Smash a Wine Glass, and I Lose

Apocalypse said, "I won't use my woman as a wager against you."

"Then do you have a race car?" Hammer challenged.

Iron Man cut in at that moment. "I'll wager my Iron Man armor on behalf of my friend. Hammer, if you win, not only will you get the armor, but also its design blueprints and patent rights. All of it. From then on, you'll be Iron Man!"

"Gasp..."

The people around them immediately sucked in breaths.

Everyone had seen the power of the Iron Man armor. It had even caused a stir in Congress before, where a group of officials had tried to force Tony to hand it over, only for him to defuse the matter with ease.

They had merely demanded the armor's production technology, yet Iron Man, weary of war, had refused to give it up no matter what. Let alone the patents and design blueprints.

With the patents and blueprints, one could manufacture countless Iron Man armors and practically monopolize the arms trade—a colossal trillion-dollar market.

No matter how wealthy the dignitaries around them were, even they could not help feeling their hearts race at the thought of such an astronomical fortune.

Afraid that Iron Man would change his mind, Hammer quickly raised his voice. "A deal's a deal! Ladies and gentlemen, you all heard Tony. If he dares to go back on his word, you'll have to testify for me."

"I never go back on my word. But you? A single race car isn't enough to trade for my armor."

Now it was Hammer's turn to be troubled. For the moment, he truly did not have anything equivalent to the Iron Man armor to wager.

He gritted his teeth. "How about twenty percent of Hammer Industries' shares, along with this race car?"

Although those shares were worth a great deal of money, they were still nowhere near enough compared to the Iron Man armor.

Iron Man did not care whether the wager was equal. He mainly wanted to back Apocalypse up.

So he nodded. "Whatever. Looking at how broke you are, you probably can't come up with anything valuable anyway."

Hammer's face turned crimson with anger, but he could not retort. Everyone present was either rich or powerful, and they all knew perfectly well how much those things were worth.

Although Hammer Industries was famous throughout the world, it was still a tier below Stark Industries.

"Hmph! Tony, you'll pay for your arrogance."

His bodyguard was not only an underground fighting champion, but had also received the latest human serum, breaking past the limits of humanity.

Captain America had been a household name ever since World War II.

Countless companies had wanted to replicate Captain America's serum, and Hammer Industries was one of them.

They had already achieved initial results, making this the perfect opportunity to test it out.

The Abomination's former identity—Blonsky—had received serum that Hammer Industries had helped develop.

Although it could not compare to Captain America's Super-Soldier Serum, it had laid the foundation for Blonsky, allowing him to survive the later injection of Hulk's blood without exploding to death.

However, this matter was highly classified. Even Iron Man did not know about it.

Hammer secretly rejoiced. Even if this Oriental man knew Eastern martial arts, there was no way he could be a match for his bodyguard.

Once Apocalypse lost, the Western beauty beside him would leave him as well.

At the thought of gaining both the armor and the beauty, Hammer could not help laughing.

Unfortunately, Hammer was still too low-level and had not gotten hold of certain top-secret information.

Or rather, Nick Fury had kept Apocalypse's information too well hidden.

If Hammer had known that even the real Captain America would not be able to withstand a single punch from Apocalypse, he probably would not have been laughing so happily.

Hammer said, "There are too many people here. To avoid accidental injuries, let's change locations."

Apocalypse said, "No need. Right here is fine. Have both your men come at me together. Forget accidental injuries—if even one wine glass gets broken, I lose!"

"Whoa..." The crowd immediately stirred at those words. Wasn't this far too arrogant?

What if the other side cheated and simply smashed a wine glass in his hand against the floor? Wouldn't that mean they won?

"Good! Good! Good! This is the first time I've seen such an arrogant Oriental man. You said it yourself. Tony, don't go back on your word later."

Hammer seized on the opening and signaled his bodyguards. If they could not win, they were to cheat.

He refused to believe that his two super bodyguards could not even break a wine glass.

The first bodyguard stepped forward and snorted. "Kid, don't beg for mercy later."

The surrounding dignitaries all retreated on their own initiative, leaving behind a large open space.

Only Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Black Widow, and the others remained where they were. Happy knew Apocalypse was powerful, though he did not know exactly how powerful. He had wanted to retreat, but seeing Tony and the others stay put, he could only remain in place with a stiff upper lip.

They alone remained in the open space, making them especially conspicuous.

Hammer said, "Tony, even if you're Iron Man, you aren't wearing your armor. You'd better move farther away."

