Ivan Vanko realized that he had completely lost control over all the combat robots—his final trump card had failed.
Unwilling to accept it, he looked toward Genm.
"Why? Why did you appear here? Why did you stop my combat robots from self-destructing?!
If it weren't for you…"
Genm merely smiled lightly upon hearing this.
"Don't misunderstand. I had no intention of stopping you. It was all just something I did casually.
After all, if you're going somewhere for a bit of leisure, would you really care whether there are ants fighting nearby?
If ants piled up a small mound of dirt that blocked your path, you'd simply step on it casually and move on. There's no special meaning to it.
Your actions just now interfered with my game's progress, so I casually canceled the self-destruct programs of those robots. It wasn't aimed at you specifically—don't misunderstand."
Ivan's pupils shook violently.
So in the eyes of the person before him, the battle between himself and Tony Stark was nothing more than a trivial struggle between ants, not even worth paying attention to?
"Just who is this guy? Why do I feel like he's even more dangerous than Ivan?" Colonel Rhodes came up beside Tony and asked in a low voice.
Tony took a deep breath. "This guy is indeed far more dangerous than Ivan."
"Hahahaha!" After hearing Genm's words, Ivan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into a manic laugh.
"Tony Stark, so what if you defeat me? In this man's eyes, you're nothing more than an ant as well."
There was a strange sense of satisfaction in his laughter, as if he had found some twisted balance.
Tony snorted coldly and ignored Ivan's mockery.
Colonel Rhodes, however, frowned, stepped forward, and knocked Ivan unconscious with a punch.
"Save your words for when you're in prison."
"What should we do next? Should we make a move against this guy called Genm?" Rhodes asked Tony.
Tony hesitated. Even with the new Ark Reactor providing ample energy, he wasn't confident he could deal with Genm.
Moreover, after successive battles with the combat robots and Ivan—and after firing high-energy laser weapons—even the new Ark Reactor's reserves had dropped below 20%.
Although he didn't know why Genm was merely watching from the sidelines, under the current circumstances, it would be best if Genm simply stayed put and didn't interfere with the Riders handling the zombie game Bugster virus.
"This guy is hard to deal with. Our suits have suffered heavy energy loss from the fight with Ivan. For now, we'll observe.
If he doesn't make any unusual moves, we won't act first.
But if he tries to do something, then we must delay his actions at all costs," Tony said solemnly.
"Alright, we'll do as you say." Seeing Tony so serious was rare, and Rhodes immediately realized that the opponent before them was no ordinary threat. He became fully alert.
"Sir, Nick Fury is requesting a communication," JARVIS informed Tony.
"That one-eyed, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Tony asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Put him through."
"Tony, what exactly is going on at Stark Industrial Park? What is this extremely contagious thing that can directly turn those it comes into contact with into monsters?" Nick Fury asked impatiently the moment the call connected.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had of course been monitoring the situation closely. In fact, it was Black Widow who had rushed to Hammer Industries, disabled the automatic attack system of the armor on Colonel Rhodes, and restored his control over it.
Only then was Tony able to free his hands and eliminate the combat robots under Ivan's control.
After all, if Rhodes had remained controlled and attacking Tony, things would have been extremely troublesome. Tony would have had to hold back, considering Rhodes was inside the suit, and couldn't use high-powered weapon systems—yet that would also make it difficult to defeat the Iron Man armor.
"Have you ever played zombie games?" Tony asked in return.
Nick paused, then said in surprise, "What do you mean? You're not going to tell me this is a zombie virus, are you?!"
Tony shook his head lightly. "Of course not a zombie virus. It's a Bugster virus born from zombie games."
"The Bugster virus… the thing contained in the game cartidge you gave me earlier?" Nick Fury was startled.
"So the three armored figures fighting those… zombies are the mysterious people who previously fought monsters born from the Bugster virus?
Who exactly are they?"
"Want to know?" Tony replied in an infuriating tone. "I'm not telling you."
Nick Fury took a deep breath. "I have no ill intent. It's just that dealing with monsters born from this mysterious Bugster virus is extremely dangerous. I think they could cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I don't actually know their real identities either. Asking me won't help," Tony said. He had personally studied the Bugster virus in the game cartridges and found no usable method, nor any means of eliminating the virus. He also didn't believe S.H.I.E.L.D. could play much of a role regarding the Bugster virus.
"Fine. How are things on your end? Has Ivan Vanko been subdued?" Nick asked, suspicion flashing in his eyes, though he didn't voice it directly and instead decided to continue investigating in secret.
"Of course it's been taken care of. Ivan Vanko does have some talent—being able to build an Ark Reactor and Iron Man armor.
But in front of my brand-new suit and new Ark Reactor, he's nothing more than an outdated relic, nothing worth men—"
"Hand him over to me," Nick interrupted directly.
"Why should I hand him over to you?"
"If someone like Ivan Vanko, who can build an Ark Reactor and Iron Man armor, falls into the military's hands, that wouldn't be good news for you, would it?" Nick said, hitting the nail on the head.
"Even if he can build them, compared to my new suit and reactor, they're still backward, incomplete products," Tony retorted stubbornly.
"At the recent military commission hearing, you proved that only you have the ability to build Iron Man armor, which shut those officials up.
But the armor Ivan made, though inferior and flawed, is enough to give the commission an excuse to cause trouble," Nick Fury analyzed.
Tony fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. You can take him."
"Don't worry. The technology Ivan Vanko used to build the Ark Reactor was originally obtained by his father, Anton Vanko, from your father.
Your father was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders, so this technology can be considered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s property.
I can use this as a reason to keep Ivan Vanko in my hands and won't let American officials use him as an excuse to pressure you," Nick promised immediately upon seeing agreement.
"Isn't this really about the Iron Man armor?" Tony sneered. "Let me give you a piece of advice—Ivan Vanko isn't that easy to control.
Justin Hammer is the best example. He finally managed to produce combat robots, and they all ended up under Ivan's control.
After this incident, Hammer Industries will probably exit the stage of history."
"You can rest assured about that. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't something a company like Hammer Industries can compare to," Nick said confidently.
"I've got other things to deal with, so I'll end the call here.
Ivan will be handed over to you later." Seeing Genm suddenly make a move, Tony immediately cut the connection and went on alert.
"Don't be so tense. I'm not planning to cause any destruction," Genm said to Tony and Rhodes.
He casually took out the Dangerous Zombie Gashat.
Countless yellow points of light gathered from afar and were ultimately absorbed into the cartridge in Genm's hand.
"What's he doing? What are those light points?" Rhodes asked, confused.
Tony suddenly realized and exclaimed, "You're collecting the Bugster virus!"
"Correct. Let those panicked humans become cultivation hosts for the virus. The Riders break apart the virus as it grows.
Then I can easily harvest the results," Genm said cheerfully.
"So your goal is to collect a large amount of the Bugster virus. What do you plan to do with it?" Tony asked gravely.
"To level up the Dangerous Zombie Gashat, right?" Li Hua said, having returned after eliminating all the zombie game Bugster virus.
(End of chapter)