After Tony was thoroughly critiqued by Su Yi—the billionaire being informed he fought like a "tank-class idiot" who failed to utilize his Ranged Advantage (kiting)—he realized the problem was not just technological, but tactical. Tony, though wounded by the criticism, was too sharp to dismiss it entirely. He knew Su Yi was right; his arrogance had made him sloppy.
"Alright, alright, the tactical lessons are absorbed," Tony conceded, slipping on a fresh pair of sunglasses inside the hotel room. "But now, priorities. He has an Arc Reactor; I need to go ask him about it. I need to know who built it and how."
Su Yi didn't try to stop him, knowing that preventing Tony from confronting Ivan Vanko would only delay the inevitable plot progression.
"Go ahead," Su Yi said, pouring a glass of water for Pepper. "But remember his words. He has already succeeded in his true goal: making you vulnerable."
Tony, led by local law enforcement, soon departed. Su Yi, Pepper, and Happy were left waiting for Tony's return, the tension in the room thick enough to cut.
Pepper was visibly frayed. Her corporate armor, usually impenetrable, was beginning to crack. "Something like this actually happened," she murmured, pacing by the massive window overlooking the French Riviera. "Just recently, Tony guaranteed in front of congressmen that no one would possess the same technology within ten years."
She wrung her hands, the crisis extending far beyond Tony's personal safety. "And now, within days of that testimony, someone has publicly created a reactor capable of lethal, focused energy output.
This isn't just bad for Tony; it's a catastrophe for Stark Industries stock, our Department of Defense contracts, and Tony's freedom. The military will be demanding those blueprints. Justin Hammer is already circling like a predator."
Su Yi gently put his arm around Pepper's shoulder, pulling her close and offering a moment of quiet stability amidst the rising panic. "It's alright, Pepper. Breathe. This is exactly what Ivan wanted—to generate panic. Trust Tony. He can handle the enemy, and I can handle the investigation."
"And you too," Pepper said, leaning into his strength, drawing confidence from his serene presence. "You can definitely handle all of this. I just... need a plan."
Though Pepper was mentally exhausted, she steeled herself. She had no choice but to prepare for the inevitable corporate and legal storm ahead.
Tony, flanked by stern-faced police, was led into a cold, sterile interrogation room in the Monaco facility. Ivan Vanko, a mess of dried blood and fierce defiance, was already locked behind thick bars.
Tony opened the conversation with his usual blend of arrogance and technical curiosity. "Pretty good technology, Vanko, but your execution is a bit low. Your imitation is clumsy. The energy output is unstable, and the harnessing materials are inefficiently alloyed." Tony commented extensively on the flaws in Vanko's Arc Reactor design, treating the confrontation like a substandard engineering review.
"Seriously, I don't understand," Tony continued, feigning confusion. "If you just refined the output and made a few adjustments, you could sell it for a good price. Many desperate people would be willing to buy it. Why challenge me? Why all the theatrical carnage?"
Ivan Vanko looked at Tony with eyes as cold and unforgiving as the steel of his cell. His hatred was not a flash of anger; it was a deeply rooted, generational obsession.
"Your family are thieves and butchers, Stark," Vanko spat, his voice low and raspy. "You, like every sinner, want to rewrite your history. You want to forget the lives the Stark family has ruined. My father, Anton Vanko, he was the co-creator of your precious Arc Reactor. Your father took the credit, exiled him, and left him to die in poverty in a cold, unforgiving Russia."
Vanko slammed a hand against the bars. "My father, a true genius, reduced to nothing while you play God and profit from his legacy."
Tony, though he had read the files, only cared about one thing: the technology. "Where did you get the blueprints for the Arc Reactor? Where did you find the original notes?"
Ivan gave the answer: "My father, Anton Vanko. He never let the true designs go. He taught me the truth."
"I've heard of him," Tony conceded, recalling the brief, heavily redacted company records.
Ivan Vanko leaned forward, his face intense. "You're not dead because of my father, Stark. You are only alive because the world still sees you as a myth."
Tony retorted with characteristic bravado. "I'm not dead because you tried to kill me and failed. You had the element of surprise, Vanko, and you still failed."
Ivan smiled, a thin, chilling expression that carried no humor. "Is that so? Did I fail?"
He delivered his final, terrifying diagnosis of Tony's situation:
"If you can make a God bleed, people will not believe him. When there is blood in the water, it will attract sharks."
"I just need to sit here and watch, Stark. And you, the bleeding God, will be devoured by the world. It is the greatest revenge."
Tony instantly understood Vanko's profound plan: the attack was merely a demonstration. The true genius was in the timing and the publicity. Vanko wanted to publicly pull Tony off his pedestal, proving the Iron Man technology was replicable, and expose him to a feeding frenzy from his rivals, the government, and the industrial military complex. Vanko had already succeeded halfway.
Even in this crisis, Tony maintained his facade, his voice dripping with condescending pity. "Where are you going to watch me get devoured by the world, Vanko? Oh, right, in a prison cell. I'll send someone to bring you a bar of soap. Maybe a subscription to Popular Mechanics."
Tony was about to leave when Ivan Vanko finally spoke up with a final, cutting warning. "Tony, before you leave, I must remind you. Death by palladium poisoning is very painful. You will not live to see this play out."
"I've already solved this problem," Tony lied smoothly, though the lie felt brittle even to him. He then pivoted and walked out, leaving Vanko to his cell and his sinister machinations.
Tony returned to the hotel, putting on a brave face for Pepper. "It's nothing, Pep. His father was an old employee. I got the design history. He's defeated and locked up. Nothing to worry about."
