The Actor's Self-Cultivation

"This is impossible!" Steve's roar echoed across the top floor of the Arbitrator Tower as he slammed his Vibranium Shield to the ground, the metallic clang reverberating through the empty building.

In the holographic projection, Bucky was wearing a different suit of armor than the Mark-2 Devil Edition, but the entire process had already been shown in previous recordings.

After Maya Hansen used the chip she gave Tony to disable all the systems and energy in Tony's villa, she waited for Bucky in the laboratory three floors underground.

Under Bucky's manipulation, the Mark-2 Devil Edition reawakened and, as if alive, was worn by Bucky.

Finally, the scene freezes on Bucky spewing molten lava from his hand, which flows across the laboratory floor, forming a bizarre magic circle pattern.

"Someone must be misleading us! Bucky isn't that kind of person!" Steve was so angry he lost his composure; his blond hair was disheveled, and sweat dripped down his forehead.

Faced with Captain America like this, the Arbitrators present remained silent, except for Chen Tian, who nonchalantly drank his cola, and Dante, who was eating pizza with gusto.

"Chen Tian! You're telling me this image shows signs of being faked, right?" Steve was somewhat panicked.

Chen Tian shrugged and pointed to Tony, "I think you should ask the smartest scientist here."

Steve turned to Tony, but Tony's brows were furrowed and his chest was heaving, proving that he was also on the verge of exploding.

"Captain, West City on this suit of armor has been removed, including the tentacle and the power source." Tony gestured, zooming in on a close-up of Bucky in the armor.

"Let me put it this way, Captain, even if you cram the new reactor in, this suit is only slightly tougher than my Mark-2!" Tony glared at Steve. "Look closely! The molten lava flowing from the suit's hands! And that weird magic circle! And all those weird, distorted sharp points on the suit!"

Tony's voice grew louder and louder, while Steve slumped onto the sofa, his face blank.

Tony stood up and paced back and forth. "This suit of armor has obviously been crammed with some kind of magic stuff! Only magicians could come up with something like this!"

As he spoke, he plopped down on the sofa, covered his face with his hands, and looked full of regret.

"Damn it, I should have destroyed this suit of armor back then!"

Sweat beaded between Tony's fingers as he mechanically repeated the motion of clenching and unclenching his fist.

Steve sat frozen on the leather sofa, staring at the holographic projection of Bucky's final disappearance, unable to believe that his best friend would once again walk into the darkness.

"Sir, your heart rate has reached a dangerous threshold." JARVIS's voice came from the ceiling, as he released a sedative spray.

Chen Tian suddenly slammed the Coke can down on the coffee table. The sound of the carbonated drink splashing made everyone jump. Dante took the opportunity to wipe his cheese-covered fingers on Vergil's coat.

"Listen, Tony." Chen Tian turned Tony's shoulder, forcing him to look at Dante, who was tossing and catching pizza with a fork, "Even if Mephisto himself Descent in that armor—"

Vergil suddenly put down his teacup, the porcelain clinking against the tray. "He'll regret this."

Dante caught the falling fork, a flash of silver light, and it was pressed against Tony's chin. "Do you know how we deal with possessed armor?" He flicked his wrist, the fork tip tracing a blue line across Tony's neck. "First, dismantle the energy core—"

"Then shatter the control center like this." Vergil appeared on Tony's other side at some point, the scabbard of the Yamato precisely aimed at the reactor area on the chest of the armor.

"Finally, let the one who drives it go to hell to repent." Dante squeezed between Chen Tian and Tony, placing his hands on their shoulders.

"No! Bucky can still be saved! It must be Hydra's brainwashing program still affecting him!" Steve jumped up after hearing Dante's words. "Leave it to me! I'll bring back the armor and Bucky! I'll personally lock him up in jail! Until he regains his sanity!"

Chen Tian stopped talking, simply removed Dante's hand, and slumped onto the sofa.

But Chen Tian's silence doesn't mean Tony won't speak.

"Steve! Do you know what that armor is? The Devil Armor! It's made with Demonic Technology! I only piloted it for a few hours, and I was about to turn into a fucking serial killer!" Tony waved his hand, and images of him piloting the armor and wreaking havoc in the Middle East flashed before his eyes again.

Steve stared blankly at the screen, while Tony shouted angrily, "If it weren't for this, do you think I would have given up this suit of armor?"

"Those few hours were enough to subject me to pain I never want to experience again in my life! It was like my soul being dragged out by a demon, kneaded into a ball, cut into noodles, and finally ground into dust!"

