Seeing Tony get sent flying, Rimuru was speechless.
Most importantly, her face hurt so much!
Just now, she had patted her chest to Pepper and the three little ones, saying he was fine, yet in the blink of an eye, Whiplash had sent him flying with an electric whip.
Tony, Tony, are you intentionally trying to provoke her?
You're not the male lead of a shonen manga, so why do you have to be brutally beaten to within an inch of your life every time you fight?
Have you ever seen a third-generation machine effortlessly defeat a fourth-generation machine?
You're not an outdated internet celebrity F-22, always crashing a few times and giving away a wave of advantage in every movie.
Of course, if it were a fighter jet from India, that would be another story.
Rimuru really couldn't guarantee that anything was impossible from a country that could sink its own submarine in its own shipyard harbor basin with anti-ship missiles launched by the submarine itself.
The technical level of the Crimson Armor was, at most, equivalent to the Mark II, with a design philosophy directly chasing Iron Monger.
Compared to Mark's democratic style, Crimson inherited the consistent characteristics of Soviet weapons: simple, large, dark, and crude.
But it had to be said, the Crimson Armor truly looked ferocious and formidable!
If Tony's Mark was more like an exquisite work of art, a rich man's toy, then Crimson was truly a war machine for battlefield slaughter—the poor man's "Rose."
Without Justin Hammer as his "capable assistant," Ivan Vanko naturally couldn't acquire those high-end materials.
Compared to the original movie, in this timeline, Ivan's biggest advantage was probably having relatively more data on Mark.
Mark's battle with Abomination and Wind God's battle with Hulk meant that with Ivan Vanko's computer skills, he would have no problem even finding the military's internal declassified versions.
Ivan had enough reference materials, so he could naturally find the corresponding countermeasures.
But the generational gap wasn't that easy to bridge!
Especially after Rimuru, the little butterfly, flapped her wings, Tony experienced more of society's harsh realities, and Mark's updates and upgrades became faster.
Zzzzzzzzzzz~~~
The electric whip continuously emitted the sound of electricity spluttering, and Ivan, wearing the Crimson Armor, had no idea how much he had enhanced the electric current of the whip; its power was incredibly fierce, and when wielded, it was truly imposing.
Wherever the electric whip struck the ground, a large "gully" immediately appeared.
And the armor on Iron Man, who had just been sent flying, also had a large number of shocking gouges carved into it.
However, in Rimuru's opinion, the power was just so-so.
As Mark and Wind God had developed to this point, things like electrical resistance had long been fully considered, and it really wasn't a big deal.
But these spectators just didn't have much experience!
"Ivan!"
"Ivan!"
"Ivan!"
How could something like publicly humiliating the richest man, Tony Stark, not excite and thrill everyone?
In just an instant, Ivan Vanko and his Crimson Armor received thunderous applause.
The entire arena erupted in cheers like a tsunami!
Unlike the crowd's mood, Pepper became worried, her beautiful eyes wide open, and her breathing quickened by several beats.
Rimuru kindly comforted her, "Pepper, don't worry. Mark IV has too many ways to deal with a thick-skinned guy like the Crimson Armor. Not to mention anything else, just the anti-armor missiles, ablative missiles, and laser-cutting rays are enough to give Crimson a hard time!"
"Is that so?"
Pepper wasn't very interested in or knowledgeable about mechs.
Hearing Rimuru speak so eloquently and seemingly logically, the worry in her heart lessened considerably.
Seeing that her persuasion had worked, Rimuru immediately showed a confident smile.
In the original movie, the reason Tony and Ivan fought so hard, and why Tony and his good friend Rhodes ended up miserably strung together, was primarily because Tony and Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes first fought against a large number of Iron Soldiers.
The weapons loaded on Mark were almost completely depleted, and even the trump card, the laser-cutting ray, had been used up.
Aside from a token gesture with the shoulder-mounted six-barreled miniature guided missiles, he almost entirely engaged in close combat with Mark.
