NOVEL NEXT Chapter 224: Whiplash Armor
"My God!"
"Happy!"
At that moment, the call connected, and Tony asked,
"Smith, I want to ask you about someone — a former assistant to Fox, named Natalie Rushman. Do you remember her?"
On the other end, Smith Dole immediately realized what was going on. So S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent Natasha to Tony as an undercover agent… He chuckled and said,
"A hot redhead with a killer figure?"
Tony's lips curled into a grin.
"Yeah, that's her."
"She's working in my company's legal department. I'm thinking of transferring her to be my assistant. I saw she left your place — she's good, right?"
Hearing Tony's question, Smith wasn't sure if he should tell the truth. After all, Natasha was his plant — she had been sending him plenty of S.H.I.E.L.D. intel. Now S.H.I.E.L.D. was sending her to infiltrate Tony, which wasn't much different from him doing the same.
If Tony ever found out Natasha was his agent, the man would definitely blow up.
After a brief moment of thought, Smith replied,
"Buddy, let's talk about the details in person. But you can trust her — she won't hurt you."
Smith hadn't spelled it out, but Tony got the hint. This woman was no ordinary person, and she clearly had some connection to Smith Dole.
Tony stepped forward and gave Natalie a thorough once-over. If Smith said she was fine, that was good enough.
He turned to Pepper Potts and said,
"She's the one. She's fine."
Then he looked at Happy,
"Buddy, looks like your combat ranking just dropped to third."
Happy protested,
"I just slipped!"
If anyone had a scouter right now, they'd see the highest combat power in the room belonged to the woman who was about to become Tony's assistant.
Natasha stepped down from the ring, put on her shoes, and addressed Tony,
"I need your impression."
Tony replied,
"My impression of you is — calm, composed, very mature."
Natasha smiled,
"I mean I need your print. Fingerprint."
"Oh, that's what you meant."
Natasha took out a file from the side, opened it on the table before Tony, and he pressed his finger down where indicated.
Pepper walked over,
"How's it going?"
Tony, still pressing fingerprints, replied,
"Good. Done in no time."
Pointing at the document, Tony said to Pepper,
"You're the boss now."
Natasha closed the file and asked Tony,
"Anything else, Mr. Stark?"
"Yes!"
Pepper cut in,
"No, we're done here, Miss Rushman. Thank you."
Natasha took the file and left.
Watching her back as she walked away, Tony said again,
"I want that one."
"No!"
…
The next day.
Ivan Vanko arrived at the League of Assassins' base in the suburbs of New York. Stepping out of the car, he was greeted by John Wick.
"Good to see you again, Mr. John."
"Once again, thank you for that funding. It saved me from losing my only family."
When Anton Vanko had been sent to the hospital for care, the doctors had told Ivan that if they'd waited another year, his father might not have survived the winter.
John Wick embraced him briefly and said,
"You don't owe me — it was just a transaction."
"Come on, I'll take you to the meeting room to see the boss. I hope you get what you're looking for this time."
Following John inside, Ivan was stunned by Smith Dole's wealth. In a place as expensive as New York, owning this much land was incredible. He saw the construction of the towering Kailin Tower, the massive base, and numerous staff and guards.
From the guards' aura and posture, Ivan could tell they were highly capable. Even the two hulking men casually carrying his metal case — the one holding his armor — showed impressive strength.
Eventually, they reached the conference room, where Ivan saw the man known as a god among men.
"Mr. Smith, I'm Ivan Vanko. It's an honor to meet you."
In front of this peak human, Ivan showed the respect he felt was due. Anyone with a small arc reactor could make an armored suit, but this kind of superhuman physique was one of a kind.
Smith looked at him and said,
"Ivan Vanko — your father Anton Vanko once worked with Howard Stark to develop the original arc reactor technology. The two of them had different ideas for its use: Anton wanted military applications and industrial profit, while Howard wanted to use it for the good of humanity."
"Later, for certain reasons, Anton was deported back to the Soviet Union, living in poor conditions. In Moscow, he was convicted of treason, confined ever since, forbidden from research work."
"That's your basic history, correct?"
Ivan wasn't surprised that Smith knew this much — if he hadn't, Ivan would have thought less of him.
"That's correct. That's our family's past."
"But looking at it now, Tony Stark isn't so different from his father — the arc reactor tech still ended up in the military, even if it's his personal military."
"Of course, that's old business."
"What matters is the future. Tony miniaturized the first-generation large reactor — and so did I."
Ivan pulled a lead-lined box from his pocket, opened it, and took out a small arc reactor.
"This is my mini arc reactor. The tech isn't unique to Tony, as he claimed at the hearing. I've also built a wearable armor — it's in the case behind me."
Smith was a little surprised that Ivan had built armor at all.
"Let me see it. You should know Tony's a good friend of mine — I'm familiar with this kind of thing."
Ivan nodded.
"I'd like to be your friend too."
He opened the metal case and began donning his armor.
Ivan's suit was crude, leaving much of his body exposed — a clear sign of his financial struggles.
After demonstrating its offensive functions briefly, Ivan said,
"This is only my first-generation suit. I couldn't add more weapons due to limited funds."
Looking at Whiplash before him, Smith had to admit Ivan was talented — just not quite on Tony's level.
"With limited funds, this is already better than anything Hammer Industries' scientists could pull off."
"Now tell me — what do you want from me, and what do I get in return?"
(End of Chapter)
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