Chapter 44 Riot

2010 o'clock on August 8, 22.

"Li Xing, do you want to go to the Stark Industries Expo?"

Ling Zhan was drinking coffee, flipping through his textbook, and squinting at his phone. He had no patience to read at all.

"Hmm? Go there. I might as well go shopping and learn some magic."

"Uh... just think of it as accompanying me. I'll also accompany you wherever you want to go and help you with things. How about that?"

"Can you go by yourself?"

"Hey, there's no point in going alone."

"Okay, okay, go away, you're acting like a little kid," Li Xing rolled her eyes.

"Well, sometimes it's lonely to go alone."

"I see. I just want to find someone to chat with you."

"Yes, yes, yes."

....................................

Night, Stark Industries Expo.

The expo had already started for a long time. In the main hall, Justin Hammer came to the podium, tap dancing and full of energy.

He began his tirade, and the crowd below listened.

Among the upper class people near the front desk sat Pepper Potts and Black Widow.

"What does this guy want to do?"

"I guess they want to use this to show off their military technology and bully and suppress the boss at the same time."

Indeed, Hammer implies to Tony Stark that as long as he has him, the American people will no longer be in danger; and no one can master his technology.

But the fact is, everything Tony Stark promised was overturned in public. Everyone saw it and blamed Tony Stark for not wanting to share technology.

"I think I have said enough, everyone. Today, the major newspapers are in trouble. They will not have enough ink and paper."

Hammer smiled and let the help girl take the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I will introduce to you the new look of the U.S. military, the Hammer Iron Soldier!"

The place darkened and the lights focused on the stage.

"Army Steel Soldiers!"

There are two rows on the right, with 4 steel soldiers in each row.

"Navy Steel Soldiers!"

The left and right sides at the rear are arranged in the same way, but compared to the army type which has a pole at the back, the navy type has two cannon barrels arranged on both sides of the shoulders.

"Air Force Steel Soldiers!"

On the left, a steel soldier with a jet launcher on his back comes on stage.

Seeing the mighty and disciplined steel soldiers appear on the stage, everyone applauded.

Pepper and Natasha frowned slightly and looked around. Those people were a little excited.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the battlefield cannot be turned around by these mindless robots alone. We still need to send real soldiers to the battlefield. I am honored to introduce the first comprehensive threat response combat armor suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"

At the front of the platform, Rhodes slowly came up.

What comes into view is a rugged body with a 7.62mm M134 machine gun on his back and a 40m caliber howitzer on the back of his hand.

Rhodes gave a standard military salute, and all the steel soldiers behind him saluted together.

Just as Hammer was about to speak.

A streak of orange light streaked across the sky, and a gold-and-red armored man floated in front of Rhodes.

The whole audience cheered and screamed even louder than before.

"Tony, there are civilians here, don't start fighting here..."

"Something serious has happened."

"What……"

The two men chatted quietly, and Tony slowly walked towards Rhodes, then turned to the crowd and put his right hand on Rhodes' shoulder.

“Smile at the audience, don’t be nervous, wave at them.”

Tony Stark naturally raised his hand and greeted the people below.

"Listen to me, the people down there are in danger now. We have to save them. You have to believe me."

"Yes, I was severely beaten last time in your now shabby home. I still remember it vividly," Rhodes raised his hand slightly and waved.

"Listen, I think he's working with Vanko," Tony walked straight up to Hammer.

"Who? Ivan Vanko, are you kidding me?"

"Where is he? Hammer, I think you know."

"I don't know what you are talking about, and what are you doing here!" Hammer certainly would not admit Tony's testimony, even though everyone was speaking in a low voice.

"Oh, I think you're right, Tony," the display screen in front of Rhodes turned bright red, and a lot of warnings appeared. The M134 machine gun on his back was aimed at Tony Stark.

Elsewhere, Ivan smiled and typed a series of instructions.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..." All the robots behind raised their right arms and aimed at Tony Stark.

"Watch where you're going, Tony Stark."

……

"Hurry up, the entire system is controlled by him!"

"OK, let's say hello outside," Tony Stark flew up into the sky.

All the Iron Soldiers, including Rhodes, fired bullets at Tony Stark.

There were flickering flames and a fierce hail of bullets that shattered the bulletproof glass that shielded the expo.

People shouted and ran away as broken glass fell from above, not caring whether the debris caused them any harm.

