Chapter 9

After a great deal of effort, Zhou Chao finally climbed to the outside of the workshop where Tony Stark usually stayed, only to be stopped by a wall and door made of bulletproof hardened glass.

"Jarvis, can you give me a hand?" Zhou Chao, barely managing to stand against the wall, called out.

Then, there was a light "beep," and the lock on the workshop door immediately opened.

"Thanks, Jarvis." Zhou Chao, standing at the door, expressed his gratitude, moved his body, and leaned against the door with his shoulder and back, using his entire body's strength to push it open.

There was no other way; after this bout of movement, although his body could勉强 move a little, the numbing sensation that made it hard to exert force was still in effect. Therefore, at this moment, Zhou Chao could not open and close the door as he normally would.

Then Zhou Chao darted into the workshop, his eyes quickly scanning the room. Soon, an old arc reactor encased in glass came into view.

Without hesitation, Zhou Chao, with his unsteady, woman-like steps, stumbled to the table where the arc reactor was placed, reached out, and grabbed it. He then turned and swung his arm, throwing it. Instantly, there was a crisp "snap," and the entire glass case shattered, revealing the initial version of the arc reactor inside.

Zhou Chao then bent down to grab the arc reactor, took unsteady steps out of the workshop, and walked back to the living room, where he met Tony Stark, who had just crawled in like someone gasping for air.

Seeing Zhou Chao holding the arc reactor, Tony opened his mouth as if to speak, then suddenly lowered his head and fell to the ground.

"Tony!?" Zhou Chao's expression changed, and he quickly shouted, rushing over.

If it were a normal day, walking quickly in the flat living room would be easy for Zhou Chao, but unfortunately, this was not a normal time. Due to the low-frequency sound wave, his body was still in a state of paralysis and weakness, and he could not support himself to complete this 'violent' action. He stumbled and fell forward to the ground.

"Bang!"

"Ouch..."

Zhou Chao cried out in pain, then used all four limbs to crawl to the unconscious Tony Stark, pushed him over with both hands, and turned him onto his back.

"Tony! Tony!?" Zhou Chao shouted at Tony. However, at this moment, Tony was already unconscious, and no matter how Zhou Chao called or slapped him, there was no response.

"Damn, I don't know how to install this thing!" Zhou Chao, looking at the metal round hole in Tony's chest, said with a bitter smile, holding the arc reactor.

"Damn, I'll treat a dead horse as if it were alive. There's no worse situation than this now."

With this thought, Zhou Chao's expression became serious, and he carefully observed the structure of Tony's chest and the wires of the arc reactor in his hand. Surprisingly, although it was high-tech, the connectors were still slot-type. Therefore, after Zhou Chao's careful observation, he quickly found a square slot that matched the tail plug of the arc reactor.

Seeing this, Zhou Chao did not hesitate and immediately began to install the arc reactor for Tony.

In just a few seconds, the arc reactor, emitting blue light, was re-embedded in Tony Stark's chest. After completing this, Zhou Chao's whole body relaxed, and he sat down on the ground, wiping the sweat from his forehead and taking a deep breath.

"Damn, I'll never do this again, even if you beat me to death."

"Uh, ha..." At this moment, Tony Stark, who had been tightly closing his eyes, suddenly opened them and began to breathe heavily, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.

"Phew, you're finally awake." Seeing that Tony Stark was finally awake, Zhou Chao completely relaxed.

"Thanks, I owe you my life." Tony turned his head to look at Zhou Chao, a hint of gratitude flashing across his face.

"How about giving me the manufacturing technology for the arc reactor?" Zhou Chao seized the opportunity to say half-jokingly.

"You really know how to seize the moment." Tony said with a displeased look.

Zhou Chao shrugged in the American style and smiled without saying a word.

"I'll consider it." Tony said.

"I hope it's good news." Zhou Chao smiled.

Tony ignored him and called out to the air, "Jarvis, track Obadiah Stane's location."

"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied.