Tony grabbed Steve's arm and pointed at Bucky in the video. "Look at him, he's enjoying it even more than I did back then! Do you think it's just simple brainwashing?"

Steve's lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a sound.

Chen Tian suddenly sat up straight on the sofa, cracking the Coke can in his hand. "Since the captain insists on bringing Bucky back," his voice carried an eerie calm, "Then let him go."

The air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment. Tony whirled around to look at Chen Tian, his eyes wide beneath his visor. "Are you fucking kidding me? That suit of armor is now—"

"We can provide all the technological support." Chen Tian Teuchi Tony. "Tony, don't forget, we still have the Ten Rings to deal with. It's a global terrorist organization, so we can't do anything else until we catch the Ten Rings."

Chen Tian waved his hand, and the image transformed into a scene of those Extremis Soldier constantly self-destructing. "These Extremis Virus carriers are all bombs. Even their clipped fingernails can be thrown as grenades."

"So, Tony, let's deal with this first."

Tony was speechless. Yeah, he just made a big boast on a global live stream, and now his house has been blown up, and he still hasn't found the Mandarin.

Tony rubbed his temples. "But Steve alone can't handle this suit of armor."

Chen Tian shrugged. "Then let the X-Men help. I know their situation hasn't been good since the collapse of the United Nations Security Council and S.H.I.E.L.D.. If they can help the Arbitrators with such a big matter, I think Professor X would be very happy."

He then looked at Steve and said, "Captain, we won't interfere in your and Bucky's affairs. Go find the X-Men and ask them for help. That way, you won't have to worry about my two uncles killing your friend."

Steve looked at Chen Tian with wariness, doubt, and confusion in his eyes. Three years ago, Chen Tian had risked everything to kill Bucky, even at the cost of the lives of everyone else present. Would he really be so easy to talk to?

Looking at the captain's expression, Chen Tian shrugged. "I know what you're thinking, but I can tell you, I won't interfere this time. I guarantee it with Tony's life."

"Hey! What does this have to do with me!" Tony yelled at Chen Tian, then turned to Steve. "Since Chen Tian said so, I can only trust you, Captain. You can use the Arbitrators's resources as you see fit, but make sure that if you can't bring back that suit of armor, you at least destroy it completely."

Steve nodded solemnly, then turned and walked towards the door. "I swear in the name of my shield, I will either bring Bucky and the armor back, or I will destroy them completely."

After Steve left, Tony looked at Chen Tian and asked, "What happened between you and Steve three years ago? He seemed really afraid that you would go with him to find Bucky Barnes."

Chen Tian didn't say anything, and slumped back onto the sofa.

Seeing that Chen Tian remained silent, Tony was at a loss. Just then, JARVIS's voice rang out again, "Sir, the Ten Rings have hijacked the television signal again."

The holographic screen automatically switched to a news feed—the Mandarin's wrinkled face filled the entire screen, with an image of the burning Malibu Villa behind him.

The Mandarin's withered fingers traced the burning ruins of the villa, his face filled with a theatrically exaggerated expression of mockery.

"Stark, where is your Iron Legion? Where are your Arbitrators?" The old man's hoarse voice hissed like a snake. "A fledgling that can't even protect its own nest dares to talk about protecting the world?"

"Tonight, 100 of my Warrior have taken to the stage you have set."

The old man sat back down, his face full of mockery.

"As a result, I lost 100 brave Warrior, and you lost your Iron Legion and your beloved hut."

The elderly man brought his face close to the camera lens.

"And I still have tens of thousands of Warriors. What do you have?"

The Mandarin's wrinkled face suddenly froze, his carefully maintained dignified expression shattering like a mask.

A series of explosions were heard off-camera, the entire studio shook violently, the ceiling chandelier crashed down at his feet, and shards of glass were scattered everywhere.

"No... wait!" The Mandarin jumped back in a panic, knocking over the dragon-patterned screen behind him. "This isn't in the script!"

Several TV station employees in orange uniforms were thrown into the frame, their hands and feet bound, and their mouths gagged with rags. One of the makeup artists was trembling uncontrollably, her foundation smeared with sweat.

"Hey guys!" The Mandarin suddenly turned off-camera, his voice trembling with a fawning tone, "I'm just a paid actor! Really!" He frantically ripped off the extravagant gemstone rings from his fingers, "These are all fakes!"

The camera suddenly flipped, and the entire scene shook violently. A muscular figure occupied the center of the screen, the muscles beneath the black uniform as clearly defined as steel. The hands adorned with metal claws slowly rose, the fingertips gleaming with a cold, icy light.

