Ivan Is Dead, Tony Confesses

Looks like Ivan had come looking for them. Lu Qi glanced sideways at Tony. "Should we just kill our way out?"

Tony looked at Pepper and had the officers take her inside to hide. The ninjas Lu Qi had assigned to Pepper also stopped hiding and emerged from the shadows to protect them.

After arranging for Pepper's safety, Tony seemed to cast off his restraints. He glanced at Rhodey, who was still pinned to the ground, then looked at Lu Qi.

"Send me a copy of those photos later. I want them as a keepsake."

Rhodey rolled his eyes, but he couldn't control his armor right now, and he hadn't opened his faceplate, so no one could see it.

After having two Troll Soldiers hold Rhodey down, Lu Qi flew out as well.

"So where is he?" Lu Qi looked over the empty plaza. There wasn't even a reporter willing to sacrifice himself for the story.

Then where had that voice come from?

Lu Qi looked around in confusion, but a sound came from the sky.

"What the hell?" Lu Qi stared at the rows of thrusters and lights flickering on overhead. Just how many robots had Ivan built? Why had Hammer let him build so many?

Ivan looked down at the two of them and activated the loudspeakers on his body.

"I improved the rotational speed. Thank you for your advice, Stark. And as for you, my new arm is very strong too. It let me take care of several babysitters in just two moves."

Tony glanced at Lu Qi and lowered his faceplate.

"So you came to thank us today? Are the ones behind you just irrelevant spectators?"

Ivan looked back.

"Indeed. These guys could all be considered spectators."

Ivan himself did not move, but the Mechanical Soldiers received their orders one after another and charged downward while opening fire.

Tony darted aside to evade them, only to discover that the Mechanical Soldiers were not attacking him at all.

"Lu Qi?"

Seeing a layer of black energy blocking the barrage of bullets and missiles aimed at Lu Qi, Tony breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next second, a massive mech descended from the sky and sent Tony flying with a vicious punch.

He tumbled across the ground and smashed a huge hole into a wall before finally coming to a stop.

"Why are these mechs all so ridiculously strong? Do they not know what smart armor is?"

Tony looked at the damage displayed across his entire status panel and spoke helplessly.

"Looks like you're getting beaten badly, but I might need some time before I can help you."

Lu Qi looked at the Mechanical Soldiers hovering in the sky.

Then over a thousand Ninja Soldiers appeared, and a dense rain of shurikens shot toward the sky.

Watching his Ninja Soldiers' shurikens strike the Mechanical Soldiers without doing much damage, Lu Qi felt puzzled. But these shurikens were the Shadow Legion's only anti-air weapon.

As for personally launching long-range attacks with Dark Energy? Those sniper-type Mechanical Soldiers would not just watch him drop his shield to counterattack, and the Ninja Soldiers could not stop those large-caliber autocannons.

Watching Ivan chase Tony around and beat him senseless, Lu Qi wanted to help. He summoned Blade Soldiers to assist Tony, but Ivan had actually installed an electrical discharge device on his body.

Every Blade Soldier that approached was scattered by bursts of high-voltage lightning. Ivan turned to look at Lu Qi and smiled smugly.

The two electric whips in his hands lashed toward Tony and successfully bound him. The retracting device on Ivan's shoulder pulled Tony straight toward him.

Ivan grabbed Tony by the shoulder, restrained him, and slammed him onto the ground.

Tony struggled with all his strength, but the drawbacks of his smaller armor became apparent. Although Tony's armor had precise and efficient mechanisms to enhance his strength, it still could not match the simple, brute-force power system of a larger suit.

A device sprang out from Ivan's hand, allowing him to easily restrain Tony with one hand while freeing the other.

"You know, thanks to you, I got a more dexterous arm. It lets me perform much more delicate operations."

Ivan smugly watched various tools extend from his other arm. Under the control of his mechanical arm, they worked their way into the gaps in Tony's armor.

Watching the readings on his panel, Tony struggled desperately but could not break free.

"Lu Qi, are you done yet? I might need help over here! Ivan's operating on me, but I really don't think he's trying to remove the shrapnel."

Lu Qi looked at the large number of mechs in the sky and felt troubled. "I think you'll have to hold on a little longer. These guys aren't going to let me leave."

Who knew how stupid Hammer was to let Ivan build so many mechanical suits? Had he poured all of Hammer Industries' assets into making them? There were far more suits here than the story had shown.

"I found you some help."

Natasha's voice suddenly cut into the channel.

"Who? Coulson? I really don't think he can help me." Tony looked at the armor that was only millimeters away from being breached, growing increasingly anxious.

Ivan looked at Tony as though he were a hermit crab hiding inside its shell. He had analyzed footage of Tony and Lu Qi's battles and discovered some of the characteristics of their abilities.

