42 Obtaining the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor
600 million USD!
For an ordinary person, this was an astonishing figure, a huge wealth that one might not even dream of.
But for Tony, there was nothing that money couldn't solve.
With 600 million USD, he could buy back his life. This transaction was quite a deal.
Russell put the bank draft back into the envelope, opened a drawer, and tossed the envelope inside.
For him, this 600 million USD was also a substantial sum of wealth.
But it wasn't quite enough to shock him.
After putting the envelope in the drawer, just as Peter, who had been taken out by Happy, returned to the agency, his young face brimming with curiosity.
"Sir, was that Tony Stark just now?"
Peter asked in disbelief.
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"Was he here for a commission?"
Peter quickly inquired.
"No, he came to pay."
Russell answered Peter while taking out his wallet, pulling out all the cash inside.
"You've been interning at the agency for a few days now. Here's your salary for the week."
He gestured towards Peter, allowing him to approach, and handed over all the cash in his hands.
In the United States, the weekly wage system was common.
Although Peter hadn't been working for a full week yet, Russell didn't mind giving him his salary in advance.
"Sir, no, I can't accept this!"
Seeing Russell offering him the cash, Peter shook his head.
The cash that Russell offered wasn't a small amount. At a glance, it was several thousand dollars.
For Peter, who usually didn't have much pocket money, this was undoubtedly a large sum.
"Take it. It's what you deserve. Since you like LEGO, both the Death Star and Millennium Falcon are out. Go buy one."
"Also, get yourself a new phone for easier communication."
"As for the surplus, you can give it to your aunt. You wouldn't want her to work so hard, would you?"
Russell ignored Peter's refusal, stuffing the money into his hands.
Although Peter was quite intelligent, he was still quite young and lacked social experience.
Especially upon hearing that he could relieve his aunt's burdens, he, who had always been sensible, eventually accepted the cash handed to him by Russell.
"Thank you, sir!"
After collecting the cash, Peter said earnestly to Russell.
"Don't mention it. I told you before, it's what you deserve."
"Alright, there's nothing more to do today. You can head back."
Young Peter nodded and put away the DSLR camera and lenses on the table. He left the agency with a backpack on his shoulders.
Standing by the window, watching Peter board the bus, Russell opened his system.
"Reward: Endosymbiotic Battle Armor!"
"Receive immediately?"
This was his fourth reward and the first equipment-type reward.
The previous three rewards had been sent down immediately upon meeting the activation conditions, without any inquiry about whether to accept them.
Without much thought, he chose to receive it immediately.
As soon as he made the selection, the system message that had appeared before disappeared.
In the next moment, a silver-white cylindrical container with a diameter of over a meter appeared in front of him out of thin air.
This...
Using the term "cylindrical container" might not be entirely accurate.
To be precise, it was a high-tech container holding the fully intelligent liquid metal of the yet-to-be-formed Endosymbiotic Battle Armor.
Looking at the container-like object in front of him, Russell furrowed his brow slightly.
The previous rewards, whether it was Blessing of Wonder Woman or the Venom Symbiote, directly transformed and enhanced his body, requiring no consideration of storage.
However, the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor reward was a bit different.
It wasn't an extraordinary power; it was a genuine high-tech suit of armor.
Although the armor made of fully intelligent liquid metal was convenient to wear, it still wasn't suitable for wearing 24/7.
Moreover, how to store the armor was a problem.
Just as he was considering whether to send both the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor and the container to his secret safehouse, the system sent another message.
"Detected equipment-type reward; opening system's alternate space!"
Uh...
Was the system this considerate now?
Seeing the system's message, Russell was momentarily stunned.
Compared to his fellow transmigrators, his system was undoubtedly a rather aloof entity. It never appeared when there wasn't a specific task, keeping its distance.
Yet now, the aloof system was revealing a considerate side.
Without much effort, he quickly understood how the system's alternate space worked.
In simpler terms, it was a storage space within the system.
Besides being able to store various equipment rewards from the system, it could also be used to store other items.
The only drawback was that it couldn't store living creatures.
After grasping the concept of the system's space, Russell once again shifted his gaze to the silver-white container in front of him.
He lifted his right hand, thought about it, and the intelligent liquid metal within the container flew towards him.
In just a blink of an eye, his right arm was covered by the armor.
Seeing his right arm covered by the armor, Russell revealed a satisfied smile.
Indeed, the all-new armor created by the wicked Tony through the study of the symbiote was quite extraordinary!
Sensing the armor on his arm, he didn't hesitate. He once again activated the weak telepathic link embedded in the armor, causing the liquid metal in the container to fly towards him.
The silver-white intelligent liquid metal, like numerous small tendrils, flew onto his body, transforming according to the pre-set program.
In just two or three seconds, he was fully equipped with the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor.
Pulse cannons in the palms, repulsor beams on the chest.
Currently, the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor had only these two conventional weapon systems.
However, the armor made of liquid metal clearly had more potential.
As long as there were skilled engineers, the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor, while not the nanotech-made Mark 50 or Mark 85, still possessed considerable shape-shifting abilities.
Though the evil Tony from the comics didn't include too many weapon variations in the armor's design, that didn't mean Russell would use the armor solely following the evil Tony's approach.
Although the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor could be initiated and controlled through his telepathic link, it was still equipped with an artificial intelligence system.
Not Jarvis, nor Friday!
The evil Tony hadn't named the armor's artificial intelligence system.
After some thought, Russell named the armor's artificial intelligence as No. 3.
It wasn't a fancy name, just a simple "No. 3."
As for why he chose such a simple name, the reason was straightforward—because the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor reminded him of the Extremis 3.0 virus.
After getting accustomed to the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor, Russell altered the transparent and hair-exposing helmet to its normal form.
He wasn't the extremely self-centered Tony Stark.
Displaying himself openly and obviously in public didn't align with his usual "low-profile" style.
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