Marvel: I am Iron Man

trap!

Generating a holographic projection out of thin air was a technology even Ivan had never heard of. But he had no time to think about that now. Because, for some reason, that bastard Stark seemed to know someone was planning to ambush him.

Without a second thought, Ivan Vanko immediately turned around and ran away.

Although he had long since disregarded his own life, that was based on the premise of being able to take revenge on Stark. If he failed in his revenge and ended up sacrificing himself, he wouldn't be able to die in peace.

But as he turned around, he discovered that a metal gate had somehow been installed at the spot where he had smashed open the door. This caused Ivan to curse inwardly.

The Stark family is ridiculously wealthy; they even made such reinforcements and modifications to the room they were temporarily staying in.

He wasn't sure if his light whip could cleave through the alloy of the gate, but it didn't matter. Ivan lashed out with his whip, striking the wall beside him.

It's already outrageous enough that you, Stark, secretly installed an alloy gate in this room. You can't possibly tear down and rebuild the walls in just a few days, can you?

But unexpectedly, his invincible light whip struck the wall, leaving only a deep crack on the surface, but failing to break through the wall.

Ivan was greatly surprised.

The light whip in his hand was his masterpiece, powered by an arc reactor, capable of cutting through iron like mud. How could it possibly not be able to break through a mere hotel wall?

Then he heard a mechanical voice, altered to sound like a altered voice, say in his ear: "Sorry. I've set up a gravity field inside the wall that automatically increases in mass when damaged, so breaking through won't be that easy."

Ivan: "!"

He clearly saw that the room was empty, and the voice came from nowhere. He had no way of confirming whether the other person was Stark, and the voice was unrecognizable due to mechanical voice alteration.

It was as if a ghost was talking.

But he had scouted the area beforehand and studied the building's structure, and he also had other backup escape routes in mind.

For example, ventilation openings.

He turned around and cleaved open the ventilation shaft with his whip, temporarily shutting off the reactor's power supply to the light whip, and leaped in, trying to squeeze into the ventilation shaft.

But half a second later, Ivan let out a strange cry and hurriedly pulled away, black smoke billowing from his forehead, making it look as if half of his already dwindling hair had been burned off.

Inside was a crisscrossing laser network; that bastard Stark actually installed a laser network in the ventilation ducts!

Who would install alloy gates, reinforced gravity fields, and anti-intrusion laser nets in a hotel room where they're only staying for a few days on a business trip? Is this idiot paranoid?

Ivan couldn't help but burst out cursing: "You're sick... Waaaaaah—"

Before he could finish his curse, the second half turned into a scream laced with electronic noise. Blue arcs of electricity coursed through his muscular body, causing Ivan's massive frame to collapse, utterly powerless.

A semi-transparent ripple appeared in the center of the room. A sleek steel armor materialized out of thin air in the center of the room, its red and gold titanium alloy shell clearly reflecting the light and the room's image.

"That electric shock was enough to paralyze you for a while, it should calm you down," Tony said casually from inside the armor. "Also, don't bother trying to press your trigger. I just destroyed the activation device that powers your reactor to the Light Whip. In your current paralyzed state, you can't even press that switch, and even if you did, it wouldn't work. Your weapon is useless... just like you."

"Kill you...kill you..." Ivan groaned in pain.

When this armor, which he had never seen before, appeared, Ivan was utterly desperate.

The other side not only laid a trap for themselves, but also created a full-coverage exoskeleton mech.

Although both of their metal vests are exoskeletons, the other's outfit looks like it's from a different dimension.

To put it in comparison, although both use arc reactors, Ivan's is like a homemade hunting rifle, while his opponent's is like wearing a tank—there's simply no way to match them...

But did this damn bastard really have to go that far?!

Ivan was filled with grief and indignation.

He'd made his living by scavenging for so many years, practically handcrafting this tattered outfit from a garbage dump. And this was the kind of royal treatment he received?

Gravity field, laser net, and now armored bodyguards?

What sins have I committed to deserve such treatment?

And that holographic projection just now was so realistic; Ivan genuinely thought it was the real Stark. This unheard-of technology only intensified his despair, highlighting the terrifying gap in resources and technology between him and Stark.

By the way, now that bastard Stark booked the entire hotel, revealed his address, and might even have been a trap to lure me in...

Isn't this being a bit too cautious?

Ivan became increasingly puzzled the more he thought about it.

Before this, he had never shown his face in public, and his life had never intersected with Stark's. How did this bastard know he wanted to kill him?

Tony, however, didn't think being cautious was excessive; in fact, he felt it wasn't enough. After all, the other party was a mad scientist who wanted his head, and given enough time, he could prepare even more thoroughly.

"Ivan Vanko, is that right?"

Tony reached out and pulled the reactor off the other man's chest, then began scanning and recording data using the armor's built-in scanner.

Ivan struggled to speak: "You...are...Stark's dog?"

Tony finished scanning and recorded the data. Then, with a slight exertion of force in his armored hand, Ivan's version of the reactor was instantly crushed into scrap metal in his hand.

In that instant, Ivan felt as if his real heart had stopped beating along with the reactor.

It was the effect of the electric shock. Ivan could feel himself dying.

He gently closed his eyes.

I'm sorry, Dad. I tried, I really tried my best, but the competition was just too strong.

And you're wrong about one thing, Dad. The Starks aren't thieves.

They are demons, demons of steel.

"..."

Tony scanned repeatedly to confirm that Ivan Vanko's heart had indeed stopped beating.

he died.

Of course, as is customary, the body must be disposed of. But before that, he had to check and record all the items the person was carrying.

Later, when he had time, he also needed to find Ivan's previous residence and confirm whether there were any other people who had interacted with Ivan there. Although Ivan Vanko was mostly a widower with no family or descendants, he still needed to ensure that nothing went wrong.

What if, years later, some genius science kid pops up claiming to be Ivan's illegitimate son, or some close friend of Ivan, and comes looking for revenge?

Even if he doesn't have either, he still needs to find Ivan's residence or research institute to ensure that the reactor design blueprints in Ivan's possession are destroyed before he can feel at ease.

Thinking of this, Tony sighed softly again.

In this perilous world, it seems like there's still a long way to go before I can get a good night's sleep.