Jarvis's words struck like a thunderclap, leaving Tony Stark dumbfounded—certain he'd heard wrong.
"What did you say? What's the opponent's flying speed?"
"The last detected flight speed was Mach 4.3, but that likely isn't the opponent's limit. Based on acceleration estimates, it should be capable of going even faster."
"What the actual fuck? Mach 4.3?! That's nearly at the threshold of hypersonic flight! How can a human withstand that kind of G-force? Is it an unmanned aerial vehicle?"
"No. The recent scan detected a humanoid heat signature inside. It's confirmed to be manned."
"There's someone piloting it?! How strong does their body have to be? Is this guy some kind of monster?"
Damn it—when did freaks like this start showing up in our world? This was beyond insane!
"Mr. Stark, now is not the time for speculation. The Iron Man suit's stability is rapidly deteriorating due to overload and prolonged high-speed flight. Additionally, the arc reactor's energy is below 10%. You must slow down and descend immediately—or risk structural disintegration or stall, either of which could be fatal."
Hearing Jarvis's warning, Tony didn't bother saving face this time.
He'd already lost the technological battle against Loren—not just lost, but been utterly crushed.
The blow stung, but Tony Stark wasn't one to stay down for long. If anything, this humiliation would fuel his drive to upgrade the Iron Man suit.
In his heart, he swore: next time, he'd find Loren—and defeat him.
With that resolve, he immediately ordered Jarvis to begin decelerating and lowering altitude.
But at that exact moment, an urgent alarm blared in his ears.
"Warning! The shoulder joint has loosened due to high-frequency vibrations. The left arm is beginning to disintegrate!"
"Fuck! Shut down the engine immediately and reduce speed to minimum!"
Even as Jarvis relayed the alert, Tony watched in horror as the left arm of the suit tore free.
Instantly, biting cold seared his exposed hand—he was at 25,000 meters, where the air was thin and temperatures plunged to around –50°C. Without protection, frostbite would set in within minutes.
"Engine shut down confirmed," Jarvis reported.
"However, gravitational acceleration prevents immediate deceleration. The suit continues to break apart. Mr. Stark, you must prepare yourself. If the power system fails, you'll enter uncontrolled freefall—and likely won't survive."
"…"
"Jarvis, maybe focus less on how I'm going to die and more on how to save me."
"I don't mean to frighten you, sir. But without external assistance, your chance of survival is now only 10%."
"Okay, okay—shut up!
If there's still a 10% chance, we're fighting for it! Restart the engine and activate reverse thrust—now!"
"Warning: the engine has frozen due to extreme cold and cannot be restarted at this time."
"What?!"
"Regrettably, Mr. Stark… your survival probability has dropped to 5%."
"…"
Tony almost laughed out of sheer frustration. Of all the times for JARVIS—the usually calm, collected AI—to keep revising his odds of survival downward…
Before, he had always been proud of JARVIS—an artificial intelligence system—and had believed he'd created the most advanced AI in the world. But now, he just wanted to slap himself in the face.
What kind of artificial intelligence is this? It's just an artificial idiot!
At such a critical moment, it actually broadcast his chance of survival to him. If I don't fall to my death, I'll be scared to death!
"Shut up! Shut up and restart the engine!"
"The engine is severely frozen and cannot be restarted at the moment."
"Fuck!!!"
When Tony heard JARVIS say the engine was frozen, he was truly disheartened.
If he fell from this height, he'd be reduced to a puddle of mud.
There was no way he could claim he wasn't afraid.
"Warning! Warning! You are currently 18,000 meters above the ground and falling rapidly at a speed of 330 meters per second. According to calculations, you will impact the ground in 54 seconds! Please attempt a manual engine restart immediately! Please attempt a manual engine restart immediately!"
Hearing JARVIS urge him to try a manual restart, Tony Stark didn't hesitate. He immediately used his remaining functional right arm—the iron one—to strike the power injector beneath his feet, attempting to reboot the system. But after more than ten seconds of effort, he still failed.
Worse, the attempt drained what little strength he had left, worsening his condition.
His left arm was already suffering from frostbite due to prolonged exposure to the extreme cold.
Now nearly exhausted, he felt this failure was the final insult to injury.
Faced with such hopelessness, despair began to creep in.
But at that moment, a black figure plummeted from the sky and seized his arm.
Startled, Tony instinctively looked up—and saw a humanoid figure clad in sleek black mechanical armor hovering beside him. He wasn't even sure if the being was human.
The armor was entirely black, adorned with glowing light-yellow strips that gave it a striking, futuristic look.
And on its chest was a bat emblem, pulsing with a pale yellow glow.
The moment Tony saw that symbol, he froze—then realization struck.
He immediately glanced upward.
Just as he'd suspected, the Batfighter loomed in the distance, having circled back after leaving him behind blocks earlier.
Yes—the one who had just rescued Tony Stark was none other than Loren, clad in the bat suit.
Without hesitation, Loren melted the ice encasing Tony's armor.
As the frost thawed, Tony immediately attempted another restart—and this time, it worked.
The power system surged back online, drastically slowing his descent. Within moments, he stabilized at an altitude of 5,000 meters.
"Who are you?" Tony called out, fixing Loren—who floated a short distance away—with a sharp, questioning gaze. "Why did you save me?"
Loren didn't answer.
Instead, he vanished in a blur of black motion, rocketing upward before swiftly rejoining the Batfighter.
Only then did an electronically synthesized voice echo from inside Tony Stark's helmet:
"Remember—you owe me a favor. And it will be repaid. We'll meet again."
"????"