Chapter 71
Luke asked Ross to scan the area and confirmed that the ones falling from the sky were all ordinary steel soldiers.
Whiplash hadn't arrived yet.
It was clear that he was controlling the Iron Soldiers remotely while speaking through them.
What Whiplash said answered Luke's earlier doubts.
Why were there only about thirty Iron Soldiers in the movie, but now the number had at least doubled?
This had to be the butterfly effect.
His appearance in Monaco last time—knocking Whiplash out with a single punch—must have prompted him to prepare more Iron Soldiers in advance this time. That obviously included countermeasures for him.
Realizing this, Luke snorted in disdain.
Whiplash was just a minor villain in Iron Man 2's storyline. Luke didn't take him seriously at all.
His journey was far beyond this.
"I'm a man preparing to face Thanos head-on! And you're threatening me?"
Luke lounged in the cockpit of his mecha, rubbing his hands together, contemplating the best way to teach Whiplash a lesson.
Meanwhile, War Machine—now free from external control—was back in Rhodey's hands.
Standing back-to-back with Tony, Rhodey kept his guard up, watching the numerous Iron Soldiers surrounding them.
"Is that your friend?" Rhodey asked, referring to Luke.
"I don't know him," Tony denied flatly.
"He's the Apostle? Why is he so much bigger than last time?"
"If you're curious, go ask him yourself." Tony snorted. "But be careful—he's a cheat."
"Cheat?"
"This guy has no bottom line, loves to pull pranks, and is an expert at screwing people over for his own amusement," Tony stated bluntly.
"You still claim you don't know him?"
"I don't know him."
Rhodey sighed. "Looks like it's gonna be a hell of a fight."
Tony remained silent.
His mind was still on the Apostle's massive mech.
More specifically, he was wondering what kind of weapons it had.
And even more confusing—the powerful energy blast from earlier.
Where the hell had that come from?
At the time, Tony had been too busy dealing with enemies to notice the source of the flash of dazzling light on the ground.
Jarvis' emergency alert had been triggered by the energy wave's sheer intensity.
If Tony hadn't witnessed it himself, he would've assumed it could only be fired by the main electromagnetic cannon of a navy destroyer.
But the Apostle obviously wasn't carrying a weapon of that caliber.
As Tony was lost in thought, the Iron Soldiers suddenly opened fire and charged forward.
More than thirty of them split into two groups—most of them targeting Tony and Rhodey, while the rest swarmed Luke.
The wetland park instantly erupted into chaos.
Gunfire and explosions filled the air.
Fiery blasts from the destruction of Iron Soldiers painted the battlefield with dazzling light.
The palm pulse cannon of the Mark VI fired repeatedly, wiping out waves of Iron Soldiers with each shot.
War Machine, on the other hand, was a walking arsenal.
His six-barreled Gatling gun and heavy-caliber weapons tore through enemies like an assault team.
Coupled with his tank-like armor, Rhodey was an indomitable force—not suited for precision attacks against stronger enemies, but more than enough to deal with these minions.
The two quickly engaged the Iron Soldiers in fierce combat.
Then, Luke made his move.
And in doing so, he showed Tony and Rhodey what it truly meant to play by his own rules.
Under their puzzled gazes, the 6-meter-tall War Lord stomped forward with heavy boom boom steps, heading straight for the Iron Soldier that had spoken earlier.
Luke's voice, distorted through the mech's speakers, rang out.
"You're threatening me? Come out! Stop hiding and bring your electric whips! Fight me head-on!"
Without a word, the Iron Soldier fired two Ex-Wife missiles at Luke from its shoulder-mounted launcher.
Luke's massive War Lord suddenly displayed an unexpected level of agility.
He dodged sideways, letting one missile fly past him and explode behind, turning a tree into splinters.
The second missile followed immediately.
Luke swatted it aside with a powerful slap.
The deflected missile crashed into the ground a short distance away and detonated with a thunderous blast.
Ignoring the barrage of gunfire from the surrounding Iron Soldiers, the War Lord reached the one that had spoken.
Standing in front of it, the War Lord towered over the Iron Soldier.
The size difference was ridiculous.
Then, Luke reached out and grabbed the Iron Soldier, lifting it into the air.
He shook it up and down violently.
Through the mech's speakers, Luke's amused voice echoed:
"Pikachu? Is that you, Pikachu?"
After shaking it a few more times, Luke slammed the Iron Soldier onto the ground, stepped on it, and deployed his mecha's giant sword.
Tony's eyes widened as he watched Luke pull out a 6.5-meter-long mecha greatsword from somewhere.
The Apostle actually carried a sword that big?
Where the hell had he been hiding that thing?
Tony couldn't make sense of it.
"Is that the main weapon of the Apostle's mech? A giant sword?"
While gunning down enemies, Tony rolled his eyes. "What kind of ridiculous idea is that?"
He and his father, Howard, were pioneers of cutting-edge technology. They always sought to be ahead of others. If others had advanced tech, they made sure theirs was better.
People like them simply couldn't comprehend why someone with access to powerful firearms would choose to wield a sword.
But Luke didn't care about logic.
The War Lord raised the enormous blade high—
And brought it crashing down.
Not with a slash.
Not with a stab.
But with a smack.
"SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!"
The enormous steel soldier was flattened under the sheer force of the impact, crushed into a pile of scrap metal in mere seconds.
Luke picked up the wreckage and examined it.
Through the mech's speakers, his voice rang out again.
"Pikachu? What's wrong, Pikachu?"
After a few seconds, he tossed the ruined Iron Soldier aside like garbage.
The War Lord then stood over the wreckage, legs spread, back straight.
Suddenly—
A jet of fire erupted from under the mech's crotch.
A surge of blazing liquid gushed forth.
M-3 flamethrower!
In mere seconds, the Iron Soldier's remains were charred beyond recognition, reduced to an unidentifiable black husk.
Luke kept the fire going.
And he kept talking.
"Pikachu? Are you still talking, Pikachu?"
The remaining Iron Soldiers—previously focused on Tony and Rhodey—abruptly turned their guns toward Luke.
Ross raised a virtual tentacle inside the cockpit. "That was pretty good. I'll give you a B for that one."
Luke chuckled. "Damn, I never realized how exhausting it is to be a menace. I still have a long way to go. Maybe I should find someone to mentor me in the art of being a little shit."
Finally, the fire jet from his crotch ceased.
Luke bent down, picked up the charred remains of the Iron Soldier, and spun it around a few times—like a hammer-throw athlete.
Then, with all his might, he hurled it at the other Iron Soldiers.
"It's decided!" Luke declared dramatically.
"GO, PIKACHU!"
(TL: Whiplash is a villain from Iron Man 2, whose real name is Ivan Vanko. He's a Russian physicist and engineer who seeks revenge on Tony Stark, believing that the Stark family stole technology from his father, Anton Vanko)
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