"Fatal flaw?
How would I know the fatal flaw of your metal suit?"
William's mind was instantly flooded with a barrage of thoughts:
"Big brother, I'm just an insurance salesman!
Not your chief engineer!
My specialty is calculating premiums and claim clauses, not analyzing damned aerodynamics and material science!"
He felt a trickle of cold sweat on his forehead.
This was no longer a performance review; this was a blatant out-of-syllabus question, a dimensionality reduction strike from a genius.
Tony Stark's all-seeing eyes were watching him with interest.
As if admiring a hamster under a microscope, wanting to see what tricks it could pull off.
"Can't back down!"
"System, save me!"
William took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart.
He now represented not himself, but the omnipotent, mysterious "Company."
Only by maintaining his persona could he continue the conversation.
His brain raced, his only lifeline being the recently upgraded [Mechanical Induction (Intermediate)].
"Please allow me… to conduct a professional risk assessment." William adopted his most professional demeanor and slowly walked towards the silver-white mark ii.
When he got within a certain distance, he closed his eyes, concentrating all his mental power.
Buzz—
In an instant, the World in his mind completely changed.
The colors and sounds of the surrounding environment all faded away.
In their place was a brilliant and complex "perceptual field" composed of countless light points and energy flows.
The entire underground workshop, in his eyes, became a huge, shimmering circuit diagram.
And the mark ii before him was the undisputed Sun in this diagram.
It was no longer a cold metal creation, but an energy aggregate full of the rhythm of life.
William could "see" the reserved energy lines like dormant giant dragons, coiled around the limbs of the armor.
He could "feel" the uniform metal crystal structure inside each piece of titanium alloy armor.
He sensed its indestructible physical strength.
He could even "hear" the extremely subtle energy hums from the precise servo motors and hydraulic joints in standby mode.
"It's too perfect!"
From a purely mechanical structure and energy design perspective, this thing was simply a work of art.
William's perception, like the most precise probe, scanned every corner of the armor inch by inch.
He began to simulate various extreme conditions in his mind: high temperature, high pressure, overload operation... In these simulations, the mark ii's various "data" performed extremely stably, almost flawlessly.
Tony Stark was indeed a genius; he had considered all conceivable combat risks.
But… what about beyond combat risks?
And this guy has a cheat!
William's heart stirred, and he instantly switched the parameters of the simulated environment.
Extreme cold!
Ultra-low air pressure!
The moment this thought appeared, he "saw" it!
A very glaring sense of disharmony appeared in the originally harmoniously operating energy field.
Under the simulated extreme cold environment.
The energy flow within the full-body titanium alloy armor became sluggish and stiff, like a frozen river.
Especially in the active parts of the joints, this "stiffness" was particularly obvious.
"Problem found!"
This armor was like a North Pole bear equipped with the strongest engine and weapons, but walking barefoot on ice.
It was powerful, but it overlooked the most basic natural environmental factors.
William slowly opened his eyes, the light in them making Tony pause.
"Mr. Stark.
From a risk management perspective, this equipment's design pursues ultimate structural strength and aerodynamic performance, making it a masterpiece."
William first gave high praise; this was a basic negotiation skill.
Tony raised the corner of his mouth and shrugged noncommittally.
William's tone then shifted.
His voice became serious: "However, its greatest risk does not come from Fire control loss or energy overload, but from its 'working environment.'"
"Working environment?"
Tony raised an eyebrow, clearly not taking the term seriously.
"Yes." William's voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the workshop filled with mechanical hums.
"I noticed that you used a single titanium alloy configuration.
This material performs excellently at normal and high temperatures.
But in extreme low-temperature, high-altitude environments, its material toughness will significantly decrease.
Leading to what is known as 'cold brittleness.'"
Tony's expression changed for the first time.
It was a look of "Oh? Interesting."
William didn't pause, continuing to drop a bombshell: "More importantly, I didn't 'sense' any independent anti-freeze or thermal circulation systems in critical flight control components like the joints."
He stretched out a finger, pointing in the air at the mark ii's shoulder and the connection points of its back flight wings, as if he could see through the thick armor.
"Simply put, it has a fatal 'icing problem.'"
"Once you fly it into the troposphere at ten thousand meters, where the temperature drops to tens of degrees below Zero.
Your control system has a very high probability of completely failing due to the low-temperature freezing of metal components."
William looked directly into Tony's contracting pupils, delivering the most fatal conclusion in the calmest tone:
"By then, your proud flight suit will become an uncontrollable, high-speed falling…"
"Iron coffin."
"Boom!"
The three words "Iron coffin" struck Tony Stark's heart like three heavy hammers.
His smile completely froze on his face.
He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, wanting to mock William's alarmist talk, but found his mind blank.
Icing problem?
He, of course, knew about high-altitude icing; any aircraft designer would.
However, in his countless computer simulations, all the focus was on combat performance, energy efficiency, and weapon systems.
This seemingly basic environmental issue, which "civilian airliners" needed to prioritize, was subconsciously overlooked by him!
He was blinded by his pride.
He thought his creation was so powerful that it could ignore the laws of nature.
And now, this secret, fatal, and even somewhat ridiculous flaw was revealed by an outsider.
An insurance salesman, with such certainty, in one fell swoop.
Tony Stark's gaze changed.
If before it was scrutiny and amusement, now it was filled with disbelief.