Apocalypse's Mystery

Iron Man was utterly confused. This man seemed to be here for revenge, but he had never offended an enemy like this. Could this have been a grudge from his father's generation?

Seeing the bone-deep wounds on Apocalypse's hands, Iron Man was deeply moved.

"Thank you, Tang. You saved me again."

"You're welcome. Even if I hadn't saved you this time, you would have found a way."

"Tang, don't be modest. I will remember your help."

With a "ding..." in his mind, Iron Man's trust increased by another 2 percent.

He thought Apocalypse was being modest, but Apocalypse had received no system notification for saving someone, so he could be certain Iron Man had not been in danger this time.

He had merely intervened and inadvertently stolen Iron Man's moment.

He looked at his hands. The Electric Whip really was formidable. After only a few seconds of contact, his hands had nearly been severed.

Fortunately, Hulk's blood was no joke. They were slowly recovering now.

They returned to the VIP section.

Black Widow and Pepper Potts each rushed toward their man, checking on them.

That left Happy alone as the third wheel. He looked from side to side, but neither pair was suitable for hugging at a time like this, so he could only stand awkwardly nearby with the armor case.

Black Widow touched the wounds on Apocalypse's hands and asked, "Do you want me to put some medicine on them?"

"No need. They'll probably heal completely in a day or two."

Black Widow gently wiped away the scorched skin around the wounds on Apocalypse's hands and softly asked, "Does it hurt?"

"It did hurt quite a bit, but the moment you touched it, it eased a lot. Just keep holding my hand for the next couple of days so it won't hurt again."

"Hmph... As if I'd believe that."

The two couples flirted for quite a while, stuffing Happy full of dog food. In the end, he could not take it anymore and began coughing repeatedly.

"I'd say that's enough. Tony, if we don't leave now, the European police will come over later, and we'll have to waste time giving statements again."

Iron Man hated such trivial hassles most of all, so he hurriedly left first.

Back at their residence.

Apocalypse said to Black Widow, "I need your help with something. The man who attacked us just now is called Ivan Vanko. His father once conducted scientific research with Iron Man's father. I want to know where that man lives in Siberia."

"Alright." Black Widow nodded without asking why. "If I use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network, we should have news soon."

Black Widow sent a message to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Before long, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent back a message with an address for Black Widow.

After seeing it, Apocalypse called Yinsen.

Yinsen had been brought to the United States by Apocalypse and had been working with Dr. Sterns for Apocalypse ever since. They mainly researched Recovery Potions, but progress had been limited.

Apocalypse did not have many people he could use now. Though S.H.I.E.L.D. was useful, they were not his people, so some matters were inconvenient.

"Yinsen, I sent you an address. Take a business trip and find a bird. Do everything you can to bring it back safely."

What... what bird?

Yinsen was baffled. He checked the address. Go to Siberia and bring a bird back to the United States? What kind of mission was this?

Still, anything Apocalypse instructed him to do had to be important. Yinsen did not ask further questions. He packed enough money and left immediately.

He had sent Yinsen because Yinsen had survived in the chaotic Middle East and knew more than a few complicated channels. With money clearing the way, there should not be much trouble.

Dr. Sterns, on the other hand, was a pure academic scholar, something of a bookworm. If Apocalypse sent him out, it was hard to say whether he could even find the address.

That night.

Iron Man decided to go to the prison with Apocalypse to see Ivan.

He wanted to understand why Ivan had attacked him.

Anyone with that kind of technology could make enough money on the black market to live in luxury for the rest of their life. To risk his life attacking him, Ivan must have borne a blood-deep grudge.

But Iron Man had never made an enemy of him, nor had he ever heard that his father had such an enemy.

When Iron Man asked at the prison, he finally learned about the grudge between Ivan's father and his own.

Ivan's father had been a scientist sent to the United States from the Soviet Union to cooperate on research.

At the time, the two world powers had not yet entered the Cold War and cooperated in many fields.

Ivan's father and Iron Man's father, Howard Stark, had jointly developed the Arc Reactor. However, limited by the era, the Arc Reactor was enormous and had little practical value. Only a prototype remained at Stark Industries.

Later, the two polar powers began turning against each other in their struggle for hegemony, and the Cold War began!

Ivan's father was arrested by the United States government on espionage charges and deported.

Ivan's father believed Howard had pulled strings behind the scenes, and from then on, he bore a deep grudge.

After returning home, the Soviet Union went through a series of upheavals, and much scientific research was forced to stop.

Ivan's father lost his job and income. He spent his later years in poverty, and a brilliant scientist of his generation ultimately died alone in a shabby rented room.

