Li Ang's expression froze. After opening the system panel, he discovered he really had heard correctly.
"Looks like they've dug up the Old Popsicle."
He had told Nick Fury about it while wrapping things up after killing Iron Monger. It seemed they hadn't been idle either.
"Oh, shit!" While Li Ang was thinking, Tony tripped over something beside him and fell to the floor with a yelp.
Looking down, he saw that it was a box of assorted odds and ends.
They looked familiar to Li Ang. Weren't these the things Howard had left behind?
Among them was an important clue Stark's old man had left, concerning a new element.
"Nick Fury came by?" Li Ang asked.
"Yeah, these are my dad's things." Reminiscence filled Tony's eyes. He was clearly missing those days.
"Maybe you should take a good look. They're keepsakes your father left you, after all. Who knows, he might have left you a surprise."
Li Ang knew that next, Tony would invent a new element to replace palladium.
As for how Ivan Vanko, also known as Whiplash, would make his entrance now that Tony had no time to go racing, Li Ang still didn't know.
His talk therapy had worked on Tony, too. Tony blinked, emerging from his memories. "I should take a look."
"Call me if anything comes up. Right now, I'm going to try out this armor!" Li Ang walked toward the armor. As soon as he approached, it opened automatically, and a voice came from within.
"All armor readings are normal. Ready to be worn."
With that, the faceplate opened, and the body's armor plates overlapped, exposing the interior.
"Technology's advancing this fast?"
This time, it was Li Ang's turn to be surprised. He stepped into the armor. As the faceplate closed, a virtual UI appeared before his eyes, while a female voice sounded in his ears.
"Hello, sir. FRIDAY at your service."
"Hm?"
Li Ang found this assistant who took over JARVIS's role rather redundant, since he had the system.
But he couldn't turn down a kind gesture. Remembering JARVIS's fate, Li Ang asked, "By the way, have you backed up JARVIS's data?"
"No... why would I back him up? Is JARVIS going to disappear?" Tony replied casually, not believing JARVIS would ever leave him.
"If I were you, I'd make a backup. Just in case." By the time Li Ang finished his reminder, the armor was fully equipped.
Imitating Tony, he operated the armor and tried to fly.
But the controls were too sensitive. The moment he increased the power, the armor shot toward the ceiling!
With a crash, he punched a hole in the ceiling. Li Ang's head was buried in the hole, his lower body dangling from the ceiling.
"Oi, no swinging in here!" Tony joked.
Li Ang brought the armor back down and continued familiarizing himself with it after readjusting the settings. Before long, he mastered flight and became proficient in using the armor.
While Li Ang was still playing with the armor, Tony had fallen asleep.
He was sleeping deeply. After scanning him with the armor's built-in scanner, Li Ang diagnosed it as compensatory sleep following excessive physical exertion.
Simply put, he had worn himself out having fun and needed to catch up on sleep.
Just then, JARVIS's voice rang out. "Sir, Miss Pepper has been attacked on Madison Avenue! Mr. Happy is heading toward the company with Miss Pepper!"
Tony frowned in his sleep.
Li Ang stopped at the news. Looking at Tony, who was sleeping like a dead pig, he immediately said, "Don't bother waking him. I'll go."
With that, Li Ang flew high into the sky in the armor and headed toward New York!
At that moment, the street was in chaos!
People fled screaming, while some who had no fear of death held up their phones to film.
Traffic was blocked by over a dozen cars, all bearing whip marks, as though something had violently sliced them open!
"I only just became CEO, and now someone's trying to kill me! I'm definitely resigning when I get back!"
Pepper shouted angrily.
Beside her, Happy was speechless too. Being Iron Man's bodyguard really was a high-risk occupation!
Ivan Vanko walked down the street, dragging two long whips. The steel whips sizzled against the ground.
Happy and Pepper were hiding behind a van, trembling.
"Someone save us! Anyone!"
Not a single person on the street dared approach.
Ivan Vanko had long hair and wore his homemade equipment over his bare upper body. As a breeze blew through his hair, he looked utterly triumphant.
Head held high and chest out, he walked up to the van, raised his arm, and lashed down!
Riiip!
The sheet metal tore apart like paper, its cut edges glowing red with heat. Behind it, Pepper and Happy both froze.
They looked up and saw Ivan Vanko smiling at them.
"Where's Tony Stark?" Ivan Vanko asked coldly.
"You want me to sell out my own boss?" Happy scoffed, though a trace of fear remained in his eyes as he looked at the steel whips.
Just as Ivan Vanko was about to whip them both in half, a whir came from the distance!
A blue, white, and red blur slammed straight into Ivan Vanko!
The tremendous force sent Ivan Vanko staggering several steps, snapping several transmission cables on his iron vest.
One of the whips flickered a few times, its power clearly much weaker.
He turned to look and discovered that what had struck him was a shield!
A five-pointed star marked the shield. When Pepper and Happy saw the newcomer, both froze.
The newcomer wore a combat uniform, with a stars-and-stripes design over his abdomen.
Captain America?
Pepper rubbed her eyes, convinced she must be seeing a hallucination before death.
"This ends here!" Steve stood on a car's hood, staring intently at Ivan Vanko.
Looking at the weapons in Ivan Vanko's hands, he marveled at just how astonishing technological progress had been.
And it wasn't just technology. After waking from decades of sleep to find a Black man giving him orders, he had been dumbfounded.
He had been awake for less than a day. Even with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help, his strength hadn't fully recovered.
An ordinary person's muscles would have atrophied long ago after lying down for seventy years, but his hadn't.
He simply couldn't muster his strength and felt somewhat unsteady.
"Am I seeing things?" Ivan Vanko swung his whip, then lashed it at Captain America!
Steve's eyes widened, and he rolled to the side.
The spot where he had been standing was instantly torn apart. After getting up, Steve anticipated the direction of Ivan Vanko's next lash.
He raised his shield to block, producing a dull thud!
The blow drove Steve back several steps. Taking the opportunity, he ducked down and disappeared among the wrecked cars.
Ivan Vanko looked left and right but couldn't spot where Steve had hidden. Unease spread through him.
"Hey!"
A voice suddenly came from behind him. He turned, and Steve charged straight at him, shield raised!
Thud!
An ordinary person would have been sent flying by Steve's charge. Even if they weren't knocked unconscious outright, the fall would at least leave them badly dazed.
But Ivan Vanko wasn't!
He took two steps back, the transmission mechanism on his back rotating to dissipate most of the force.
That was right. Unlike in the original movie, Ivan Vanko had even prepared to fight Li Ang this time.
So he had made specific adjustments.
He had built an additional suit of powered exoskeleton armor!
Steve tightened his shield's straps, recalling what Nick Fury had told him earlier: the world had changed during the years he had slept.
"It really has changed. In that case, I need to be all the more prepared."
Steve flexed his wrists. Just as he was about to continue fighting Ivan Vanko, a series of sonic booms came from the distance!
Everyone on the street looked up and saw a bright light rapidly approaching from afar.
The source of the sound landed heavily on the ground. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a blue suit of Iron Man Armor!
"Iron Man!"
"It's Iron Man! Quick, take pictures!"
At the sight of the armor, hatred flashed in Ivan Vanko's eyes. "Tony Stark!"