"This... this gentleman..." The Mandarin, his collar caught in claws, dangling from the ground, his face contorted in terror, cried out, "We can negotiate! I have plenty of money—"

Claw's owner suddenly grabbed the Mandarin by the Mandarin and dragged him away from the live stream.

The live stream suddenly stopped.

The atmosphere in the Arbitrators' Hall was even quieter than when Bucky first received the armor.

"Um... I didn't see wrong, did I?" Tony's mouth dropped open. "The guy I declared war on in front of the whole world's media is a theatrical actor?"

"Oh, right, this guy's backed by that bastard Killian." Tony remembered the chip Maya provided. Although he didn't know if it was real or not, it was still more credible than this guy who made a fool of himself during the live stream.

"Pfft—" Pizza crumbs from Dante's mouth sprayed in a fan shape onto Vergil's freshly wiped coat. "Wow, this old liar was just acting like a villain, and now he's acting like a three-year-old who got his cotton candy stolen? I'm dying of laughter, hahahahaha."

Everyone present stared speechlessly at Dante. Vergil, looking at the pizza crumbs on his coat, raised Yamato and roared, "Dante!"

"Ah! I was wrong, brother!" Dante abandoned his pizza and ran straight out of the hall, with Vergil in hot pursuit.

Everyone smiled as they watched the two middle-aged men playfully bickering.

After all, the Mandarin of the Ten Rings is now an actor, which means that he West City.

Tony leaned back on the sofa, putting his feet up on the coffee table. "If that's the case, should we go find the armor?"

Chen Tian shook his head. "Killian is still missing."

"Oh, right, if the evidence Maya provided is correct, then that's the real big boss." Tony sat up slightly.

"And there's Maya Hansen." Chen Tian took a sip of his cola. "She can cripple your villa's systems and energy, which means she's involved in this Extremis Soldier."

"Damn it, all my ex-girlfriends are crazy," Tony cursed angrily. "And I was a complete idiot too, why did I write that formula just to show off?"

"Hahaha, you better not let Pepper hear that," Chen Tian laughed.

"What did you hear?" Pepper's voice came from the doorway.

"Nothing! Sweetheart! What brings you up here?" Tony, feeling guilty, quickly went to greet him.

Pepper observed Tony's expression, then handed Chen Tian a paper document and spoke to Tony.

"Just now, while Happy was directing your robots to clean and repair the plaza, this document fell from the sky. After reading it, he asked me to show it to you."

Chen Tian took it and opened it to take a look.

Tony complained, "Hey, why didn't you just give it to me?"

Pepper turned and left. "I know you never accept paper things."

"I've changed!" Tony shouted to Pepper as she left.

"Go take a shower. I hope you won't smell of sweat when I get back, Tony." Pepper waved to Tony with her back to him.

Tony shrugged and sat down next to Chen Tian. "Kid, what's written inside?"

Chen Tian tossed the document onto the coffee table, and JARVIS's holographic projection read the document and displayed it in mid-air.

Above are two documents and a photo.

The information shows Killian and Maya Hansen respectively.

It states that there are two actual controllers of AIM: Killian is the one in the public eye, while Maya is the one behind the scenes.

Both of them were injected with the most perfect Extremis Virus, giving them powerful self-healing abilities and evolutionary attributes.

The photo shows a smiling gentleman in English attire, with the caption: William von Klaue, Earl of Dewen County, suspected to Dimensional Demon God 'Mephisto representatives on Blue Planet.

Chen Tian and Tony exchanged a glance, both understanding the meaning in each other's eyes.

Tony stood up, put the document away, and said, "I'll go give the photos to Steve."

Chen Tian stood up, stretched, and said, "I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

"Hey! That's not what you meant at all!" Tony yelled.

"Then what do I mean?"

"What you just meant was that I was the one to deal with Killian and Maya."

"Tch, you really don't have any chemistry with me."

"That's exactly what you meant! Kid! Don't lie to me!"

"You guessed wrong! Tony Stark!"

In the darkness of the night, Dante piloted his supersonic motorcycle, his body radiating a faint red magical aura that resisted the pressure of breaking the sound barrier.

"Hey bro, how was my performance?"

"If you dare do that again, I'll chop you to pieces."

"Tch, if it weren't for my nephew asking us to deal with that guy named Killian, I wouldn't be doing this."

"I said, acting... also requires skill."

Vergil sat behind Dante, slowly turning the pages of his book, a faint blue magical aura emanating from him that kept all other air currents at bay.

The large characters on the cover were gleaming.

An Actor Prepares