This Report Is Impossible to Write

Apocalypse was three times stronger than the Hulk and much lighter. Unlike the Hulk, he did not leap like a lumbering ox, but made full use of aerodynamics to reduce drag. His jumping distance and speed had already far surpassed the Hulk's.

Empowered by terrifying launch 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 those fighters down."

"Alright!"

Without hesitation, Tony tilted sharply and dove at high speed.

The fighters assumed the humanoid aircraft before them was trying to flee, so they quickly descended as well and pursued him while attacking. Finger-thick aircraft rounds poured down from the sky, kicking up tiny clouds of dust around Apocalypse.

On the ground, Apocalypse neither dodged nor evaded, carefully calculating the distance and speed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two long, slender afterimages 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 billowed from their rear sections. The planes lost power and began spiraling.

Left with no choice, the pilots ejected.

By the time the pilots landed, Tony and Apocalypse had vanished without a trace.

Before long, the rescue crews arrived. When they saw the two spears embedded in the engines of the F-22 fighters, they could hardly believe their eyes.

When the footage was sent back to the base, the base commander was so furious that he 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 engines of the fighters, still smoking black. 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 from their hardness and flexibility, they appear to be ordinary steel."

Colonel Rhodes let out a long sigh. Dear God, losing two F-22 fighters was such a major incident that even the White House would probably hear about it.

Was he really supposed to write in the report that they had been shot down by two ordinary spears?

This report was impossible to write...

Back in the laboratory.

Tony was in a much better mood. He had done something righteous, and it felt immensely satisfying.

However, he did not know that Obadiah Stane, the vice president of Stark Industries who had secretly sold the weapons, became even more determined to eliminate Tony after hearing the news.

Obadiah Stane was the type of brilliant bald man who had originally been Tony's father's partner and Tony's elder. He did not hold much stock, but his ambitions were anything but small.

Tony had originally devoted all his energy to scientific research and women, showing little interest in managing the company. That had allowed Stane to seize control on his own.

Now that Tony had suddenly announced he was shutting down the weapons division, he had already infringed upon Stane's power and interests. Yet Stane was only a minority shareholder, leaving him unable to resist.

Apocalypse knew these details, but after thinking it over, he decided not to say anything unless Tony asked. He did not want to change the plot.

After all, Tony and the others had not suffered any losses in the original plot.

"Tony, I want a suit of armor like yours."

Tony said, "You're already so strong. What do you need armor for?"

"Flight," Apocalypse said. "I may jump fast, but over long distances, I'm not as fast as your armor. Besides, constantly jumping around isn't very elegant."

Tony teased, "I never expected you to be a gentleman, Tang. But what kind of gentleman ignores the owner's objections and forcibly moves into someone else's home?"

"Haha, not only am I going to stay here and eat for free, I'm going to take things for free too. But I don't want the kind you're wearing now. The Mark II is far too outdated. It's terribly inconvenient to put on and requires several mechanical arms to assist."

Tony was speechless. He had just taken on two F-22 fighters alone in a single suit of armor, yet Apocalypse called it outdated?

"Then what kind do you want?"

After thinking for a moment, Apocalypse said, "First, it needs to be easy to wear and carry, preferably no larger than a suitcase. If it cannot be carried conveniently, it has no meaning for me. I might as well jump, since that would be faster. Second, its flight power needs to be increased. My body is stronger than yours, so I don't care about the gravitational pressure caused by powerful acceleration. The instantaneous acceleration can be extremely intense."

"Acceleration isn't difficult," Tony said. "I can just increase the output. But reducing the size to that of a suitcase 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 one-on-one.

But even a genius like Iron Man had to take things slowly. There was no rushing it.

Just then, JARVIS's AI voice sounded. "Sir, Miss Potts's call has been disconnected. The last recording was her scream."

Then Pepper's voice came through the speakers. "Notify Tony... Ah..."

Tony's expression changed. "Oh no, Pepper has been discovered!"

"What happened?"

Tony pulled up several photos of weapons. "The weapons I found in the Middle East last time were produced by my company. But I had clearly ordered the weapons division dissolved. There must be an insider secretly selling weapons. So I sent Pepper to investigate the company. I never expected that to put her in danger. Who could the insider be?"

Apocalypse smiled. "Who else could it be? Think about it. At Stark Industries, who could secretly sell weapons without you finding out?"

Tony immediately understood. "You mean Uncle Obadiah Stane? He was my father's partner and watched me grow up. How could that be possible? It can't be!"

"As long as benefits are involved, nothing is impossible. Wait a moment. You'll have news soon enough."

"I can't wait. What about Pepper? I need to save her immediately."

"No rush. As long as you haven't handed 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 arriving outside Tony's mansion. The visitor 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 he vanished before Tony's eyes.

The bald man entered and casually chatted with Tony for a few moments before indirectly probing him about the reactor in his chest.

Warned by Apocalypse, Tony was already on guard. He did not mention Pepper's disappearance and only said that the Arc Reactor had not yet been perfected.

The bald man continued circling the issue and repeatedly tried to pry information from him. When Tony refused to reveal anything, he simply stopped pretending.

Bzzzt...

A piercing sound wave suddenly 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. I never intended to kill you. But you should never have sent Pepper to investigate me. I have 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 beating. His lungs also lost their energy support, and he began struggling to breathe.

Holding the Arc Reactor, the bald man said in intoxicated admiration, "What a masterpiece. This will be your greatest legacy, Tony. The new king of weapons! With it 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... Too bad you won't live to see it."

The bald man placed the Arc Reactor into a briefcase and swaggered away.

At that moment, Tony was still affected by the Ultrasonic Screwdriver and had not recovered. With his heart deprived of power, he no longer had the strength to get up.

Apocalypse slowly appeared.

Tony forced himself to smile bitterly. "Are you... going to watch me die?"

"I thought you would crawl downstairs yourself. There's an Arc Reactor prototype downstairs."

"I... I... can't move."

In the original plot, Tony had crawled down to the laboratory alone and, with the help of the mechanical arms, installed the Arc Reactor prototype.

But something had apparently gone wrong, because Tony could not move at all.

Or perhaps Tony knew Apocalypse was standing before him, so his will to survive was not as strong.

Tony's face was turning increasingly purple. Apocalypse could not afford to think any further.

He stomped on the floor. With a boom, a huge hole was blasted straight through it, and Tony, sofa and all, fell directly into the underground laboratory.

After looking around, he quickly found the Arc Reactor prototype that Pepper had decorated.

Apocalypse crushed the glass casing with his bare hand and helped Tony install it.

Gasp...

Tony drew a long breath and gradually recovered.

At the same time, a ding sounded in Apocalypse's mind.

"Saved one life. Reward: one Recovery Potion."

Apocalypse could not help feeling surprised. Judging from the system's assessment, would Tony really have died if he had not intervened?

It seemed the butterfly effect could not be ignored after all.

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 conspiratorial games, I might even suspect that you were the mastermind behind it all."