Nanotechnology Is Your Future

Chapter 48 Nanotechnology Is Your Future!

"By the way, Tony, didn't you solve your palladium poisoning problem? Why did you hand the company to Pepper?"

Li Yue was a little curious. In the movie, Tony's knowledge of his limited time motivated him to hand the company to Pepper. He even gave a set of older Mark armor to his good friend, Rhodes.

But he didn't have such problem right now. Li Yue was somewhat confused.

"Why can't I give her the company if my palladium poisoning is solved? I don't see any connection at all," Tony returned the question curiously. He was rather perplexed; he couldn't see the correlation between the two problems.

"I see, so this is really what you wanted?"

"Of course. After a while, I felt that I no longer wanted to manage the trivial matter in the company anymore. I want to do this armor and superhero project full-time.

"And Pepper is the best candidate for the CEO. She's the only candidate, really. She's loyal to me and more skilled in managing the company than me."

Li Yue listened to Tony's sincere words carefully. So it really was Tony's wish to forget about managing the company and focus all his time on developing the armor.

"Hey, Tony, didn't you say you want me to see how powerful your latest armor is? Why don't we do it now? Let me see how good it really is," Li Yue changed the topic.

"Yeah, I always wanted to show off my latest armor, but I never really had the chance. Say, why don't we do it now? I'll take the armor out; show you what it can do," Tony said proudly. He couldn't wait to take Li Yue to the underground laboratory.

Happy had silently left after Natasha defeated him with a deadly scissor lock. He was afraid that he would never hear the end of Tony's laugh if Tony noticed.

...

Tony brought Li Yue to the laboratory shortly after. Tony's previous armors were displayed in eye-catching glass cases.

The first on the left was the one that Tony created to escape from the cave, the cumbersome Mark I. Tony must've built a copy of it to display here.

Next were Mark Two, Mark Three, and Mark Four. There wasn't much difference between these models: Tony mostly improved and fixed some aspects of the armor, as well as upgraded their weapon systems.

Mark Five was the first to significantly differ from the previous design. This was the first portable armor that Tony designed, capable of being carried as a relatively lightweight suitcase. It could be equipped quickly without the need for Jarvis' robot arms.

However, this design had glaring drawbacks. As an emergency armor, Mark Five was made of relatively light alloy, significantly reducing its durability. It didn't have weapon systems either, other than the palm-mounted repulsors. Most importantly, it couldn't fly.

Mark Six was developed after Tony created the new element for the Arc Reactor. The window on the armor's chest was triangular instead of round like its predecessors.

Tony proudly explained all these to Li Yue.

"But these things are just...appetizers, compared to my latest creation: the Mark Seven."

Tony acted like a salesman, ready to pitch his best product.

Li Yue let Tony continue with the little show. How powerful could this version be, anyway?

"I already saw your bleeding edge Mark 85 armor; why would I care about these primitive relics?" Li Yue thought silently in his heart.

Of course, Li Yue wouldn't say this out loud.

Tony prattled non-stop about Mark 7's various advanced weapons.

"Out of all of them, this is the most revolutionary function in Mark 7: the laser tracking and rapid deployment system. It could be deployed and equipped without external assistance. When I tell Jarvis to activate it, it will track these metal bracelets to confirm my identity and equip itself around my body." Tony wore the metal bracelet, preparing to demonstrate the rapid deployment system. "Jarvis, prepare to equip the Mark 7 armor."

As expected of the genius Tony Stark, he could advance his armor development even faster than in the movies, just from what little interference Li Yue did. The Mark 7 armor was supposed to appear during the invasion of New York in the Avengers movie.

Of course, Tony wouldn't just equip the armor and remove it without doing anything. He flew out of the villa and flew into the distance.

Li Yue watched from the roof of Tony's villa as Tony broke the sound barrier in his armor, creating a conical trail of clouds around him. Li Yue felt a little jealous; he might be able to teleport anywhere he wanted, but he never experienced high-speed flight.

Li Yue wished that he also had armor suits. Of course, he didn't mean the current version of Tony's heavy armor. Li Yue liked the nano-armor that Tony would someday develop the most.

The nano-armor didn't look or feel like mechanical metal armor, but it looked cool and awesome. It was convenient to carry and deploy, and most importantly, it was powerful. It held its own against Thanos, even when Thanos wielded the Power Stone. It was able to draw a drop of blood from the purple titan.

...

Tony returned and landed beside Li Yue while Li Yue was still daydreaming.

"What do you think? It packed some punch, right?" Tony proudly asked after taking off his armor.

"I'm thinking to split the armor off into independent modules, with synchronized flight systems. That way, I could summon it wherever and whenever I want. What do you think?" Tony explained his plan, hoping to impress Li Yue.

Unfortunately, Li Yue's expression didn't budge. There wasn't a trace of surprise, which upset Tony.

"Tony, I think nanotechnology is your future! Anyway, I finished seeing your armor, so I'll go home. Bye-bye, Tony!" Li Yue immediately disappeared after saying all that, leaving Tony dumbfounded.

Tony silently pondered about the hint that Li Yue had given him. Nanotechnology. Yes, with nanotechnology, there was no need to wear such cumbersome armor. Using nanites, the armor could be constructed and deployed over the entire body within seconds. They could also be freely reconfigured to form various weapons.

"Li Yue must've seen the future. I can't believe his little dumb brain could think of such a brilliant idea. He must've plagiarized my future armor concepts!"

Knowing Li Yue's situation, Tony didn't believe for a second that Li Yue could come up with an advanced idea like that. It could only be a fragment of the future that Li Yue used against Tony.

"Jarvis, open a new file. Call it Nano-Armor Research and Development and put it on my private server. Lock it only to people with my permission. Put some theories and research data on nanotechnologies in it; I'll have to learn from scratch," Tony gave a series of commands to Jarvis, his brain already imagining the result of integrating nanotechnology into his armor.

He could not wait to start the research into nanomachines.

"Also, find researchers involved in notable nanotechnology research. Hire them to Stark Industry—don't hold back on their salaries," Tony added heroically.