"So, the President was spanked?"
"Yeah, that's right, exactly. To be precise, his butt was beaten to a pulp."
"Hiss, for real?"
"Of course, I saw it with my own eyes. And honestly, the scene was quite bloody. You don't know this, but when he came out of the armor, he couldn't even stand steady. Fortunately, Rhodes was standing right in front of him, so he fell straight into Rhodes' arms. I saw his butt was all bloody, and it seemed like it was still bleeding, though it could also be that it was too dark and I didn't see clearly."
"Who did it?"
"I guess it was Killian."
"Why? Any basis for that?"
"Hmm, honestly no, but I can't imagine anyone else who would be perverted enough to spank an old man's butt."
......
Tony and Banner were chatting about what had happened in the past couple of days. Tony had come to Banner for surgery, and after the successful operation, he found his mood unusually relaxed.
"Hmm, so Air Force One was attacked, the President was kidnapped, and yet none of us knew."
"No, it's that you guys didn't know. I, of course, knew. I even resolved the crisis by myself and arrested the Vice President who had defected to Killian. But that stuff has poor stability, and according to the law of conservation of energy, when it forces the human body to self-heal, it needs to extract a large amount of energy from human cells, which causes the person to age rapidly. And didn't you hear me earlier? Those who have been injected with it are prone to self-destructing."
"Oh~" Banner leaned back on the soft sofa, looking like he suddenly understood.
Tony was sitting on a sofa not far away, his feet propped up on a footrest, his eyes slightly closed, looking very relaxed. He followed up by saying, "Let me tell you another secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."
Banner shifted his body and said with interest, "Don't worry, I'm the best at keeping secrets!"
"The President was fed a bullet."
"Hmm?"
"It's true. Later he passed it, but he suffered a lot. Just think about it, first his butt was ruined, and then he had to pass a bullet..."
Banner's face scrunched up as he listened: "That... is a bit gross."
"Yes," Tony replied, but then added, "But it's very interesting."
Banner nodded silently in agreement.
Tony: "Actually, I originally wanted to wait until after the surgery to come chat with you, but these two pieces of news were just too uncomfortable to hold in."
Banner: "Hard to hold in?"
"Yeah, you know, I've never been good at keeping secrets. Especially this type of news; if I didn't find someone to vent to, I think I'd die from holding it in."
"Hmm, I understand."
After a pause, Tony suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look at Banner: "You will keep this secret, right?"
Banner was taken aback by his gaze, then nodded without changing his expression: "Of course, I'm very good at keeping secrets, I just said that."
"Then I'm relieved."
Tony immediately lay back down and closed his eyes, but his mouth didn't stop for a moment: "After all, this is news about the President. Hmm, it should count as bad news. I think at his age, he wouldn't want too many people to know about this, otherwise... I guess he might get so angry he dies."
"You're right."
Tony remained with his eyes closed, his whole body relaxed, and said in a soft tone: "Thank you, Banner. I never knew you were such a good listener. I feel much better now, and I think I'll be very relaxed when I go to the operating table later. Dr. Wu said he hopes I can maintain a relaxed mindset, which is very good for the upcoming surgery..."
Banner nodded while deep in thought, the corners of his lips twitching slightly, as if he could barely contain himself...
......
About a week had passed since Tony's battle with Killian.
Although this battle involved the President and Vice President of the country, due to the government's request (mainly the President's), the outside world only knew that the arrogant and overbearing terrorist forces from a while ago had been uprooted.
Iron Man Tony Stark had fulfilled his promise to the media, not only destroying the organization that threatened national security but even exposing the high-level government official associated with them—the Vice President. Besides that, there didn't seem to be anything else to talk about.
After receiving a large amount of donations and investment from Stark Industries, the affected Miami government kept quiet about the damaged pier. Public opinion mostly praised Iron Man's superhero status and his sense of responsibility.
When everyone was feeling panicked and uneasy about this terrorist organization, Tony Stark bravely stepped forward, using his seaside mansion as bait to lure the enemy out, and then wiped them out with lightning speed. Anyway, Peter liked and respected Iron Man even more because of this, and I believe many children like him, as well as youths and middle-aged people, felt the same.
It's just absurd!
"What about Killian? The guy is dead, doesn't he deserve to have his name mentioned?"
"And this one, it's The Mandarin and the Ten Rings again. Didn't I already debunk that? This media outlet has some guts. Find me their address and have Frank send them a big gift."
Arthur responded in his usual calm tone: "Yes, sir."
Hong Fei: "Get a trending topic pinned or something, and publicly release Killian's data and plans. Let them see clearly who the person really is behind the terrorist activities."
