Tony Stark naturally didn't believe such nonsense; he had always been a staunch believer in science above all else.
Therefore, in his view, even if demons truly existed in this world, they would most likely be some kind of unknown alien species.
Just like the sensational battle that occurred on the streets of [New York] not long ago.
It was said that the monsters killed by the [Thunder Warriors] were the legendary "demons."
If it really was that kind of thing, Tony Stark was confident that he could kill quite a few of them while wearing his armor.
Subsequently, he opened the video file of the base director, Brigadier General Gerritt, being publicly executed by the leader of the [Ten Rings], the Mandarin, during a live television broadcast.
Although he had already watched it once several months ago when Colonel James Rhodes came to him for help.
But at that time, he was focused on building a new armor and didn't pay attention to such trivial matters, so he immediately forgot about it that day.
Fortunately, the video wasn't long, only a little over two minutes...
The beginning was all that clichéd drama of a Middle Eastern-looking terrorist using hostages to threaten President Matthew Ellis into compromising.
Tony Stark had no interest in this, so he fast-forwarded directly to the last part.
"WTF???"
When he saw the Mandarin actually turn his right hand into a crab claw-like mouth full of fangs, and then directly burn Brigadier General Gerritt into a pool of churning flesh, Tony Stark immediately felt a surge in his stomach, almost vomiting out the breakfast he had eaten this morning.
Wait a minute, is this magic?
Or a "super-powered junkie" created by [Compound Five]?
Just then, [Jarvis]'s voice sounded again, "Sir, according to data reconstruction, the heat released in yesterday's explosion exceeded three thousand degrees Celsius, and any living thing within ten meters would be directly vaporized in the explosion."
Hearing this, Tony Stark quickly focused his attention on the virtual imaging, looked at the location where Happy Hogan fell, and frowned as he asked:
"Were there any fragments of bombs or gunpowder residue found within a five-kilometer radius of the theater?"
"No, sir... but after marking the thermal signals at the scene and using three thousand degrees as a screening condition to filter for heat changes that meet the criteria in the entire United States over the past six months, I retrieved a highly similar thermal signal."
As he spoke, the 3D holographic projection in front of Tony Stark changed, transforming into an "Electronic Sand Table of the Entire United States" about one square meter in size.
In the location of [Tennessee], a red temperature column symbolizing high temperature rose.
Tony Stark raised his hand and tapped it lightly, and a news item from a few days ago immediately popped up.
[According to local witnesses, a middle-aged man with a disability transformed into a lizard monster during a dispute with others while shopping, and then accidentally self-detonated during a police chase, ultimately resulting in the deaths of six police officers and injuries to twenty-two others...]
Σ(°△°|||)︴
WTF???
What the hell is going on with this world? Why does everything seem so abnormal?
I'm clearly investigating news related to the [Ten Rings], so how did it become associated with lizard monsters?
Tony Stark suddenly seemed to think of something, and immediately ordered: "[Jarvis], I remember there was a lizard man in [New York] before, right?"
"That's right, sir. Apart from this incident, there have been a total of two records of lizard men appearing so far. One occurred in [Hell's Kitchen] a few months ago. According to records in the [NYPD] and [.] databases, there seemed to have been a riot involving supernatural forces there. In the end, a street hero known as [Daredevil], and the [Hand] who colluded with him, were successfully defeated by a street hero named Spider-Woman and a lizard man;
The other occurred more than half a month ago, when another lizard man killed dozens of researchers inside the [Osborn Corporation] building, and then had a fierce conflict with the police officers who rushed to the scene, causing more than a dozen police officers to be seriously injured, and finally escaped successfully..."
"Damn it, it's like this again!"
Tony Stark rubbed his aching forehead and said impatiently:
"Enough, stop worrying about that damn Spider-Man, and continue to search for abnormal events that occurred in [Tennessee]... Also, close all these news items that are unrelated to the [Ten Rings]."
"Okay, sir, but it seems you have a visitor."
[Jarvis] immediately brought up a surveillance image from outside the villa.
In the picture, a young woman with shoulder-length curly hair was standing in front of the bulletproof glass curtain wall, gently tapping on it.
"What?!"
Tony Stark, whose train of thought was interrupted, roared in annoyance: "Can someone tell me why someone would come knocking at a time like this?"
"I think I just threatened the leader of a terrorist organization, shouldn't we be in a state of complete lockdown right now?"
"And... who is this woman?"
[Jarvis] responded in a very human-like manner: "Sir, after you publicly announced your home address in front of numerous news media outlets, I couldn't completely block the relevant information anymore."
"Also, I need to remind you that... there are at least four television helicopters tracking and filming in the airspace around your villa."
"Fu*k!!"
Tony Stark couldn't help but curse, and then, while entering the [Mark 43 Hunter Armor], he ordered: "Let her in."
Villa main entrance.
The explosion-proof glass door slowly opened under the control of the electric device, and a young woman with brown curly hair walked in with a curious expression.
"Who are you? Don't tell me you're the [Mandarin]?"
Tony Stark, wearing the [Mark 43 Hunter Armor], walked out of the basement, flipped open the faceplate, and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"As expected, you don't remember me!"
The curly-haired woman rolled her eyes and said with an awkward smile: "But I'm not at all surprised..."
Tony Stark interrupted with a blank expression: "Sorry, I'm not targeting you specifically, it's just that I can't even remember what I ate this morning."
"Okay."
The curly-haired woman nodded noncommittally, and the expression on her face gradually became serious, "Listen, don't worry, I'm not here to pester you... but there are some important things I need to talk to you about alone, but it's best not to be here."
"Uh..."
Now it was Tony Stark's turn to feel embarrassed. He had obviously misunderstood, and glanced upstairs with a guilty conscience.
