Boom boom boom!
One suit after another shot into the air like missiles, chasing Tony Stark like a pack of sharks hunting prey.
Peter swung through the air, using the rising armor suits as footholds to launch himself upward. At that moment, the shattered glass came raining down in a clattering storm, like a massive hail shower.
Fortunately, it was all tempered glass. Once broken, it immediately shattered into chunks about the size of knuckles. Even falling from dozens of meters up, it was hard for it to kill anyone.
Of course, injuries were unavoidable.
Peter did not want to see a single person get hurt, but the glass only fell for a few short seconds. There was no way he could spin a giant web in that brief time and cover everyone.
So he could only keep swinging back and forth, scanning with the corner of his eye for people who had fallen or were about to fall, then yanking them up with webbing and sticking them overhead.
"Watch your step!"
"Don't be scared, I'm here!"
As he swung, he shouted through the speaker Bant had added to his suit. Before long, the entire hall looked like one enormous spider nest, with webs everywhere and people stuck to them all over the place.
Those people looked just like Peter's prey, completely unable to move.
But oddly enough, that made hardly anyone afraid anymore. After all, who living in New York did not know their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?
So the audience members who had originally been fleeing in panic gradually slowed down and lifted their heads to watch Peter busily rescuing people overhead.
"This is great!"
Peter waved excitedly.
"I knew it, adding a speaker to the suit was genius. Bant really is a genius!"
He muttered to himself, then hung upside down from the metal framework of the hall and switched the speaker on again, letting his voice echo through every corner of the venue.
"Alright, now Spider Sheriff is here to direct traffic."
Peter's playful words helped a lot of people calm down. Some had been struck on the head by bits of glass and had cuts or bruises, but nothing serious.
At the edge of the hall, far from the crowd, Gwen heard Peter's words and could not help bursting into laughter.
Earlier, when she noticed Peter vanish, she had immediately followed after him. Because of that, she had witnessed Peter turning into Spider-Man with her own eyes.
If she had not seen it herself, she never would have believed that the usually timid and awkward Peter Parker was actually Spider-Man!
And the crazier part was that he was calling himself Spider Sheriff, which left Gwen unable to keep a straight face.
Did he not know that the NYPD commissioner hated Spider-Man the most?
"Alright, ma'am over there, push your stroller and head out first. Don't worry, Spider-Man isn't going to suspend your license."
"Alright, sir, you too. What, eighty years old? No problem. Today, even a hundred-year-old can drive..."
While directing people, Peter was also searching for Gwen.
He had suddenly disappeared and was worried that Gwen might be looking for him everywhere right now. But very soon, Peter spotted Gwen among the crowd, leaving in an orderly way with everyone else, and finally relaxed.
After finding out Peter was Spider-Man, Gwen had actually wanted to tease him a little. For example, she could have pretended to ask for help, saying her friend Peter Parker had gone missing, just to see how he would react.
But in the end, she gave up on the idea.
The situation was urgent. This was not the time for jokes.
At the same time, the other exhibition halls also received emergency alerts the moment the incident broke out and began evacuating people. The only exception was the Plamos pavilion.
Having prepared ahead of time, Harry remained perfectly calm in the face of the chaos. Tall and well-built, standing on the stage, he looked more like a model than a wealthy heir.
Harry exchanged a glance with Bant, who was sitting below with one leg crossed over the other, then calmly opened the ceiling windows of the pavilion so that everyone could witness tonight's spectacle with their own eyes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, there is no need to panic. The outer perimeter of the Plamos pavilion is fully covered by an energy barrier, which guarantees everyone's safety."
The moment he finished speaking, a shot-down steel robot came crashing toward the Plamos pavilion!
"Ahhh!"
A cry of alarm rippled through the crowd. Some people even dropped to the ground and covered their heads. Then came a terrifying explosion.
Boom!!
In an instant, a huge burst of fireworks exploded above everyone's heads. In the sky, where there had been nothing visible a moment ago, a blue protective barrier flashed into view along with the firelight, then disappeared again.
At the sight of that, all the spectators could not help letting out a sigh of relief, while at the same time marveling at the technology Plamos possessed.
