After leaving a message for Tony Stark, Loren took control of the Batplane and sped away, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
As he watched the Batplane streak across the sky—transforming momentarily into a brilliant arc of light before disappearing into the clouds—a frown of confusion deepened on Tony Stark's face.
"This guy knows me… but I don't know him. Who is he? And he's got his own Iron Man–style suit, too. This is seriously weird!"
Tony muttered to himself, questions swirling in his mind. But for now, no one could give him the answers.
"JARVIS, scan the entire internet—immediately. I need everything you can find on that Batplane and the Batsuit. I want to know who that guy is."
"Understood, sir. Search initiated. I've temporarily designated this operation: Project Batman. What do you think?"
"Batman?" Tony repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"The name suits his aesthetic quite well," JARVIS replied.
"Alright," Tony said with a smirk. "From now on, that's what I'll call him—Batman."
At that very moment, of course, Loren had no idea that Tony and JARVIS had just dubbed him "Batman."
But if he had known, he probably would've given them a thumbs-up and said, "You really are geniuses!"
---
Inside the Batplane, 2B turned to Loren, her expression curious.
"Boss… why did you save him? Didn't you say he was your strongest rival in the world? Wouldn't it have been better if he were dead?"
Loren's actions defied every logical prediction her AI-driven mind could calculate, leaving her genuinely puzzled.
"In the field of technology," Loren replied calmly, "Tony Stark is my greatest rival."
He paused, then added with quiet intensity, "And that's exactly why he can't die—not like this."
"Boss… I still don't understand," 2B said, tilting her head, her face filled with confusion.
"Because, as the saying goes: 'High art finds few who understand it; true rivals are hard to come by.' The world would be a far duller place without someone like Tony Stark pushing the boundaries of what's possible."
He glanced at her. "Remember what I told you about happiness? Humans need it—and competition is one of the purest ways to find it."
2B remained silent for a moment. "...I still don't understand."
Loren smiled faintly and closed his eyes. "That's alright. You will… in time."
---
In truth, saving Tony Stark wasn't just about preserving a worthy rival.
There was another reason—one only Loren knew.
Every time he intervened in an event within the Marvel universe, the system rewarded him accordingly.
And this moment was no exception.
As soon as he completed the rescue, a familiar chime echoed in his mind:
> [Congratulations! You have participated in the "Iron Man Rescue" event. Reward granted: Enhanced Arc Reactor Technology!]
A subtle smile tugged at the corners of Loren's lips. He'd been right.
Through recent experimentation, he'd begun to discern the system's patterns. Most rewards were directly tied to the key figures involved in the event—like the Super-Soldier Serum upgrade he'd received after encountering Kingpin.
Since this incident centered on Tony Stark, it made perfect sense that the system had granted him an improved version of Stark's own Arc Reactor technology.
Of course, not every event followed this rule. Some involved characters too insignificant to yield meaningful rewards.
In this way, the system would randomly draw rewards from either the Marvel Universe or the Mechanical Era world he had unlocked.
As the system prompt chimed, a fragment of knowledge about the Arc Reactor instantly merged into his mind.
In just a single breath, he fully grasped the reactor's working principle.
What's more, the system rewarded him with an improved version of Arc Reactor technology.
You should know that this upgraded Arc Reactor utilized a brand-new element—one inspired by the Space Stone.
Tony Stark wouldn't create this element until the timeline of Iron Man 2.
Thanks to it, he was finally freed from the agony of palladium poisoning.
Not only that—it also boosted the Arc Reactor's performance by 20% over the original, a leap so significant it could only be described as qualitative.
And now, having obtained this technology before it even existed in his world, he was naturally overjoyed.
In fact, he'd been racking his brain lately, struggling to find a suitable power source for 2B, the anti-gravity drone, and his Batsuit.
Although the system had granted him the manufacturing schematics for general-purpose combat robots, he was constrained by this world's technological limitations.
For energy, he'd been forced to rely on solid-state battery technology.
Even using the world's most advanced solid-state batteries, the endurance remained far from ideal.
For instance, 2B's maximum flight time was only eight hours. The anti-gravity drone fared slightly better—24 hours—thanks to its smaller size.
As for his Batsuit? A mere four hours of battery life.
And that was without activating the anti-gravity flight system. Once engaged, flight time plummeted to just half an hour.
That was precisely why he'd hurried back to the Batplane after rescuing Tony Stark.
Consequently, all his gear needed daily recharging—or else it would slip into standby mode and become useless.
Under normal circumstances, daily charging wasn't a big deal; it was no different from topping off your phone.
But in a crisis? That battery life became a fatal flaw.
Imagine two armies locked in battle—and suddenly your robot and armor shut down from power loss. How infuriating would that be?
Because of this issue, he'd been wracking his brain for weeks, searching desperately for a better energy solution.
He'd even considered nuclear power—but miniaturizing it remained beyond his current technical capabilities.
Who would've thought that at this critical moment, the system would directly grant him Arc Reactor technology—solving his most urgent problem in one stroke!
Now that was timely assistance!
How could he not be thrilled?
According to his calculations, once he installed the improved Arc Reactor into 2B, she could operate for at least a month without recharging.
Moreover, the reactor's abundant energy output would dramatically enhance her combat effectiveness—easily doubling her current strength.
His Batsuit would benefit immensely too: with the Arc Reactor, he could fly continuously for up to 20 hours.
Even without flight, the suit could remain fully operational for an entire month.
This breakthrough would completely transform the capabilities of both 2B and the Batsuit, elevating their value exponentially.
With that thought in mind, Loren didn't hesitate for a second—he immediately began construction…