"Normally, I wouldn't refuse a request from a beautiful woman, but right now I'm in a relationship, so... you understand."
"Tony!"
At this moment, Pepper Potts' voice suddenly came from upstairs, "Is there a guest?"
"That's right, it's Dr. Maya Hansen."
Tony Stark had already learned the other party's identity information from [Jarvis], and as if afraid that his girlfriend would guess wildly, he quickly said loudly:
"Just an old friend who I had some contact with in the past who does botany, but we're not really that familiar."
Then, before Pepper Potts came downstairs, he whispered to Maya Hansen: "Please, don't tell me there's a twelve-year-old child I've never met waiting in the car to meet me."
"No, it's thirteen!"
Seeing this playboy quickly disassociate himself from her, Maya Hansen said, both amused and annoyed:
"Okay, I wouldn't have a child for a irresponsible guy like you... Getting back to the point, I really need your help this time."
Tony Stark breathed a long sigh of relief after hearing that there were no illegitimate children outside, but then stared at the other party warily and asked: "Wait a minute, why now?"
"Of course, because I watched the news..."
Maya Hansen said without any concealment: "Given my understanding of those people, I don't think you'll last through this week."
"Those people? Are you talking about the [Ten Rings]?"
Just as Tony Stark was about to continue asking something, Pepper Potts had already walked down from upstairs, smiling at Maya Hansen like a hostess:
I'm really sorry, since Happy is in the hospital, we didn't expect any guests to visit at this time... and especially someone's ex-girlfriend.
Well, this opening is just peak passive-aggressive.
However, Maya Hansen was clearly not an easy person to deal with either. She glanced at Tony Stark and retorted lightly:
"No, I can't even be considered his girlfriend, after all, we only had a one-night stand at most."
I'm just saying she was his booty call, so what?
"Ah, this..."
Tony Stark immediately felt overwhelmed and could only shrug helplessly at Pepper Potts, "I just made a mistake that every man makes."
"Yes, that's what you're best at."
Pepper Potts smiled calmly, then turned to look at Maya Hansen and said: "Trust me, your choice was very wise, at least it saved you a basketful of trouble."
"Listen, I'm not here to argue with you..."
Maya Hansen was about to say something, but a piercing alarm suddenly sounded in the hall, "Sir, three unidentified armed helicopters have been detected, and they are locking onto your villa with missiles."
"Missiles have been launched, estimated to hit the villa in 9 seconds... 8, 7..."
"Have those bastards finally dared to show their faces? Honey, immediately take Dr. Hansen to a safe area outside the villa, and wait for me to deal with these intruders before coming back."
After a brief explanation, Tony Stark directly controlled the [Mark 43 Hunter Armor] to smash through the glass curtain wall on the opposite side and fly out.
Swish, swish, swish—
Dozens of miniature high-explosive missiles were launched from behind the armor, successfully intercepting the oncoming missiles in mid-air.
Rumble—
The [Mark 43 Hunter Armor] flew out of the smoke generated by the explosion, and then launched two more powerful miniature rockets from its arms, shooting down two armed helicopters on the periphery that were trying to continue attacking the villa.
Then, it went straight to the third helicopter that was trying to turn around and escape.
Zzz—
The laser weapon on the wrist successfully cut open the cabin door, and then looked at the bald man sitting in the co-pilot's seat and said: "Bastard, we're going to have a talk!"
However.
Just as he was preparing to knock the other party unconscious first, and then bring him back to the villa for interrogation, the bald man—that is, Aldrich Killian's deputy, Erik Savin, nicknamed [Coldblood]—suddenly sprayed a ball of flame from his mouth.
Caught off guard, Tony Stark was directly blown away, "Okay, since you're not prepared to talk to me nicely, then go talk to God over there."
[Jarvis] had just scanned the other party's facial features and successfully confirmed his identity.
But what surprised Tony Stark a little was that the other party was actually the deputy of [. (Advanced Idea Mechanics)] president Aldrich Killian.
And not long ago, the two had personally gone to [Stark Industries] to discuss investment matters with Pepper Potts.
It seems that this [. (Advanced Idea Mechanics)] is very likely to be the financial backer of the [Ten Rings].
With new and old grudges combined, Tony Stark immediately decided to kill his rival's henchman first, and then personally go to that self-righteous guy to settle the score!!
Swish—
Boom—
A miniature rocket accurately hit the armed helicopter that was trying to escape. Along with a loud explosion, the helicopter turned into a huge fireball and crashed straight into the sea below.
Just as Tony Stark was preparing to return to the villa, [Jarvis]'s voice rang out.
"Sir, I just detected a high signal in the seawater that highly matches the heat source signal from the explosion site. The other party is currently diving deeper."
As he spoke, it had already displayed a thermal imaging map in front of Tony Stark's eyes.
In the picture, a huge creature with a giant tail was continuing to swim in the water, and disappeared from the thermal imaging map a few seconds later.
"Wait a minute, did that bald guy turn into a lizard and escape?"
Tony Stark suddenly realized that perhaps the storm he was facing this time was far more dangerous than he had previously imagined.
Then he drove the [Mark 43 Hunter Armor] back to the villa.
At this time, Pepper Potts and Maya Hansen also cautiously walked in from the front door.
"Tony, thank goodness, I'm so glad you're okay."
Pepper Potts patted her chest with a look of relief, and was about to go over and give Tony Stark a big hug.
But who would have thought that the latter would directly ignore her in an unusual manner, walk straight to Maya Hansen, raise the palm cannon shining with dangerous light, aim it at her head, and coldly question:
"Who exactly are you?!
“Miss Maya Hansen, I'm afraid you'll have to give me a satisfactory reason today if you want to leave here alive...”
