[Mission "Hulk's Rage" complete!] [Rewards: 3000 experience points, 50 S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation, equipment "Hormone Gun," item "Unassailable," item "Invisibility Potion"] [Equipment: Hormone Gun (Fires multiple tracking healing bullets that slowly heal the target while briefly suppressing various abnormal statuses)] [Item: Unassailable (Blocks any attack once. Unassailable can be blocked by Unassailable, and Unassailable can also block Unassailable Unassailable...)]
[Item: Invisibility Potion (Upon use, the entire body becomes invisible for half an hour)]
These rewards were pretty good!
Du Mu was quite satisfied, especially with Unassailable. It could block any attack without taking damage, making it a god-tier item.
He'd go back and give that game a good review!
"Um, could you help me find some clothes and pants?" Bruce asked awkwardly.
Because of his transformation into the Hulk, Bruce's underwear had become XXXXXXXL. He had to hold it up as he walked to keep it from slipping down.
"Oh, I see. Come with me." Du Mu nodded and turned toward a nearby alley.
Bruce had no idea what was going on, but followed him anyway.
Before long, they encountered a few shifty-looking street thugs in the alley.
As soon as they saw the two of them, the thugs seemed to trigger some kind of preset routine and immediately surrounded them.
"Hey, lend us some cash—Big bro, don't shoot!"
At the sight of the golden Desert Eagle in Du Mu's hand, the thugs immediately raised their hands with practiced ease.
Du Mu turned to Bruce, who was staring in astonishment. "Come over and pick something you like. Just take it. By the way, do you have any preferences for underwear?"
Bruce: "..."
Soon, Bruce had changed into a new outfit, a classic West Coast style.
Afterward, Bruce said he had to leave. There was something very important he needed to take care of.
Seeing how determined Bruce was, Du Mu called Nick Fury and relayed what Bruce had said.
Nick Fury thought it over. "Let him go. I'll have people monitor everything he does from now on."
"Understood, Director."
"And my car..."
Du Mu decisively hung up.
As if he'd give back a car he'd driven off with. Not even the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. could make him!
The next day.
Du Mu sat at home, flipping through a comic book and thoroughly enjoying himself.
He'd accidentally discovered that DC Comics existed in this game world.
Everyone knew that DC and Marvel were famous rivals. Since both companies made superheroes, competition between them was inevitable.
And yet a DC comic book had appeared in a game set in the Marvel universe!
Was this some kind of Easter egg?
To be honest, Du Mu knew Superman pretty well.
Back in his day, DC had already rebooted its universe for the twenty-eighth time and was about to make New New New New New New Superman: Prequel.
There was a Superman movie every year. It was hard for Du Mu not to know about him.
Out of curiosity, Du Mu opened the DC comic book—and ended up reading for hours.
He found that DC's superheroes had some similarities to the superheroes he'd encountered in this game world.
Batman and Daredevil in particular.
Both protected a chaotic area, wore masks with pointed ears, and liked to come out at night.
They also shared an unbreakable line of code... no, a moral boundary: they didn't kill.
But lawyer Matt wasn't as rich as Bruce Wayne. After fighting crime at night, he still had to go to work in the morning to earn a living. Just thinking about it was depressing.
Speaking of which, Batman's nemesis, the Joker, did have a bit of a player's vibe.
Absolutely unhinged!
Just as Du Mu was engrossed in the comic, the system's voice suddenly rang out.
[Player, take note. The Boss event has officially begun!]
[Target: Defeat "Whiplash," Ivan Vanko!]
[Reward: Depends on how much damage the player deals to the Boss. The more damage, the greater the reward!]
"Hm?"
Du Mu raised an eyebrow.
Who'd secretly started the Boss fight?
New York, Stark Expo.
Tony was flying through the air at high speed in his Iron Man Armor.
A dozen Iron Soldiers pursued him closely, firing attacks at him nonstop.
Leading them was his good friend, Colonel Rhodey, now known as War Machine.
Boom!!
Tony narrowly dodged a missile and shouted to Rhodey over the internal comms. "Rhodey, are you sure this isn't personal?"
Rhodey replied helplessly, "Ivan Vanko hacked into Hammer Industries' system and took control of this armor. What was I supposed to do?"
Tony's mouth twitched. "You shouldn't have let Hammer Industries work on your armor! Their system's basically a public toilet—anyone can get in!"
Aside from Rhodey's War Machine, the other Iron Soldiers had all been made by Hammer Industries, built by a Russian man named Ivan Vanko.
The guy had attacked Tony earlier at the Monaco F1 track, nearly electrocuting him into a Black man.
Now he'd taken control of War Machine and the other Iron Soldiers, sending them all to attack Tony in a bid to kill him.
Fortunately, thanks to Du Mu keeping him alive, Tony had had enough time to develop a new energy source to replace palladium. His armor now had plenty of power, so the Iron Soldiers couldn't simply wear him down.
Just then, Natasha's voice came through Tony's earpiece. "I've hacked into Hammer Industries' system. I'm ready to reboot Colonel Rhodey's armor."
Tony was delighted. "Well done, Agent Romanoff."
He'd been right. Hammer Industries' system really was a toilet!
To keep Rhodey from crashing, Tony immediately guided his armor down into the Simulated Ecological Park below. The Iron Soldiers behind him swooped down after them.
As soon as War Machine touched down, Tony shouted, "Now!"
The next moment, War Machine's system rebooted, finally breaking Ivan's control.
Tony and Rhodey exchanged a glance. No words were needed. They immediately turned their guns on the other Iron Soldiers and opened fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Explosions rang out one after another!
Soon, the combined assault from Tony and Rhodey reduced the Iron Soldiers to a pile of smoking scrap.
But their own armors had also taken serious damage. Their surfaces were charred black and riddled with bullet holes, leaving them looking terribly battered.
Tony hadn't even had time to catch his breath when Jarvis's voice suddenly rang out. "Sir, high-energy activity detected above. Readings far exceed the Iron Soldiers' peak."
"Ivan Vanko!!"
Tony knew who it was without needing to think.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, a huge Iron Man Armor dropped from the sky and crashed heavily in front of them.
Its enormous helmet slowly opened, revealing Ivan's unkempt face.
He looked down at Tony Stark and said in stiff, Russian-accented English, "Feels good to be back."
Ivan had thought such a flashy entrance would leave Tony looking shocked.
Instead, he found Tony staring at him with a strange expression.
Ivan frowned. "Stark, are you so scared you've gone stupid?"
Hearing someone's voice suddenly come through his earpiece, Tony's mouth twitched. "I don't know if you've ever heard this saying."
"What saying?"
"Who gets into a mech without wearing a helmet?"
"?"
Bang!
Before Ivan could figure out what was going on, he heard a gunshot!
And then...
There was no then.
As Tony looked on helplessly and Rhodey stared in confusion, a hole appeared in Ivan's head. He toppled heavily to the ground along with his freshly finished Whiplash Armor.
A supervillain of his generation.
He'd been on the scene for less than ten seconds, and just like that, he was gone! ```