Marvel : Endless Power

Rody didn't dare to disturb the reunion of these lovers. When he was idle, he wanted to get back to sleep, but was found by Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Rody was considering whether his Green Goblin armor had made this patriotic soldier wary, but then he heard him say, "Rody, you're an engineer for Stark Industries. Do you know anything about the latest Stark Tech missile guidance chips?"

Rody froze for a moment. When did he become a Stark Industries engineer? His mind backtracked for half a second before he remembered that Tony had conveniently made up that identity for him the previous day.

If he hadn't gotten that cover, he'd be under strict military surveillance, much like Dr. Ho Yinsen, and wouldn't be allowed to even leave the room.

"This... uh, Tony's next door. Wouldn't it be better to ask him?" Rody said hesitantly.

"He's acting weird said he won't touch weapon design anymore." Colonel Rhodes shook his head. "I have no idea what happened to him in that cave, but he's serious."

Rody knew Tony wasn't joking. The billionaire playboy was genuinely rethinking his purpose in the world. Though he was still arrogant, he was starting to take responsibility in a way he never had before.

"Well, I'm not exactly in the missile R&D department, but I know a little bit. No guarantees that I can fix the issue," Rody replied cautiously.

Colonel Rhodes took what he could get and led Rody to a high-security lab.

The room, nearly 100 square meters, was filled with cutting-edge military technology. There were components of Stark's Jericho missile system, blueprints for experimental drones similar to Hammer Tech's failed prototypes, and even an inactive Mandroid armor the kind that S.H.I.E.L.D. used to equip its elite units.

Rody was silently grateful that he had studied with Tony for a while, otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to identify half of these devices.

"Colonel Rhodes, why are you bringing an outsider in here?" a senior officer asked sharply.

"General, this is Tony Stark's cousin an advanced engineer at Stark Industries, and an expert in missile guidance systems," Rhodes said smoothly, throwing Rody into the deep end.

Rody almost choked. In the movies, Colonel Rhodes had always seemed like an honest, by-the-book soldier. Who knew he could be this good at pushing someone into a tough spot?

"You?! You look like a high schooler, not a military engineer," the general scoffed.

"My cousin Tony was barely twenty when he restructured Stark Industries," Rody countered confidently, pulling Tony's reputation into the conversation.

Mentioning Tony seemed to ease the general's skepticism a bit. He gestured toward a monitor. "The new Stark Tech guidance chip is misidentifying camouflaged enemy bunkers in desert environments, causing accuracy errors."

Rody listened to the explanation for a few minutes and understood the issue, but that didn't mean he knew how to solve it.

He initially considered making up an excuse to avoid getting involved, but seeing Rhodes staring at him with expectation, he sighed and decided to help. After all, his role in Iron Man had some benefits.

Alright, as someone who grew up in an age of instant internet searches, he had a solution Google for civilian questions, and in this case, a much smarter AI assistant.

Rody took out his phone and said, "Jarvis…"

"Jarvis, pull up the specs for the new Stark missile guidance chip."

As Tony's personal AI, Jarvis had access to all his research notes.

Since Rody's access level was second only to Tony's, he could view most of the technical data.

Within seconds, Jarvis displayed the relevant schematics on Rody's phone. Rody skimmed through it, asked a few calculated questions to maintain his cover, and then typed out a solution.

A few minutes later, he told the military technicians, "This is a reflection issue caused by desert sunlight and sand particles interfering with the optical sensors. Here's a patch program with four simulation parameters that should correct it."

Rody handed over the data and waited for the test results.

The engineers were skeptical. Solving a months-long problem in just a few minutes? Unbelievable.

But Rody looked completely confident, and his calm demeanor gave them a sliver of hope.

The simulation results came in quickly. The missile's hit rate against camouflaged targets improved by 30% a massive increase. It wasn't perfect, but it provided the right direction for further refinement. Now, all that was left was to fine-tune the parameters, which was a standard military tech procedure.

"This is impressive! Mr. Rody, you've solved a major issue for us. Ever considered joining the U.S. military? I can guarantee you a high-ranking officer position within ten years," the general said, clearly impressed.

"Sorry, but I have a lifetime contract with Stark Industries," Rody replied smoothly.

Of course, this "breakthrough" wasn't his own. Tony had already worked out the fix weeks ago Rody had just presented it at the right time. The general was clearly interested in his "technical genius," and the last thing Rody wanted was to be forced into a military career. The best move now? Get out before they started asking him to design the next War Machine suit.

Just as he was about to leave, a soldier burst into the room, looking panicked.

"The S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance network has detected an anomaly in the Sky-Eye System!"

Rody barely caught those words, but they sounded important.

Sky-Eye System? That sounded like some next-level satellite tracking program maybe even tied to Project Insight, something Nick Fury might be keeping under wraps. However, since it had nothing to do with him (for now), Rody ignored it. He had no idea that this issue would soon become his problem in the near future.

But that was a story for another day.

With that distraction over, everything returned to normal. Tony arranged for a private jet to take them all back to New York.

Rody finally got to enjoy a decent meal. Lately, his appetite had been increasing, and the food in Afghanistan had been torture on his taste buds.

After the meal, Tony wasted no time interrogating Rody about the Green Goblin armor. His own Iron Man prototype wasn't even complete yet, and here was a fully functional, combat-ready suit.

Of course, Rody had already prepared for this question.

"This is an individual combat armor developed by Oscorp Industries," he explained. "They loaned it to me for your rescue."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Oscorp? They just loaned you top-tier military hardware to save me? Since when did Norman Osborn play nice?"

"Let's just say Oscorp's not in great shape right now. If they can get a little goodwill from Stark Industries, it might help them recover," Rody said with a sly grin.

He didn't need to say more Tony's genius mind quickly pieced together a reasonable explanation.

Oscorp was struggling, Stark was a major player, and this could be a strategic move to gain favor.

It was a believable story, and Rody couldn't help but feel proud of his ability to spin a convincing lie.

Tony, however, wasn't done. His curiosity about the Goblin tech was piqued, and without hesitation, he grabbed Rody and dragged him straight to Oscorp Industries.