"But, Jarvis, how did Obadiah get into the villa? Did he hack your system?" Zhou Chao suddenly remembered and asked in confusion.

"How could he?" Tony glared at Zhou Chao.

"Mr. Obadiah Stane entered through the front door and did not use any attack or virus program on me." Jarvis answered.

"Through the front door?" Zhou Chao repeated, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, Mr. Obadiah Stane is on the list of specially permitted visitors that you personally approved, so his entry was not considered an intrusion, and no alarm was triggered."

Hearing this, Zhou Chao looked at Tony Stark, who was still lying on the ground, with a look of disdain.

"Alright, it's my fault. I should have remembered to update the special notes list." Tony, feeling uncomfortable under Zhou Chao's gaze, sighed and said, "Jarvis, remove Obadiah's name from the special notes list."

"Yes, sir."

After about three or four minutes, Jarvis's voice sounded again in the room.

"Sir, I have locked onto Obadiah Stane's location."

"Display it." Jarvis, with Zhou Chao's help, stood up and gave the order.

Instantly, a laser light flashed in the middle of the living room, and a virtual optical screen appeared, showing a map of New York State with a slowly moving red dot marked on it. Clearly, the dot represented the moving Obadiah Stane.

"Continue tracking him and notify me when he stops." Tony stared at the red dot on the optical projection for several seconds and decided.

"Yes, sir."

"Let's go to the workshop." Tony, turning his gaze, walked to the workshop and said to Zhou Chao.

"Huh?" Zhou Chao, hearing this, looked at Tony with a puzzled expression. After all, in the several weeks he had lived in the villa, Tony had never once allowed Zhou Chao to enter his workshop, whether he was there or not.

"Aren't you interested in the manufacturing method of the arc reactor? I'll show you once, but whether you can learn it is up to you." Tony said without turning his head.

"Wow, the iron rooster finally opened its mouth. That's rare." Zhou Chao said in surprise.

Although he had a bit of a sense of gratitude, Zhou Chao, who knew Tony's character, didn't really expect much and only considered it a casual joke. But he didn't expect it to come true, which made him both pleasantly surprised and deeply surprised.

Could Tony really be moved by my act of saving his life?

Of course, he thought, but Zhou Chao did not hesitate in his actions and immediately followed Tony into the workshop. There, he was forcibly turned into a lab assistant, running around at Tony's command, like a lab assistant.

Although the situation looked a bit miserable, he indeed learned practical knowledge and participated in the manufacturing process of the arc reactor. However, what slightly disappointed Zhou Chao was that Tony Stark had never anticipated his arc reactor being stolen, so he had not prepared any extra palladium elements or other components needed to manufacture the arc reactor. Therefore, after making it halfway, they had to stop and end this information sharing session.

At this moment, Jarvis's report sounded again in the workshop.

"Sir, Obadiah has stopped moving."

"Display the location." Tony quickly walked to the computer and gave the order.

The next moment, the image on the computer screen flashed, and a map of a city block appeared.

"Is this your hiding place..." Tony narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered to himself.

Then he turned and walked to the location where the Iron Man suit was stored.

"What are you going to do?" Zhou Chao, sensing what Tony was about to do, quickly asked.

"What do you think?" Tony countered.

"Are you going to seek revenge? But have you considered your current state? Remember, the reactor in your chest is not the refined version you made after your return, but the one you made from scrap materials in the terrorist base, and it has been placed for some time. How much energy it has left is completely unknown. Are you going to seek revenge in this incomplete state?" Zhou Chao countered.

Tony's body paused, and he stopped.

Seeing that his persuasion was effective, Zhou Chao's eyes lit up, and he continued, "Moreover, since Obadiah has a sound wave weapon that can paralyze people, how do you know he doesn't have more tricks up his sleeve? Don't forget, he has connections with terrorists, so there might be some unknown cards behind him. So, you should wait until you are in perfect condition before seeking revenge."

"Also, I can take this opportunity to tell you the complete data for the arc reactor that can solve palladium poisoning, allowing you to create a more powerful new energy source."

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