Using Your Bird to Threaten You

"Ivan, stop."

Ivan was startled. "You?!"

He hurriedly split off a portion of the unmanned machines to block Apocalypse.

The moment the Steel Soldier blocked Apocalypse's line of sight, Ivan turned and ran.

The time Apocalypse had dug out his heart in prison had already left an indelible impression on him.

Added to that was Apocalypse's strength in the sky earlier, tearing apart a Steel Soldier like a piece of paper, which had shocked him to the core.

He could still fight Iron Man and War Machine, and even had a chance of winning, but against a monster like this, he wouldn't even have a one-in-a-ten-thousand chance.

He wasn't afraid of death, but that didn't mean he would throw his life away in a brainless fight.

Apocalypse was speechless. This didn't match Ivan's fierce appearance and temperament at all. What happened to preferring death over surrender?

Apocalypse swatted aside the Steel Soldiers blocking his path, and with a sonic boom, he was already standing right in front of Ivan.

Scared out of his wits, Ivan sent his two electric whips flashing with blinding electrical light as he lashed them toward Apocalypse, while the surrounding plants were instantly chopped in half by the electric whips.

At the same time, all the weapon systems on his armor opened up at once, and countless bullets, lasers, and micro-missiles rained down on Apocalypse.

Apocalypse didn't dodge or evade; he grabbed an electric whip in each hand, yanked Ivan toward him, and then took the remaining weapons head-on.

Amid a series of boom, boom, boom sounds, countless sparks erupted from Apocalypse's position, the explosion forming a huge fireball, and the shockwave even blew the glass dome of the botanical garden to pieces.

When the fireball dissipated, Apocalypse slowly revealed himself.

These weapons couldn't harm him, but the Iron Man armor had been damaged.

It seemed that Ivan's current technical strength wasn't too far behind Iron Man's.

Apocalypse stripped off the damaged armor, the tough super-alloy crushing to pieces the moment he squeezed it in his hand.

"Ivan, let's end this here," Apocalypse said. "The grudge between your father and Tony's father was originally produced by the collision of two superpowers; you can't really say who was right and who was wrong."

In great power confrontations, many ordinary people got caught in the middle. It was a tragedy of the times, and individual strength appeared insignificant in the torrent of those times.

It was just that Iron Man's father happened to be on the winning side of the United States, so he naturally soared to success with wealth rivaling nations.

As for Ivan's father, the empire disintegrated, the economy collapsed, and in the end, he was unable to turn the tide and died of melancholy.

"Hmph! Today I failed, so I'm not planning on leaving the United States alive," Ivan said.

Apocalypse looked at him playfully. "Is that so? Then why were you running just now?"

Ivan felt helpless. He couldn't beat this monster in front of him, he couldn't escape, and he couldn't even sound tough while arguing, so he had to say, "What on earth do you want? Do you want to resolve the grudge between me and Stark?"

"No, the grudge between you and Tony is not worth mentioning. The future holds a greater upheaval, and we need top scientists like you to protect humanity."

Hearing this, Ivan relaxed his guard slightly.

Earlier, when Apocalypse had gone to the prison to see him, he had reached right into his chest and pulled out his heart, then used a magical potion to restore him to as good as new.

Such a shocking method had already shaken his understanding of this world.

Hearing Apocalypse put it this way, could it be that humanity was facing a huge crisis?

War Machine, Iron Man, Ivan, and the others were the elite of the elite, and they still possessed the necessary perspective.

In the face of a major human crisis, their petty grudges were indeed not worth mentioning, especially since it wasn't a life-and-or-death blood feud to begin with.

After all this commotion, the grievance in Hammer's heart had already been more or less vented.

Aside from screwing over Hammer Industries, not many people were hurt.

"Tang, does humanity really face a major crisis? Could it be a nuclear war?" Iron Man asked.

War Machine shook his head. "I serve in the military, and currently, the several nuclear superpowers are exercising a lot of restraint. It's unlikely a nuclear war will break out."

"All right, you guys can stop guessing. I won't tell you, but soon, you'll discover all sorts of clues."

Apocalypse said to Ivan, "Because of our intervention today, no substantial casualties were caused. You can still turn back."

Ivan remained silent and gloomy. Although he admitted defeat, if he was asked to immediately throw in his lot with his opponent's side, he still couldn't let it go in his heart.

Seeing this, Apocalypse threw another log on the fire. "If you don't agree, I'll threaten you."

Iron Man was stunned. Was Apocalypse going to torture Ivan? This didn't seem like his personality at all.

Every time a disaster occurred, Apocalypse was always the most proactive person in saving people. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't seem like someone who would use bloody methods.

Ivan was equally dumbfounded. "I'm not even afraid of death, what are you going to threaten me with?"

"If you die or run away, I'll roast your bird and eat it."

"How do you know I have a bird?"

After his father's death, Ivan's only attachment in this world was the pet bird he raised.

