137: So That's What Happened?

Tony hovered in the air.

"Jarvis, activate the energy conversion system. I want to use the Ten Rings!"

In his newly upgraded fungal armor, Tony had integrated the Jarvis system as well.

He had implanted a chip into the back of his neck, allowing Jarvis to assist in controlling the energy within his body through the chip.

This was the Mark 7.

Building upon that, he incorporated the Ten Rings.

By channeling the energy of the Ten Rings, it replaced the need for an enormous external power source, enabling the rapid proliferation of the fungus into a fully functional humanoid armor.

This resulted in the Mark 8.

While Lyon had been away at Kamar-Taj for over a month, Tony hadn't been idle.

Now, he could construct and deploy the Mark 8, his massive fungal armor, anytime and anywhere.

"All set, sir. I have opened all energy pathways for you," Jarvis's voice transmitted directly into Tony's nervous system.

"Excellent. Let's give this green baby a little lesson from the world of adults!"

Beneath the armor, the ten rings on Tony's wrists lit up with an orange glow.

The rings flew out one by one, constructing a rough outline in the air while surging with orange energy. 

The Ten Rings exhibit different forms depending on their wielder, and for Tony, the orange hue symbolized his intellect. 

As the orange energy poured in, Tony's armor rapidly expanded, growing to over ten meters tall in the blink of an eye. 

The ten rings were integrated into the joints of the massive armor, perfectly embedded in key connection points. 

Now, the perspective between Tony and Hulk had flipped. 

Tony had become the giant, while Hulk was now the "small one." 

"Green baby, don't you think your voice was a little loud just now?" 

Controlling the massive armor, Tony grasped Hulk with his right hand, holding the green "little guy" who was struggling fiercely yet unable to break free. 

"ROAR!!"

Hulk roared furiously, but the enormous armor's hand held him firmly in place, leaving him unable to move. 

"You're still roaring at me?" 

Tony paused, then extended the index finger of the armor's left hand—a finger several dozen centimeters thick—and tapped Hulk's "small" head lightly. 

"Try roaring again?"

"ROAR!"

"Still roaring?!"

Tony couldn't help but repeatedly tap Hulk's head with his massive index finger. Each tap carried dozens of tons of force, pushing Hulk's head back with every impact.

"Still roaring, still roaring? Let's see how much more you can roar!"

In Tony's view, this wouldn't hurt Hulk but would serve as a valuable lesson.

However, with each push, Hulk's eyes grew redder, and his roars became even louder.

After a full minute of this, Hulk's entire body swelled with rippling muscles.

With an enraged, thunderous roar, he forcefully pried open the massive armor's hand that had been gripping him!

"ROAR!!"

"This can't be possible?!" Tony exclaimed in disbelief, trying to control the giant hand to clamp shut, but Hulk relentlessly pushed it wider and wider.

Finally, Hulk leaped out of the armor's grasp.

Landing on the ground, he wrapped both arms around the armor's massive ankle.

With a furious roar, Hulk lifted the colossal ten-meter-tall suit off the ground!

Gripping the enormous ankle, Hulk swung the massive armor sideways and slammed it into the buildings lining the street.

Boom!

With Tony's panicked shout, the massive armor crashed into a shopping mall, leaving rubble and chaos in its wake.

Fortunately, the people in the mall had already been evacuated by the MIB a few minutes earlier.

This crash didn't result in any casualties.

However, the black-clad agents, still busy evacuating the remaining civilians, collectively smacked their foreheads.

"I knew the boss's brother wasn't reliable!" Yelena groaned, exasperated. "Without him, the big green guy would already be asleep."

Natasha shook her head. "That creature is getting stronger. Let's leave this to Stark for now—we need to focus on getting all the civilians out of this district!"

The agents wasted no time, either carrying people or hauling cars with passengers out of the area as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the battle between Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk officially began.

Tony emerged from the mall's rubble, launching himself into the air, and descended with a heavy punch aimed at Hulk.

Hulk refused to back down, meeting Tony's strike head-on with a punch of his own.

Boom!

The colossal shockwave and force of impact shattered the glass of nearby buildings.