Lu Qi's abilities, for example, were mostly manifested in the form of energy, and he could summon monsters unlike ordinary people. Tony's armor, meanwhile, lacked strong offensive power but had solid defense. Even if someone fired a tank shell point-blank at his face, he could survive.

That was why Ivan had specially modified his arm and built this armor. It would let him peel open that thick turtle shell as if performing surgery!

But the next second, a figure slammed into him. Arcs of electricity burst across its body, yet caused no damage.

The figure did not slow down at all and rammed Ivan flying.

"Seriously, Tony, you need to get me some top-tier weapons!" Rhodey said over the comms.

"You're free? Damn, your timing is perfect!" Tony said with a laugh, though Rhodey sounded helpless.

"Lu Qi's little minions destroyed all my weapons, so theoretically, these fists are all I have left to dish out damage."

Wearing his armor, Rhodey bounced lightly in place a few times.

"You think your fists can flatten that thing?" Tony checked his armor and said helplessly, "Looks like even the two of us together can't beat him. But we can help Lu Qi first."

Ivan stabilized his armor and roared, "You're not going anywhere!" Two missiles launched from Ivan's armor.

"Damn, I hope those aren't Ex-Wives!" Rhodey shouted, maneuvering away alongside Tony.

"What the hell is an Ex-Wife?" Tony watched the two missiles fly past them.

"Hammer Industries' greatest masterpiece, at least according to Hammer. It can take out an entire fortress in one shot. According to him, it's also smart enough to write an incomprehensible poem by itself and recite it to you."

Tony nodded, feeling that the thing did not sound very smart, but JARVIS proved him wrong the next second.

"Missiles detected approaching from behind."

Tony turned around and discovered that the two Ex-Wives had flown back.

"Watch out!" Tony shot upward, dodging the Ex-Wife aimed at him, but Rhodey had no warning from JARVIS and was struck directly.

Bang~

The missile fell to the ground, spat out a few sparks like a cheap firework, and then went silent.

"Seems like I wasn't blown away?"

Rhodey, who had broken out in a cold sweat, spoke uncertainly.

"Maybe Hammer Industries' technology really is that bad."

Tony let out a breath of relief as the other Ex-Wife curved back toward him.

"I think Hammer Industries would have a brighter future making self-driving cars."

Tony released flares and lured the Ex-Wife away.

Boom!

The massive explosion shattered sheets of glass from the surrounding buildings. Tony looked at the fireball with lingering fear. With that kind of power, it might actually be able to hurt him through his armor.

Rhodey looked at the dud missile beneath his feet and hurriedly flew away.

"This thing really is like your ex-wife. You never know what she'll do—whether she'll explode or not."

Ivan was also speechless about the two missiles. These were not the special products he had provided to Rhodey; they were missiles Hammer Industries had seriously manufactured themselves.

"How did you end up choosing a guy like that as your partner?" Tony fired a repulsor blast at Ivan, but Ivan blocked it with a swing of his whip. Several precision missiles followed, striking Ivan but only embedding themselves in the armor plating.

"This turtle shell is seriously thick. Even armor-piercing rounds can't penetrate it." Tony spoke helplessly.

"Lu Qi, maybe you're the only one who can punch through that armor. Are you done over there?"

Lu Qi looked at the few remaining Mechanical Soldiers in the sky and sighed in relief. He had not expected it to take so long to clear these things out.

"I'll be done soon. Just hold on a little longer!"

Lu Qi spoke helplessly, hoping the next troop type unlocked would be flying units. Otherwise, fighting things that flew around in the sky was far too disadvantageous.

At that moment, the Mechanical Soldiers in the sky seemed to fire their last bullets. Lu Qi sighed in relief, only to see them flying toward him like kamikazes.

"Delivering themselves to me?" Lu Qi arranged Ninja Soldiers to receive the delivery, only to see red light begin glowing from the chests of the incoming mechanical suits, like a countdown.

Seeing the destroyed suits around him begin counting down as well, Lu Qi hurriedly retreated into the Shadow World.

Dozens of reactors self-destructed, and the violent energy fluctuations annihilated everything around them.

"Damn it! Lu Qi, are you okay?!"

Tony noticed the commotion and asked anxiously, only to suddenly discover that a violent explosion had also erupted in the main hall.

"Pepper!"

Tony remembered Pepper, who was hiding in the main hall, but then suddenly spotted several Ninja Soldiers on the roof of a nearby building.

JARVIS magnified the image and, to his surprise, found that Pepper had somehow been moved there.

"Damn it, you really forget your friends when there's a pretty girl around!" Lu Qi's voice sounded over the comms.

