A Frustrated Tony

Bella exploded too!

Li Ang looked at the blood covering him and was utterly speechless.

Had Bella's vampire constitution conflicted with Compound V5, or was she simply allergic to it and unable to withstand it at all?

Whichever it was, Li Ang felt helpless.

Looking at the blood all over the floor, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret. What a shame-he had lost an assistant just like that and wasted another vial of Compound V5.

Just as Li Ang shook his head and sighed, he keenly noticed the blood on his body moving.

Bella's blood began writhing and gathering on his skin.

Eventually, even the surrounding blood surged toward him, gathering on his back. Li Ang could see the outline of an arm wrapping around him.

The blood began changing color, until it actually became a human hand.

He turned his head and saw Bella clinging to his back!

At the sight, Li Ang understood. "It worked?"

"Yes." Bella's voice was full of joy and admiration. She didn't know where Compound V5 had come from or how it worked, but she knew who had given it to her, and that was enough.

She was terrified that Li Ang would abandon her. To demonstrate her worth, she had willingly done this.

"I can now control the blood inside people's bodies and drain them dry from a distance!" Bella sounded excited. Being able to do more for Li Ang made her happy from the bottom of her heart.

To demonstrate for Li Ang, she stepped into the sunlight and looked up at the birds in the sky, facing the sun. Yes, in direct sunlight!

A bird flew over from the distance, beating its wings. Bella made a grasping motion toward it from afar, and it froze in midair. After a few struggles, blood burst out through its skin and flew toward Bella!

A ball of blood hovered in Bella's hand. She looked at Li Ang, her eyes full of anticipation for his praise.

"Not bad. From now on, you're the manor's head of security."

"I won't let you down!"

Bella ran off in delight. Li Ang walked toward the chunk of Uru, charged his phone, then opened it to find several messages.

They were from Tony, Nick Fury, and Kingpin.

Tony didn't have anything important, and Kingpin had only sent payment records. Nick Fury alone had left a message concerning a certain organization.

"How much do you know about the Ten Rings?"

Li Ang didn't know much about the Ten Rings, only Wenwu and that unlucky kid Shang-Chi.

After he replied that he didn't know much, Nick Fury sent no further messages, so Li Ang simply called Tony.

The call connected quickly, and Tony's exhausted voice came through. "Li Ang? God... I thought that big blond guy had whisked you away, and you were living a shameless life together!"

"Screw you. I brought you some good stuff from the divine realm. Want it?"

Hearing that Li Ang had brought something from the divine realm, Tony no longer sounded tired. "What? Did you snag a goddess as your girlfriend, or bring back some fine wine from the divine realm?"

A goddess? Fine wine? Looks like Tony is still Tony. Li Ang laughed and cursed. "Some good material for making armor! Do you want it or not?"

"Fantastic! I'll send someone to pick it up right away. Where are you?" At the mention of material for his armor, Tony's eyes lit up with delight.

On the other end of the call, he sat straight up, planning to have Happy fly over and collect it.

"No need. Just tell me where you are."

Tony was a little puzzled. This even came with home delivery?

He coughed. "I'm at Stark Tower in New York!"

Yes, Stark Tower was complete!

The tower was proof of his transformation of Stark Industries into an energy company, and the entire building was powered by his Arc Reactor.

"Stark Tower?" Li Ang really hadn't heard the news. He had only heard Tony mention it a few times before.

"Right. JARVIS already entered your identity into the system. You can come straight through."

"No need."

Tony's hand froze in midair, wineglass in hand. Before he could voice his confusion, a cluster of sparks flashed before him.

"Huh?"

Tony wondered if he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes, only to see more and more sparks appearing, until they began spinning!

"JARVIS?!" Tony immediately stood up. Sections of the nearby armor unfolded and opened, and he climbed straight inside.

This was utterly unscientific. The sparks appearing out of thin air slowly expanded, actually forming a circular passage.

Beyond the passage was a familiar face.

"Li Ang? My God, how did you..." Tony was almost incoherent. Usually so confident in his eloquence, he stared at the sight before him, opened his mouth, and managed only one sentence. "You always manage to surprise me."

Li Ang grinned and pointed at the passage behind him. "Well? Care to explain that with science?"

Tony rolled his eyes, disengaged the armor, and stepped out.

When he saw the huge chunk of Uru behind Li Ang, he asked, "Is this the material you mentioned?"

"Bingo!" Li Ang snapped his fingers and pointed at the Uru. "This metal can absorb and store magic. Once your armor is finished, you'll need a mage to enchant it, or you can feed your own energy into it."

"A mage? You mean those people in top hats and suits?"

Tony's tone was mocking, but when he saw the doorway behind Li Ang, his expression soured again.

It was no exaggeration to say that the blow Li Ang had dealt his worldview was greater than the time he had discovered that hiding under the covers couldn't keep him safe.

"I still need to study it." Tony pointed at the ring behind Li Ang, tracing circles with his hand as he stumbled over his words. "Can you now close this... this whatever-it-is?"

Without even looking back, Li Ang casually waved a hand, and the portal vanished.

Looking at his scorched floor, Tony sighed.

His attention was soon drawn to the metal Li Ang had brought back, and before long, JARVIS's scan results appeared on a nearby screen.

Li Ang was a little surprised to see that its internal structure had actually been analyzed.

What else would you expect from Tony Stark? Li Ang walked over to the screen, looked at all the symbols and technical terms on it, scratched his head, and sat down to one side.

"JARVIS, order me some takeout. Just five burger-and-fries meals. Then have Tony's chef stir-fry ten dishes for me."

"Certainly, Mr. Li Ang."

Nearby, Tony was already completely absorbed in the metal.

He circled it a few times, then tapped it with his hand and asked, "This hardness... there's no way current technology could melt it. How do those people in the divine realm do it?"

"Oh, it's simple. They just forge it using a stellar core," Li Ang said casually.

Tony's eyes went blank at that, and he stared straight at Li Ang.

If he could beat him in a fight, he would have loved to crack Li Ang's head open and ask him what on earth he was thinking!

A stellar core?! If I had that technology, would I have had to wreck a house just to create a new element?

Tony sat back down on the sofa and stared glumly at the Uru.

While Tony was stewing, JARVIS spoke. "Sir, Coulson would like to meet with you."

Li Ang immediately sat up. The Avengers is about to begin!