Iron Man's Anxiety

Iron Man shrugged helplessly. "Tang, you know so much, yet you refuse to say anything. At first, I thought you had a thing for my good looks."

"Get lost..."

Apocalypse had not recruited him on the spot. For one thing, Ivan's bird had not been obtained yet; for another, without Hammer's help in letting him build armor and fulfill his desire for revenge, Ivan would not be able to let go.

Although he had failed to kill Iron Man in the original plot, after all this commotion, he would at least vent the resentment in his heart.

After all, the grudge between his father and Iron Man's father had only been work-related. It was not the hatred of a murdered father, so there was still room for reconciliation.

Sure enough, not long after Apocalypse and Iron Man left, Hammer came knocking.

The technology Ivan had displayed at the racetrack had opened his eyes.

He soon learned that it shared the same power source as Iron Man's armor. As long as he got Ivan, it would be equivalent to obtaining the core of Iron Man's armor.

What did losing 20% of my shares matter? As long as I obtain this core power source, I, Hammer, can build an even greater weapons empire.

Tony doesn't manufacture armor, but I won't be that hypocritical!

With Hammer's influence, extracting an insignificant prisoner was not much of a problem. He pulled government strings, claiming that the person attacked was a United States citizen and demanding that Ivan be transferred to the United States for trial.

What small European country would dare defy the United States' demands? Besides, he was only a prisoner, so they naturally handed him over with both hands.

But Ivan was no fool. He knew Hammer was merely using him, that every promise was nothing more than an illusion with no guarantee behind it.

So, while conducting secret research at Hammer Industries, he quietly left many hidden contingencies in the mechanical armor.

Poor Hammer thought he was the chess player controlling everything, never realizing that he was merely a stepping stone in the contest between Ivan and Iron Man.

As the days passed, more and more palladium toxins accumulated in Iron Man's body. To reduce his consumption of Recovery Potions, he could only take one every few days to delay the onset of the poisoning.

Unless his heart stopped beating, the palladium toxins would continue to be produced without end.

Iron Man grew increasingly restless and began attending all kinds of parties with alarming frequency.

Pepper Potts, who did not know the reason, was deeply dissatisfied with Iron Man's reckless behavior, but for the moment, she had no idea how to persuade him.

"Tang, will I die? My toxin level has already reached 90%."

Apocalypse replied blandly, "If you don't find a solution, you will. My Recovery Potions are used up too. From now on, I can't provide you with any more."

Iron Man looked despondent and asked Black Widow, "Suppose this were your last birthday. What would you do?"

Black Widow said, "I'd spend it with my husband."

Iron Man asked strangely, "You two are married? How come I didn't know? Tang, secretly getting married isn't something a good friend should do, is it?"

The question left Black Widow embarrassed and annoyed. She had accidentally revealed her relationship with Apocalypse and did not know how to explain it.

Apocalypse said, "You should be worried about your relationship with Pepper Potts. You're poisoned this badly—are you really not going to tell her?"

"What would be the point of telling her?" Iron Man said. "It would only make her worry for nothing. Forget it. No more boring topics. Tonight's party—let's get wild..."

At the party.

Wearing his armor, Iron Man frolicked with a group of blonde beauties. Sometimes he used his laser repulsors to shatter wine bottles; sometimes he performed acrobatics in his armor, drawing endless shrieks from the women.

Colonel Rhodes, who had been invited over, was greatly shocked. Iron Man currently possessed the most advanced armor technology in the world. It was incredibly irresponsible to wear it out like this. If he got drunk and went on a rampage, it would be no small matter.

Even when Pepper Potts came to talk him down, Iron Man ignored her, smashing the party venue into a complete mess.

Seeing Iron Man acting so willfully, Colonel Rhodes flew into a rage.

Believing Iron Man could no longer shoulder the task of maintaining world peace, he strode into the laboratory and put on another prototype armor. It had not yet been painted, its surface gleaming with the raw silver-white sheen of metal.

When Colonel Rhodes emerged in the armor, the women screamed again, and Iron Man warmly invited Rhodey to join them.

