More than a week later.
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.
Tony Stark's high-profile behavior on the Monaco circuit finally ignited the already tense nerves of the American officials.
They could not tolerate that an individual with such great power, a walking weapon of mass destruction, could be completely out of their control and perform his personal heroic show in front of the whole world at will.
After countless closed-door meetings and heated arguments, a mandatory hearing on the ownership of Iron Man's weapons, led by the Senate Armed Services Committee, finally kicked off.
Outside the Capitol, the area was already crowded with reporters from all over the world and fans who had rushed there after hearing the news.
"Tony! We love you!"
"Iron Man! You're a hero!"
"Mr. Stark! Look this way!"
"Superman! We want to see Superman!"
"I want to give Superman a monkey!"
Amidst deafening cheers and screams, an Audi R8 stopped at the entrance of the building.
The car door opened, and Tony, wearing a custom-made suit and sunglasses, stepped out of the car amidst a sea of flashing lights. He didn't seem nervous at all, but rather like he was walking down the red carpet in his own home.
He took off his sunglasses and waved to the fans around him. He was even in the mood to take the notebook handed to him by a girl and signed his name in a cool manner.
"Mr. Stark!"
A capable-looking female reporter finally squeezed to the front and put the microphone to his mouth.
"Do you have anything to say about this hearing? Do you believe the government has the right to nationalize your private property?"
"Private property?" Tony raised his eyebrows and gave the camera a playful smile.
"My beautiful lady, you've got one thing wrong. That's not property, that's me. Are you trying to say the government has the right to nationalize me as well? Honestly, I don't mind. But I'm worried that those old fogies on Capitol Hill might not be able to afford my appearance fee."
His words once again caused laughter among those around him.
At that moment, a black man in a neat Air Force colonel's uniform stepped out from the crowd, his face filled with helplessness. It was James Rhodes.
"Tony." He walked up to Tony and lowered his voice.
"Can you be serious? This isn't your new product launch."
"Oh, look, who's here?" Tony looked at him and smiled.
"Isn't this our beloved Colonel Rhodes? Why aren't you responsible for serving tea and water to the senators today? Or are you here as a representative of the military to persuade me to surrender in a friendly manner?"
"I'm here to remind you not to mess things up." Rhodes' expression was serious.
"Senator Stern is determined to get you to surrender your Armor this time. You'd better be prepared."
"Mental preparation?" Tony sneered. He patted Rhodes's shoulder and walked into the building, saying nonchalantly, "What mental preparation do I need to make? Am I ready to watch those old guys at the hearing get so angry that their faces turn red and their words become inarticulate because they're jealous of my talent and wealth? Seriously, Rhodes, I think I should bring some popcorn with me."
The hearing will begin soon.
Rhodes looked at his fearless back and could only sigh helplessly.
The solemn and dignified hearing hall was packed to capacity.
The committee members, led by Senator Stern, sat at attention, their expressions serious as if they were attending a funeral. Tony, on the other hand, sat lazily in the witness stand, legs crossed, as if nothing had happened.
It was as if he was not here to be questioned, but to attend a boring afternoon tea.
At the same time, in low-Earth orbit hundreds of kilometres above the Earth.
In the cold and silent darkness.
Henry Stark still floated there quietly.
He was like a traveller forgotten by the entire universe.
Nearly a month of continuous absorption of solar energy has gradually caused his body to reach a saturation critical point.
Every cell in his body exudes powerful and terrifying vitality.
At this moment, his eyes, which had been closed for nearly a month, suddenly opened!
What kind of eyes are those?
Deep, calm, yet it seemed to contain terrifying power.
There was a trace of confusion from just waking up, but only the rationality that controlled everything.
"Jarvis." He spoke slowly to the empty universe.
His voice passed through the bionic field to ensure that Jarvis could hear it.
"Always, sir."
The next second, Jarvis's gentle and familiar voice came from the micro communicator.
"A status report. How long have I slept?"
"Approximately three weeks, four days, thirteen hours, and twenty-seven minutes, sir," Jarvis replied meticulously.
"Energy level assessment."
"Sir, according to my remote vital sign monitoring, your physical fitness has improved by at least several dozen times compared to before leaving Earth. Your cellular energy reserves have reached a level I cannot quantify using existing data models. Theoretically, you could easily withstand a head-on bombardment from a small nuclear bomb and remain unscathed."
"Really?" Henry slowly clenched his fist.
Now, I should be able to kill Homelander without taking any damage, right?
At the same time, he could clearly feel a force that was almost overflowing from his body, roaring and surging through his limbs. At the same time, he also felt that several other abilities had evolved in his body. For example, he felt that his eyes were somewhat Itchy, seemed to see things more clearly, but at this time, he was not ready to test it now.
But he also felt that he was about to evolve again.
It's like a cup that is almost full of water, and now you can only pour water into it little by little.
It seems that we have reached a stage of saturation.
The efficiency of simply accumulating energy is becoming increasingly lower.
He needs an evolution!!
But that would probably take him several years of sun exposure, and he didn't have time to do that right now.
He suppressed these problems that could not be solved for the time being and put them behind him.
"What trouble has my unreliable brother gotten into recently?" he began to ask Jarvis in a teasing tone.
"Sir," Jarvis' voice sounded again.
"Mr. Tony is currently in Washington, attending a hearing convened by the Senate Armed Services Committee."
As Jarvis spoke, he projected a real-time broadcast image directly in front of Henry.
In the picture, Tony is sitting leisurely with his legs crossed.
Henry:"..."
He looked at it quietly for a few seconds, and then the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably in an icy arc.
"Hearing?" He sneered, his laughter full of disdain.
"A bunch of bureaucrats who only know how to sit in their offices, drink taxpayers' coffee, and mess up the world, now want to put a Stark on trial?"
"Do they think there aren't enough ruins in New York? Or do they think their necks are tougher than those terrorists'?" His voice was calm.
But beneath that calm lay a simmering rage.
"It seems that I sunbathed for a little too long this time." He said slowly.
"It's so long that some reckless people have forgotten what it means to be respectful."
"Jarvis."
"Yes. Sir."
"Let those guys sitting on Capitol Hill get ready." His tone was cold.
"Tell them Superman is coming back."
"I want them to see with their own eyes what truly uncontrollable weapons of mass destruction are."
He no longer hesitated after he finished speaking.
The whole person turned into a dark stream of light and rushed towards the blue planet!
This time, his speed was more than dozens of times faster than when he left!
It has now reached speeds of several hundred Mach in the atmosphere.
Under his deliberate control of the biological force field, he rubbed against the air when entering the atmosphere, producing a long tail flame!
×××××××××××××××
2 chapters will be uploaded on daily basis i.e. 14 Chapters will be uploaded every week apart from the bonus chapters.
1 Bonus Chapter will be uploaded for every 50 Power Stones or 1000 Collections.
All interested readers can read advanced chapters on:
[email protected]/Heroicverse