Pepper's concerns turned out to be completely unnecessary.
Ivan Vanko had long since beco one of Drex Valen's people. There was never going to be so dramatic interruption at the race.
anwhile, the dark crimson race car streaking across the Monaco circuit was already moving faster than every recorded speed in F1 history.
The cara drones tracking the race could barely capture anything beyond a blurred red phantom.
And the craziest part?
The thing was drifting through corners at insane speed.
Using an F1 car to powerslide around hairpin turns at full throttle sounded less like racing and more like Newton personally filing a complaint from beyond the grave.
But for the fans watching from the stands, it was pure adrenaline.
"This is insane!"
"That car's practically flying!"
"How does it still have traction at that speed?!"
Tony Stark, however, was having a significantly worse experience.
"Dammit, where the hell did Drex go?" Tony barked, gripping the wheel hard enough to whiten his knuckles. "Did he install a reactor inside that car or sothing? Why hasn't the damn thing exploded yet?!"
He had the accelerator pinned to the floor, engine screaming at maximum output, but the distance between them kept growing.
"Sir," JARVIS said calmly, "Mr. Drex Valen is about to lap behind you. Estimated ti until completion of his third lap: forty seconds."
Tony blinked.
"…What?"
His brain stalled for a mont.
"This is only the beginning of lap two! Isn't this supposed to be my round?"
"Teletry indicates Mr. Valen's vehicle has undergone structural modifications across the fra, engine, and fuel systems," JARVIS continued. "Current composition remains unknown. Data is being recorded, though full analysis will require ti."
Tony stared ahead in disbelief.
"…What?"
A horrifying possibility suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"Wait. Don't tell he coated the entire car in nanotech armor."
"Sir," JARVIS replied, "Mr. Valen has just passed you."
"Shut up, JARVIS. I already heard the soul-ripping sound effect."
Tony's expression twisted.
They had arrived together.
They had entered the track together.
So when exactly had Drex modified the car?
Listening to JARVIS's analysis made Tony feel like he'd swallowed a six-month-old hamburger left in the sun.
No matter how hard he pushed the accelerator, the gap never shrank even slightly.
"Tell sothing, JARVIS," Tony said through clenched teeth. "Is Drex still alive?"
He refused to believe a human body could survive acceleration like that.
"Mr. Drex Valen's vital signs are completely stable."
"Shit!"
Tony slamd the steering wheel.
"Did you hear that? I said shit!"
"Sir," JARVIS replied helpfully, "verbal frustration will not improve performance. Mr. Valen is currently two thousand ters ahead."
"This makes no sense!" Tony snapped. "He's never driven Formula One before! Even Schumacher couldn't drive like this!"
Unfortunately for him, Tony had deliberately started ahead of Drex at the beginning of the race.
The entire point had been to make sure Drex never even saw his taillights.
Instead, the exact opposite happened.
"Why did he pass imdiately?" Tony growled. "How the hell am I already two thousand ters behind before a full lap is even over?"
"I can't even see his taillights!"
"Sir," JARVIS repeated patiently, "Mr. Valen remains two thousand ters ahead."
"You already said that once, JARVIS!"
"Understood, sir."
Tony pushed harder anyway.
The car hit its limits.
Corners beca death traps.
Twice he nearly lost control and flew off the track entirely.
Yet even at the farthest visible stretch of road, there was still no sign of Drex's car.
"What the hell did he do to that thing?"
Tony's mind raced.
Even the Arc Reactor couldn't explain this.
This wasn't just enhanced engineering anymore. It bordered on breaking reality.
"That engine design is mine," Tony muttered. "I know every component in it. I built the damn thing. So why is it moving like that?"
He couldn't understand it.
It wasn't physics anymore.
"Sir," JARVIS said, "Mr. Valen is now nearly three thousand ters ahead and approaching completion of lap one."
Tony's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"Yes, sir."
"…Shit!"
He floored the accelerator again.
Losing was not an option.
Around the circuit, the audience had completely lost their minds.
"That's what Formula One is supposed to look like!"
"No, that's not Formula One. That's a missile with wheels!"
"How is the chassis still holding together?!"
What they didn't know was that Drex had strengthened the car itself using electromagnetic manipulation.
The vehicle clung to the track with impossible stability, allowing it to maintain speeds above three hundred kiloters per hour through corners that should have forced heavy braking.
As for why the car didn't simply lift off the ground?
Three hundred kiloters per hour wasn't enough to make sothing fly.
Not when Drex Valen was controlling every force acting on it.
In the end, the race beca a complete massacre.
Drex disappeared into the distance and claid victory without the slightest challenge.
The final record he set was so absurd that many spectators suspected it would stand forever unless Formula One eventually evolved into magnetic levitation racing.
Monaco's organizers had prepared a grand award ceremony afterward.
Neither Drex nor Tony had the slightest interest in attending.
Tony Stark would have happily stood under the spotlight if he'd won.
But he hadn't.
He'd been reduced to second place after getting lapped multiple tis.
The entire race had turned him into background scenery for Drex Valen.
The mont Tony climbed out of the car, he imdiately headed toward Drex's vehicle for inspection.
And the results only made things worse.
Everything checked out.
Sa chassis.
Sa structure.
Sa vehicle.
No obvious modifications.
Tony stared at the machine in silence.
"…Has the gap between our technology really beco this massive?"
Anyone with functioning eyes knew that speed should have been impossible for a standard F1 car.
If Drex hadn't altered sothing, Tony was ready to donate his entire clean-energy empire out of sheer humiliation.
Which left only one explanation.
Drex Valen's technology had advanced so far beyond his own that Tony couldn't even understand the difference anymore.
The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.
For years, Tony had chased Drex relentlessly.
When Drex created the Dark Knight nanotech armor, Tony buried himself in research until he developed nanotech armor of his own.
The world called them equals.
The only man capable of standing beside Drex Valen.
But people kept forgetting one thing.
Drex was young.
Far younger than him.
If Tony had married early, Drex would've belonged to the next generation entirely.
For the first ti in his life, Tony Stark genuinely felt old.
And the palladium poisoning only made everything worse.
The exhaustion never left him anymore.
So days, even breathing felt heavy.
He had already handed most company operations over to Pepper.
Drex's new-elent reactor might very well have been his only chance at survival.
But Tony Stark's pride refused to let him say the words out loud.
Even if that pride was objectively stupid.
Then the next day, Pepper burst into his office holding a report.
"Umbrella Corporation wants to begin formal cooperation talks with Stark Industries regarding the new-elent reactor project," Pepper said excitedly. "Tony… were you seriously negotiating business deals through an F1 race yesterday?"
Tony stared blankly for a second.
Then he leaned back slowly in his chair.
"…That son of a bitch."
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