Yes.
Auto-lock.
The Gauss sniper rifle paired with Jarvis's freakish intelligence was basically a cheat.
When War Machine delivered those armored drones, Jarvis quietly tagged them with simple locators—because Saitama had instructed him to.
Now—
Even if the drones flew faster, they were still beacons in the night sky under Jarvis's control.
Saitama hogged the gun like crazy.
He had tried ten shots earlier, but… didn't hit a single one.
So—
Why bother? Let the salted-fish life continue.
Just leave everything to smart Jarvis. At this point, the bald demon king was basically just a battery feeding energy to the Gauss sniper rifle!
Meanwhile, Director Fury rushed to the scene and, with Potts's help, captured Hammer.
Soon, Hammer confessed that everything might be Ivan Vanko's handiwork.
"Taking down Ivan Vanko counts as doing Stark and Saitama a favor."
That was Fury's thinking—also SHIELD's.
SHIELD needed new blood.
Both Stark and Saitama were top-tier talent.
But they were bound to be disappointed.
Because when Natasha stormed into Hammer Industries with her incredible skills—
Ivan Vanko was already gone.
"Stark's in trouble. First, let's reboot Rhodey's War Machine!"
Looking at the laptop Vanko hadn't taken, Fury gave the order.
But the moment Natasha entered the system interface, she froze.
It showed Rhodey's War Machine… offline?
And…
A massive list of red-offline drones left her and Fury stunned.
"What… what's going on? These drones—are they destroyed already?"
Fury stood speechless for a long moment before regaining his senses.
The number of red-offlines was skyrocketing!
"…Destroyed, most likely."
Saitama rolled his eyes slightly, pointing at a drone exploding high in the sky.
Empire State rooftop.
The salted fish was nearly dozing off.
"Ding! Congratulations, Saitama, for completing the Thousand Drone Kill! Mission complete. Mysterious reward granted—delivered after leaving this world!"
"Ding! New random mission issued: Evil Search detected. Please locate target."
"Oh? Finished already?"
Yawning, the salted fish woke up, stretching his sore back against the railing.
His stored absorbed energy was nearly depleted.
The Gauss sniper rifle's matte black barrel was faintly glowing red-hot.
"Glutton… where are you?"
Muttering to himself, Saitama scanned with the tactical scope.
But the enemy seemed to have countermeasures against Jarvis's tracking. Only a vague direction could be locked.
"Looks like I'll have to ask face to face."
Saitama wasn't thrilled. Just when he had turned into a long-range ADC, he had to go back to melee bruiser mode.
…
Outside Manhattan.
The ground was littered with drones.
All of them taken down by Stark and Rhodey together. Compared to the Gauss sniper rifle, their efficiency was pathetic.
"See, Rhodey? Told you—this number is Iron Man's kind of opponent."
Stark puffed out his chest proudly.
"That was Vanko! I helped too!"
Rhodey protested, sulking.
"You call all that junk hanging on you 'help'?"
Stark sneered.
"It's called style."
Rhodey shot back.
As the two whispered, a blinding blue beam streaked from the sky.
BOOM—
Explosions thundered down.
Blinding light flared.
"Ahh!!" Stark screamed as he was yanked backward.
A massive steel suit—three times his size—grabbed his neck in its right hand, tearing fiercely.
Ivan Vanko!
Catching them off guard, he stomped Rhodey to the ground.
The giant steel boot, as wide as his chest, slammed down, claws snapping out to pin him.
Sparks flew from the armor.
Red alerts flooded Rhodey's HUD: [Severe intrusion detected! Breach speed: extreme!]
"Been waiting for this, Stark… and this pathetic black colonel."
Vanko laughed maniacally.
His armor dwarfed Iron Man and War Machine.
Less agile, but monstrously powerful!
In his design, agility was worthless.
Raw output power—that was everything.
Rhodey gawked, unable to follow his words.
"This isn't my creation—it's yours!"
Stark gritted his teeth, struggling as his armor's defense dropped rapidly.
"Relax. I'll show you what a true badass looks like! Behold my secret weapon!"
Vanko's eyes gleamed.
Behind him, the massive suit's shoulder split open.
A small missile arm popped out.
"Remember this name! It'll become legend—Ex-Wife!"
Rhodey introduced it proudly, especially in front of arms tycoon Stark. The sense of accomplishment was unmatched.
Of course—
this was Hammer Industries' grand weapon, the $60 million Ex-Wife missile.
Buzz~~
Sparks flared.
The "Ex-Wife" locked on and slammed into Vanko's armor.
"Oh yeah!!"
Rhodey shouted in delight.
CLANG~~
Like a rock bouncing off a frying pan.
His grin froze.
The $60 million "Ex-Wife," said to obliterate fortresses, gods, and devils alike…
its warhead dented and stuck.
Yep.
Sixty million dollars lying flat.
"Hahahahahaha! That's your secret weapon? Are you kidding me?!"
Vanko, once wary, couldn't hold back anymore. He howled with laughter like a pig.
Then his face hardened.
Snarling, he hurled Stark aside.
From his left arm sprouted a vicious claw, plunging straight for Rhodey's head.
Titanium-alloy talons, energy-locked.
Enough to pierce even Mark armor.
Vanko could already picture it: the colonel's head bursting like a watermelon.
Rhodey's eyes widened in despair.
ZZZZT—
Blue filaments streaked past his face, slicing through.
(End of Chapter)
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