AAMH: Chapter 41

"The official statement about the incident that happened at Stark Industries last night has been sent to all of you,"

"Eyewitnesses say that a robot malfunction caused the accident and damaged the arc-oscillating reactor,"

"Fortunately, Mr. Stark's personal bodyguard…"

Looking at the TV screen, where Rhodey was standing on the podium at the press conference, reading the official statement from his script, Yuma thought for a moment and dialed Tony's number.

"Tony, how do you feel?" Yuma asked with a smile after the call connected.

"What feeling are you referring to?" Tony sat in his chair, replying while waiting for Pepper to put on his makeup.

"Of course, it's the feeling of being a hero," Yuma laughed. "Did you see the newspaper? Everyone wants to know who Iron Man is."

"It's not me, anyway," Tony shrugged. "Pepper and I were on vacation at Avalon Island."

"Yeah, you went by yacht, right?" Yuma laughed. "Did Obadiah Stane also have an accident on a small plane?"

"You even know that?" Tony was surprised, then exclaimed. "You're amazing! If you hadn't reminded me before, it would have been Stane announcing my accident on stage."

"Don't you think it's a little fake, Tony?" Yuma didn't answer Tony's question, but asked seriously. "Robot bodyguard, yacht, plane crash, I don't think anyone would believe it. After all, many people saw it."

"So, what do you mean?" Tony asked, looking at Rhodey and the reporters on the TV screen.

"What I mean doesn't matter," Yuma said seriously. "What you mean is important!"

"Help me out before you go on stage. Send me Phil Coulson's contact information. I need to talk to him."

Yuma had called Natasha before, but she had been sent on another mission and couldn't be contacted.

Yuma had no choice but to call Coulson. After all, he only knew a few agents in S.H.I.E.L.D.

After hanging up the phone, Tony looked in the mirror and adjusted his tie. Thinking about Yuma's words, he said to Pepper, "Actually, the name Iron Man is pretty good. I didn't even think of such a good name myself."

"You're not Iron Man," Pepper said, putting on Tony's coat. "You're not. Remember to say what's in the script when you go on stage. This will all be over soon."

"Alright, I will." Tony raised his hands in surrender, then walked towards the stage.

"It's been a long time since I've seen everyone. I think I'll just read from the script this time," Tony said casually to the audience when he got on stage. Then he looked at the script in his hand. "I know some people suspect that I was involved in the fight on the highway and rooftop last night…"

…

"What I want to say is that I'm not cut out to be a superhero. I have a lot of character flaws. I've made a lot of mistakes. There are many things you all know…"

"Read from the script." Rhodey stood beside Tony, gritting his teeth and whispering softly into Tony's ear when he realized Tony was going off-script.

"Okay, okay," Tony nodded, then glanced at the script, looked at the reporters in the audience, took a deep breath, and said, "Actually, the truth is…"

"I am Iron Man!"

…

"That's great! Too bad it didn't take me back this time."

Yuma watched Tony on stage, who had said the classic line and was smiling. He raised his hand and turned off the TV.

…

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuma," Coulson said politely, shaking Yuma's hand in the Surprise Handicraft Shop. "The person who could easily kill Abomination, you truly deserve the title of Death."

"You're too kind," Yuma laughed, his back teeth showing. He shook the other side's hand vigorously. "I've admired the famous S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 8 Agent Coulson for a long time!"

Screw you, Joker! Finally, someone admits that I'm Death!

Yuma was so excited that he almost cried. It was so hard!

I almost became Joker. This time, I've been recognized by S.H.I.E.L.D. From now on, when I go out to walk around Marvel, everyone will know that I'm called Death.

"Is there something you need me for this time?" Coulson sat down and asked after they finished their mutual flattery.

"Well, I think you know the agreement I signed with S.H.I.E.L.D.," Yuma said slowly. "I need your help this time. I need all the information about Kingpin."

"Of course. In exchange, I'll also help you with something. As long as I can do it."

"You're going to deal with Kingpin?" Coulson asked.

"That's right," Yuma nodded. "I think you know that Kingpin has been doing experiments, trying to mass-produce Abominations."

"His experiments are progressing rapidly. Over a hundred smaller Abominations appeared in Afghanistan last time. They're very close to Abomination in all aspects."

"I believe it won't be long before he succeeds. It'll be difficult to deal with him then."

"Actually, even if you hadn't come to me this time, we would have come to you soon," Coulson pondered for a moment and said. "We suspect that Kingpin has already completed the experiment, or that he has successfully created a new Abomination."

"Be more specific." Yuma said seriously. This wasn't good news.

I wanted to farm souls by killing the smaller Abominations, but I didn't want to face Abomination. I don't have any new Character Experience Cards now.

"We discovered the existence of the smaller Abominations before Afghanistan. We've been investigating this matter," Coulson organized his words. "Through our investigation, we found several of Kingpin's labs. There were many abandoned smaller Abomination corpses inside."

"After research and analysis, we speculate that Kingpin might be using an ancient Asian method to cultivate new Abominations."

A Asian method?

Yuma was puzzled. How the hell does this relate to China?

Seeing Yuma's puzzled expression, Coulson explained, "We've checked. That method is called 'raising gu'. It's basically putting all the smaller Abominations together and letting them fight each other. The strongest one will devour the abilities of the other smaller Abominations."

"Then, it's repeated like this until the strongest one becomes the new Abomination."

"Is it that magical?" Yuma was dumbfounded. It was like listening to a story.

Kingpin couldn't make a breakthrough in technology, so he started to rely on metaphysics?

Yuma knew about raising gu, but he had never heard of raising "Abominations."

From what Coulson said, the other side had succeeded? That's awesome!

…

"The bureau just sent a message. They've found another one of Kingpin's labs," Coulson looked at his communicator and said to Yuma. "This is the fifth lab. Do you want to go check it out?"

"Okay," Yuma agreed. Then he asked, "You've found so many labs. Haven't you caught any of their core personnel?"

"No," Coulson shook his head. "To be precise, these labs were abandoned by the other side. They deliberately left them for us."

"The experimental progress of each new lab is much faster than the last. So, we suspect that his experiment is close to success."

"Alright." Yuma sighed, speechless.

I guess we'll encounter the new Abomination directly at the next lab?

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