The next day, nine o'clock.
Washington, Capitol Hill.
Military Committee hearing.
"Stark, do you possess a special weapon?" Senator Stern looked down at Iron Man and asked.
"No, of course not." Iron Man denied it without even thinking.
"Iron Man is a weapon," Senator Stern insisted, refusing to let go.
"My invention is certainly not a weapon."
"Then what is it?"
"It is what it is, Senator. It's actually… a high-tech prosthetic limb." Iron Man said something utterly absurd with a straight face.
A burst of laughter immediately erupted in the room. Only Iron Man would be so flippant at a Military Committee hearing.
"No, it is a weapon!" Senator Stern emphasized heavily.
"If you prioritize the well-being of the people..."
"No, my priority is to hand over the weapon that is Iron Man to the American people..."
"Don't even think about it! I am Iron Man. I and the Iron Suit are one. Handing over Iron Man is handing over myself. That would be servitude or prostitution..."
"Hahahaha!"
Another burst of laughter erupted from the audience. Iron Man, by himself, had turned the serious Military Committee hearing into a comedy show.
Senator Stern's face immediately darkened, completely outmatched by Iron Man.
He then invited Colonel Rhodes, then Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries, using various methods to force Iron Man into submission, but Iron Man effortlessly thwarted them all.
Not only that, but he also left Senator Stern looking completely defeated.
"Iron Man is very useful. I can prevent the threat of nuclear war! We are safe, America is safe, and that's enough!"
"As for you wanting to use my product to kill people, don't even think about it! But I've done you a huge favor!"
At this point, Iron Man stood up, turned around to face all the attendees of the Military Committee, and said proudly and confidently, "I alone can maintain world peace!"
Clap clap clap!
A round of enthusiastic applause immediately erupted in the room.
"Now what do you want me to do? I tried to cooperate with those clowns!" Iron Man said, pointing at Senator Stern, "But are they worthy!"
With that, Iron Man coolly put on his sunglasses and walked out, surrounded by the crowd.
Along the way, people kept coming up to greet him and shake his hand, making the Military Committee hearing seem like Iron Man's press conference.
"Stark, fuck you!" Senator Stern was so enraged that he cursed at Iron Man.
To make a senator curse in such a setting, well, that's Iron Man's style.
Everything that happened at the Military Committee was broadcast on television, and the entire United States could be said to have enjoyed a grand spectacle.
And what no one knew was that...
In a shabby room resembling a slum.
A burly man with long hair, watching the spirited Iron Man on television, showed a face full of hatred.
"Stark, you despicable thief from a family of thieves!"
"All of this should have been mine. You stole what belonged to me!"
The big man bit hard on the toothpick in his mouth, as if the toothpick were Iron Man himself, using it to vent his anger.
This big man was none other than Ivan Vanko, who had quite a history with Iron Man.
Ivan Vanko himself might not have been particularly special, but Ivan Vanko's father, Anton Vanko, was once Howard Stark's partner, and the two of them jointly developed the Arc Reactor.
However, later their philosophies diverged.
Anton Vanko wanted to profit from the Arc Reactor, so Howard, through a series of maneuvers, drove him to Siberia.
From then on, Howard became a prominent figure in America, while Anton Vanko was exiled to a foreign land, living a wandering life of hunger and cold.
His hatred for Howard Stark was unimaginable.
This hatred was also passed on to his son, Ivan Vanko.
Ivan Vanko, like a rat, had hidden for years in this dark, sunless room, all for the purpose of creating a superweapon.
A superweapon capable of pulling Iron Man from his pedestal and simultaneously restoring honor to the Vanko family.
And now, that superweapon was complete!
Ivan Vanko made some simple adjustments and then put on a metal exoskeleton.
At first glance, the metal exoskeleton was extremely crude, even to the point of being described as unsightly.
However, attached to the two arms of the metal exoskeleton were two long metal whips, which also didn't seem particularly remarkable.
But when Ivan Vanko powered it up, dazzling electric arcs crackled and flashed on the two metal whips.
They had transformed into two electric whips!
Crack!
Ivan Vanko flicked his wrist, and one whip struck the television hanging on the wall, cutting the TV directly in half.
A cold and triumphant smile appeared on Ivan Vanko's face... At this very moment.
Inside a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base in New York.
In a room resembling a hospital ward, a short-haired blond man lay on the bed. It must be said that the man's physique was absolutely perfect.
Especially his well-developed pectoral muscles; many women would surely feel envy, jealousy, and hatred upon seeing them.
"Another fly ball, a high foul ball!"
"So the Dodgers' score is tied at four to four."
On the bedside table, an old-fashioned radio was playing a sports news report.
These sounds continuously entered the ears of the man on the bed, and he slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around at his surroundings.
A trace of confusion was on his face.
Didn't I die?
Where is this place?
This man was none other than Captain America, Steve Rogers, whom Nick Fury and his team had rescued from the Arctic Ocean.
Creak!
The door was pushed open at that moment, and a voluptuous blonde woman walked in, politely saying to Captain America, "Good morning, or rather... good afternoon!"
"Where am I?" Captain America asked with a hint of wariness.
"You're in a post-op recovery room in New York," the blonde woman replied with a polite smile.
"Where exactly am I?" Captain America's voice gradually took on a hint of pressure.
"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about." The blonde woman was clearly starting to get nervous.
"This game was in May 1941. I was there." Captain America stood up and walked step by step towards the blonde woman, "I'll ask you one last time, where exactly am I?"
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became extremely tense.