["I'm angry!"]
"I will deal with these robots first, then I'll formally apologize to you… we can go to Venice…"
["Yeah, right…"]
Whether he actually soothed the furious Little Pepper or not, at least Tony tried.
He knocked on War Machine's helmet, and the screen in front of Rhodes lit up again.
"Wake up, buddy. I need you."
Rhodes realized more enemies were coming, and he could not keep lying there.
Being passively driven to hunt Tony just now had made Rhodes truly understand what it meant to have no control over his own actions.
As the helmet opened, Rhodes felt like he had been a clown earlier. Tony had rushed over to warn him, yet he had not believed him right away.
He had even almost killed his own good brother.
If Tony knew what Rhodes was thinking right now, he would definitely snort in disdain.
"Kill me? What were you thinking?"
Rhodes suddenly felt ashamed of wearing Tony's armor and could not help saying, "Oh man… I think you can take the suit back."
Pulling Rhodes up, seeing that he seemed to be apologizing, Tony shook his head.
"Forget it. I'm the one who dragged you into this."
Rhodes did not know.
Tony's antics back in California had been deliberate.
At the time, he thought he did not have long to live.
And after spending time together, Tony knew that Rhodes was an upright guy, someone worthy of the armor he had painstakingly developed.
To let Rhodes put on his suit without any burden and become Iron Man's successor, Tony had put some thought into it.
The two had just resolved their misunderstanding one second, only to disagree again the next because of combat decisions.
"We should move up there! This is a firefight zone. Staying here is dangerous!"
"I think taking those robots out right here is a pretty good option…"
Just as the two were arguing about where to engage the enemy, Hanmer armors surrounded them from all sides.
A group of enhanced drones locked onto the two at the same time.
Helmets snapped shut, and Rhodes and Tony began to fight.
Back to back, they seamlessly filled in each other's firepower gaps, as if the ones arguing just now were two completely different people.
At that moment, Corin arrived, chasing after the armors.
He had already recycled all the armors at the venue and made a whooping 300 million dollars.
Seeing the larger, more expensive enhanced armors chasing Tony, there was no way Corin would let this final wave of gold-coin mobs go.
Watching the two fight in perfect coordination, a scene flashed through his mind.
Tony seemed about to unleash a powerful area attack here, wiping out all enemies in one move.
"Cool, sure, but that's way too wasteful!"
As the two used machine guns and palm cannons against the enemies, the shiny gold-coin babies in Corin's eyes were turning battered and worn, about to lose their resale value.
"Freeze!"
In a moment of urgency, Corin activated magnetic control, locking all the armors in place. Including Tony and Rhodes.
Magneto's methods were a perfect professional match against steel armor.
["Warning! Warning! Armor unable to move due to unknown causes!"]
JARVIS and War Machine's AI assistant sounded alarms at the same time.
Tony and Rhodes stared blankly, shouting in unison, "What the f**k??"
Tony had just been about to show off in front of Rhodes with the Mark V's signature ultimate move supported by its new power core.
Then he realized he suddenly could not move at all. He could not even perform basic actions like opening the helmet. The snow-like static popping up on the display meant he could lose vision at any moment.
The sense of powerlessness from losing control instantly filled Tony's heart.
Tony guessed this might be Ivan's move against him, and cold sweat instantly formed on his palms.
His mind raced, thinking of countermeasures, but the noisy Rhodes clearly was not planning to let him have a moment of peace.
"Oh! God! Buddy! My suit seems to be controlled again… what do we do? Think of something, quick!"
"Shut up! I can't move either!"
The two started arguing again over the comms.
After freezing all the armors, Corin did not stop moving. His red figure darted rapidly among the Hanmer armors.
"Exchange!"
[Exchange successful! +20 million USD. Account balance: 801 million USD]
"Exchange!"
'Sure enough, these are worth more than before.'
.
.
.
A short while later.
Or perhaps, for Tony and Rhodes, it felt like a very long time, Corin finally recycled every last armor on the field.
[+20 million USD. Account balance: 981 million USD]
Looking at the ecological park restored to peace and quiet, he let out a happy breath.
"This trip wasn't for nothing. Made quite a bit again."
Then he suddenly noticed Tony and Rhodes standing there dumbfounded, still holding their firing poses.
Only then did he remember the two brothers were still frozen.
He casually lifted the control on them.
At the same time, he noticed his hands were covered in black soot from gun smoke, so he walked over to the river, squatted down, and washed them.
"Who's there?"
"Get down!"
Zzzzz—HUM!
Regaining movement, Tony shouted for Rhodes to get down without a second thought, spinning his body rapidly and releasing the long-charged ultimate move.
Two energy-filled red lasers shot out from Tony's wrists. The powerful cutting rings flashed past, slicing large swaths of trees clean in half at the waist.
The inspiration for this powerful move came from the house that had almost been cut in half when Tony was creating the new element.
After observing the result, Tony realized his ultimate seemed to have hit nothing at all.
The two leaned back to back, machine guns and palm cannons at the ready, cautiously scanning their surroundings as if facing a great enemy.
Then they suddenly realized that the Hanmer robots that had covered the hillside just moments ago were all gone.
"What the hell?"
They opened their masks and stared at each other with blank expressions.
Then they heard the sound of flowing water nearby.
Clack! Clack!
Two metallic helmet-closing sounds rang out one after the other.
Rhodes aimed his machine gun over there, while Tony raised his arm, the laser cannon charging with light.
When they saw the figure squatting there washing his hands, Rhodes cursed out loud.
"Oh! Shit! If you're friendly, say so earlier!"
Tony, recalling how he had been unable to move just now, looked at Corin with suspicion.
'Was that Silver Duke's doing?'
He had never seen him use anything like that before, just how many secrets did he still have?
"What are you doing here?"
The moment Corin squatted down, his spider sense had already given a warning, followed by a sharp laser sweep.
But he happened to be squatting, so he did not bother dodging.
The laser skimmed past the top of his head and did not hit his body.
Facing Tony's question, Corin smiled, 'Just because you ask, I have to tell you?'
He answered casually, "Nothing much. I just happened to pass by and wash my hands…"
Rhodes thought to himself that this was no way to brush someone off.
'Pass by, my ass!'
'There were robots all over the mountains just now. Don't tell me you didn't see them?'
'By the way, where did all those robots go?'
Having dealt with Corin several times, Tony knew this man was elusive and unpredictable.
Those robots were most likely taken care of by the Silver Duke.
If he did not want to say, then forget it. Tony was not that curious anyway.
Just then, Agent Natasha's alert sounded in both Tony's and Rhodes's ears.
["Attention! Another drone is coming in…"]
["This one looks different. The thrust output is especially high…"]
Tony and Rhodes looked up at the sky.
Another mechanical armor descended steadily from high above.
The helmet opened, and Ivan Vanko appeared before Tony and Rhodes with a pleased smile.
"It feels good to be back!"
Colonel James Rhodes blurted out as he looked at Ivan descending from the sky.
"This is not good…"
Ivan's confident expression gradually turned arrogant. Crossing his arms over his chest, he forcefully swung them downward.
Zzz—Snap!
Two even thicker, crackling electric whips instantly carved two deep grooves into the ground.
Rhodes had a sudden idea.
"I have a special weapon. I'll deal with him!"
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