third sound... Watching the live broadcast, Kurumi couldn't help it and sprayed out the tea she hadn't even swallowed yet!

Movies didn't have this kind of effect. This immersive experience, with 3D effects all around, was really...

Tony had a big bandage on his forehead, and it seemed he was somewhat embarrassed, but he was still in good spirits.

If you ignored the huge dark circles under his eyes.

Holding a bottle of alcohol that Kurumi couldn't identify, he took a sip to moisten his throat.

Extending his hand, he manipulated a device.

"Hey, Brooks, it's dark on your end. I can't see you."

"...What about the energy converter? How's the research going?"

With a sip of the bottle, Tony replied, "Don't worry; I'm starting to convert various types of energy now, and the results are beyond my imagination. Also, you mentioned 'free energy' in the air. Is that the right term?"

"I extracted some, but it's pitifully small. I put it into the energy converter, and the results are simply incredible!"

"Did it work?"

Tony seemed hesitant as he said, "There's still a tiny technical challenge, but it should be resolved soon."

Kurumi nodded without speaking; she understood what Tony meant.

Stark had extracted free energy, and after running it through the 'energy conversion' machine, he could successfully convert it into other forms of energy, such as electricity. But converting electricity back into pure free energy would still take some time, even if Stark claimed it wasn't difficult.

With her fingers gripping the teacup, Kurumi was reminded of the abundant spiritual energy present in the machine. If she were to visit a world without free energy... when her internal energy was depleted, and 'Time' was running out, would she be left with just a frail body?

These were her concerns, but everything should be fine as long as Tony could create such a machine. The laws of physics might differ between worlds, but physical constants shouldn't change, right?

Even if they did, she still had Scarlet, and as long as they could be successfully analysed, the energy conversion machine had a good chance of success.

"Stark, can you let me see the machine now?"

"Now? You want to see it right away?"

"If it's possible."

"Well then. Jarvis, help me prepare 'Mark'; I'm going out for a bit."

"Isn't the energy conversion machine here?"

Click~ 'Mark' was gradually assembling itself onto Tony. Some scratches still hadn't been dealt with, but they weren't a big deal.

"Of course, it's not here; my little lab can't accommodate it."

Saying that Tony looked around, revealing everything in his lab.

Kurumi raised an eyebrow, and Stark's lab was by no means small. As for the energy conversion machine...

In less than ten minutes, Tony arrived at the Stark Tower, and on the way, he glanced at the headquarters of Ambrella across the street. From Tony's tone, it was apparent he wasn't pleased.

After all, the "spire" of Ambrella had surpassed the twice-remodeled Stark Tower.

...

Seeing the scene before her, Kurumi remained speechless for a long time and said helplessly, "Forgive me for being frank, but are you sure this is an energy converter and not a data centre?"

"Well... I know it's a bit large right now, but once the technology matures, shrinking the size will be easy."

"Can it be as small as the reactor on your chest?"

"That... I'm not sure," Tony scratched his chin, uncertain. It may be possible in a dozen years or so.