Harry seized the moment and continued,
"Likewise, this technology will also be used in our vehicles as a safety protection system, ensuring that under any circumstances, the passengers inside remain fully protected."
Then Harry had everyone in the audience stand up. All the seats automatically lowered and sank into the floor.
For the time being, the Plamos pavilion would serve as a temporary shelter, taking in part of the audience from the other halls.
Bant led Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and the others backstage, where there was a lot more room.
Aunt May kept trying to call Peter on her phone, but no one answered.
"What do we do? I can't reach Peter." She was extremely anxious.
There was no need to think about it. Peter had definitely turned into Spider-Man by now and was saving people somewhere else.
To stop Aunt May and Uncle Ben from worrying, Bant had Eunice hack into Peter's phone and send Aunt May a text to let her know he was safe.
Meanwhile, Tony was still fleeing through the sky with a swarm of steel soldiers on his tail.
It was obvious to the naked eye that the soldiers built by Hammer Industries were far inferior to Tony's armor in performance. Iron Man and Rhodey were leaving them far behind.
Seeing that, Bant shook his head with obvious disdain.
After all, those armors were unmanned. Even without a weak pilot dragging them down, they still could not compare to Tony. That alone showed just how far below Stark Hammer Industries really was.
In the end, the weapons that posed the greatest threat to Tony were ironically his own kind of weapons.
But none of that mattered.
"Once I take control of Hammer Industries, I'll rebuild and upgrade all of them."
Bant smiled.
The biggest reason he wanted Hammer Industries was these ready-made robots.
With them, Bant would be able to fully arm Queens and ensure the safety of Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
On top of that, Hammer Industries' production lines would be immensely useful to him. Whether for building an army of steel soldiers or manufacturing high-tech vehicles, they would all come in handy.
And Connors' ecological park could be expanded as well, letting them raise more mutated lizards, complete Plamos' backlog of orders as soon as possible, and then release an upgraded version of the healing serum.
At that point, Plamos would no longer need Oscorp's protection and would truly become a giant in its own right.
Of course, there were still some problems to consider. For example, Norman was very worried that Plamos was rising too quickly and feared it would draw the attention of people with bad intentions.
But what he did not know was that such people had always been there.
If possible, Bant would also have preferred to keep growing slowly under Oscorp's cover. But that umbrella could only block the eyes of ordinary people. The ones who truly posed a threat had long since been watching from the shadows.
Once S.H.I.E.L.D. came knocking, could Hydra really be far behind?
To be honest, Bant did not particularly care whether he worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra. The problem was that those people never stopped until they got what they wanted, and their greed had no end.
Once they set their sights on Plamos, those nine heads would do everything they could to swallow Plamos whole, or keep stuffing agents into it, or manufacture accidents and seize the company outright.
Bant himself was not afraid of accidents.
What he feared was those accidents spreading to other people.
And if he wanted to stop that from happening, then Plamos needed enough strength and enough influence.
If only I could bring Sakaar's forces here. That would make things so much easier.
The Tinkers Guild on Sakaar was very powerful, but distant water could not put out a nearby fire.
It was like that European couple who went traveling in India. No matter how wealthy they were back home, once they stepped onto someone else's turf, they still could not escape what was coming.
In the end, Bant lived on Earth.
Besides, Hammer Industries destroying itself was a windfall falling straight from the sky. There was no reason not to take it.
Just as he was thinking that, Tony's voice came through Bant's earpiece.
"Parker, I still need a little more time to解除 the War Machine control program!" Tony shouted. "Can you help your little cousin deal with the ground combat robots?"
Before this, he and Bant had already reached an agreement. But he only knew that Ivan Vanko had been taken away by Hammer and planned to stir up trouble at the Expo.
What Tony had not expected was that even War Machine had been modified, and Vanko's program was highly advanced. JARVIS was already trying to locate the source of the signal while also attempting to seize back control of War Machine.
"Relax. I can解除 the control program on War Machine right now."
As Bant spoke to Tony, he was also moving away from Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
"You can do that?"
Tony's eyes widened.
Even JARVIS had not been able to immediately shut down the opposing system.
"He used some special equipment, so it has to be handled manually. It's normal that JARVIS can't do it directly," Bant said.
