I'm having a blast in Marvel!

Page 76

He spoke with great passion, as if he were the savior of the world.

Chu Hang sat not far behind Tony. As the second-largest shareholder of Stark Industries, he was entitled to be present. He looked at Hammer's face, which was full of hypocrisy and ambition, and found it somewhat amusing.

He felt Tony's body tense slightly with anger. Tony's patience was running out.

Chu Hang took out his phone, quickly typed a few words, and then turned the phone screen towards Tony.

The note read: "Ask him which charge—'illegally appropriating private intellectual property' or 'forced technology transfer'—sounds more appropriate for today's hearing. Remind him that Stark Industries' legal department is not to be trifled with."

Tony caught a glimpse of the words out of the corner of his eye, paused for a moment, and then the corner of his mouth curled up into a more sarcastic smile.

He ignored Hammer and looked directly at Senator Stern: "Senator, I must remind you. All the technology behind the Iron Man armor belongs to Stark Industries' trade secrets and intellectual property, protected by law. You're here today, in front of the world's media, demanding that I hand it over for free. What is that? Robbery? Or is the US Congress now planning to set a precedent so that the government can take away the core technologies of any technology company whenever it wants?"

These words immediately sparked a flurry of whispers in the room. The representatives from other technology companies in the audience paled. They realized this wasn't just a threat to Stark Industries, but a threat to all of them.

Senator Stern was clearly taken aback by Tony's counterattack from this angle and was momentarily speechless.

Tony pressed his advantage, turning to Justin Hammer with a bright smile: "As for Mr. Hammer's 'confidence'... Jarvis, could you play me an interesting video? The one where Hammer Industries gave the military a drone demonstration last time?"

"It's my pleasure to serve you, sir."

On the large screen at the hearing, the scene shifted to a video showing Hammer Industries' drone going out of control at a test range, crashing around aimlessly like a headless fly, before finally plunging into the ground. Hammer's furious shouting could also be heard in the video.

The entire audience erupted in laughter; this time, no one held back.

Justin Hammer's face turned from a deep purplish-red to a deathly gray. He felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown into the public eye.

“Enough! Turn it off!” Senator Stern roared.

Tony shrugged, looking completely innocent. "Look, this is the 'top expert' you've found. Senator, if I hand over the technology to him, will you be able to sleep at night? I suggest you wait patiently for five or ten years. Maybe by then, Hammer Industries will be able to build a decent toaster."

The hearing ended in farce. The government's demands were indefinitely postponed, and Tony emerged victorious.

Tony breathed a long sigh of relief as he walked out of the hearing building.

"Thanks, Anthony," he said to Chu Hang beside him. "Your message came at just the right time."

"It was nothing," Chu Hang said casually. "I was just protecting my own investment. Stark Industries' stock price can't withstand this kind of volatility."

The two walked to the parking lot and got into Tony's Audi.

"How's the investigation going with that guy named Ivan Vanko?" Chu Hang asked casually.

“Dead.” Tony started the car, his tone somber. “The official statement is that he committed suicide in prison. But I always felt that things weren’t that simple.”

"Oh?" Chu Hang looked at the receding street scene outside the window. "Someone who went to such great lengths to seek revenge on you in front of the whole world, just gave up so easily in prison? It doesn't sound very reasonable."

“Really? I think so too.” Tony frowned.

"I think one person in this whole affair has been a little too lucky," Chu Hang said softly, as if talking to himself.

“Justin Hammer,” Chu Hang said, “Think about it. Ivan Vanko’s appearance perfectly created a panic about ‘Iron Man’s technology being leaked.’ Then, Hammer Industries was pushed to the forefront as the ‘solution.’ If you hadn’t withstood the pressure today, he probably would have already secured a multi-billion dollar contract from the Department of Defense. Isn’t all of this a bit too coincidental?”

Tony's grip on the steering wheel tightened abruptly. The car emitted a screech of tires.

He wasn't stupid. Chu Hang only gave a slight hint, and he instantly grasped the key point.

