The Situation Escalated

"Marvel's Magnetic Field Rotation"

"Sir, I think you should watch this program."

J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice rang out after Tony Stark finished his first phase of work. Stark, who was drinking fresh juice instead of alcohol, said, "Is it about the Battle of New York? Transfer the video feed to the projection screen."

This was his order to J.A.R.V.I.S.: to collect news about the Battle of New York from across the internet to assess public opinion on the Avengers, in order to prepare for future actions and public statements, and then select the most influential news to present to him.

On the virtual projection screen was a pretty blonde woman who looked to be just an adult. The immaturity of adolescence still lingered on her face, yet she possessed a regal and dignified air.

She wore only a simple blue long dress, but her long golden hair was skillfully braided into the shape of a crown. The two contradictory elements of splendor and simplicity were combined in her, giving her a unique beauty just by standing there.

Tony Stark admitted that, at one point, he felt ashamed of himself.

"One of Latovinia ambassadors."

Yes, the woman being interviewed by the reporter is the Blonde Sister.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., when did this news interview begin?"

J.A.R.V.I.S. said, "Sir, one minute ago."

"Record the video." After giving the order, Tony Stark didn't say anything more, sipping his juice and watching the news broadcast intently.

However, the interview did not go smoothly. Before the reporter could even ask any pointed questions, an unidentified object hit the Blonde Sister, and then, as if it had hit something two meters in front of her, it fell straight to the ground.

The camera was pointed at an object on the ground—a tomato. The collision with the energy shield hadn't damaged its shape; if someone picked it up, it could still be washed and cooked.

Bulletproof glass—no, it's an energy shield that absorbs or neutralizes the tomato's kinetic energy upon contact.

Having just finished work, Tony Stark instinctively analyzed the situation from a technical perspective before quickly refocusing on the television news.

"Monsters, mutated demons, leave our country! It is because of you that my husband and children died!"

The woman who threw the tomatoes removed her mask, revealing a face covered in horrific scars. "It was you who took everything from me."

"J.A.R.V.I.S., pull up the recent information on this woman!" Tony Stark realized that this woman was being manipulated and that someone was deliberately condoning her actions, because more than ten seconds had passed and the guard still hadn't appeared.

This pretty young girl is the ambassador of Latovinia!

This is a live news broadcast. It's simply abnormal to allow one's own citizens to throw objects at important figures from another country and hurl insults at them.

J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately retrieved the middle-aged woman's information. Name and age were no longer important; Tony Stark simply ignored them and began reading about her family's troubles.

Her son was an active-duty soldier who was transferred to a military base in Eastern Europe six months ago and died in a war—the invasion of Latovinia. It was this seemingly frail Blonde Sister wiped out that army.

During the recent Battle of New York, this woman and her husband worked in the area of combat, and while fleeing, they were unfortunately hit by a downed Chitauri airship.

The woman's husband died on the spot, and she herself suffered serious injuries. After spending all of the family's savings and her son's compensation, she was saved, but the medical expenses had also depleted the family's savings.

The place where she worked has now been razed to the ground, and she has lost her family and home; she can be said to have nothing now.

But the information ends there; that's all the online records related to this woman—no matter how powerful J.A.R.V.I.S. is, he can't access all the surveillance cameras and extract facial recognition information.

This middle-aged woman seemed to be a starting signal; suddenly, a barrage of insults erupted from the crowd, with all sorts of filthy language being unleashed upon the Blonde Sister.

If you say this group wasn't organized, no one would believe you, because J.A.R.V.I.S. compared their records and found that those who spoke up were people who lost family members in the Battle of New York.

Identifying a specific target from a population of millions is no easy task.

Their goal was very simple: to blame the destruction of the city on the superheroes who were stopping the aliens—they might not be able to defeat the aliens, but with public opinion, they could put up a fight against the superheroes.

Superheroes are judged by the public; public opinion can be devastating, and through the manipulation of public opinion, they can do anything to a superhero.

Tony Stark shook his head uneasily. He knew that the pretty little girl sitting there wasn't some superhero, but an executioner who could wipe out an army without batting an eye.

While it's unclear why she and her sister acted during the Battle of New York, it was most likely for the sake of humanity or self-preservation, and certainly not out of any superhero ethics or to protect the citizens of New York.

It's important to understand that shortly before the Battle of New York, Latovinia and the United States were at war. The United States lost thousands of troops and hundreds of millions of dollars in military assets on Latovinia's border, half of which were lost at her hands.

The mastermind behind this group must have malicious intentions; he deliberately sent them to their deaths, destroying the hard-won peace.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., activate the armor, I need to go out!"

Tony Stark hurriedly put down his glass of juice, got up, activated his armored automatic equipment, and soared into the sky, his destination being the location of the press conference.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., project the news footage... and call Nick Fury at the same time!"

The news footage reappeared in Tony Stark's view. Although half a minute had passed, the crowd's insults had not stopped. All sorts of words that made him uncomfortable were being used against the Blonde Sister.

The Latovinia ambassador sat there motionless like a goddess statue, letting the foul language enter her ears, without even a trace of anger appearing on her pretty face.

This further enraged the crowd. Only when the other party is angry and furious can insults and abuse have an effect, and only those who utter foul language can derive pleasure from it. But the Blonde Sister remained unmoved, as if their voices were just passing by.

"Sir, we have not been able to locate Nick Fury."