Iron Man swirled the wine in his glass and smiled. "I'll raise the stakes. If your men can make even a single drop spill from my glass, I'll give you my winery in Europe."

Another round of exclamations broke out.

European red wine was renowned throughout the world. Many wealthy people liked buying an estate there, both to entertain guests and to store fine wines for themselves.

As one of the world's richest men, Iron Man's winery was naturally extraordinarily valuable.

Many of the powerful people present had been invited to visit it before and knew its worth, so they naturally gasped at Iron Man's extravagance.

Hammer grew somewhat uneasy instead. Could this Oriental man be Tony's secret weapon, someone injected with a Super-Soldier Serum just like his bodyguards?

But on second thought, even if that were true, he was still one against two. One of them could hold him off while the other cheated and smashed a wine glass. How would he deal with that?!

Apocalypse said, "Come on. Finish this quickly so we can watch the race. This banquet is boring."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The first bodyguard charged over like a human-shaped tank. The finely crafted wooden floor exploded beneath his feet, sending splinters flying and drawing shrieks from the noblewomen nearby.

Apocalypse remained calm and unhurried. When the bodyguard was about to reach him, the left arm he had around Black Widow did not move at all, while his right hand suddenly rose high.

Heaven-Flipping Hand Seal!

The bodyguard's eyes flew wide open. He was clearly larger than Apocalypse, yet as that palm came down, it felt as though an entire sky were pressing down upon him. He could not help erupting with all his strength, raising both hands to block Apocalypse's palm.

Bang...

A dull impact rang out as wood chips and clumps of dirt blasted into the air, frightening the people around them into retreating several more steps.

When they looked again, they saw the bodyguard frozen with both hands raised. His entire body had been slammed straight into the ground, with less than one-third of him left exposed.

Apocalypse slowly lifted his palm, as though he had merely swatted an insignificant fly.

Fortunately, the bodyguard had also been injected with serum. Although his bones and tendons were shattered, he had at least kept his life. Had it been an ordinary person, Apocalypse's palm would have turned him into pulp.

"Gasp..."

Another wave of sharp inhalations swept through the hall!

The fight had been simpler than they could have imagined, and more terrifying than they could have imagined.

The floor was made of hard oak. Ordinary people would find it difficult to break through that layer alone, and beneath it was a layer of concrete.

A tower-like burly man had been forcibly smashed into the concrete and still retained a human shape. His body was as tough as steel reinforcement.

Even more terrifying was the person who had driven him into the ground!

Hammer had not expected Apocalypse to be so terrifying. He shouted, "The wine glasses!"

The second bodyguard moved at once, lunging toward the nearest noblewoman.

The noblewoman screamed, "Ah..."

Apocalypse was more than ten meters away from the second bodyguard, while the noblewoman was within a single stride of him. Just as the bodyguard's hand was about to touch her—

A fierce gust suddenly swept through the hall. A blur flashed, and Apocalypse stood between the noblewoman and the second bodyguard.

With another simple boom, another Heaven-Flipping Hand Seal sent the second bodyguard crashing into the ground just like his colleague.

It happened so quickly that the noblewoman had not even finished screaming before it was over.

Apocalypse gently steadied the wine glass in her hand. "Beautiful lady, please hold on to your wine glass."

Still shaken, the noblewoman saw how powerful Apocalypse was, and her eyes immediately lit up. "Which Eastern family are you from, sir? Why not leave me your contact information? I'd like to thank you properly another day."

Black Widow secretly grew angry in the distance, staring fixedly at the noblewoman as she began devising a thousand methods of revenge.

Seeing that the duel had failed, Hammer hardened his heart and violently hurled his wine glass toward the floor. The instant his hand moved, however, it froze in midair. Then he cried out, "Ow... It hurts, it hurts..."

Everyone looked over and saw that Hammer's hand had somehow been seized by another hand, leaving him unable to move. Faint cracking sounds could be heard from his bones.

It was Apocalypse!

"Mr. Hammer, cheating is not very gentlemanly," Apocalypse said as he stared at Hammer.

"Let... let go... My hand is going to break."

Apocalypse said calmly, "You still have something to say."

"I... I lost, all right?"

Apocalypse held out his hand!

Hammer jumped in fright. His small frame could not take a palm strike from Apocalypse. But when he saw the outstretched hand remain motionless before him, he immediately understood and hurriedly placed a key in Apocalypse's palm.