"You mean..."

“I didn’t say anything,” Chu Hang interrupted him. “I’m just a businessman, used to analyzing problems from a profit perspective. Ivan Vanko is dead, who is the biggest beneficiary? Isn’t the answer obvious? By the way, I heard that the private security company responsible for transporting Ivan Vanko has some unclear equity ties with Hammer Industries.”

Silence fell over the car.

Tony's face was terribly grim. He realized he was being targeted by a venomous snake.

"I know what to do," he said after a long silence.

Chu Hang smiled and said nothing more. He knew he had achieved his goal.

That evening, Chu Hang returned to his villa by the sea in Los Angeles.

He stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the dark sea outside. He stretched out his right hand, palm up.

A small ball of blue-white plasma appeared out of thin air in his palm, like an unstable flame, flickering and emitting a slight electrical sound.

This is the technique of "plasma confinement and shaping" that I learned from Whiplash.

"It's too rough." Chu Hang shook his head.

The energy constraint is extremely unstable, with energy being ineffectively dissipated in the form of light and heat. Moreover, its shaping ability is very poor, barely able to maintain the shape of a whip.

"It's time for an upgrade."

He closed his eyes, and the cosmic energy within his body began to flow slowly. This time, he didn't let the energy erupt directly, but rather guided it carefully, like the most delicate embroidery needle.

First, there is the energy source.

He abandoned the plasma of the simulated arc reactor and directly utilized the purest cosmic energy. The arc reactor, in essence, is still the application of electrical energy, a very low level. His cosmic energy, however, is one of the cornerstones of reality, purer and more dangerous.

Then, there are constraints.

Ivan Vanko used a rudimentary magnetic field confinement method, like trying to scoop water with a fishing net—it will always leak. What Chu Hang wants to do is create a perfect bottle. A bottle composed entirely of space itself.

With a slight thought, a wisp of spatial energy, thinner than a hair, began to rapidly weave above his palm, constructing an absolutely smooth "pipeline".

This is an energy channel formed by space itself.

Next, he carefully injected a small amount of cosmic energy into the space conduit, like loading a gun.

There was no blinding light, no explosive sound.

That violent cosmic energy, after entering the space pipe, was perfectly confined within that narrow space, and its energy density was compressed to an astonishing degree, exhibiting the purest destructive power.

Chu Hang opened his eyes and looked at the "masterpiece" in his hands.

It was an almost transparent whip; only at certain angles could one see a barely perceptible distortion in the air. It was so quiet it seemed not to exist, utterly silent and radiating no heat.

But Chu Hang knew that the edge of this whip was a pure spatial rift. It no longer melted objects with high temperatures, but directly severed the connections between substances at the dimensional level.

He waved casually.

It silently passed by a table made of a single piece of titanium alloy.

Nothing happened.

The table is still the same table, perfectly intact.

Chu Hang put away the whip. He stretched out his finger and lightly tapped it on the table.

The incredibly sturdy titanium alloy table, as if it were made of sand, silently split in two along an impeccably smooth cut and slid to the ground.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror, even reflecting Chu Hang's smiling face.

"This move will be called [Dimensional Whip]," he thought with satisfaction.

Chapter 90 Black Widow's Attack

Hammer Industries' underground research and development center was brightly lit, like an operating room.

Justin Hammer, dressed in an expensive custom-made suit and with his hair slicked back, was enthusiastically showing off his "masterpiece" to Ivan Vanko.

“Look at this, Ivan! Look!” He pointed to rows of neatly arranged drones, like a child showing off a new toy. “Full titanium alloy shell, state-of-the-art target acquisition system, each one is equipped with a Gatling gun and micro-missiles! This is the future of warfare!”

Ivan Vanko, dressed in a gray prison uniform, stood with his hands in his pockets, staring blankly at the drones. His gaze was as if he were looking at a pile of scrap metal.

Last night, Hammer "got" him out of a high-security prison. A private plane landed directly there.

