The chaos at Times Square was like a giant stone thrown into a still lake, with ripples constantly spreading, naturally alarming not only the "professionals" of the Hero Association.
On the top floor of Stark Tower, Tony Stark was holding a steaming cup of coffee, leisurely browsing the cutting-edge technology news that Jarvis had filtered for him, which he might find interesting.
Suddenly, several holographic screens flickered uncontrollably, and one of them automatically switched, displaying a distorted human face and piercing mad laughter—it was a live feed from Times Square.
"Hmm?" Tony raised an eyebrow, put down his coffee cup, "Jarvis, explain.
I remember I blocked all unofficial emergency alerts and spam ads."
"Sir, the signal source did not invade through conventional communication protocols.
It seems to have... used the global network data stream itself as a carrier, broadcasting by forcibly occupying part of the bandwidth using an encoding method I cannot fully parse."
Jarvis's voice remained steady, but his speaking speed was slightly faster, "Preliminary analysis indicates that the signal mixes high-intensity abnormal bio-electrical waves with residual psychic energy, and its physical properties do not conform to any known electronic attack patterns."
Tony became interested, walked to the main console, and quickly operated on the virtual keyboard with both hands: "Mixed energy signal?
Forced broadcast?
Sounds like a performance art piece by some clueless colleague.
Lock onto the signal source, perform reverse tracking and interference."
"Attempting... Sir, standard electronic countermeasures are ineffective.
The signal has extremely strong adaptability and diffuseness, like a virus; clear one part, and it rapidly regenerates from other data nodes."
"Oh? Interesting."
Instead of being frustrated, Tony's eyes lit up with a competitive gleam, "Activate 'Fortress' protocol, boost firewall computing power to 300%.
I want to see what kind of thing dares to run wild on my turf."
However, almost at the moment the 'Fortress' protocol was activated, a huge, constantly rotating 'like' icon suddenly popped up on an auxiliary screen in front of Tony, accompanied by flashing neon words—"My man 666!
Follow the streamer, don't get lost!"
Tony: "..."
Jarvis: "...Sir, we seem to have been tagged.
Trace amounts of abnormal psychic energy were detected attempting to penetrate the armor's built-in neural system interface."
Tony's face darkened: "Clear it for me!
Also, scan my biological signals to see if they've been contaminated!"
"Trace abnormal energy has been isolated and cleared.
Your biological signals are stable, no signs of mental control detected.
However, the opponent's ability seems to have a special 'affinity' and interference with highly interconnected electronic systems."
Just then, Tony saw the screen showing the Association heroes Iron Wall and Swift Shadow attempting to attack but being blocked, especially Swift Shadow's momentary daze and sluggishness, which he keenly observed.
"Ha!" Tony couldn't help but laugh out loud, with a hint of schadenfreude, "So even Kingpin's masked circus can't deal with this thing?
Can't even get close to people?
Truly..."
Before he finished speaking, his gaze swept over the several obviously helpless technical support vehicles from the Association's technical department, and the mockery on his lips grew stronger.
"It seems it's time to show some people what real technology is."
A moment later, accompanied by a powerful roar of thrusters, the red and gold Iron Man suit sliced through the New York sky, making a perfectly standard superhero landing, crashing heavily on the edge of Times Square, just outside the temporary police line set up by the Association.
"Stand back, the professionals are here." Tony's voice, amplified and tinged with his characteristic arrogance, came from beneath the faceplate.
He ignored the somewhat complicated looks from the nearby Association heroes, raised his palm, and the repulsor ray in his palm glowed with dazzling white light.
"Jarvis, analyze the target's energy structure, find the core frequency."
"Analyzing... Target energy field structure is abnormal, core frequency is continuously changing, unable to lock.
Suggest a wide-area EMP blast to attempt to forcibly interrupt its energy supply."
"Approved.
Make it gentle, don't break all these 'bricks' (referring to pedestrians' phones) around here."
Tony snapped his fingers (though the gesture looked a bit comical in the armor).
Buzz—!
An invisible electromagnetic pulse radiated from Iron Man in a fan shape towards the giant screen in the center of the square.
As the pulse passed, several nearby streetlights flickered, and some shop's electronic signs briefly dimmed before returning to normal.
