Apocalypse was three times stronger than the Hulk and much lighter. Unlike the Hulk, who jumped like a lumbering ox, he made full use of aerodynamics to reduce drag. His jumping distance and speed had long surpassed the Hulk's.
Empowered by his terrifying takeoff force, Apocalypse shot out like a cannonball every time, blasting sonic booms through the air and covering hundreds of kilometers in a single leap.
After several massive jumps, Apocalypse spotted two fighter jets in the distance, no bigger than black dots.
Apocalypse said, "Tony, fly lower and lure the fighters down."
"Got it!"
Without hesitation, Tony folded his armored body and dove sharply.
Thinking the humanoid flying machine was trying to escape, the fighters quickly descended as well, pursuing and attacking. Finger-thick aircraft bullets rained from the sky, kicking up little sprays of dust around Apocalypse.
On the ground, Apocalypse neither dodged nor evaded, carefully calculating the distance and speed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two long streaks flashed into the air.
Boom... Boom...
The spears struck the engine compartments at the tails of the two fighters with perfect accuracy. Thick black smoke immediately poured from their rear ends, and the planes lost power and began spiraling.
With no other choice, the pilots ejected.
By the time the pilots landed, Tony and Apocalypse had already vanished without a trace.
Before long, the rescue crew arrived. When they saw the two spears embedded in the engines of the F-22s, they could hardly believe their eyes.
After the footage was sent back to the base, the furious general cursed, "Are you kidding me? Two F-22s were shot down by two spears? Are we at war with cavemen? Damn it, I'm going to inspect the scene myself!"
When he saw the wreckage of the fighters, everyone, including Colonel Rhodes, lost their composure. They looked at one another and remained speechless for a long time.
Spears!
Long spears!
Simple, ordinary long spears!
They were embedded in the fighters' engines, still smoking. The contrast between the most advanced technology and the most primitive weapon was painfully glaring.
Two state-of-the-art F-22 fighters had been brought down by spears. Who would believe that?!
Still unwilling to accept it, Colonel Rhodes asked, "Could these spears be some kind of black technology?"
After examining them, a technician shook his head. "Colonel, judging by their hardness and flexibility, they appear to be ordinary steel."
Colonel Rhodes let out a long sigh. Dear God, losing two F-22s was a disaster serious enough to reach the White House.
Was he really supposed to write in his report that they had been shot down by two ordinary spears?
This report was impossible to write...
Back at the laboratory.
Tony was in a much better mood. He had done something righteous, and it felt immensely satisfying.
What he did not know was that Obadiah Stane, the vice president of Stark Industries who had been secretly selling weapons, became even more determined to get rid of Tony after learning the news.
Obadiah Stane was the sort of brilliant bald man who had once been Tony's father's partner and Tony's elder. He did not hold many shares, but his ambitions were anything but small.
Tony had originally devoted all his energy to scientific research and women, with little interest in managing the company, allowing Obadiah Stane to seize control for himself.
Now that Tony had suddenly announced he was shutting down the weapons division, he had infringed on Obadiah Stane's authority and profits. Yet Obadiah Stane was only a minor shareholder and could not openly resist.
Apocalypse knew all these details, but after thinking it over, he decided not to say anything unless Tony asked. He did not want to alter the plot.
After all, Tony and the others had not suffered any real losses in the original story.
"Tony, I want a suit of armor like yours."
Tony said, "You're already so powerful. What do you need armor for?"
"To fly." Apocalypse said, "I may jump quickly, but over long distances, I'm not as fast as your armor. Besides, leaping around everywhere isn't very elegant."
Tony teased, "I never expected you to be such a gentleman, Tang. But what kind of gentleman ignores the owner's objections and forcibly moves into someone else's house?"
"Haha, not only am I going to live here for free and eat for free, I'm taking things for free too. But I don't want the kind you're wearing now. The Mark II is far too outdated. It's extremely inconvenient to put on and needs several mechanical arms to assist."
Tony was speechless. He had just taken on two F-22 fighters alone in that armor, yet Apocalypse called it outdated?
"Then what kind do you want?"
Apocalypse thought for a moment. "First, it has to be easy to wear and carry, preferably no larger than a suitcase. If it can't be carried conveniently, it's meaningless to me. I might as well jump, which would be faster. Second, it needs stronger flight power. My body is stronger than yours, so I don't care about the gravitational pressure caused by violent acceleration. Its instantaneous acceleration can be extremely fierce."
"Improving acceleration won't be difficult." Tony said, "I just need to increase the output. But reducing it to suitcase size will be troublesome. I may need some time."