"Where's the software?" Ivan finally spoke, his voice hoarse and thick with a Russian accent.

“Uh, the software…” Hammer’s smile froze for a moment. “It’s still being debugged. But that’s okay, the hardware is perfect! As long as the software issues are resolved, they can fly and fight! My team is currently…”

“Your team is full of idiots,” Ivan interrupted him bluntly.

He walked to a control terminal and casually tapped a few keys. Not far away, a robotic arm assembling a drone suddenly twitched, its movements going out of control, and it bent a newly installed Gatling gun barrel, sparks flying everywhere.

“This garbage,” Ivan said without turning his head, “is not even as good as Tony Stark’s toys from ten years ago.”

Hammer's face twitched, but he forced a smile: "That's why I need you, my friend. You're the only genius who can rival Stark. As long as you help me perfect these drones, money, women, whatever you want, I'll give you!"

“I have no interest in fixing this junk for you.” Ivan turned and stared into Hammer’s eyes. “I want my own workshop, my own materials. I want to build my own things.”

"Of course, of course!" Hammer immediately nodded and bowed, afraid that this only lifeline would slip away. "You can have whatever you want! But you also have to help me get the software for these drones sorted out. On the closing day of the expo, I want the whole world to see that Hammer Industries' drone army is a hundred times stronger than Stark's tin cans!"

“I’ll give you a working software.” A cold smile curled at the corner of Ivan’s lips. “But I’m going to build my own ‘soldiers.’ I want Tony Stark to see firsthand how everything he created tears himself to pieces.”

Hammer felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the undisguised hatred in Ivan's eyes. But he didn't care. He only cared about the result.

Use this knife to kill Tony Stark. Then destroy the knife too.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Stark Industries building.

Tony Stark was idly poking at a photo of Justin Hammer on the wall with darts. In the photo, Hammer's forehead was riddled with holes.

The office door opened, and Pepper Potts walked in, wearing high heels, followed by a tall, red-haired woman.

“Tony, stop playing around,” Pepper said helplessly. “Let me introduce you. This is Ms. Natalie Rushman, the new notary in the company’s legal department. Her resume is outstanding; she speaks multiple languages ​​and has modeling experience.”

Tony stopped throwing darts, turned around, and his gaze fell on Natalie.

This woman was indeed eye-catching. Her tight-fitting business suit accentuated her near-perfect figure. Her face was expressionless, her eyes calm, like a deep pool of water.

“Wow.” Tony whistled, stepped out from behind his desk, and looked her up and down. “Legal Department? What a waste of your talent. Someone like you should go to Hollywood.”

“Mr. Stark, I prefer my current job.” Natalie’s voice was pleasant, but equally devoid of emotion.

“Okay, Miss Rushman.” Tony extended his hand, striking what he thought was a cool pose. “Are you interested in boxing? I happen to need a sparring partner.”

Natalie didn't shake his hand, but simply gave a slight bow: "I'm sorry, sir, this isn't part of my job duties."

Pepper rubbed her temples. "Tony! Miss Rushman is here to take over the job of the previous notary, and there are many important documents that need your signature. I hope you can be serious."

“I’m being serious,” Tony said, withdrawing his hand without a hint of embarrassment. “I’m assessing the new employee’s overall qualities. Well, Ms. Rushman, since you’re in the legal department, you must know a lot about the law. Do you think it’s illegal for someone to be too good-looking?”

A barely perceptible smile finally appeared on Natalie's lips: "No, sir. But if this causes public disorder, you may be warned."

"Interesting." Tony stroked his chin. This woman is no ordinary person.

Just then, the office door was pushed open again.

Chu Hang walked in.

"Tony, I've seen your 'Project Ark' promotional plan, it's a complete mess." Chu Hang cut to the chase, throwing a document on Tony's desk. "Are you sure this is for the investors, and not for your fan club?"

“Hey! You wouldn’t understand artists’ stuff,” Tony complained, then his eyes lit up and an idea popped into his head.

He looked at Chu Hang, then at Natalie standing beside him, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.