Pepper breathed a sigh of relief, but Su Yi's voice cut through the false calm, immediately deflating Tony's confidence.
"Do you really think this prison cell in Monaco can hold him, Tony?"
Tony was extremely confident. "Of course, it can. He's just a nobody. Not a local. No connections here at all."
"He's a nobody who can single-handedly create a weaponized Arc Reactor," Su Yi countered, his voice perfectly even. "And that ability is enough to attract many people with connections, especially when those connections want to destroy you. Ivan Vanko isn't the threat, Tony. He's the bait. And the first shark to bite is Justin Hammer."
Tony's face darkened as he realized the truth of Vanko's threat: When there is blood in the water, it will attract sharks. This prison was a holding tank, not a solution.
"But here, I can't do much more," Tony admitted, frustrated. International legal procedures would block any immediate extradition or retrieval. "However, even if Ivan reappears, he won't be able to defeat me."
Su Yi, however, was already looking past the local threats. While the Hammer/Vanko conflict was a nuisance for Tony, it was a minor exercise for himself. His mind was already focusing on the truly monumental shift about to occur in the timeline.
I am now approaching Lv7 in several disciplines and my physical strength is monstrous, Su Yi thought, his internal logic cold and scientific. But power, without a known reference point, is just an internal belief.
He needed a Unit of Measurement—a standard, external benchmark against which he could accurately gauge his own rapidly accelerating strength and the power of the universe he planned to master.
"OK, we can go back now," Su Yi finally stated. "Ivan's matter is easy to resolve from the States."
Pepper was curious. "Easy to resolve? He's an international threat."
"Ivan is a convicted criminal now," Su Yi explained. "If someone tries to rescue him, that is a verifiable act of organized crime and industrial espionage. We just need to find the evidence of collusion—which is simple, given that Justin Hammer was licking a lollipop in the VIP box while watching the carnage. We can take care of both of them at once. Besides, in the field of Iron Man Armor, no one is Tony's match. Tony will survive."
"Su is right," Tony reluctantly agreed, nodding at the wisdom of the plan. "Let's go back. I need to get Jarvis on Hammer's books."
Pepper, trusting Su Yi's quiet certainty, finally relaxed. "OK, alright then."
The group boarded the plane. Su Yi, true to his word, sat with Pepper, ensuring her comfort and relaxation, distracting her with light conversation and soft affection throughout the flight home.
However, on the new day, back in the relative safety of New York, Pepper was hit with the devastating news. She looked up from her morning financial reports, her face pale.
"Tony! Su! An accident occurred at the prison where Ivan Vanko was held! Ivan Vanko reportedly died in a massive explosion during an attempted transfer!"
Pepper looked at Su Yi, her eyes wide with fear and respect. "Su, you were absolutely right. Someone definitely rescued him, and they made it look like a tragic accident to buy time. That means Vanko is now working for Hammer."
Su Yi remained calm, reaching for his phone. "It's nothing, Pepper. Just a predictable move. I'll have people investigate right away. It won't be long before we find the evidence and put an end to all this."
To help Pepper relax and expedite the resolution, Su Yi had no choice but to contact the only global entity capable of moving this fast: S.H.I.E.L.D. He put the call through to the ever-professional Agent Phil Coulson.
"Hello, Mr. Su," Coulson's voice came through, crisp and measured, despite the early hour. "Calling me so early in the morning, I imagine it must be something important."
"That's right, Coulson. You must know about Tony being attacked in Monaco yesterday, yes?"
"Yes, we're following the situation closely. Director Fury has deployed assets."
"Excellent. That Ivan Vanko wasn't killed in a prison explosion; he was extracted. It should have been Justin Hammer who did it. I think if you apply the full force of a global intelligence agency, you can easily gather the evidence linking Hammer and Vanko—specifically focusing on any private logistical transfers or asset movements in the last twelve hours—and catch both of them in one swoop, right?"
Coulson, momentarily annoyed at having his timeline accelerated and his investigation solved by a teenager, regained his professional composure. "I will report this information to Director Nick Fury immediately, Mr. Su."
Su Yi, satisfied with the immediate delegation, then dropped the bombshell—the signal for the next, much larger event.
"Oh, and one more thing, Coulson. You're going to be busy domestically, but I'm very interested in extra-normal phenomena. If a large, exceptionally heavy hammer falls into the desert near a dusty town in New Mexico, remember to notify me immediately. I'm profoundly interested in this matter. That hammer is extremely rare, you see. It's an Asgardian artifact."
Coulson didn't understand the deeper meaning, but the specificity of the request—a hammer, a desert town, New Mexico—combined with Su Yi's unnerving knowledge, forced him to take note. He made a mental note to flag any reports of highly localized atmospheric disturbances or strange mythological weaponry.
"I will, Mr. Su. Thank you for the tip."
Su Yi hung up, a satisfied smile on his face. The Vanko/Hammer problem was now delegated to S.H.I.E.L.D. His focus was now on the thunder god.
As an Asgardian, Thor's physical abilities far surpass ordinary humans. He is a 'God,' a highly durable, high-attack-power, mystical entity. I am very curious: how strong is a so-called God? How far am I from truly mastering this universe?
Su Yi's scientific curiosity was at its peak. Thor was not a target; he was a necessary experiment. Su Yi had always planned to conquer Hela, the Goddess of Death, one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos. To understand Hela's true combat power, Thor was definitely a very good Reference Point.
He is my Unit of Measurement, Su Yi concluded. Once I accurately measure Thor, I can calibrate my own power for Hela.
The clock was ticking. The hammer was about to fall.