Before he died, he saw news about Iron Man.

Ivan's father told his son, "This is the result of our research. The Starks are all thieves and robbers. They stole my work and the glory that should have belonged to us."

Both families were extremely familiar with the Arc Reactor. Inspired by Iron Man, Ivan successfully broke through his knowledge barrier and created a miniaturized Arc Reactor.

But he did not have Iron Man's resources and could not make Iron Man armor. He could only buy parts on the black market, assemble an exoskeleton Electric Whip, and come seeking revenge.

After hearing this, Iron Man said, "My father was not a thief. This was their joint research."

Ivan flew into a rage. "Lies! Your father testified and falsely accused my father of being a spy because he wanted to monopolize the Arc Reactor's results."

The two argued fiercely, each defending his father's reputation.

Unfortunately, these old matters had no evidence, and they could not settle the argument.

In the end, they parted on bad terms.

As they were leaving, Ivan said, "Palladium poisoning must feel awful, right? Hahahahaha..."

Iron Man paused. Ivan had struck a sore spot.

Every day, he consumed the Recovery Potions Apocalypse gave him. Each bottle of such miraculous medicine could save a life, yet on him, it could only reduce the previous day's dose of poison. This filled him with deep guilt.

Apocalypse said calmly, "Palladium poisoning is not without a cure. You simply haven't seen enough of the world."

"Oh?" Ivan said disdainfully. "Unless you can invent a non-radioactive New Element, there is no second path. Every element in the world capable of nuclear fission is radioactive. Wanting both the energy of nuclear fission and no radiation is like asking spear and shield to coexist."

"But such an element does exist. Your thinking is simply too limited for you to imagine it."

"Impossible!" Iron Man and Ivan shouted in unison.

They were both geniuses. Based on existing particle physics theories, such a contradictory yet perfect element simply could not exist.

Apocalypse said calmly, "Nothing is impossible."

As he spoke, he walked toward Ivan, hooked his hands like claws, and plunged them into Ivan's chest.

"Ah..." Ivan screamed in pain. "You... you're going to kill me?"

Apocalypse did not answer. With a tug, he pulled out a beating, bright red heart.

Ivan could not believe he was going to die just like that!

He had not yet taken revenge. He still had so much talent and intelligence left to use. I can't accept this!

Without his heart pumping blood, Ivan's gaze gradually lost focus, and his limbs hung limply.

Apocalypse took a bottle of Recovery Potion from his storage space, forced open Ivan's mouth, and poured it directly in.

The moment it entered his mouth, Ivan's entire body glowed green, especially the wounded area around his heart.

Nourished by the green light, his heart grew back at a visible speed, even matching the surrounding color perfectly.

Ivan touched his chest in disbelief. If Apocalypse had not still been holding a heart in his hand, Ivan would have thought it was an illusion.

Smack!

Apocalypse tossed the heart before Ivan. It was still beating.

"Ivan, calling you a frog at the bottom of a well would not be an exaggeration. The world you see is far too small."

No matter how shocked Ivan was, Apocalypse turned around and left with a cool silhouette.

Iron Man, still utterly confused, left with him. He knew about the Recovery Potions, but Apocalypse had confidently claimed that the New Element existed. No matter how he looked at him, Apocalypse did not seem like a genius scientist smarter than himself.

"Tang, does the New Element really exist? Where is it?"

"It doesn't exist now. Why don't you research it and make it exist?"

"Uh... Don't joke around, Tang. Such a perfect element would even violate current particle physics theories."

"You'll know soon enough."

Seeing Apocalypse act mysterious again, Iron Man said helplessly, "Fine, fine. You have too many mysteries already. One more won't make a difference."

Ever since he had met Apocalypse, there had been countless mysteries surrounding him. Whenever Iron Man tried to get to the bottom of one, he never received an answer. It made him unbearably curious, yet there was nothing he could do.

Iron Man soon thought of another question.

Why had Apocalypse shown off the Recovery Potion in front of Ivan?

With Iron Man's intelligence, after thinking it over carefully, he quickly noticed Apocalypse's intention and asked, "You want to recruit him?"

If Apocalypse did not intend to recruit him, there would have been no need to show a prisoner something like that. He had even acted mysterious, leaving without any explanation.

"That's right. He's a genius. He'll be useful in the future."

"Aren't you afraid he'll keep using high technology to do evil?"

"The evil he does is nothing compared to the crisis to come."

Iron Man asked again, "Then why not recruit him directly? I can speak to some acquaintances in Europe and have him transferred to the United States."

"The time isn't right yet."