Chapter 75

Luke asked Ross to stop the power supply to Ivan Vanko's Arc Reactor.

Vengeance of Light would no longer be triggered.

In his battle suit, now charred by lightning, Ivan Vanko's eyes rolled back, foam dribbled from his mouth, and the muscles on his red face continued to twitch. But his eyes showed he had lost consciousness.

Ivan Vanko, the villain from Iron Man 2, was dead—for no apparent reason.

He had only managed to attack once before getting obliterated.

He didn't even get the chance to spit out his final defiant words from the movie, "Stark, you lose…"

Now, he wouldn't get to say anything at all.

At this moment, the man who had been so eager to make trouble was already on his way to meet Marx—with a heavy heart.

"Young man, I have to inform you that you have obtained my A-level assessment! Now, you can get one of my Brave Quality collections!" Ross announced.

But Luke just sneered. "Not enough!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already released the electric whip. The War Lord's eyes lit up, and suddenly, without warning, he punched Tony right in the chest!

Tony barely had time to react.

A loud BANG! echoed across the battlefield.

It felt like getting hit by a goddamn freight train. Tony was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing through a grove of trees before rolling to a stop.

For a second, everything was quiet.

Then Tony groaned and sat up, miraculously unharmed.

Luke had anticipated this punch, so he knew Tony would be fine.

As early as the Mark VI, Tony had incorporated vibranium into his suit.

But Tony had no idea how much Luke actually knew about his Iron Man suits.

Before his rebirth, Luke had been an Iron Man fan. Among all the Avengers, he had liked Tony the most—even his arrogant, conceited personality.

That was from the perspective of a fan.

Now, after dealing with him in person?

Luke had completely changed his mind.

Tony Stark was the kind of guy who drove men insane on the battlefield and women crazy in bed.

Tony flew back, putting some distance between himself and Luke. "What the hell was that for?!"

He had no idea why Luke had suddenly lost his damn mind.

Rhodey was also dumbfounded. Weren't they allies?

Before they could react, the six-meter-tall War Lord suddenly disappeared.

One moment, the towering mecha was right in front of them.

The next?

Gone.

"Trouble!" Luke's voice echoed from above.

And then, that weird, high-pitched sound effect played again.

"Ahhh! Iku—!"

"Invisibility tech?"

Inside the Iron Man suit, Tony's expression changed. This perfect invisibility reminded him of Luke's defensive force field.

He had to admit, the Apostle's tech was at least 5 to 10 years ahead of his.

…Okay, maybe more like 10 to 15 years.

Tony had seen optical invisibility before. He had even worked on it himself, and the technology was relatively mature.

But achieving this level of perfection in real combat?

That was another story.

"Jarvis, anything?"

"Sir, the target is invisible across all spectrums. Visible light, infrared—nothing. He cannot be scanned."

"What about thermal signatures?"

"Ineffective, sir."

Tony frowned. This was real advanced tech.

Meanwhile, Luke had completely given up on trying to befriend Tony.

In fact, Tony's favorability in his system was still sitting at a fat zero.

And Luke had no intention of fixing that.

There were plenty of other people to befriend in the Marvel universe.

Spider-Man? Already done. The kid was still learning new tricks.

And in the Avengers alone, there were still plenty of big names to farm favorability points from—Hulk, Thor, the Sorcerer Supreme…

Tony?

Nah.

Better to use him as a punching bag.

And speaking of which…

If Luke wanted to upgrade his rating from A-level to S-level, bullying Tony was probably his best bet.

When else would he get a chance like this?

Was he supposed to wait until the Battle of New York, when Tony lost his mind from anxiety and started mass-producing Iron Man suits like a madman?

In just a year, the guy would go from Mark 7 to Mark 42.

By comparison, from Iron Man 1 to Iron Man 2, including the Mark I he built in a cave, Tony had only created six new suits.

But then, after the Battle of New York, he developed an insane paranoia. He became convinced that something—or someone—was always coming for him.

So he locked himself in his lab and started cranking out armors like his life depended on it.

From Mark 7 to Mark 42 in just two and a half years.

And the difference in quality was insane.

By Iron Man 3, Tony had absorbed tons of alien tech from the Chitauri invasion. He was innovating at an insane pace.

And then?

After Iron Man 3, once he resolved his anxiety issues, he got lazy again.

Three whole years passed between Iron Man 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, and all he had to show for it was Mark 43—a barely upgraded Mark 42.

But then, after Ultron, he must have felt the heat again.

Because by the time Infinity War rolled around, Tony had finally hit his peak.

Mark 50—the Bleeding Edge armor.

A suit so advanced, so cutting-edge, that it was literally integrated into Tony's body.

It was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Thanos.

Sure, he lost in the end…

But damn, he put up one hell of a fight.

The Tony standing here today, though?

This was the weakest version of Iron Man in history.

Luke had seen Infinity War. He still remembered that iconic moment when Tony stood alone against Thanos.

And that was a Tony he wouldn't want to mess with.

But this Tony?

This was easy mode.

Right now, the Mark V was the thinnest Iron Man suit ever made.

Designed for portability, it had almost no heavy weaponry.

Back in Monaco, Luke had managed to match it using a makeshift air combat mech.

But now?

The G-0 War Lord absolutely outclassed the Mark VI in every way.

Heaven's Shock tech wasn't just for show.

Sure, Tony had vibranium now, but so what?

If Luke didn't bully him now, then when?

Was he supposed to wait until Tony upgraded to the Bleeding Edge armor?

Hell no.

That'd be way harder.

Right now, beating up Tony was like kicking a kid's sandcastle.

And Luke loved kicking sandcastles.

After Luke finished speaking, the War Lord fell completely silent.

The weird "Ahh, Ahhh" sound effect also stopped playing.

Suddenly—

Tony barely had time to react before a blast of invisible force slammed into him, sending him flying again.

Rhodey, watching from a distance, felt the cold sweat drip down his back.

His hands clenched nervously as he stared at the faint glint of light reflecting off Luke's massive mecha sword.

This is a fight between gods…

Maybe I should just… back away… real slow…

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