Chapter 73

Luke and the other two raised their heads and looked at the slightly gloomy sky.

A streak of light flashed in the dark clouds. An instant later, a black iron-colored steel soldier landed on the ground with a bang!

The Iron Soldier's mask actually opened upwards, revealing a familiar face.

Whiplash—Ivan Vanko.

Strictly speaking, this was no longer just an Iron Soldier. It was a true iron suit.

A bright arc reactor gleamed on the chest of this black iron-colored battle suit.

The overall design was much taller and bulkier than Tony's Mark VI, covered in heavy armor that embodied the rugged, industrial style of the Russian war machine.

"It's good to be back," Ivan Vanko said as his mask lifted.

A hint of mockery played on his face. He glanced at the three people before him with a smirk, but his eyes remained cold.

Tony and Rhodey stood side by side, and behind them loomed the massive frame of Luke's mech.

Rhodey lowered his voice. "The situation doesn't look good."

Tony, clad in his Iron Man suit, was equally serious.

At that moment, Ivan Vanko crossed his hands and forcefully slammed them toward the ground. Two thick electric whips crackled to life—one in each hand—surging with intense blue-white electricity.

The Ark Reactor in this upgraded suit had undergone a second improvement, now with vastly increased energy output. The power of the electric whips was clearly far beyond what Vanko had wielded in Monaco.

Ivan Vanko stared them down, his stance issuing a silent challenge.

Rhodey took a step forward.

"I'm going to use a special weapon against him. Let me handle this with the 'Ex-Wife'."

"...With what?"

Tony was momentarily confused. "Your ex-wife?"

A missile launcher rose from War Machine Rhodey's shoulder, revealing a small missile locked inside.

It was Hammer Military's prized weapon—nicknamed the "Ex-Wife" missile.

His suit had been completely overhauled by Hammer Military, and every weapon mounted on his armor came from them.

Justin Hammer had once hyped up this missile as his greatest creation, describing it as a premium cigar with a hint of gunpowder.

Tony had never seen the Ex-Wife missile before, so he had no idea what to expect.

But Luke did.

He knew exactly what was coming next—and it wasn't pretty.

Rhodey fired the Ex-Wife missile. With a sharp whoosh, the projectile shot toward Ivan Vanko, closing the ten-meter gap in an instant.

Strangely, Vanko didn't even attempt to dodge.

He didn't even bother closing the mask on his suit. Instead, he just smirked mockingly, watching the missile approach him.

The Ex-Wife missile hit him square in the chest.

Ding-dong.

A crisp metallic clink echoed through the air.

Then, the missile dropped limply to the ground.

It skidded across the pavement with a pathetic hissing sound, fizzling out like a firecracker doused in water.

And then… nothing.

Rhodey silently retracted his missile launcher.

"Hammer's weapon?" Tony asked, his tone dripping with disbelief.

"Yeah..." Rhodey sighed, feeling utterly embarrassed.

"Let me handle this."

Tony stepped forward, but before he could do anything, Luke coughed lightly behind them.

In the original storyline, Tony and Rhodey had struggled to take down Whiplash together. Luke could have just stood back and watched, but that wouldn't serve his interests.

Right now, his mission score had only reached a B-level ranking—barely enough to earn a purple-tier weapon. That was unacceptable.

Luke's target was at least an S-level score.

The War Lord took a step forward. Luke's voice echoed through his mech's speakers as he addressed Ivan Vanko.

"You made it, comrade."

"Hmph. Apostle?"

Vanko sneered, his eyes darkening. "You weren't part of my original plan. But now that you're standing beside Stark, that makes you my enemy. And soon, the whole world will witness the fall of the Apostle."

Luke felt a strange sense of amusement.

This guy really had a grudge.

Too bad for him—he picked the wrong opponent.

"I think you misunderstand," Luke said calmly. "Do you actually believe that defeating Stark—or even me—will somehow ruin our reputations? That it will restore the honor of your Vanko family? Is that what you think?"

Vanko remained silent, but his cold snort was answer enough.

"Then you couldn't be more wrong," Luke continued, his tone laced with disdain. "You don't understand what a superhero is. A superhero is a spirit. Even if you knock them down, they rise again. And every time they fall, their spirit spreads further, taking root in the hearts of the people.

"You, on the other hand, are just a villain. And no one remembers villains. When history looks back, you won't be Ivan Vanko—you'll just be a faceless criminal, a footnote. A nobody."

Tony's expression shifted as he listened.

He hadn't expected Luke to defend him so openly.

Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko's face contorted into something far less friendly.

The truth hit harder than any punch.

From the very start, his vendetta against Stark had been driven by blind rage. His father had died in obscurity, crushed by the weight of the Stark name.

His so-called revenge had never been anything more than an outlet for his own pain.

And now, Luke had ripped away his self-righteous delusions in an instant.

Vanko gritted his teeth.

He didn't know how the Apostle understood him so well.

But now, all that mattered was that he had found a real target for his anger.

"RAAHH!!"

Unlike the original timeline, Vanko didn't go for Tony or Rhodey this time.

He lunged at Luke first.

With a furious roar, he lashed out with his electric whip, aiming straight for the War Lord.

Luke grinned inside his cockpit.

This was exactly what he wanted.

In the movie, Whiplash's most powerful move had been wrapping Iron Man in his electric whips, then overloading the Ark Reactor to disrupt the suit's systems.

Even though Tony had reinforced his armor against electricity, there were still limits to how much voltage his suit could handle.

And right now, Vanko's electric whip had just coiled around the War Lord's massive arm.

Powerful electric currents surged through the whip, crackling violently.

Since the War Lord was too massive, Vanko could only ensnare its arm.

But for Luke, that was more than enough.

"I think I'm under attack," Luke mused with a smirk.

Vanko hesitated slightly, sensing something was off.

Then—

A deafening crack of thunder split the air.

A bolt of lightning, thick as an arm, crashed down from the stormy sky—striking Ivan Vanko directly on the head.

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