Chapter 50: A Steel Man Fell from the Sky

As Alvin silently prayed to the Emperor, begging not to be blamed, little did he know that the drunken Tony had made a bold decision.

“JARVIS, prepare for flight test.” Tony, fully armored, staggered off the assembly platform and waved his hand.

"Sir, your current state is intoxicated, with a probability of danger exceeding 95%. I strongly advise against conducting a flight test under these conditions." As an intelligent butler, JARVIS could only sincerely warn Stark not to risk his life.

“Hey, JARVIS, have you ever heard this saying?”

But Tony paid no heed, waving it off: “Before we learn to walk, we must first learn to run.”

Seeing he couldn’t be dissuaded, JARVIS turned his hopes to Alvin beside him: "Mr. Valthius, could you please try to reason with Mr. Stark?"

With Tony’s current condition, even walking was unsteady—flying in full armor could lead to any number of accidents.

If he crashed into the Empire State Building and triggered another 9/11, it would be downright ridiculous.

But before Alvin could speak, Tony beside him, impatient, immediately activated the energy pack on his back.

Boom...

Four scorching nozzles unleashed torrents of deep-blue energy.

The next instant, Tony, piloting Mark II, slammed through the obstacles ahead like a heavy bomber.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from Alvin’s sight.

“Uh, you’re a bit late.” He pinched his brow, gritting his teeth: “All we can do now is pray this guy doesn’t get himself killed.”

Humanity’s greatest dream has always been to soar through the skies like a bird!

To this end, humanity invented planes and rockets, reaching further into the unknown—flight has always symbolized the fearless curiosity to explore the future!

And at this moment, Tony shed the bulky, cumbersome vehicles of planes and rockets, experiencing firsthand the exhilaration of soaring through the upper atmosphere!

The silver humanoid armor, empowered by the energy pack, shattered the sound barrier!

Boom!

A deafening sonic boom carved a ring-shaped shockwave cloud across the high sky.

He flew into the clouds, heading toward the moon that seemed within reach, his face alight with unrestrained joy.

Under the influence of alcohol, waves of euphoria nearly overwhelmed Tony, forcing him to let out an ecstatic yell: “Woo-hoo—! See that, Alvin? I’ve conquered the sky! I’m flying—this feels absolutely fucking amazing!”

“Cough, sorry to interrupt you.”

At that moment, Alvin’s voice came through the helmet: “I’m seeing your altitude climbing vertically nonstop. Just to ask—have you prepared for high-altitude cold and ice?”

Tony, who had just been whooping with excitement, fell silent.

“JARVIS?”

“Apologies, sir. Your preset protocols do not include any measures for high-altitude cold and ice.”

Within two and a half seconds of those words, Tony glanced at the vertical altitude display on the left of his helmet.

It had already surpassed the Blackbird’s record—reaching a staggering 86,000 feet—and instead of triumph, it filled him with sheer terror.

“Sir, the engine nozzles are icing over!”

The moment JARVIS spoke, the armor lost all power, and the entire system shut down.

Well, sure enough—he was falling.

Seeing Tony’s connection severed, Alvin was speechless. He swore he’d warned him quickly enough—how could Tony climb so fast?

“Aaaah—!”

What did it feel like to free-fall from 86,000 feet?

Tony’s answer?... Thrilling—his heart nearly stopped!

“JARVIS, deploy the flaps!”

But unfortunately, due to ice buildup, the armor’s systems were already offline.

“Oh, shit!” In the free-fall, the wind currents rendered him unable to maintain any stable posture—he spun like a top, tearing through the night sky at supersonic speed.

Good news: at the last moment, he successfully manually activated the flaps.

The ice layer on the armor’s surface shattered, and as the system rebooted, a sliver of power returned.

But bad news: Tony glanced at the ground—there was no way to regain flight. He could only try to slow his descent as much as possible.

Then, he chose a relatively comfortable position and plunged downward like a plow.

Boom!!

Fortunately, there was no one nearby—just an abandoned industrial zone.

Thanks to the armor’s excellent shock-absorption system and its hardened alloy construction, Tony smashed through the factory’s railing and skidded dozens of meters before stopping.

“How was your 86,000-foot skydive?”

Through the helmet, Alvin’s teasing laughter echoed.

“Too... too thrilling. I’ll do it again!”

Though his heart had nearly stopped, Tony still bragged: “Hey, I just broke the highest flight record for humans—give me some applause!”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt you two.”

Tony limped along the wall, barely standing when he noticed two figures beside him.

One wore a red-and-blue spandex suit, with an inverted spider emblem on the chest—like a vigilante “Zorro,” though his taste was undeniably terrible.

As for the other... Tony fell silent for half a second, his face twisting with shock and disbelief: “JARVIS, am I that drunk? Why am I seeing a... lizard?”

“Sir, environmental data confirms you are not hallucinating.”

JARVIS scanned the lizard through the armor’s sensors and replied truthfully: “The subject appears to be a genetically mutated organism with lizard DNA. Based on residual battle traces nearby, sir... it is highly likely an enemy.”

“Hey, Spider-boy, is this guy your enemy?” Tony turned to the man who looked like “justice.”

“Wait, can you explain why you just fell from the sky?!”

Spider-Man’s eyes widened in disbelief; he screamed, clutching his head: “Holy crap, I’m dying to know—how the hell did you survive a fall from tens of thousands of feet without turning into a puddle of meat?”

He was, after all, a top student from a prestigious university, excelling in applied physics.

This iron man, falling from tens of thousands of feet—even with multiple slowdowns—shouldn’t have walked away unscathed.

What kind of shock-absorbing material could possibly do that?

“Probably because my shock-absorption system is just that good.”

Tony didn’t hide his pride, beaming: “I anticipated potential impact scenarios in advance, so I designed a dedicated shock-absorption system!”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt you two, but the lizard mutant is gone.”

JARVIS’s voice transmitted directly through the armor into both their ears.

“Where’d he go?!”

Spider-Man spun around, rigid with shock.

The lizard-man he’d chased for so long had vanished without a trace!

“Judging by the scene, he probably escaped through the sewer.” Tony glanced at the upturned manhole cover and shrugged, sounding slightly guilty: “Can’t blame me—you weren’t paying attention.”

Though masked, Tony could still clearly feel the heavy, resentful glare radiating from the other’s eyes.

“Cough, listen, Spider-boy, this was an accident.”

Tony cleared his throat, feigning innocence: “If you don’t mind, how about I buy you a drink?”