When he was hired by Hammer Industries, he repeatedly asked Hammer to help him find his bird.

As a result, Hammer didn't take it seriously at all, perfunctorily going to the market to buy a substitute, and treating Hammer like an idiot by lying to him: "This is your bird."

This made Hammer furious and gave him even less favorable feelings toward Hammer Industries.

Hammer didn't know that he had missed the only opportunity that might have made Ivan submit. If he had been willing to lower his status to win over talent back then and taken Ivan's request seriously, today might not have turned out this way.

Apocalypse said, "Not only do I know, but I've also gotten my hands on it. I just haven't had time to taste what it tastes like."

"You dare!" Ivan yelled angrily. "It understands human nature! You can even bring yourself to eat an animal like that? Do you have any humanity left?!"

Apocalypse shrugged. "It's not my bird, and I don't have any feelings for it. In my eyes, it's no different from ordinary poultry. If no one wants it, then I'll roast it and eat it."

After a brief pause, Ivan asked, "Where is my bird?"

Ivan knew that since the other party knew about his bird, they must have made preparations long ago.

Apocalypse looked around and shouted, "Dr. Sterns, are you there?"

He saw Dr. Sterns slowly emerge from behind a huge rock in the distance, carrying a birdcage in his hand. Hearing Apocalypse shout, he hurried over. "Mr. Tang, the bird is here. Tony, long time no see."

Iron Man stepped forward and gave him a solid hug. "Long time no see, Dr. Sterns."

Although it wasn't convenient for Iron Man to arrange a position for Dr. Sterns in his own company, the two of them hadn't stopped communicating all these days.

The laboratory where they were located wasn't classified against Iron Man. In fact, Apocalypse hoped that Dr. Sterns and Yinsen could get some inspiration from Iron Man.

Apocalypse said, "After the news of your arrest spread back to Siberia, the neighbor entrusted with caring for it stopped taking care of your bird long ago. If my people hadn't arrived in time, it probably would have starved to death."

War Machine was completely baffled at first. What on earth were these two guys talking about?

With all this talk of birds, someone who didn't know better would have thought the two grown men were discussing some private topic.

It wasn't until Dr. Sterns came out carrying the birdcage that War Machine confirmed that the two grown men were indeed discussing a pet bird.

Yet, using a bird to threaten Ivan into surrendering? That was just too absurd!

However, what Ivan said next made his jaw drop.

Ivan unstrapped his armor, walked over to take the birdcage, and lowered his head slightly. "Thank you. You saved it, and I'm willing to work for you, but I won't associate with the Stark family."

Ten thousand grass-mud horses stampeded across War Machine's heart. If he had known it was going to be this easy, what was all that brutal fighting for just now?

Couldn't he have just brought it out earlier?

He was a military man, and this time he was primarily responsible for liaising with Hammer Industries to discuss weapons procurement matters. The Steel Soldiers had been designed and manufactured according to the military's specifications.

With such a major accident happening, the public property destroyed alone was countless, and he wouldn't be able to escape a severe reprimand upon returning.

He didn't even know how to write this report again—was he really going to write that the main villain was ultimately subdued by a bird?

"Don't worry, Tony and I are just friends; we aren't part of the same organization. However, if humanity encounters a major crisis in the future, we will need to cooperate."

"What does humanity's crisis have to do with my bird! I agreed to work for you just to prove that I, Ivan, won't lose to the Stark family."

Just like that, a genius scientist who could rival Iron Man in the early stages was taken in under Apocalypse's command.

As for this farcical mess, everyone tacitly pinned all the blame on Hammer Industries.

Poor Hammer; after this incident, not only failed to bring any profit to the company, but he had also angered a large group of dignitaries. Now facing prison time, there was simply no one to lobby on his behalf.

After the matter concluded, Iron Man's reputation reached a new peak.

At the press conference, the dignitaries and reporters rescued by Apocalypse in his sky-blue armor all credited their survival to Iron Man, naturally leading various media outlets to lavish praise on him.

For a time, media outlets and newspapers all over the world were filled with articles and videos blowing smoke up Iron Man's skirt.

Iron Man originally wanted to hold a press conference to clarify things, but Apocalypse stopped him.

He didn't need this kind of prestige, but Iron Man did.

The future Avengers needed someone with prestige to lead everyone, and Iron Man was naturally the most core figure.

Iron Man and War Machine didn't know Apocalypse's intentions, but seeing him be so indifferent to fame and fortune, their trust in him increased by several percentage points.

Apocalypse tallied up his gains. Having saved quite a few people this time, his Recovery Potions had increased by several hundred bottles, which more or less compensated for what had been consumed on Iron Man previously.

The plot of Iron Man 2 was already finished, and Apocalypse felt it was time for him to move on.

New Mexico, desolate desert town.

Wearing his armor, Apocalypse flew to the edge of the town and quietly landed.

If the original plot hadn't changed, Thor should already be inside the town by now.

As for the reasons why Thor came to Earth, it was a long story.