"No problem, sir."
"How is Big Head doing?"
"Mr. Samuel has tracked them to Europe, and he said he will have accurate information on the target soon."
"Hmm, tell him to be careful. Speed doesn't matter; the most important thing is not to lose the trail."
"Understood."
Hong Fei waved his hand, and the virtual web page in front of him instantly dissipated. Immediately following that, a crystal-colored card floated out.
Fusion Card: Extremis
"Your body will be strengthened to a certain extent, and you will gain the ability to generate high temperatures and flames. After suffering non-fatal injuries, your body will quickly repair and heal itself, but you may also suddenly self-destruct. Please use with caution."
This Extremis Fusion Card had the same effects and side effects; its essence was equivalent to a dose of Extremis. For Hong Fei, who had already obtained the formula and all the data for Extremis, it was trash among trash!
However, even trash has its practical uses. With another flick of his finger, two other Fusion Cards flew out: "Lesser Hulk Bloodline" and "Super Soldier Serum".
After the three cards lined up, the crystal light inside each card immediately radiated outward, quickly forming a distinct, interconnected line segment. Hong Fei's mind shifted, and one of the Fusion Cards immediately floated upward.
Its light quickly turned intense, while the color and shape of the other two cards faded accordingly. The three Fusion Cards could be selected and replaced at will. And the Fusion Card he selected could break away from the characteristic that it only worked on himself, and instead be fused into someone else's body.
This was a function that could grant the abilities possessed by the Fusion Card to others. For Hong Fei, the active use of this "Grant" function was to give a boost to certain people when their strength could no longer keep up with the team in the future.
Secondly, when obtaining a Fusion Card with powerful effects or abilities in the future that he himself didn't need, he could actively grant it to a suitable candidate, avoiding wasting it by keeping it on himself.
The appearance of this ability made Hong Fei think he could start working on the team training plan he had been contemplating for a long time.
In his heart, he had always had an idea; he had wanted many times to teach the cultivation method of "Qi" to his team members. The reason he hadn't done it earlier wasn't because he was selfish or greedy and wanted to keep all the good stuff for himself.
It was because the cultivation of "Qi" was not simple, and these foreigners would likely find it difficult to grasp the essence of "Qi" through independent practice. This would require Hong Fei to cultivate their "sense of Qi" one by one, and then hand-in-hand teach them how to move, circulate, and refine Qi—not the immortal cultivation type, just the cultivation of refining.
This would inevitably be a time-consuming, grinding process. Moreover, the cultivation of "Qi," like Kung Fu, emphasizes: better to advance by one thought, never stop for one thought. Especially in the early stages of cultivating "Qi," one must practice diligently every day, otherwise, all the effort would be wasted due to a momentary lapse.
Back then, Jessica, Yelena, and Antonia had all learned standing meditation (Zhan Zhuang) from Hong Fei for a while, but to this day, except for Hong Fei himself, none of them had truly stuck with it. Perhaps they didn't see progress in the short term, or maybe they felt it didn't suit them, but the result of giving up was already clear.
Hong Fei could naturally use force to coerce them into constant, active learning, but the effect would be worlds apart compared to self-drive. Besides, he wasn't so desperate as to beg others to learn.
All in all, Hong Fei was currently satisfied with his eight core subordinates, and their coordination was gradually becoming very tacit; often, just a glance was enough for them to know whether to bend over or lie down. These people were best kept by his side, and the prerequisite for ensuring this was strength.
Take Natasha and Yelena, for example; they were elites among ordinary people, but they were still ordinary people, and there would always come a day when they weren't enough. The Fusion Card's grant function could probably be used as a reward goal; whoever cultivated "Qi" well would be given a chance for a significant improvement.
After a round of such fusion and improvement, these eight people would inevitably be reborn, and fighting Thanos or hammering Galactus in the future would be no problem. A mature and stable team, besides needing a leader like Master Hong who is noble, proud, and perfect, also needs to create an upward path that everyone can foresee and inevitably achieve.
Master Hong could be said to have put a lot of thought into this. Oh right, there's also Dr. Cho and Mei. Improving their physical fitness could directly and significantly increase their combat effectiveness, so they wouldn't end up with trembling legs, unable to get up, every time they were beaten by Master Hong.
The problem was that the drop rate of Fusion Cards was indeed very low, only a tiny bit higher than purple cards. To put it bluntly. One still had to go out and stir up trouble as much as possible. Just like playing an online game, one must do quests to gain experience and do daily tasks to reap stable and considerable rewards.
Life is endless, and stirring up trouble never stops!