Chapter 1724: Declaring War, and Long-Lost Son?
The image of the circular symbol switched to that of an old Eurasian-looking man. He said, âSome people say I am a terrorist, but I consider myself a teacherâŠâ
As the old man rambled on, it was clear that he was from Central Asia.
Several civilians who were pressed to the ground were held at gunpoint by terrorists whose faces were covered, as if they were about to be executed.
Then, gunshots rang out, and the civilians collapsed.
The old man rambled on for a few minutes before he finally said, ââŠI, the Mandarin, declare that the explosion was my doing.â
Luke had a strange expression on his face. âAre you kidding me?â
Of the people Tony hated the most in his life, terrorists were definitely one of them, especially the Ten Rings in Central Asia.
The most humiliating thing that ever happened to Tony was when he was caught by the Ten Rings and imprisoned in a cave to be a blacksmith for more than a month. Not only did he eat pig swill, he also couldnât take a bath.
Now that Happy had been severely injured by the explosion and had almost died, it was interesting that the Ten Rings had jumped out to claim responsibility.
Based on Lukeâs years of working cases, for people to jump out and confess⊠There really were people like these, and terrorists were even more prone to taking responsibility.
But this was too much of a coincidence.
Tony had been so busy working on tech at home for the past year to go to Central Asia to attack the Ten Rings.
Now, the Ten Rings had stepped forward, looking like they were ready to fight Tony â something didnât feel right.
Half an hour later, something even more bizarre happened.
A paparazzo found an opportunity to interview Tony, and asked him what he thought about the Ten Rings severely injuring Happy, his head of security.
Tony immediately exploded and declared war on the Ten Rings, and announced his address in front of the camera.
In the end, the tycoon grabbed the paparazzoâs phone and said, âIâll get you a new one,â before he smashed it against the wall.
Luke chuckled. The tycoon was indeed a professional at dealing with paparazzi.
Propping himself up on a bar stool, he took a sip of his coffee.
Thinking for a moment, he sent a message to Tony:?
Do you need backup?
On the other side, Tony was sulking when he received the notification from Jarvis. âMr. Bruce sent⊠hm, congratulations.â
Tony was stunned. âCongratulations?â
Jarvis said, âThe subject heading of Mr. Bruceâs message is: Congratulations.â
Tony: ââŠWhat did he say?â
Jarvis said, âHeâs asking if you need backup.â
Tony snorted. âNo. I can beat the sh*t out of the Mandarin on my own!â
Jarvis said, ââŠShould I use your exact words, sir?â
Tony: ââŠJust say no.â
There was no need to brag via text messages.
It only felt good to brag in front of the person himself.
The tycoon disdained people who hid behind the keyboard.
Like that Mandarin guy, who only dared to talk big. Tony swore that he would really beat the crap out of him.
Too lazy to play along, Luke simply sent him information on the scene at the diner:?
Take a look. Something isnât right.
Tonyâs anger subsided when he received the information.
He knew that Batmanâs biggest trait was that he was very paranoid, and his best ability was to dig up dirt.
Otherwise, why would this guy set up a sockpuppet organization under the name Pacific Detective Department?
If Batman said that something was wrong, then something was definitely wrong.
Thinking that, he looked at the data and started to model the scene of the explosion.
He worked for half a day.
Tony found something suspicious. âA temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius in the center of the explosion site? That doesnât make sense.â
Generally, bombs relied on shock waves to be lethal. Most of the time, 3,000 degrees was just the temperature of the initial reaction. After the combustion, the temperature wouldnât exceed 1,000 degrees.
The incident at the diner clearly hadnât been caused by a chemical reaction.
He frowned. âJarvis, check if there have been other similar explosions.â
âYes, sir,â said Jarvis. âHowever, two visitors are waiting at the front entrance.â
Speechless for a moment, Tony said, âAre you serious? Iâm waiting for that Mandarin to drop by, and you drop people off at the front door?â
Jarvis said, âSir, you announced the address to the world this morning. Thereâs not much I can do.â
Tony sighed and looked at the entrance. He suddenly felt worried. âWait, why is it a woman and a kid?â
Jarvis: ââŠThatâs why I informed you.â
Tony said, âDonât tell me that the Stark family suddenly has a six- or seven-year-old heir.â
There was helplessness in Jarvisâs gentle voice. âI donât know. Thatâs why I informed you.â
Tony had never been a coward, but he was no longer the playboy he used to be, and he and Pepper had been having a tiff recently.
Tony had already bent over backward to curry favor with her.
More importantly, the woman in the car outside suited his taste.
Although he didnât remember her, she looked familiar.
Something poked at his memory, as if to say, âThatâs right, you did do something.â
Apprehensive, Tony let the woman in.
It was impossible for this to be an attack. The woman and the boy, as well as the car they were in, had been scanned. There were no dangerous items.
The woman entered the front hall and came face to face with Tony, who called out, âDr. Maya Hansen, right? Why are you looking for me?â
The beautiful doctor said, âI knew it. You donât remember.â
Tony:?
âŠF*ck, Iâm dead.
A few minutes later, a certain tycoon looked relieved.
That was because Dr. Hansen had just said that the boy wasnât his son, and she wasnât here to ask him for child support.
âIâm here to tell you not to start a war with the Mandarin. Youâll be in grave danger,â she said.
Tony didnât object, but immediately got it. âWhat else do you know?â
She sounded like someone who knew something.
Dr. Hansen hesitated and didnât answer the question directly. âYour opponent isnât just the Mandarin⊠Huh?â
She suddenly looked behind Tony in surprise at the French windows that faced the ocean.
Jarvis said, âMissile attack, sir!â
Tony: âWTF!â
He was in the hall with Dr. Hansen, and the suit was below him in his lab. It was too late.
Tony could only press the reactor in his chest. âActivate.â
Silver-gray nanotechnology surged out of the reactor and quickly spread to cover his upper body.
Boom!
There was a violent explosion on the other side of the villa, and the shock wave quickly hit Tony, who had turned around and covered Dr. Hansen.