Chapter 97 Iron Man: I'm Back!
From a hundred meters away, the survivors of Task Force X watched.
On top of the rubble of Jotunheim, the towering starfish Starro—who stood as tall as a small mountain—was, in the blink of an eye, swallowed completely by the mysterious black cat-like being.
Bloodsport Robert, Ratcatcher II Cleo Cazo, Harley Quinn, and King Shark Nanaue all froze in shock.
Clearly, they had underestimated Xi Nian's three-in-one form.
But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, they saw another figure descend from the sky and enter the battlefield.
Although his armor was not the usual hot-rod red and gold, but instead painted platinum with lightning-like patterns, the metallic sheen, the cold gleam of his steel plating, and the dazzling white glow from the chest reactor and eye slits revealed his unmistakable identity—
Iron Man, Tony Stark!
The man who made his name with a mortal body and a heart of steel. The eternal god of New York!
"Another heavyweight has arrived," Robert muttered, taking in the scene with a deep breath.
"He's not here for us, is he?" Cleo asked nervously.
Harley let out a laugh and shrugged with mock self-deprecation. "Relax. We're not even worth his attention. He's definitely here for that cute little black kitty."
"Cute?" The others looked at her strangely.
"It's a pity it's just a cat. But hey, even if it's a cat—if there's love, it's enough, right?" Harley licked her dark red lips with a playful grin.
"Chomp, chomp…" Nanaue ground his teeth.
…
At the ruins of Jotunheim, the wreckage of concrete and steel piled like mountains.
"Perfect. You didn't leave. Otherwise, this Anti-Black Flash armor would've gone to waste."
Iron Man rose from his landing crouch, the platinum-and-lightning-patterned suit gleaming cold arcs under the blazing sun.
The black kitten-like Xi Nian gazed at him with hollow, pale eyes. The cyan glow in his pupils had already faded, replaced with a void-like emptiness.
Though still in control, the three-in-one form had lost more and more of its humanity and rational thought.
Xi Nian had found what he came here for—Starro. He should have left the island and returned to Washington. But confronted with Iron Man's provocation, how could his volatile three-in-one form possibly back down?
If you don't submit, then fight!
With no more words, Xi Nian's mouth twisted into a sinister grin. The ground beneath his paws cracked and collapsed.
His black feline body blurred like a streak of lightning, tearing through the air with explosive force as he lunged straight at Iron Man!
Inside the Anti-Black Flash armor, Tony Stark was confident—but not careless. He knew full well that a Black Flash wasn't easy to deal with. The moment Xi Nian moved, Tony's body and mind snapped to full tension.
"Jarvis, all engines—maximum output!"
"Yes, sir…"
Jarvis hadn't even finished speaking when the black lightning struck.
The kitten's razor claws slashed forward. At the last possible instant, jets roared to life—shoulders, arms, waist, legs, feet, palms. Every thruster on the suit ignited, blasting searing flames and hurling Iron Man skyward.
He narrowly dodged the cat's devastating strike.
Yes—
To deal with something that could casually break the sound barrier, Tony had redesigned his armor for extreme speed and burst acceleration. The Anti-Black Flash suit could maintain full-engine thrust for short periods.
Of course, the price was steep. Every second burned staggering amounts of power. Even the miniature arc reactor couldn't sustain it for more than ten minutes of combat.
Not to mention—the wear and tear was dozens of times higher than standard suits. The billion-dollar armor was essentially single-use, destined for the scrapyard after one battle.
This was true pay-to-win power.
"I can do this!"
Tony roared, swooping down from above. He drove a jet-powered punch toward the black cat.
But Xi Nian's tail whipped upward like a black whip, intercepting the blow. The armored punch slammed against the dark tail—and Iron Man was the one sent flying back.
"Just as I thought. I can match his speed, but strength… not even close."
Tony wasn't surprised. His punch was only a feint. The real attack was—
A hissing sound filled the air.
Panels opened along his armor's arms. A hidden device whirred to life, blasting out a thick cloud of white gas that engulfed the black cat instantly.
High-density tear gas!
The white mist spread rapidly, covering most of the ruins of Jotunheim. Task Force X, a hundred meters away, couldn't see anything through the haze.
But inside the smoke, Xi Nian was unbothered. Instead of holding his breath, he opened his mouth wide. The void within became a black hole, sucking in every wisp of the gas until nothing remained.
In barely two seconds, the cloud was nearly gone—
And then, above the field, twenty meters in the air, Iron Man raised both palms. The thrusters glowed, not with the usual blinding white beams, but two new streams: a continuous ice-blue laser and a fine spray of liquid.
A blast of freezing power rained down.
The temperature plummeted past zero instantly. Frost formed on Xi Nian's dark body and across the ground around him.
Cryogenic laser, liquid nitrogen!
Under the twin freezing assaults, the black cat was rapidly encased in solid ice. Even the ground within five meters was frozen solid.
Only after exhausting his entire payload, freezing ten full meters of battlefield in solid frost, did Iron Man stop.
Zero-degree freeze.
This was why the Anti-Black Flash armor abandoned standard lasers—its main weapons were specially designed to deal with small, high-durability super-beings like Xi Nian.
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