After taking the key, Apocalypse slowly turned and returned to Black Widow's side. "Natasha, come to think of it, I've never given you anything before. I'll borrow someone else's flowers to offer to Buddha this time. Let's go see whether you like it later."

"Sure. I wrecked my last sports car not long ago, so I happen to need something with serious power." Black Widow smiled brightly.

In Apocalypse's memories, Black Widow seemed never to have driven ordinary cars. She either drove sports cars or motorcycles with outrageous performance.

In any case, he had no need for a car. He could jump faster than any vehicle, so naturally he should give it to his wife.

"As long as you like it." Apocalypse turned to Iron Man. "Tony, I'll leave the shares to you."

"Hahaha, with so many distinguished people here as witnesses, I doubt he'll dare deny it." Iron Man laughed loudly.

Back in Congress, Hammer had joined forces with those fat pig officials to pressure him into handing over the armor. Iron Man had not yet settled that score, so he naturally would not show mercy.

Hammer left with a dark expression, ignoring the bodyguards still planted in the ground and clutching his hand as he walked away.

This time, he had utterly humiliated himself. Not only had he failed to win the beauty, but he had also lost a large amount of shares.

The moment Hammer left, the entire hall became lively again.

The dignitaries flocked to greet Tony, indirectly asking whether the Super-Soldier Serum had made new progress and whether Captain America could be mass-produced.

Most of them assumed Stark Industries had developed the Super-Soldier Serum and that Apocalypse was merely one of Iron Man's subordinates, so naturally they went to Iron Man.

Just as, had Hammer won, the dignitaries would not have gone to chat up the two bodyguards.

As for the noblewomen, they made no effort to hide their interest in Apocalypse. Handsome Oriental men who could fight were rare here, and their enthusiasm was so overwhelming that even Apocalypse could not stand it.

Seriously, weren't many of these noblewomen here with their husbands? What was with handing him business cards and giving him seductive looks?

Black Widow's eyes brimmed with killing intent. If Apocalypse dared agree to any one of them, that noblewoman's family would likely be in for a rough time.

After making the rounds, Tony and Apocalypse took advantage of the gap when the host announced that the race was about to begin and quickly escaped by claiming they needed the restroom.

Restroom.

Iron Man splashed water on his face, let out a long sigh, then took out a small device and pressed it. A steel needle pricked his finger and drew a little blood for analysis.

Toxin concentration: 53%.

"Still haven't thought of a solution?" Apocalypse casually took out several Recovery Potions.

Seeing the Recovery Potions, Iron Man's expression improved slightly. "No. Unless I find a clean New Element to replace it, the palladium radiation will keep building up without end, until I use up all the Recovery Potions."

Apocalypse knew where the New Element was, but he hesitated over whether to tell Iron Man. On second thought, Tony would discover it eventually anyway. It would be best not to change the plot and trigger The Butterfly Effect again.

"I want to get some air. I'll race later to relax a little," Iron Man said.

Sure enough, Iron Man was still Iron Man.

In the original plot, Iron Man believed he did not have much time left and directly stole a driver's race car to drive himself. Although things were not as urgent now, the urge to race had still surfaced.

Apocalypse said, "Then be careful."

The race began soon afterward.

With Iron Man joining the event, the host and broadcasters deliberately emphasized it and promoted it heavily, drawing countless people's attention. The ratings and hype were even greater than in previous years.

The roar of engines echoed throughout the entire track.

Dozens of Formula One-level race cars sped around the circuit like the wind.

Apocalypse glanced at Iron Man's results. They were actually not bad—he had reached eighth place. Among a field of world-class drivers, that was already impressive.

Of course, this was only the beginning. A race driver not only needed excellent skill, but also tremendous endurance. In an uninterrupted rally lasting several hours, the final contest was one of stamina and patience.

Given Iron Man's current physical condition, he clearly could not complete the entire race.

After barely more than a dozen laps, a long-haired, burly man in a yellow protective suit slowly climbed over the barrier and walked onto the track.

"Ah... Someone's there! Watch out!" someone screamed.

The cars on the track were traveling at hundreds of kilometers per hour. A scrape could injure, and a collision could kill. The burly man's actions were no different from suicide.

The first race car to spot him sharply turned its steering wheel to avoid him. The vehicle lost control and crashed into the barrier beside the track.

With a boom, its fuel tank caught fire and exploded.

The scruffy, bearded man who had entered the track was Ivan Vanko from Siberia.

The plot of Iron Man 2 had begun.