Chapter 132: Charge, Iron Man!
The weathered seaside villa, only half-renovated, became the new residence for Tony Stark and Stephen Fang, who had been staying at Stark Industries, all thanks to Loki's "little prank."
In the basement, Tony Stark, as if he had found a treasure, studied the blueprints Stephen Fang had given him. After a while, he asked again for confirmation, "You mean, injecting this will slow down aging and grant greater strength?"
"That's right." Stephen Fang pulled up a photo of Black Widow Natasha Romanoff on his phone. "You probably don't want to know, but she's forty-two years older than you, born in 1928."
To make sure Tony understood, he deliberately paused and repeated, "One! Nine! Two! Eight!"
Even Tony Stark, the man who designed the Mark suit, couldn't help but look aggrieved. "You're telling me that the hot girl I was so eager to have Pepper Potts transfer to be my personal secretary is an old granny who went through World War II?"
Stephen Fang, never one to mince words, continued, "Actually, if she'd been born ten years earlier, she could have even made it to World War I."
"My God!" Tony Stark exclaimed, knocking over his coffee. He quickly gathered the blueprints. "And you, what year's old fossil are you?"
"I'm much younger than you, but the Director is in pretty much the same situation."
"This is insane!" Tony Stark poured himself a brandy. "So you're going to take this Super Serum and become ageless?"
Stephen Fang didn't want to tell the Iron Man in front of him the truth.
If aliens were to stop coming to Earth forever starting today, then he would only need to rely on two Earth Grudge Fear masks and continuously replace young hearts to achieve physical immortality.
This would mean achieving what Kakuzu called being "a person co-eternal with heaven and earth."
But why were aliens always fixated on Earth, this planet that had given birth to countless stories? As someone from this planet, even if Stephen Fang didn't consider himself, he had to consider the Ren Arakawas in the other worlds.
He had to become stronger and give back to everyone to be worthy of his arrival in Marvel, a world with an extremely high power ceiling.
"Tony, I have to explain the situation to you." Stephen Fang put on his best acting performance. "The Hammer Incident is just the beginning. In the near future, Earth will face a host of enemies you can't even imagine. Among them is the God of Mischief, Loki, who manipulates the Destroyer."
Tony Stark's eyes widened, finding it difficult to accept this news.
"And this is merely the tip of the iceberg. If Earth's crisis were to be made into a movie, they would have to shoot at least four major films just to conclude one arc. If any one of these four were to fail, Earth would be destroyed."
"The future of humanity is like a candle in a gale, liable to be extinguished at any moment."
"And you, Tony, are the key person holding that candle."
Stephen Fang looked earnestly at the hero who had brought Marvel back from the brink. "There's not much time left for us!"
---
Zheng Zha felt he had never regretted anything so much in his life.
If he had known this, he wouldn't have worked overtime at the company.
If he hadn't worked overtime, he wouldn't have clicked that damned "yes" and come to this terrifying world of infinite reincarnation.
Standing by the window, he yawned.
Night watch was not easy work. Keeping his mind on high alert inevitably made him sleepy.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, Zhan Lan beside him suddenly shouted,
"They're here! Someone's here!"
A minute later, Team China gathered in the police station, staring at the trophies Ren Arakawa had brought, unable to speak for a long time.
This was especially true for Li Shuaixi among the newcomers.
He pointed at the Green Goblin Glider on the ground. "I'm very familiar with this thing! I have a collectible figure of it at home!"
No one paid any mind to what he said, but his words did highlight the infinite possibilities of the Main God Space.
Even things from comic books were not rare items here.
Chu Xuan studied the Green Goblin Glider for a while, then turned his gaze to the Onimusha Armor.
"What does this thing do?"
Ren Arakawa looked a bit helpless. "Right now, it simply provides protection. Activating this thing requires a related Onimusha system, which none of us can use. At most, we can wear it as a bulletproof vest."
Ren Arakawa naturally had no use for such armor. His Xiahong samurai armor was primarily designed to defend against cuts from swords and blades, leaving it full of openings. Besides, if he wore this, his wings and tail would be useless; he couldn't wear it at all.