On the other side, Tony blasted apart one robot with a raised hand and replied,
"I'll have JARVIS locate him as fast as possible."
"No need," Bant cut him off, then smiled faintly. "I tampered with his system ahead of time."
The moment he finished speaking, Tony noticed something strange happening with War Machine.
In the next second, Rhodey, who had felt his body being controlled by the suit, immediately realized the situation was improving. The dense red warning boxes in front of his eyes began disappearing one after another.
"Tony, I've got control again!"
Rhodey shouted joyfully. The armor that had been chasing Tony instantly turned in midair, and in the moment it spun around, it blasted apart one of the robots behind it!
"That kid already planted something in the system. Why didn't he just delete the whole enemy program outright?"
Tony could not help grumbling.
Then, without needing any further communication, the two old friends worked together flawlessly. In the blink of an eye, they shot down several more machines.
Meanwhile, when Ivan Vanko saw one airborne suit after another being knocked out of the sky and War Machine breaking free of his control, he was no longer able to stay calm.
He slammed a fist down on the keyboard of his computer and spat out the toothpick in his mouth.
Without hesitation, he triggered the autonomous mode in all the remaining suits, turning them loose to begin indiscriminate destruction. At the same time, he quickly left his original position, preparing to head out in his specially made armor!
As he passed by that parrot, he glanced at it and said in Russian, "No matter what, this ends today."
In truth, Ivan Vanko did not believe he could really defeat Tony Stark.
Even though both of their technologies originated from the arc reactor, after their last clash, he had already realized one thing.
Tony was smarter than he was.
Smarter, more advanced...
Tony's armor was better than his, better than Hammer Industries', better in every way. He knew he could not win.
But winning was never his goal.
He wanted Tony Stark to bleed.
He wanted Tony unable to protect the people he wanted to protect.
He wanted the whole world to see that Tony Stark was not a god, but a man, a despicable thief who had stolen the fruits of someone else's work!
On the other side, Tony and Rhodey kept luring the robots locked onto them farther and farther away from the Expo grounds. But some of the robots were not capable of flight.
As ground-combat units, they were equipped with extremely powerful heavy weaponry, and for that reason, they had to give up flight capability.
And now, after losing Stark as their target, they had gone berserk and begun attacking everything around them indiscriminately.
They locked onto the fleeing civilians, and the missiles mounted on their shoulders activated.
Boom!!
With a deafening explosion, the missile blew apart in midair!
A tall man in a blue skin-tight suit descended from above, a round shield held before his chest as he blocked the violent attack!
The alloy shield absorbed the full force of the blast wave, protecting the civilian who had nearly been caught in the bombardment.
Captain America had entered the fight!
"You alright?"
Steve turned around, looked at the audience member lying on the ground in fear, then extended a hand and pointed the way for him.
"Head that way. The Plamos pavilion has an energy shield. It's safe there."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned his attention back to the fully armed monster in front of him.
"It's basically a humanoid tank... I really should've brought the hammer with me."
Steve said it helplessly.
He had originally come to the Expo with Coulson.
At the time, Coulson had sworn that there would be something at the Expo he would like. And to be fair, there really was. That floating car had reminded him of Howard.
But then the accident happened.
From mutated monsters taking over Stark Tower, to aliens descending on New Mexico, and now this...
All these monsters appearing one after another made Steve feel not only that the world was changing far too fast, but also that America might be getting a little too dangerous.
He had only been thawed out for a few months, yet he had already encountered three major crises that could each destroy a city. Were the American people living in a little too much misery?
Back then, he had not been very willing to accept Thor's hammer. But now, Steve truly regretted not bringing it with him when he went out.
Just as he was thinking that, another missile came flying at him.
Steve had just been about to charge straight into it when suddenly, a strand of web shot over and stuck to his lower back. Then a huge force yanked him backward.
Boom!
The missile exploded harmlessly in empty space. Steve froze for a second, then saw a red figure drop down in front of him.
"Nice outfit. I'm a huge Captain America fan too."
Peter delivered a flying kick that dented the head of the robot attacking them, then added,
"But it's way too dangerous here. You should hurry up and hide."
/-\
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