Countless shards of glass rained down in the midday sunlight, reflecting the figures of the two combatants locked in battle.

In their initial clash, Hulk was overpowered by Tony and smashed directly into the ground.

But the more Hulk fought, the stronger he became. His strength increased, and his speed grew faster with each passing second. 

One moment, Tony was lifting Hulk and slamming him repeatedly. 

The next moment, Hulk pulled Iron Man down, leaped onto Tony's face, and unleashed a flurry of wild punches. 

As the battle raged on, more than half the street was destroyed. 

Military jets circled in the sky above, recording the chaos, but they didn't dare intervene in the madness unfolding below. 

Gradually, Hulk began to gain the upper hand. 

In a final show of dominance, he lifted the entire Iron Man suit over his head and hurled it far away. 

The suit crashed into a cluster of buildings, leaving Tony covered in dust and debris. 

Seeing his opponent defeated, Hulk grinned triumphantly, pounded his chest, and let out a victorious roar toward the sky. 

ROAR!

"HULK!! WIN!!" 

Winning a battle like this, where fists clashed and the fight was evenly matched, brought Hulk an indescribable sense of satisfaction. 

But fate always had its surprises. 

"...Mordo, call me when you're ready!" 

A sudden voice behind Hulk startled him, making him instinctively swing a powerful punch in that direction. 

And then, there was nothing more.

…

Lyon glanced at the peacefully sleeping Banner beside him. "So, if I hadn't returned in time, you would've caused even more trouble, right?" 

Everything that had just happened was relayed to him by Natasha, who stood nearby. 

If Tony had been the one explaining, the story would've surely turned into a tale of Iron Man saving the day at the last moment. 

"What are you even saying!" Tony retorted, visibly flustered. 

"I didn't even push the efficiency of the Ten Rings to its maximum yet. The armor could've kept getting stronger!" 

"If you'd been even a little later, what you would've seen was the big guy lying under my feet!" 

Tony emphasized this point twice. "How could I possibly lose? Watch your words!" 

As he spoke, Tony rotated the arc reactor on his chest. 

In the next moment, all the armor's energy began to flow back into the Ten Rings. 

The massive, ten-meter-tall armor quickly turned white, became brittle, and ultimately shattered into a pile of carbonized fragments. 

Tony landed gracefully on the ground, his composure intact. 

The Ten Rings, having absorbed all the energy, returned to his arms, fitting themselves back into place. 

He probably, maybe, truly hadn't gone all out yet.

"Looks like you've definitely improved. Fine, let's just assume you won that fight," Lyon said, though the facts suggested otherwise.

"But what about the buildings you destroyed during the battle? Are you planning to flatten all the residential areas here?" Lyon gestured at the surrounding collapsed structures.

Tony looked at the wrecked buildings and fell silent. "Those buildings…"

Lyon clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Next time you want to show off a new suit, it's best to pick an empty area with no people around."

"Otherwise, there's not much difference between you, the superhero, and a supervillain… Hmm? Is that Coulson over there?"

Lyon glanced toward the corner of the street, spotting Coulson in his suit, negotiating with the military personnel.

Tony blinked. "You know him? Fury had a few capable agents released from detention, and I rehired them into the Avengers. They're efficient and reliable."

"I've dealt with him before. He's a good guy. But I'm surprised you'd compliment someone. That doesn't sound like the Tony I know," Lyon said, a bit surprised.

"What do you take me for?" Tony's mouth twitched. "A dark sorcerer hiding in the shadows, cursing people all day?"

"Honestly, that's pretty close," Lyon quipped.

"No! You're the sorcerer now. I just saw it earlier—you opened a golden door and walked right through! What was that? Some kind of Hell Gate or something?" 

"Yeah, yeah, and behind it is the Hell I prepared just for you…" 

Whenever these two got together, even after a long time apart, they couldn't resist trading jabs at each other. 

As they continued their banter, spouting nonsense about everything under the sun, a beautiful woman with an air of quiet elegance pushed through the crowd at the other end of the street, tears streaming down her face. 

"Bruce!" she cried, running straight toward Dr. Banner. 

___________

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