Among the newcomers, the blond fatty, the unemployed but expensively dressed Zheng Shuang, and Li Shuaixi all focused their gazes on Ren Arakawa's face, eagerly wanting to hear him hand the armor over to one of them.
However, in the end, Ren Arakawa's gaze fell on Chu Xuan.
"It's not that I'm being biased by giving him both the Green Goblin Glider and the Onimusha Armor. It's because he's such an important strategist in the team, yet he has no enhancements or combat abilities. If he were to die, it would be too great a blow to us."
The five who had witnessed Chu Xuan's calculations could not object.
Even if they didn't want to admit it, Team China's current four-point advantage was indeed Chu Xuan's secondary contribution.
And the primary contribution?
Naturally, it was Ren Arakawa, who had eliminated a key member of the East Sea Team.
But Chu Xuan only glanced at the Onimusha Armor before turning his gaze to Zhao Yingkong.
"You try it on. See if it fits and if it hinders your movements. While we still have time, if it doesn't fit, we can adjust the metal plates."
Everyone except Ren Arakawa was surprised that Chu Xuan would choose to give such a precious item to the silent Zhao Yingkong. This was completely inconsistent with their perception of him.
Ren Arakawa, of course, understood.
Among those present, besides himself, Zhao Yingkong had the strongest combat power.
After enhancing her defensive capabilities, she could also be used by Chu Xuan as a valuable chess piece.
Plate a pawn with iron, and doesn't it become a general?
Zhao Yingkong walked over expressionlessly and began to put on the Onimusha Armor in front of everyone.
At first, it didn't fit well.
Amazingly, after she had completely put on the armor, it miraculously began to shrink on its own until it fit snugly against her body.
Chu Xuan's eyes lit up. This was another technological achievement he had envisioned and wanted to realize!
Mysticism plus science—did it have potential?
As long as it was effective, that was all that mattered!
After getting Zhao Yingkong situated, Chu Xuan finally pulled out his small notebook.
Ren Arakawa patiently waited for Chu Xuan to think. The faces of the others were etched with anxiety.
Only Zhao Yingkong was a bit better, but there was still something hidden in her heart, preventing her from facing this terrifying cycle of reincarnation like a true powerhouse.
After a long time, Chu Xuan reached a conclusion.
"Three hours from now, if we haven't been attacked, we can start investigating the case!"
Zhang Jie, who had fully recovered, unwrapped his bandages while asking, "So we won't be attacked while we're investigating?"
Chu Xuan shook his head. "In my opinion, the North Arctic Team won't attack, at least not before the mission progress reaches sixty percent."
Zheng Zha hurriedly asked, "What about the East Sea Team?"
Chu Xuan said with confidence, "If the East Sea Team obstructs us, then the North Arctic Team will join us in defeating them."
Zheng Zha was dumbfounded. "How are you so confident?"
Chu Xuan smiled. "Because the North Arctic Team has someone who could be called 'The Sage,' whose intelligence approaches the peak of what is humanly possible. He will certainly be able to figure this out."
Thinking made Zheng Zha's head ache. Swayed by Chu Xuan's earlier words about the gladiatorial arena, he began to walk down the path of a great ape.
Just act, don't think. Follow all of Chu Xuan's commands.
After Chu Xuan had finished assigning everyone their respective roles, Ren Arakawa pulled him into the corridor.
"After we return this time, if I give you some high-tech blueprints from the Marvel world, are you confident you can build some of these things quickly?"
Chu Xuan lightly pushed up his glasses. "Soft sci-fi requires spending extra reward points to exchange for the necessary materials. If those are available, then yes, it can be done."
"Then how confident are you that you can build Iron Man's Mark 3 suit?"
Chu Xuan thought for a moment. "Without seeing this 'Main God' you speak of, I'd say less than ten percent."
Ren Arakawa gave a thumbs-up. "Then that means one hundred percent!"
(end of chapter)