Tony's roar was filled with fear as he stared fixedly at Russell.
However, Mage Russell frowned deeply, his face showing a troubled expression for the first time. "I can't do it, Mr. Stark. I've never been to Monaco; I don't have precise spatial coordinates. For a transcontinental teleportation, I would need to expend immense mental energy for fuzzy positioning and constructing a coordinate system. This process..."
"How long?!" Tony interrupted him roughly. Inside his helmet's live feed, the figure wielding the electric whip was getting closer and closer to Pepper.
"I can't give you a definite answer," Russell's voice was filled with helplessness. "It could be a few minutes, or it could be dozens of minutes."
Dozens of minutes? Tony's heart sank to the depths.
Just as Tony was in despair, a calm voice sounded behind him.
"Tony," Lin Huai spoke slowly, "the tarot card I gave you before, do you still have it on you?"
The question made Tony jolt. He almost instinctively reached for his inner pocket. Ever since witnessing Lin Huai's near-miraculous communication with the deity, he had regarded this tarot card representing the [Hanged Man] and Pepper's [Lovers] card as the most important talismans. He and Pepper had always carried them with them.
"Yes! It's always been there!"
"That's enough." Lin Huai's tone carried a reassuring power. "Mage Russell, that card bears the blessing of my Lord, the 'Fool'. There exists a mystical connection between the cards, one that ordinary people cannot comprehend. You can use it as a beacon for coordinates to directly lock onto Miss Pepper's location!"
Upon hearing this, Tony immediately pulled out the exquisite [Hanged Man] card. The moment he took it out, a faint, tear-like glimmer silently seeped from the corner of the inverted man's eye on the card's surface.
At the same time, through the news live feed in his helmet, Tony clearly saw that in the chaotic scene in Monaco, Pepper was being pulled along by her bodyguards as she scrambled to dodge. Several times, the electric whip that tore through the air passed dangerously close to her body, but at the last possible moment, she would manage to avoid it due to a stumble or an instinctive dodge.
Russell didn't hesitate. He grabbed the [Hanged Man] card, closed his eyes tightly, and the Sling Ring on his finger erupted with a brilliant light. Orange-yellow sparks spun wildly, but the Portal remained unstable and refused to fully form. His entire body trembled slightly, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"Found it!" Russell's eyes snapped open, his voice hoarse from exhaustion. "Quickly! I can't hold on for long!"
Before his words faded, a Portal brighter than any before, yet extremely unstable, tore open violently before the three of them!
On the other side of the door was the F1 racetrack, engulfed in flames.
"Jarvis!"
"Sir, I'm here!"
Tony's figure, like a startled Hachimi, turned into a red-and-gold blur and instantly shot through the Portal.
The moment he disappeared, the Portal collapsed into a shower of sparks. Mage Russell's legs gave way, and he slid down to sit on the steps behind him, gasping for breath, his face deathly pale... On the Monaco racetrack, Ivan Vanko didn't pay attention to Pepper's successful dodges. He was reveling in the thrill of revenge.
But just as he was about to unleash his next whip strike, a burning ring of fire abruptly tore through space right in front of him!
Before Ivan could react, a red-and-gold figure burst out from the ring of fire like a frenzied Beast, pouncing on him and slamming him to the ground!
"Oh my God! It's Iron Man!"
"Where did he come from?! From a ring of fire?!"
"Look at the live feed! Is this the latest Stark technology? Spatial teleportation?!"
The surviving Spectators erupted in wild, ecstatic cheers as if delivered from disaster, and media cameras frantically focused on the figure who had descended from the sky.
"Boom—!"
The two metallic bodies collided heavily, tumbling over a dozen meters down the F1 track. Tony abandoned all ranged weapons, grappling with Ivan as they wrestled. He used his gauntlet to lock down Ivan's whip-wielding arm and drove his knee hard into Ivan's chest.
"Zzzap!" The electric whip fell uncontrolled to the ground, cutting a molten trench into the asphalt.
Ivan struggled frantically, throwing punches with his other hand against Tony's faceplate, producing dull thuds. But the crude reactor on his chest was completely outmatched in power output compared to Tony's new element arc reactor.
After several rounds of struggle, Tony seized an opportunity, using all his strength to twist one of Ivan's arms behind his back while aiming the Palm Repulsor of his other hand at the reactor on Ivan's chest.
"Hummm—" Accompanied by a low hum, a high-energy beam precisely severed the reactor's power lines. The electric whip on Ivan's body instantly died, and he went limp.
The fight was over.
Tony stood up, ripped off Ivan's mask, grabbed him by the collar, and hoisted him up, angrily demanding, "Who are you?! Why can you build an arc reactor?! What exactly do you want?!"
"Heh... Hahaha..." Ivan looked at him, a mad grin spreading across his face, and shrieked hysterically in heavily accented English, "The Starks are all thieves! Your father stole everything from my father! You're enjoying what should have been mine! And now you're questioning me? Kill me! Come on! Kill me!"
Tony was stunned by his words. Looking at this face twisted by hatred, his Fury was replaced by profound confusion.
Tony opened a communication channel. "Fury, you must have seen it. I caught the terrorist, in Monaco. He harbors immense hatred for me and possesses arc reactor technology. I want to know everything about him! Also, I don't trust the local Police. Figure out a way to extradite him back to the U.S."
After speaking, Tony threw Ivan to his Stark Industries security team, entrusting them with temporary custody until S.H.I.E.L.D. could take over.
Meanwhile, in the church in New York, Lin Huai hung up the phone.
"Alright, Tony's situation is handled. Black Brine Egg's people will be here soon to clean up," he said to Russell, who was still resting nearby.
Within minutes, orderly footsteps sounded outside the church. A tall, upright figure leading the charge, clad in a blue, white, and red uniform and carrying a star shield, strode straight towards Lin Huai.
"Consultant Lin," Captain America nodded to Lin Huai, his voice steady and reliable. "Leave the rest to us."
"Good. I'll leave this place to you. It'll be a while before Tony gets back from Morocco. Let's compile the information tomorrow and decide on the next steps?" Lin Huai waved a hand and, supporting Russell, left.