Fighting Whiplash, who was armed with two electric whips, empty-handed naturally resulted in a brutal beating!
But now, the battle situation was completely different; Mark was not only at full power but also an enhanced and upgraded version, making it difficult to lose!
"Pepper, you must have seen the power of those two electric whips. With Tony's intelligence, he definitely won't engage in close combat with Crimson!"
"Tony just needs to use Mark IV's high mobility to create some distance from Crimson, and then he can freely kite the Crimson Armor."
Before Rimuru could finish, the thrusters on Tony's feet spewed out a large amount of exhaust flames, and Mark IV instantly appeared in mid-air.
Tony looked down from above, extended his fist, as big as a sandbag, and punched Ivan Vanko.
Clang!
The Crimson Armor immediately staggered from Mark's punch, its body tilting, almost getting knocked over by Tony's iron fist.
However, a miss by a hair is as good as a mile!
Whiplash, having stabilized his stance, retaliated with an electric whip aimed at Mark's neck!
Crackling!
Mark IV, with the electric whip wrapped around its neck, had its system somewhat affected, perhaps due to the extreme current.
Tony immediately knelt — he really knelt!
Rimuru's smile gradually faded, her expression slowly stiffening.
Tony Stark, are you a clown sent by monkeys?
This fight is like child's play; your intelligence is completely offline!
You, a light armor, are fighting a close-quarters battle with a big guy similar to a war fortress?
Are you out of your mind?
Seeing the suspicious glances from Pepper, Little Spider, Mindy, and Dave, Rimuru's face burned, hot and painful.
She was a true expert, a real expert, not one of those fake ones!
Not to mention, this was happening in front of all her subordinates!
She had her pride too!
What exactly was going on?
Did the Crimson Armor have some black technology she didn't know about?
For example, intelligence-reducing attacks?
"Great Sage, does Ivan's Crimson Armor have any special black technology?"
"[Answer: No unknown special weapons detected.]"
"What about mind-control superpowers?"
The original Rimuru would never have asked such a question.
Because Ivan Vanko had no superpowers at all, but now, Rimuru was starting to doubt.
"[Answer: No special fluctuations of abilities were perceived.]"
Rimuru: "..."
In other words, Tony was being legitimately pummeled by the Crimson Armor?
Rimuru's forehead was covered in black lines, and she immediately made another heavy note in her little notebook.
She had one more reason to beat up Tony Stark!
In the arena.
The battle between Tony and Ivan became increasingly deadlocked; after a few exchanges, Tony, at the cost of damaged armor, successfully disarmed Whiplash of his two electric whips.
The intensity of the battle suddenly escalated, especially because Whiplash lost his electric whips, instantly bringing the two armors to the same level.
Their fight was stripped of all the flashy moves, leaving only the most ferocious, most primal collisions and strikes.
The battle was so fierce; later on, each collision sounded like two small mountains colliding, emitting colossal roars like angry thunder.
The fight between the two armors was far cooler than a brawl between two muscular men.
The incredibly terrifying sense of impact and the striking force after each collision perfectly illustrated what violent aesthetics were, making one's ears almost "pregnant."
After each clash, as the Iron Armor sustained extensive damage, the countless electrical sparks that erupted instantly caused the destructive urges in human blood to completely explode.
Blood rushed faster to their brains; everyone was exhilarated, shouting, screaming hysterically, completely insane!
Even Rimuru, a Slime without blood, was infected by the surrounding atmosphere, getting incredibly hyped.
No bullets, no high-tech weapons, just a pure contest of martial arts—it was too cool!
"A pure contest of martial arts? Crimson has a much larger tonnage than Mark. If this lasts, Tony is bound to lose!"
Clang!
In another fierce collision, Tony made a single misstep and was directly hit by Crimson's punch to the jaw.
Tony was immediately sent flying backward, rolling over and over on the ground.
Tony Stark, defeated!
Pepper: "..."
Little Spider: "..."
Mindy: "..."
Dave: "..."
...
Happy new year