Chapter 18: If Negotiations Fail, Fight!

Upon hearing Carl's rebuttal, Tony Stark was momentarily at a loss for words.

As a member of the capitalist conglomerate, he of course knew the dark secrets behind the outbreak of the Middle East war.

Tony cursed inwardly: "Damn oil capitalists!"

Unable to counter his opponent's moral arguments, Tony decided to take a different approach.

His voice, transmitted through his metallic helmet, was deep and filled with righteous anger: "The Jericho missile is my invention, and Umbrella has infringed on Stark Industries' weapon patents!"

Upon hearing Tony try to make it about patents, Carl scoffed and said, "First of all, you have no evidence that Umbrella sold the Jericho missiles. Secondly, if you think they infringed on your patent, go ahead and sue me!"

Carl's shameless words made Tony's anger flare up.

Evidence? The countless Jericho missiles on the battlefield in the Middle East weren't evidence enough? Tony had already investigated them. Though they weren't perfect copies—made with average materials—their accuracy and precision were still impressive.

Unable to hold back any longer, Tony Stark couldn't take it anymore. Without further hesitation, he raised his hand and fired a Palm Repulsor.

Boom!

A beam of laser energy shot towards him at high speed, but Carl had already anticipated that Tony would resort to violence after failing to win the argument.

If verbal sparring worked, then why would humans even bother inventing weapons?

Carl quickly sidestepped, easily evading the Palm Repulsor.

With a mocking smile, he taunted, "Can't win with your high moral arguments, so you resort to cowardly sneak attacks? Is this the 'righteous' Iron Man?"

Wearing his Mark VII Iron Man suit, Tony rushed towards Carl, aiming for close combat while coldly declaring, "Don't think just because you have some superpowers, you can ignore the law. Once I catch you, I'll prove Umbrella sold the Jericho missiles!"

Rod, who had been watching the fight from the sidelines, agreed that Umbrella was the bigger problem and, naturally, sided with Tony.

Seeing his long-time friend involved, Rod furrowed his brows and muttered, "Then let's fight. Just hope we don't end up nuking each other. I don't want to die along with the enemy."

Rod then activated his Iron Man suit, and with a sudden burst of thrust, he launched himself toward the red-dressed woman on the opposite side.

He couldn't resist adding, "That mysterious red light looks pretty terrifying. I wonder if your powers can stop my missiles?"

With that, Rod fired off a barrage of small missiles from his back, showing no intention of holding back.

After all, Umbrella was a weapons dealer, and this woman, standing with them, was clearly on the evil side.

Wanda, seeing two Iron Men in the distance—especially her enemy Tony Stark—who, despite surrendering, still attempted a sneak attack, felt her fury ignite.

Her palm glowed with a brilliant red light as she quickly raised a magical shield to block the incoming small missiles.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out as the missiles collided with the red shield.

After easily blocking the small missiles, Wanda flicked her wrist, sending five or six chaotic magic projectiles towards Rod.

Swish! Swish! Swish! The red magic orbs sped through the air.

Rod skillfully maneuvered in the sky, weaving and dodging the red magic attacks.

Meanwhile, Carl, flying back toward his main base, called for the Red Queen to deploy A1-type Iron Man suits.

Carl's combat capabilities were currently weak. His psychic powers, though strong, couldn't even scratch the Mark VII Iron Man suit made from titanium alloys.

Thus, he wasn't going to engage Tony directly.

At Carl's base, two newly manufactured A1 Iron Man suits activated, their metallic eyes suddenly glowing with eerie red light.

[Power activated. Connecting to A101 and A102 Iron Man suits.]

The thrusters ignited, emitting a bright white flame, and the suits slowly levitated into the air.

The Red Queen, controlling the suits, directed them out of the factory, flying several kilometers toward Carl.

Tony Stark, now pursuing Carl, was gaining ground. Carl had to dodge incoming attacks while accelerating desperately to avoid being caught. However, his flight speed was much slower than Tony's Mark VII.

In just a few seconds of combat, Carl was almost caught. If Tony got his hands on him, he would either die or suffer severe punishment.

The secrets Umbrella was hiding were too dangerous for Carl to become a global enemy.

Thankfully, the Red Queen was reliable. The two unpainted, gray-and-white A1 suits swiftly flew toward Carl, intercepting Tony before he could get any closer.

Seeing two Iron Man suits with arc reactors on their chests intercepting him, Tony's face darkened.

"Shit! Just as Rod's damn prophecy said, Umbrella really does have Iron Man suits!"

The ensuing battle between Tony and the two gray Iron Men turned into a brutal melee, with "clang" and "bang" sounds as the two sides clashed.

Carl, while not without offensive capabilities, carried hundreds of steel balls that he could propel with psychic force. These were comparable to rifle bullets in power, but they couldn't penetrate Tony's suit.

The titanium-alloy armor was near impenetrable, and unless he used missiles, breaking through Tony's defenses would require close combat.

Carl didn't intend to engage in close combat. Although he had a long blade made from vibranium, he didn't believe a single vibranium blade could defeat the legendary Iron Man.

Instead, he planned to let the Red Queen tie up Tony while Wanda finished the battle, allowing him to sit back and watch the showdown between Tony and the Scarlet Witch.

Carl turned his gaze toward Wanda.

To his surprise, he saw Wanda enveloped in crimson light, her delicate, pale hands reaching forward.

Rod, still flying towards them in his Iron Man suit, suddenly found his armor glowing with a scarlet light, stopping mid-air, unable to move.

"What is this power? I can't control the suit!" Rod gasped, feeling the air within his suit becoming thinner, making it harder to breathe.

"I can't breathe… Open the suit! Open the suit!" he shouted, trying to open the suit to get air, but the holographic screen in front of him flickered and disappeared.

His Iron Man suit was forcibly shut down.

"Restart the system!" he ordered, but everything was dark. Trapped in the metal helmet, Rod felt helpless.

As he struggled for air, he finally lost consciousness and fell into a deep, oxygen-deprived sleep.

Even with her opponent unconscious, Wanda, cold and indifferent, pulled her hand to the left, and the crimson light blazed brighter.

Chaos magic erupted!

The immense, invisible force ripped apart the entire Iron Man suit, revealing Rod's unconscious form.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Countless metal parts scattered on the ground as Rod plummeted from a height of several meters.