Colonel Rhodes said nothing. He immediately tackled Iron Man to the ground, trying to subdue him.

Iron Man asked in surprise, "Rhodey, what are you doing?"

Colonel Rhodes roared, "Tony, look at yourself! And you claimed you had monopolized world peace?"

"What the hell is peace? Whoever wants to maintain it can do it. Tonight, we're just drinking and dancing!"

"Then I'll dance with you until you've had enough!"

The two began brawling at the party.

Fortunately, Apocalypse had known this scene would happen in the original plot and saved quite a few people at the crucial moment.

When the guests saw the two steel monsters getting serious, they screamed and fled. The party came to an abrupt end.

Seeing that Iron Man seemed truly drunk, Colonel Rhodes had no choice but to leave him alone at home to go crazy.

Still wearing the armor, he flew directly to the military base.

Watching Colonel Rhodes leave, Iron Man suddenly quieted down and fell silent.

The armor had remote-control technology. Without authorization, no one could possibly operate it.

In Iron Man 3, he had made dozens of armors self-destruct like fireworks for Pepper Potts to cheer her up.

Letting Colonel Rhodes leave now was actually a contingency he had prepared.

If he truly could not overcome this life-or-death hurdle, then he would leave this technology to the country.

This was also the only Iron Man armor that had ended up outside his hands, creating the later-famous War Machine.

The next day.

Coulson brought over a large stack of documents and said to Iron Man, "These are research materials your father left at S.H.I.E.L.D. They're related to the Arc Reactor. Perhaps you can find a solution in them."

Iron Man said, "Leave them there. I'll look when I have time."

He did not hold much hope. After all, he was as gifted as his father, and several decades had passed with the advancement of the times. These old materials had more commemorative value than research value.

In the original plot, Director Nick Fury had ordered Coulson to keep an eye on Iron Man and make him search for a solution in the laboratory. But because of Apocalypse's appearance, the semi-house arrest had been changed into a suggestion, and they did not dare be too forceful.

At the very least, before finding someone powerful enough to counter Apocalypse, Nick Fury had the sense to show Apocalypse sufficient respect.

Coulson turned to Apocalypse and said, "Mr. Tang, I need to leave on a business trip. I'll leave Tony in your care. His talent is very useful to humanity. Please find a way to help him through this crisis."

"Of course," Apocalypse said. "It's just that my Recovery Potions are basically exhausted, so we'll need another method. By the way, are you going to New Mexico?"

"How did you know?" Coulson asked in surprise. This was classified information, and even Black Widow had not been informed.

"I also know it has something to do with a hammer. Once Tony's matter is settled, I'll go take a look."

Coulson was overjoyed. "With Mr. Tang taking action, we can rest easy."

After his previous encounter with Apocalypse, Coulson had returned and asked Director Nick Fury about him. Nick Fury had no choice but to let him see Apocalypse's files.

After all, his subordinate had already crossed paths with Apocalypse. If they continued keeping it secret and a clueless agent provoked that monster, there was no telling how it would end.

After reading the files, Coulson gasped.

Back at Stark Industries, he had truly been fearless through ignorance. He had actually dared fire a gun at such a monstrous powerhouse.

Fortunately, Mr. Tang had recognized that he was from S.H.I.E.L.D. Otherwise, it was uncertain whether he would have left Stark Industries alive.

Afterward, he had observed and tracked him, discovering that Mr. Tang was kind by nature. He most enjoyed saving people at disaster sites and had little interest in fighting. With him going there, the threat that mysterious hammer might pose would be greatly reduced.

The hammer Apocalypse spoke of was Thor's Hammer!

According to the original timeline, the events of Thor took place after Iron Man 2.

To test Thor, the All-Father Odin threw the hammer to Earth, then exiled Thor to a small town near it, hoping he would reflect on his mistakes.

They had only just discovered the hammer. Thor should not have arrived on Earth yet, so Apocalypse was in no hurry. He would solve Iron Man's problem first.