However, the screen in the very center, and the distorted human face on it, merely flickered a few times as if with poor TV reception, then returned to normal, and even the maniacal laughter grew louder.
"Useless! Useless! I am the traffic! I am the trending topic! Physical laws cannot bind me!!!" The wack's voice was mocking.
Tony's brow furrowed under his faceplate: "Jarvis?"
"EMP blast effect is 1.7% lower than expected.
The target's energy field does not purely rely on external electricity; its core is highly bound to the mutant's bio-energy and... some inexplicable 'collective attention'.
Conventional energy interruption methods have limited effect."
"Then let's try another method." Tony's armor shoulder plates opened, revealing two rows of tiny launch ports, "Try this, 'Miniature Armor-Piercing Round' array, blast that broken screen into a sieve for me!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Dozens of fingernail-sized, super-high-speed armor-piercing rounds, trailing faint exhaust, accurately shot towards the giant screen.
However, a bizarre scene occurred.
The moment the armor-piercing rounds were about to hit the screen, the air in front of them seemed to develop an invisible, viscous resistance field.
The speed of the warheads plummeted in a way that defied physical common sense, eventually hovering a few centimeters from the screen like insects trapped in amber, then falling weakly.
"What the hell?!" Tony was astonished.
"Detecting high-intensity spatial distortion and cognitive interference field.
The target's ability... seems to be able to distort reality perception, generating an instinctive defense against 'malicious attacks' directed at itself."
Jarvis's tone also carried a hint of solemnity, "Sir, this has already exceeded the scope of conventional physical and energy attacks."
As if to confirm Jarvis's words, the face on the screen turned towards Iron Man, its flickering eyes fixed on him.
"Iron Man... Tony Stark... Haha! The biggest traffic! Got you!"
A psychic impact several times stronger than before, like an invisible giant wave, slammed into Tony.
Although the armor's neural system protection layer activated immediately, filtering out most of the impact, a very small portion still penetrated.
In an instant, the tactical interface in front of Tony suddenly blurred, and countless messy pop-up ads exploded like a virus—
[0 Yuan purchase, limited-time grab!]
[If you're brothers, come fight me!]
[Shocking! Stark Industries stock to plummet tomorrow!]
[You might be a victim of software piracy...]
At the same time, a sickeningly sweet, synthetic-sounding female voice rang in his ear (or rather, in the armor's internal communication channel): "Ding! Premium user 'Tony Stark' detected, you have received a 'Supreme VIP Experience Card'.
Would you like to immediately top up to unlock all privileges?"
Tony was momentarily annoyed by this sudden, low-grade and bizarre psychic pollution, and his operations experienced a brief delay.
He shook his head violently and roared, "Jarvis! Clear out this garbage for me!"
"Clearing with full power... Sir, it is recommended to temporarily withdraw from the core area; the opponent's ability has a special attack effect against highly integrated intelligent systems."
Tony looked at the smug face on the screen, then at the surrounding citizens still immersed in the "like" frenzy, and the Association heroes standing by, ready but helpless, a sense of frustration welled up within him.
He, Tony Stark, genius, inventor, billionaire, philanthropist, Iron Man... was actually stumped by a mutant wack who relied on "seeking attention"?
And in such plain sight?
This was even more unbearable than being choked by Obadiah and thrown out a window.
"Tsk..." He clicked his tongue in displeasure, ignited his thrusters, and ascended a bit, temporarily leaving the irritating core area of psychic pollution.
He didn't leave, but hovered in the air, his eyes beneath the faceplate becoming serious.
"Jarvis, record all data.
This guy... is a bit sinister."
He knew that brute force wouldn't work.
The essence of this wack's ability might require a different approach to crack.
Meanwhile, on the ground, inside the Association's technical department command vehicle, Director Leo Fitz watched Iron Man's entire predicament through surveillance.
Instead of mocking, he stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Even Stark's armor is affected... It's indeed not a simple electronic problem."
He turned to his assistant and said, "Synchronize the abnormal peak data of psychic fluctuations we just captured with The Silent Heart Master.
Tell him, this might be the breakthrough!"
The battle had reached a stalemate, but the real contest had only just begun.
For the first time, the light of technology seemed somewhat powerless before a distorted "concept," which also indicated that resolving this crisis would require relying on some more unconventional forces.