Chapter 42
A whip lock on the roadside? Yay, it's the Operation Fruit!
"Tony, you thief who stole my life!"
A deep voice with a Russian accent came from deep within the ruins.
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the source of the sound.
A burly man, shirtless, staggered out of the dust.
He wore a rudimentary arc reactor hanging around his neck, its blue light flickering in the smoke and dust.
Two metal whips, crackling with electric arcs, dragged on the ground, sizzling and plowing two charred tracks into the asphalt.
Ivan Vanko.
"My father told me before he died that everything the Stark family has is built on our sacrifices."
Ivan slowly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Tony. "Today, I've come to collect my debt."
He originally planned to defeat Tony in front of a huge crowd when Tony made another high-profile appearance, thus establishing his "legitimacy" through the reporters.
While resting at the hotel, he heard a loud bang and was subsequently buried under the rubble.
He wiped the blood from his forehead, flicked his whip, and unleashed a violent arc of azure electricity.
"Since we've met today, I'll collect my interest in advance!"
With that, he flicked his wrist, and the whip transformed into a lightning snake that hurtled towards Tony.
Snapped!
The air was torn apart by the electric current, producing a piercing crackling sound.
"Jarvis, scan this guy for me."
Tony retreated swiftly, leaving the opponent's attack range, but his expression beneath the mask remained calm.
"The target is Ivan Vanko, a Russian physicist whose father, Anton Vanko, once worked with your father, Howard Stark."
Jarvis's voice rang in Tony's ears, "The reactor on your chest may be rudimentary, but it is indeed functional."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? So it's a story of the son paying for the father's debts."
He didn't move, not even into a fighting stance.
"However, I must warn you, today is not a good day."
Tony pointed to the devastated battlefield around them. "Look, this place just went through a world-class demolition competition. Your timing isn't right for you to jump in now."
"The voltage is indeed a bit unstable today, but it's more than enough to deal with someone like you who relies on low-level armor."
Ivan grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"Or... are you scared?"
"I'm not afraid."
Tony shrugged. "I mainly think your look is a bit... how should I put it, lacking in aesthetic sense."
Ivan's face darkened, and with a flick of his wrists, the two electric whips attacked Tony once more.
It's sizzling!
A blinding blue light streaked through the air.
This time, Tony did not dodge.
He raised his left arm, which shimmered with a purple glow, and easily grasped two electric whips in his hand.
boom!
"this one?"
Tony's voice came from behind the visor, clearly mocking, "Your voltage isn't even as high as the battery in my toilet seat."
Ivan's eyes flashed with a fierce light.
He exerted force with both legs, his two whips clashing and swirling, and brought them down on Tony's head.
"Bastard! I'll tear you to pieces!"
Just then.
"roar!!!"
A deafening roar erupted from behind him.
Ivan paused, then instinctively turned around.
A giant green object shot into the air and then gradually enlarged in his field of vision.
boom!
Click!
A loud bang and a crisp sound of bones cracking rang out.
Before Ivan could even scream, he was shoved into the ground by the abomination's buttocks.
The ground collapsed, creating a crater two meters deep.
"What's that's giving me a tingling sensation in my butt?"
He scratched his butt, felt a sharp pain, looked down and saw a person lying on the ground, seemingly dead.
But he didn't pay attention to those things. Instead, he turned his head and looked for something. His small eyes swept around and finally landed on Banner.
"I refuse to accept this!"
Hatred slammed his fists into the ground, making a loud thud. "If you're so capable, then don't use that move. Let me and Hulk fight fairly!"
"Why are you so fixated on winning or losing?" Banner asked calmly.
At this moment, the abomination was covered in blood and flesh, and the yellowish-brown bone spurs had been worn down, but the shattered bones had been restored.
Banner really didn't want to torture him anymore.
"Stop talking nonsense! You don't understand the loneliness of a master!"
It roared with hatred, stomping its feet on the ground like a young wife who hadn't bought the bag she wanted.
In the human-shaped pit.
Ivan stretched out a hand with difficulty, gripped the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Stark... Stark..."
His voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.
The entire room was completely silent.
next second.
"Pfft... Hahaha!"
Li Ang couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Immediately afterwards, bursts of laughter rose and fell.
Barton laughed so hard he almost fell off the high point next to him.
Coulson's lips twitched, trying his best to maintain the professional demeanor of a secret agent, but his shoulders were clearly trembling.
Even hatred was somewhat bewildered.
Am I really that weak?
Looking at this cockroach that couldn't be crushed, Abomination began to doubt its own current strength.
Only Tony flew to the edge of the pit, glanced down at Ivan who was still coughing up blood, and his expression under his visor was extremely complex.
"Brother, I'm not taking the blame for this."
Tony shrugged, his tone full of helplessness.
Li Ang commented: "Just one by the roadside! Purely just one by the roadside!"
He pointed at Ivan in the pit and said to Tony, "He was put on screen for less than thirty seconds and then shoved into the ground by Abomination's ass. If this were a script, no one would believe it."
Tony was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke up: "Jarvis, save them."
"Sir, are you sure?" Jarvis asked, his tone tinged with doubt. "Judging from his behavior just now, this person clearly harbors hostility towards you."
"I know."
Tony sighed, his gaze falling on the rudimentary reactor on Ivan's chest.
"That thing's structure is different from mine. I want to figure out how it was made."
The silver symbiotic armor surged, transforming into several tentacles that pulled Ivan out of the pit and placed him on the flat ground beside him.
Tony crouched down and reached out to rip the reactor off Ivan's chest.
"This thing may be ugly, but it actually works."
He looked up at Li Ang: "Li, do you have any first-aid equipment here?"
"You're asking me?" Li Ang rolled his eyes. "I run a gashapon shop, not a hospital."
"What should we do then?"
"Take him to the hospital," Li Ang said casually.
Tony: "..."
boom!
He shamelessly manipulated the symbiote armor, throwing Ivan directly in front of Coulson.
He was just curious about Ivan's reactor; he didn't actually want to save it.
Should we make him a porter for the wounded?
I'm sorry, even Rhodes might not receive this treatment.
[Ding! Daily Shop has been refreshed]
Just then.
The system notification suddenly rang in Li Ang's mind.
Li Ang paused, then opened the system panel.
【Operation Fruit (Side Effects-Free Version)】
[Price: 100 million value points]