"Hehe, where can you run to!" Under Ivan's control, all the Iron Soldiers of the Air Force and Rhodes turned on their jets and chased after Tony Stark.

..............................

The remaining steel soldiers on the stage rushed off the stage, regardless of the ordinary people who were still running away in front of them.

Hammer came backstage and said, "What is going on!"

"Sir, the cell phone is not connected, nothing can be connected, and the software of the Iron Soldier has been changed. Everything is under his control."

"Damn it!"

"What is going on?" Pepper and Natasha followed Hammer to the backstage.

"OK, relax, I can handle it," Hammer wanted to have them chase them away.

As soon as Natasha heard Ivan, she stepped forward and did a simple naked choke.

He asked, "Who did this?"

"Ivan, Ivan Vanko! It hurts, it hurts, ma'am."

"Where is he?"

"He's in my company."

Natasha left immediately, and Pepper called the New York Police Department headquarters.

Hammer once again found himself so powerless. He had never won anything involving Tony Stark, and now he couldn't even beat the woman appointed by Stark.

....................................

New York Police Department Headquarters.

"George, go to the Stark Industries Expo."

"I guess it's another superhero vs. supercriminal, Chief."

"Pretty much, but the man you're arresting is Justin Hammer."

"The Hammer from Hammer Industries?"

"Yes, Miss Pepper said that guy secretly took the dangerous Ivan Vanko away, so we need to arrest him and ask about the relevant incident."

"Understood. I'll leave right away."

....................................

"Tony, you're locked in."

"Me? OK."

High in the sky, behind Iron Man, there was a group of bugs following him.

War machines and steel soldiers fired bullets crazily.

Compared to Rhodes, Tony Stark, who is proficient in using the Iron Man suit, has better flying skills in the air than this Air Force lieutenant colonel.

Tony Stark found that he was unable to shake off the pursuers. He didn't want to hurt Rhodes, and he didn't want to destroy the modified MAK2.

But Rhodes had been flying in front of the eight air force steel soldiers. If he turned to destroy the eight planes, not only would it take a lot of effort, but he would also be caught by Rhodes who was under control.

Tony Stark kept changing his flight trajectory and bullets passed by him.

"Stark, we need to stay away from the Expo. These machines have hurt innocent people."

"Sorry, I wanted to, too, but now those guys are already in the crowd, all I can do is kill them quickly!"

At this time, Tony Stark discovered that there were two groups of iron soldiers blocking the front separately, forming a triangle with the ones behind him.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

"Da da da da da..."

The machine guns of the army's steel soldiers were firing bullets, while the navy's steel soldiers were raining missiles.

"Oh, damn!"

Tony Stark made a sharp turn, but the untimely reaction led to the disaster of the Air Force's steel soldiers, who were beaten to pieces by bullets and missiles, but 4 of them still managed to escape.

Several of the navy and army steel soldiers on the ground were also destroyed.

"Jarvis!"

"Sir, the restart failed."

"Okay, who can help me?"

Tony Stark had no choice but to fly back to the outskirts of the expo.

"Sir, there is a child."

"Ok?"

On the ground, a child wearing an Iron Man mask raised his right hand and pointed it at an Army Iron Soldier.

The Iron Soldier scanned Iron Man's features and aimed the barrel of the gun on his back at the child.

"Good job, Iron Man!"

Tony Stark fell to the ground and stood up in the same posture as the child, and smashed the Iron Soldier to pieces with a palm cannon.

Tony Stark flew away at high speed, and the follower behind him caught up with him.

The child jumped with excitement as he had a close encounter with Iron Man.

.......................................

“I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

"Me too, eh hehe..." Ling Zhan scratched his head, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"It seems like you know what's going to happen tonight."

"No, I really don't know."

"So what are you going to do now? The current situation is not very good. You said that we can't let that National Land Strategy Bureau discover our identity."

"Um……"

Li Xing was right. He thought someone from SHIELD was probably observing him here.

"careful!"

Ling Zhan grabbed Li Xing's hand and ran to a shelter.

The bullet passed by and Li Xing luckily dodged it.

"Too dangerous."

"I think we should help."

Looking at Li Xing's furrowed brows, Ling Zhan knew that she was unhappy.

"Okay, luckily I have my mask with me."

Li Xing took it and put it on, pulled out the ring on her left index finger, and conjured up a magic pen.

Ling Zhan transformed into a soul steel sword out of thin air, and the two were ready.

"Let's go, these robots don't have human emotions."