"Did I drink too much again?"
Tony woke up the next day with a splitting headache. The events of last night were a blur. Feeling parched as soon as he woke, he grabbed the water on the table and downed it in one go. This cleared his head quite a bit, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't remember what happened last night. There were no beautiful women around either. Who was the one who put him in this hotel bed?
"Oh! Damn this headache."
The hangover after a night of heavy drinking was miserable. Tony felt dizzy, nauseous, and wanted to vomit. How much did he have to drink for a seasoned veteran of the bar scene like him to end up like this? He lay in bed for a while longer until the sickly complexion finally faded from his face. Although he still didn't feel great, he had no trouble walking anymore.
"Jarvis, we need to make a scene now."
"Ready at any time, sir."
After resting enough, Tony checked out of the room and walked out of the hotel. Wearing his sunglasses, he looked up at the sky and called Jarvis through the earpiece he was wearing. A gold and red suit quickly covered his body, and he flew into the sky. He hadn't been out for so long just to drink and visit nightclubs; he had already tracked down the identity and location of the Ten Rings's leader. He was certain this world-class terrorist would appear in Dragon Valley in China, which was likely his Base. He decided to confront him head-on to avenge his experience in the Afghanistan desert years ago.
"master, Jarvis's signal point has been located. Tony Stark's position can be confirmed."
"Finally showing your face, big brother. I thought you'd been imprisoned in the Afghanistan desert again."
Artoria, who was busy correcting documents, suddenly received the message from Saturday. What a pleasant surprise! Artoria told Saturday to quickly pull up Tony's location. A virtual electronic map appeared before her. Seeing the red dot moving rapidly over the ocean, Artoria was curious about where Tony intended to go. Looking at the route, it seemed he was heading toward China.
"So the enemy this time is The Mandarin!"
In China, the person with the most malice and the greatest threat to Iron Man was indeed that Mandarin. Immortal and possessing incredible power through ten Magic Rings, this enemy was going to be a bit difficult to handle! The most difficult to understand was the mysterious Divine Spear Bureau. These guys were quite secretive, unlike the high-profile S.H.I.E.L.D. Artoria couldn't even figure out how many people they had; she only knew their founding Director seemed to be named 'Zhang Heng,' and nothing else.
It was a bit of a headache. The old man had dug a hole and didn't fill it (the old man sneezed silently while holding Goose), leaving Artoria unsure of just how powerful the military strength of China was. She couldn't over-evaluate things she didn't understand, which was why Artoria had a headache now.
"Saturday, file a report for me. I'm going to China. Prepare my passport as well. This is my first time actively visiting the motherland of my past life. I'm really feeling a bit nostalgic!"
"Yes, master."
While instructing Saturday, Artoria split off a Shadow Clone. This clone would board a flight to China in an hour. A golden light flashed on Artoria's body as silver knight armor enveloped her. With a surge of telekinetic power, Artoria jumped out the window and flew toward the horizon, leaving the clone behind to calmly correct documents. Since there was still time, Artoria directly chartered a flight, so the clone wasn't in much of a hurry.
The reason Artoria did this was to avoid being in the wrong if a conflict or misunderstanding occurred with the Divine Spear Bureau. If the other party insisted she was an illegal intruder, her actions would block their excuses. After all, she was here for 'tourism' and just happened to be attacked; she was merely acting in self-defense. This way, Artoria's words would hold weight. All preparations were not in vain.
"Don't do anything reckless before I arrive, big brother, or you'll die a very ugly death."
Following Saturday's navigation through her earpiece, Artoria flew rapidly toward Tony. This was no joke; among The Mandarin's Magic Rings, there was one ability that happened to counter Tony perfectly: Matter Rearrangement. Once caught by this ability, the Iron Man Suit on Tony's body would turn into molten iron. It would be truly pathetic. If The Mandarin didn't mess around, Tony would be the one to die. The so-called 'desperate gamble for life' in the comics simply didn't exist in the real world.
Boom! Boom!
"Enemy attack! Get ready, it's an aerial assault!"
Because of the suit upgrades, Tony soon arrived above the group he had been thinking about. Without any banter, Tony looked coldly at the counterattack below. Thanks to Artoria's help and motivation, his suit was no longer the scrap metal it used to be. Small but high-explosive missiles sent these Terrorists, who were used to acting like tyrants, flying into the sky. Tony remained a cold bystander; he had investigated this group for a long time, and not a single person below was innocent, so he felt no psychological burden at all.
He was waiting for their leader to come out; he was Tony's real target. This group was just to attract the big fish's attention. He was currently observing the 'Lord Chu' he had heard about from the low-level thugs. It was said this person had some supernatural powers, like being able to freeze people. He felt the opponent might be a powerful Mutant.
"High energy reading, please evade, sir."
Listening to Jarvis, Tony manipulated the suit to quickly roll in the air. A golden light flew past the spot where he had just been. Seeing this, Tony knew the main player had arrived. He looked toward where the golden light had been fired. A guy dressed in a green robe and a green hat, his hands covered in gold rings like a nouveau riche, slowly walked out of the room.
"Tony Stark, this way of meeting is quite a surprise. During the last attack, I intended to 'invite' you over. Do you know how sad I was when my subordinates couldn't find you? I thought that brilliant genius had been blown up by a bomb. I didn't expect you to appear before me. This is wonderful."
"Your suit, combined with your mind and that wealth, are the best cornerstones for my conquest of the world."
The Mandarin, who had walked out of the house, was initially full of anger, but seeing the gold and red figure in the sky, he began jumping for joy like a child who had received a desired toy. If Artoria were here, she would definitely comment that he was sick. But looking at The Mandarin now, it seemed something had gone wrong with his training; otherwise, how could a person's emotions be so fickle?
Seeing this, Tony also believed this man must be a lunatic. To think it was that simple to have someone help you conquer the world—your brain must have a problem, you need to see a Doctor. Tony felt nothing but disdain for The Mandarin's words. It was his first time meeting someone more... uh! He couldn't say it, or wouldn't he be insulting himself?
But The Mandarin's next words caused him to lose his rationality, as the fires of rage rose steadily.
"Your sister is a rare beauty. she is qualified to enter my harem and become the head of it. When I sent men to bring her here, I didn't even dare send the easily-uncontrolled life model decoys for fear of hurting her."
"The Mandarin, is it? For saying those words, you are already dead."
The angry roar of a sister-con bloomed in the sky.
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