"Then I'll wait. I believe you can make it."
A suitcase-sized suit of armor had already been made in Iron Man 2. Later, there would be even stronger and smaller nano armor, capable of fighting Thanos head-on.
But even a genius like Iron Man had to take things step by step. There was no rushing it.
Just then, JARVIS's AI voice sounded. "Sir, Miss Potts's call has been disconnected. The final recording was her scream."
Then Pepper Potts's voice came through the speakers. "Tell Tony... ah..."
Tony's expression changed. "Damn it, Pepper's been discovered!"
"What happened?"
Tony brought up several photos of weapons. "The weapons I found in the Middle East last time were made by my company. But I had clearly ordered the weapons division dissolved. There must be a mole secretly selling weapons. So I sent Pepper to investigate the company. I didn't expect that to put her in danger. Who could the mole be?"
Apocalypse smiled. "Who else could it be? Think about it. At Stark Industries, who could secretly sell weapons without your knowledge?"
Tony immediately understood. "You mean Uncle Obadiah Stane? He was my dad's partner and watched me grow up. How could it be him? That's impossible!"
"As long as profit is involved, nothing is impossible. Wait a moment. News will come soon enough."
"I can't wait. What about Pepper? I have to save her right away."
"No rush. Until you hand over the Arc Reactor blueprints, she won't be in danger. See? He's here."
As he spoke, the surveillance feed showed a luxury sedan pulling up outside Tony's mansion. The passenger was none other than the bald Obadiah Stane.
"I'll leave you alone with him. Take a good look at his true face."
With that, his figure flashed and vanished from Tony's sight.
The bald man came in and casually chatted with Tony for a few moments, probing indirectly about the reactor in Tony's chest.
After Apocalypse's warning, Tony was already on guard. He did not mention Pepper's disappearance and only said that the Arc Reactor was not yet complete.
The bald man kept probing and trying to draw him out. When Tony refused to reveal anything, he simply stopped pretending.
Bzzzt...
A sudden, piercing sound wave rang out, and Tony immediately collapsed onto the sofa.
The bald man took out a small device and said, "This is our latest weapon, the Ultrasonic Screwdriver. It uses ultrasonic energy to trigger muscle resonance and can instantly paralyze an elephant."
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
The bald man said, "Originally, I planned to wait until you perfected the Arc Reactor before making my move, and I never intended to kill you. But you should never have sent Pepper to investigate me. I had no choice but to act early."
As he spoke, he pulled open Tony's shirt, twisted the miniature reactor inside to the right, and tore it out.
Without its energy support, Tony's heart immediately stopped. His lungs also lost their energy support, and he began struggling to breathe.
Holding the Arc Reactor, the bald man said drunkenly, "What a masterpiece. This will be your greatest legacy, Tony. The new king of weapons! With this as a power source, our company's weapons can be sold across the world. Anyone using our armor will have to buy it as their source of power. Our company will become the center of world power. Hahahaha... What a pity you won't live to see it."
The bald man placed the Arc Reactor into a briefcase and swaggered away.
Tony's body was still affected by the Ultrasonic Screwdriver and had not recovered. Coupled with his heart losing power, he had long since lost the strength to stand.
Apocalypse slowly appeared.
Tony forced himself to hold on and smiled bitterly. "Are you... planning to watch me die?"
"I thought you would crawl down there yourself. There's a prototype Arc Reactor downstairs."
"I... I... can't move."
In the original story, Tony had crawled alone to the laboratory downstairs and used the mechanical arms to install the Arc Reactor prototype.
But for some reason, something had gone wrong, and Tony could not move at all.
Or perhaps, knowing Apocalypse was right in front of him, Tony did not have as strong a will to survive.
Tony's face was turning increasingly purple. Apocalypse could not afford to think any further.
He stomped the ground with one foot. Boom... A huge hole was blasted straight through the floor, and Tony, sofa and all, fell into the underground laboratory.
Looking around, he quickly found the Arc Reactor prototype that Pepper Potts had decorated.
Apocalypse crushed the glass casing with his bare hand and installed it for Tony.
Hiss...
Tony drew in a long breath and gradually recovered.
At the same time, a ding sounded in Apocalypse's mind.
"Saved 1 life. Reward: 1 Recovery Potion."
Apocalypse could not help but feel surprised. According to the system's judgment, would Tony really have died if he had not intervened?
It seemed the effects of The Butterfly Effect could not be underestimated.
Tony looked at Apocalypse strangely. "How do you know everything? If I didn't know your strength made it unnecessary for you to play these conspiracy games, I'd even suspect you were the mastermind behind all this."
Before you continue