"I'll be there in a second. Damn it, I'm going to punch Ivan in the face as hard as I can!"

Lu Qi had already forgotten about leaving Ivan's body intact. He flew over in fury.

"Count me in!" Tony said through gritted teeth.

Ivan had scared the hell out of him twice today!

"If you don't mind, include me too."

Rhodey clenched and loosened his fists a few times, eager to try them out.

"Then first come, first served!" Lu Qi flew over to Tony and Rhodey and looked at Ivan.

"Now it's time for a righteous group beatdown, though it may be a little too cruel for you!"

With a wave of Lu Qi's hand, the Shadow Legion surrounded Ivan and launched their attack.

Countless Shadow Ninjas charged forward one after another, only to be scattered by electric arcs. But the reactor's output had its limits. Some ninjas leaped onto Ivan's body, using all kinds of weapons in an attempt to break open his armor.

Ivan tried to take off, but Tony and Rhodey flew directly above him and slammed him hard into the ground.

Trying to run? Lu Qi could not be bothered to let Ivan keep showing off. Dark Energy gathered and transformed into beams that shot out, slamming viciously into the Whiplash Armor.

The powerful Dark Energy pressed Ivan into the ground and ground him against it. But since Lu Qi wanted to land a few punches on Ivan's face, he did not erase him outright and merely suppressed him.

A Troll Soldier charged forward and smashed its enormous fist into the armor.

Even this powerful armor was knocked flat onto the ground. Several more Troll Soldiers rushed in, letting Ivan enjoy the full-body massage Abomination had once received.

Watching danger warnings continuously appear on his panel and feeling the pain of being trapped all over by his deformed armor, Ivan roared in rage.

But he did not have Abomination's ability to suddenly power up. He could only release all the energy in his reactor and annihilate all the Shadow Ninjas around him.

Lu Qi looked at the darkened reactor on the Whiplash Armor. Had Ivan not just lost all ability to resist?

He commanded teams of Shadow Ninjas to pounce on him, but Ivan opened his armor himself. His upper body rose upright out of the suit, while his legs remained trapped inside it.

"What are you trying to do now?" Tony looked at Ivan's actions in confusion, unable to understand what the man was doing.

"Rather than let you slowly crack me open like this, I'd rather do it myself. Give me a quick death!"

Ivan roared loudly and glared fiercely at Tony.

"You won't die that easily!" Tony saw that Ivan was still talking tough even at death's door. He stepped forward, intending to give him a few punches first.

But Ivan was not afraid as he watched Tony approach. Instead, he laughed loudly. "You're still as stupid as ever! Stark, I didn't lose just one arm!"

Tony looked at Ivan's legs trapped inside the armor and felt a terrible premonition.

Violent energy fluctuations surged from Ivan's mechanical legs. Tony watched helplessly as Ivan's armor warped, Ivan was annihilated, and a wave of energy rushed toward him.

But there was no time to dodge!

Tony was just about to test his armor's defensive capabilities when a pair of hands suddenly appeared behind him. Then black energy covered his vision...

"Tony!" Seeing Tony swallowed by the energy wave and vanish, Pepper screamed in anguish.

Tears streamed from her eyes as Pepper fell backward.

"Looks like you cried for me again."

Someone caught her, and a familiar voice came from beside her ear.

"Tony?"

Pepper looked back at Tony in delighted surprise, and Tony gazed at her tenderly.

"Aren't you going to call me boss anymore?"

The two embraced tightly and kissed, passion igniting between them.

"They look like seals fighting over grapes." A mood-killing voice came from nearby, accompanied by the constant clicking of a camera.

Rhodey looked helplessly at someone taking photos nonstop nearby. Remembering the embarrassing evidence left behind from earlier, his expression instantly darkened, though no one could tell in the middle of the night.

"Heh." Lu Qi smiled. "Tony, maybe you could take this opportunity..."

Lu Qi drew a circle leading to his little house and took Rhodey away with him.

Watching the door disappear, Tony felt helpless.

At the critical moment just now, Lu Qi had pulled him into the Shadow World. But without Dark Energy protecting him, his armor had instantly been annihilated. Fortunately, Lu Qi had quickly brought him back out, or he probably would have lost an arm or leg.

Seeing Pepper's astonished expression as she witnessed a portal for the first time, Tony turned her face toward him.

"So after everything that happened, are you still willing to stay by my side and help me?"

Pepper's tears spilled over uncontrollably again as she smiled and said, "Yes."

Tony wiped away her tears. "Actually, I made a list. I wanted it to be more ceremonial. If you're willing, we can do this again."

Pepper shook her head. "Right now, Tony. I want to hear those words."

Tony looked into Pepper's expectant eyes and solemnly took both her hands.

"I love you."

"I love you too!"