J.A.R.V.I.S. searched through Tony Stark's contacts and found no one named Nick Fury, so he reported this to Tony Stark.

"I've lost my mind, I called Bald One-Eyed Man!"

Tony Stark cursed under his breath, then said, "Change the contact name from 'Bald One-Eyed Man' to 'Nick Fury'."

Two minutes after dialing, all I heard was a human voice saying the number was out of service— Nick Fury's cell phone is a satellite phone, where did he go that blocked the satellite phone signal!

During the live news broadcast, Tony Stark could no longer hear any profanities. It wasn't that the crowd had stopped hurling insults, but rather that the television station broadcasting the news had started censoring keywords, and all the profanities were replaced by a buzzing "beep" sound.

These days, dog bites man isn't news, man bites dog is. As long as it boosts ratings, no matter how distorted the news content is or how dangerous the information it contains, the relevant staff will deliberately ignore it.

They simply used technical means to cover up certain words and continued the live stream.

On screen, the crowd, their faces flushed and necks red, started swearing, while the Blonde Sister remained unmoved, her composure bordering on contempt.

Then the Blonde Sister moved. It wasn't a big movement; she simply tapped the table in front of her lightly with her long, slender, white fingers. The movement was very light, and the sound it made was not loud, but the entire press conference room fell into an eerie silence, with only the faint sound of the wind.

This is what Tony Stark and others watching on television thought, but everyone on the scene felt differently.

The Blonde Sister's tapping on the table was light, but it resonated in their hearts like a resounding bell, causing their thoughts to pause briefly and halting the curses that were about to escape their lips.

This is magic; the Blonde Sister cast a Mind Stone- shaking spell with her tapping motion.

People just stare at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Then the Blonde Sister spoke, her voice still as beautiful as ever. "I'm curious, what gives you the courage to say such things to me?"

"Is it the military that the United States uses to maintain its global hegemony?" The Blonde Sister didn't need a microphone to send her voice into everyone's ears; the application of magic permeated every aspect of her life—with magic comes arrogance.

"But your army has been wiped out in droves under my command. I've lost count of how many United States soldiers have died at my hands. Every United States invasion of my country, Latovinia, ended in total annihilation. My sister and I even melted down their weapons and equipment to make a statue, and their remains are inlaid in the statue as decoration. You didn't know that, did you?"

"Your country has fooled you, and always has."

"J.A.R.V.I.S., call Dr. Banner for me, I need his help!" Tony Stark, flying through the air, looked even more tense; things were beginning to spiral into an unknown abyss.

He initially thought this press conference was merely an accountability meeting with the "superheroes" of the Battle of New York, a replay of events he had experienced, but with a more forceful tone directed at the ambassador of a small country—a common tactic used by the United States government to cover up its administrative errors and dereliction of duty, shifting blame and diverting internal conflicts to external ones.

However, under the manipulation of certain individuals, the escalation of the conflict deviated from what the politicians hoped for, or rather, the Blonde Sister's reaction exceeded the expectations of the mastermind behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, Bruce Banner couldn't be reached by phone either— Tony Stark could understand that, as some testing areas didn't allow personal electronic devices.

Over there, the woman who had first thrown tomatoes at the Blonde Sister said tremblingly, "It is this country that has granted us free will, it is this country's laws."

With a sneer, the Blonde Sister said sarcastically, "Sorry, your words are just too ridiculous. I can't control my emotions—facing someone powerful enough to crush the law, you actually pin your hopes on something so insignificant?"

"The United States acts as the world's policeman by force, attempting to make the entire world abide by the rules set by the United States. However, this approach doesn't work when facing aliens, because their military strength is greater than that of the United States; similarly, we don't need to abide by United States laws, because I am Latovinia, and our military strength far surpasses that of the United States."

After thinking for a moment, the Blonde Sister's smile faded, and she looked at the woman, continuing, "Since you've brought up the law, let me give you a lesson. In the laws of Latovinia —in the laws established by our Monarch, Doom —you United States aren't even considered human. You're considered lower than livestock, poultry, or pets. Killing you is like crushing an insect on the road; you won't face any punishment whatsoever."

"No, no, no, no!" Upon hearing the Blonde Sister's words, Tony Stark's expression became even more serious, even more tense than during the Battle of New York.

Even Thor couldn't fare well against the weapon unleashed by the Chitauri, but this Blonde Sister was able to repel the pillar of light head-on; their combat power was simply on a completely different level.

Let alone him, even if the entire Avengers came together, they wouldn't be able to guarantee defeating her, yet there are always those who are blind enough to try to provoke her.

The Blonde Sister's statements were becoming increasingly dangerous; it was a signal, a signal to start a war.

But at this crucial moment, he couldn't contact anyone—forget about Captain America and Black Widow; their fighting power wasn't enough to deal with an enemy of Blonde Sister's caliber.

"Those idiots, are they willing to do anything for ratings? This is to instill fear in all United States, thus putting the entire country into a state of war—just like Pearl!"

Tony Stark watched the live news broadcast and couldn't help but curse, but this was the only way for him to understand the situation on the ground, and he couldn't leave it for the time being.

Then, Tony Stark's worst fears came true. The Blonde Sister, who had been sitting upright, stood up, magical light shone around her, silver armor was donned, and a knight's lance, wreathed in divine light, was held in her hand—she was about to make her move!

Iron Man is still on his way to the scene!